Tanyth and Karl followed his gaze around the village.
Tanyth nodded slowly. “I was in the southlands a few winters ago. Land there is flat and open and mostly grassy. Hot as blazes in the summer. Winter blows through for a month or so, but it’s bitter cold.”
She thought back to her winter with Mother Ashborne. “The King’s Own was spread thin down that way, too, and it’s right on the border with Barramoor. Every so often the towns got raided.”
William looked incensed. “We have treaties with Barramoor. That’s not supposed to happen!”
“Indeed we do and it’s not supposed to but...” Tanyth shrugged.
Karl finished her thought. “The King’s Own is spread too thin.”
Tanyth nodded sadly. “The point is that they had to deal with it, and I think we’ll need to deal with it, too. Not just Birchwood, but the next band of buggers as well.”
William objected. “I thought that’s what the Inn was about.”
“It is.” Tanyth agreed and pointed to Karl with her thumb. “But he’s got the right of it, too. We need to deal with Birchwood and we’re too vulnerable to him because we’re all spread out.”
“How do they deal with that in the southlands, mum?” Karl’s eyes searched her face.
“They fort up.”
William nodded and shrugged all at once. “Sure, but we don’t have a fort!” The frustration was showing in his voice. “When we build the inn we can make it defensible but we don’t have the inn yet and we can’t build it so long as we have to keep looking over our shoulders for Birchwood and his bravos.”
“Yes, the Inn will help but you’ve got a fort now.” Tanyth’s voice carried conviction and cut through his objections. “The barn.”
Both men stopped and stared at her. “The barn?” William’s voice almost cracked from surprise but Karl’s face took on a thoughtful expression.
She pressed on. “The barn. It’s big enough. It’s where most of the village’s supplies are. It’s where the animals are–or at least most of them. The workroom even has a hearth for cooking.” She paused to consider. “The only thing it doesn’t have is a well.”
The two men looked at each other. Karl turned to her. “What good will being in the barn do us, mum? They can still burn us out, one house at a time.”
Tanyth shrugged. “Yes, they can, but houses can be rebuilt.” She looked pointedly at William. “Children can’t be. If we can keep Birchwood from killing anybody–or stealing the supplies we need for the winter–then there’s nothing he can really do except be a boil on our backsides. Sooner or later he’ll realize that and move on.”
William frowned in thought and pinched his lips together between thumb and forefinger. Karl looked around the village as if measuring it with his eyes.
After a few moments, both men were nodding.
Karl spoke first. “With everybody in one space, guarding would be a lot easier and we’d have a smaller perimeter to watch.”
William agreed. “We’d be packed in cheek by jowl for awhile but splitting the work of feeding everybody and watching the kids...” He shrugged. “More eyes mean less opportunities for Birchwood.”
William sighed and turned to look at the barn back in the trees. “Well, we stayed there the first winter.”
Karl looked shocked. “Why would we have to spend the winter there? Birchwood will be gone soon enough once he realizes he can’t get at us and we’re not going pay.”
William glanced at Tanyth who sighed before she spoke. “Because he’ll probably be so angry that he’ll torch the houses out of spite.”
Karl got very still and turned to look at the village with a slow sweep of his head before looking back at Tanyth and then at William. He sighed. “Well, if we muck out the stalls good and lay down fresh straw, we can put bedrolls there until Frank and the boys get back.”
William nodded his agreement. “And when they get back we’ll have more hands to help with rebuilding.”
The three stood and looked at each other for a few more moments and the sun tipped up over the trees across the Pike. William nodded to Karl. “Help me get Bester in harness and we’ll use the ox cart to move everybody up to the barn.”
Karl nodded.
William turned to Tanyth. “You just moved in, so I hate to have you move again, but...” His voice petered out.
“We’ve not had much time to get settled yet.” Tanyth finished for him.
He shrugged apologetically and she grinned. “I’ll go see if Megan and the kids are up.”
