Megan shrugged. “Well, nobody left to ask now, but as often as he was over there, I always figured he was fillin’ more than her woodbox.”
They giggled for a bit but it soon subsided. Sadie offered a final comment in the tones of a prayer. “May the All-Mother and All-Father find them place in the Summerlands together, if that’s so.” She looked up at Tanyth. “Kurt. Bless him.”
They sat there for a moment, thinking private thoughts and finally, Tanyth rose. “I think I will lay down now.”
“It’s getting on dinner time, mum? Would you like something to eat?”
Tanyth looked outside and saw the dusk pooling in the corners of the barn. “Not just now. If you’d leave me a loaf of bread and a bit of cheese? I’ll toast some over the hearth in a bit. Right now, I think I should lay down.”
They helped her onto her cot and she let them fuss over her, tucking her in and making much of her progress. She smiled and settled into the delicious comfort of the woolen blankets. The two women dumped the tub and set the pots and kettles in order before giving her a small wave and heading back to their own houses.
Tanyth lay on the soft edge of slumber for some time, the soft coals in the hearth appearing to glow more brightly as day faded to night. She drifted on wings of whimsy, considering the raven dreams, and the way Frank’s shoulders filled out his shirt. “Old fool.” She muttered to herself. It was the last thing she heard as she fell over the edge into sleep.
31
Another Moving Day
“Good morning, mum. Ready to move?” William stood at the back door of the workroom with a smile on his face and his arm in a sling.
Tanyth turned from banking the fire in the hearth and smiled. “William, it’s so good to see you.” She eyed his shoulder. “You know, I thought he’d killed you.”
William grinned. “So did I.” He paused with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “Then I woke up with a corpse on me and big hunk of steel in my shoulder and I was sure of it. But how are you, mum? Sadie said you want to move back to your house this morning? Had enough livin’ in the barn then?”
Tanyth laughed softly. “Yes. I didn’t really expect to be here quite so long, but now that the problem has been dealt with…” She shrugged. “I’m ready to move back to my house.”
He smiled and gazed into her eyes. “Thank you, mum. You saved us all, you know.”
“Oh, go on. I nearly got you killed and that poor boy Kurt? I didn’t do much to save him.”
He gave a half shrug in acknowledgement. “Alright, maybe not all.” He smiled again. “But without your warnin’ and without your actions here…” His voice trailed off. “Well, I’d hate to think of what might have happened.”
“Then don’t. Stop being silly and give me a hand with my pack.”
He grinned. “Oh, we’ll do more than that!” He stepped back from the door and a veritable parade of people came into the room led by Jakey.
In less than a quarter hour, the men had rolled up the bedding, and grabbed the cot, Tanyth’s pack, and even a few of the storage baskets and two water buckets. It all went onto the barrow that waited just outside the door. Jakey himself took the handles and started trundling it down the