They watched to make sure she arrived safely before turning toward the barn. She slipped into the house and four pair of eyes turned to look at her. “Good morning, everybody. I’m glad to see you all up. We’re going to do something different today!”
Sandy perked up at that. “Really, mum? What’s that? Something fun?”
Tanyth shrugged. “Well, I don’t know if ’fun’ is the word I’d use, but we’ll all sleep better at night, I think.”
Megan caught something in her voice. “What are we going to do today, mum?”
“Move.”
Megan’s eyebrows shot up. “Move? We just moved in. We have to move out?”
Tanyth crossed to the hearth and helped herself to a cup of tea before settling in the circle of children, Megan watching from the hearth. “Yes, well. We have this problem with the bad men.” She addressed her comments to the kids but she was talking to Megan. Sandy sat enraptured by the older woman sitting on the hearthstone with her. “They might have hurt Riley yesterday and we were all trying to be so careful and everything.”
Sandy’s voice chirped in the morning stillness. “Yes, mum, but they didn’t. They gave him back.”
Tanyth nodded and patted the child comfortingly. “Yes, they did, and we are all very glad.” She spared a glance for Megan who knew exactly what she was getting at. “But it taught us a very valuable lesson and we should pay attention to lessons like that.”
Sandy nodded sagely. “Lessons are good. What lesson did we learn, mum?”
She smiled at the earnest young girl. “We learned that no matter how hard we try to watch, we’re spread out too much to be able to see everything we need to in order to stay safe.”
Sandy nodded and Tanyth looked around at the other small faces with a smile.
“So. We learned that we need to get people closer together so we can look out for each other better.”
Sandy sat up. “Well, that makes sense, mum.” A frown crossed her face. “But where?”
“We’re going to move in with Bester.”
The smallest boy’s eyes went suddenly round. “In his stall?” He appeared to be totally aghast. “He’ll poop on us!”
Tanyth laughed and even Megen giggled a bit. “No, lovie. Just in the barn. Bester will keep his stall.” She looked up at Megan. “Although we may be spreading bedrolls in the horses’ stalls for awhile.”
The other boy, not to be outdone, tried his best to catch up. “In the poop?”
Megan barked a laugh. “Boys! That’s enough with the poop. We’ll clean the stalls and they’ll be very nice and comfy.” She sighed in exasperation before looking back at Tanyth with a shrug. “Boys.” It was all the explanation she offered.
Tanyth smiled back with a shrug. “I have one myself.”
Megan looked startled. “You have a boy, mum?”
She nodded. “He left home many, many winters ago and joined the King’s Own.” She glanced at the small round faces looking up at her and paused. “So are we ready for something new today?”
Sandy snorted. “Moving is what we did yesterday.”
Tanyth nodded her agreement. “Well, yes, it was but today you get to move into the barn.”
The little one’s eyes got round as a new thought occurred to him. “Will we get to poop in the straw like Bester?”
“Anthony!” Megan all but shrieked in her embarrassment. “This is not appropriate for breakfast conversation!”
“But, Ma-ah.
We’re movin’ to the barn!”
“Anthony! Hush, now!” Megan tried to look stern but her voice cracked from the strain and she had to hide her face in her hands to stifle the laughter as the whole group dissolved into the giggles.
When the fit of jocularity had run its course, they started picking up the remains of breakfast and started packing things away. As they finished tidying up and began looking around for what to do next, Tanyth heard the crunch of wheels on gravel and William’s low voice talking to the ox. She crossed to the front door, flung it open, and waved to Karl and William as they backed the oxcart up to the door.
William stuck his head into the opening. “Good morning, everyone. You’re the first on a long list! Are you ready?”
The kids danced around in excitement and started a sing song chant of “poopin’ in the straw, poopin’ in the straw.”
Megan let out a shriek. “Anthony!” The children collapsed into giggling puddles and Karl joined William at the door to see what the commotion was about.
William looked at Tanyth. “Fun morning so far?”
She nodded with a rueful grin. “So far. It should be more fun later.”
Karl looked on skeptically.
Behind her she heard a small boy’s voice asking very quietly, “Well, will we?”
Chapter 26
Shadows in the Dark
The sun worked up over the trees and into the morning sky while Bester stood patiently each time the men filled the cart. He ambled to the barn, and waited again while ready hands unloaded each household’s goods in turn. Tanyth and Megan moved into the barn first. The large box stalls felt cramped compared to a full household, but were more than large enough for bedrolls. The stalls themselves needed little cleaning. Frank kept his team in exceptional condition and William had already prepared the stalls for Frank’s return at the next full moon. A few extra forks full of straw and the bedrolls laid flat and smooth around the sides of the stall, leaving the middle of the stall clear. Nobody needed to step over, or on, anybody else getting into or out of their bedrolls.
The single quarrymen–Karl, Kurt, and Matthew–helped get everybody settled. Karl and Matthew took Anthony out behind the workroom and worked to dig a new privy just outside the back door and by mid-afternoon, they’d set up a respectable privy, complete with house, seat, and at Anthony’s insistence, a lining of straw.
William looked it over and nodded his approval. “Nice job, Anthony.” He winked at the quarrymen and they went back to moving the village to safety.
Thomas and Jakey spent the day walking the perimeter of the village, watching the woods, and keeping an eye on things. During the early stages of the move, the children gathered in the barn and parents counted them twice before they placed a much chastened Riley in charge of keeping track of them all. The children played in the large box stall across from Bester’s and every adult in the barn made sure they all stayed in it.
Riley soon organized a game involving much posturing and fighting of bandits. It shocked Tanyth to find that at least two of the little girls had picked up sticks and held them like walking staffs. Amber saw her notice and pursed her lips in amusement. “You’ve had quite an effect on our lives, mum.” She lowered her eyes, embarrassed. “We’re very grateful.”
Tanyth made a gruff sounding growl but hugged the younger woman briefly before clearing the way for Bester and the cart backing with the next load of household goods.
At midday, Amber, Tanyth, and Sadie fired up the hearth in the workroom and pulled a large pot out of stores. They set to work making a kettle-full of soup with items from the storeroom. As more families joined the group, more hands turned to the process of keeping the company fed and happy. They even built long tables down the middle of the spacious workroom by spanning saw horses with planks. Sawed logs topped with more planks formed benches down either side.
Things got a little tight as more households came into the barn. It became clear that the barn didn’t contain enough stalls for every household to have one. The three single quarrymen moved their bedrolls up to the hayloft which left just enough room for the married couples to each have their own. Bethany, whose husband, Ethan, was on the road with Frank, shyly moved her bedroll in with Tanyth, Megan, and the children.
Sadie and Charlotte spent the afternoon making bread, and the aromas wafted through the barn and mingled with the scent of straw and animal in a way that touched something in Tanyth’s heart. An oversized kettle of boiling water kept tea brewing all through the day. The soup simmered and added a savory undercurrent to the aromas of yeasty bread and musky tea. As each household moved in, the atmosphere became less grim and more festive. The workroom at the back of the barn, with its hearth and long table, became the central gathering spot and hub of activity.
As the sun slipped behind the tops of the trees to the west, Tanyth stood in the open barn doors with Thomas and watched William and Bester make the last trip from the village. With the final household moved, William put Bester in his stall and gave him an extra scoop of grain and fresh water as a reward for a tedious job well done. Thomas swung the big barn doors closed and dropped a bar into place to keep them closed before telling off the three first-shift guards. With a grin and a final pat on Bester’s flank, William led the way to the workroom with Thomas and Tanyth trailing behind.
Amber waved Tanyth to a place of honor near the hearth as they entered and, if the night was chilly outside, the full population of the village, along with a roaring fire in the large hearth served to raise the temperature in the room to something approaching summertime levels. She saw William’s eyes rove around the room, counting noses and making sure everybody was there except for the three men he knew were on lookout duty.
Tanyth saw his shoulders relax a bit as he realized that the day was finally over. She smiled and toasted him with her mug of tea. “Excellent job getting everybody moved, William.”
He nodded his head in acknowledgement. “Thank you, mum. Bester did all the hard work, but everybody here deserves congratulations on a job well done.” As he and Tanyth had begun speaking, the room quieted down until everybody could hear him clearly. He raised his mug of tea in the general direction of the room. “So congratulations everybody!”
The gathered throng met his announcement with much laughter and pounding of the table.
Tanyth thought he looked tired as he settled back into his chair and watched Amber at the hearth, but that thought was interrupted as Amber turned to her, ladle in hand. “Mum? If you’d care to bless the house, I’ll get this soup served to a bunch of hungry people.”
Tanyth snorted a little laugh. “I don’t know when I’ve done more blessin’ in all my life.” She turned to William and played to the room. “I just got the last house blessed and you made me move. You’re not gonna make me move again in the mornin’ are ya?”
They all laughed and even William smiled at the jab. “No, mum. Not unless you’re able to bless that rascal Birchwood into leavin’ us alone!” His voice jested but his eyes seem to plead with her. She saw and shared his pain. In all likelihood the barn would be the last building standing by morning. It threatened to be a long winter.
The room grew still as Tanyth settled her mug on the mantle board and stood up from her chair. She lifted her head to remember where the cardinal directions lay and stepped to the center of the hearthstone where everyone could see her and where she had room to move about a bit. The large room seemed almost crowded with so many villagers in it. She thought, briefly about Frank and the boys out on the road and sent them a silent prayer of support even as she closed her eyes and gathered herself to make an offering to the All-Mother in the name of the village.
She turned to face the north and raised her arms in supplication. “I call upon the Guardian of the North, Bones of the Earth, to give us the strength we need to face the challenge that lies before us.” A quarter turn to her right raised her seamed face to the east. “I call upon the Guardian of the East, Breath of
the Earth, to fill our lungs with breath to sing the praises of the All-Mother and the All-Father in this, our time of adversity.” Another quarter turn to face south. “I call upon the Guardian of the South, Spirit of the Earth, to give us the will and the passion to see our trials through to the end.” Another turn faced her to the west. “I call upon the Guardian of the West, Blood of the Earth, to give us the flexibility of water, to flow where we can and to nourish as we flow.” She turned once more to face the north and close her circle. “I beg the blessings and protections of the Guardians on this place and the people gathered in it. I ask in the name of the All-Father and the All-Mother. So mote it be.”
She lowered her arms and stepped off the hearthstone to resume her seat without looking up. The room was silent except for the crackling of the fire and the wind through the eaves of the barn. No one spoke. No foot stirred or stool scraped. Tanyth felt their eyes on her but also felt very weak in the knees. The heat of the room and the tension of the day conspired against her and she was glad she to be seated. She reached for her mug and wet her lips with a sip of tea before looking down the long table. Slowly she came back to herself, and even in the heat of the fire behind her began to recover from whatever had caused the odd dizziness. All the faces were looking back at her silently. “What?” she asked. “Was I supposed to juggle eggs or somethin’?”
The unseen string in the room snapped and life resumed with laughter.
Amber, Sadie, and Charlotte started dishing up the food, with slabs of fresh bread in baskets passed down the length of the table followed by bowls of the rich stew until everybody had bread and bowl. Bethany and Megan had pots of tea and jugs of fresh water for drink and in a matter of a few minutes everyone was served and seated. The noise in the room consisted of spoons on bowls and appreciative murmurs for several minutes. Some of the more adventurous–and hungry–came back to the hearth for another bowl full.
William sat on one side of the table and Tanyth sat at the other while Amber sat next to her husband and Sadie sat beside Tanyth. From there the villagers stretched down the long boards until the level dropped to the children at the end where a good deal of happy chatter and giggling boiled up. In spite of the last few days, the children saw living in the barn as a grand lark and an opportunity to play. Tanyth smiled to herself. To them, it probably was.
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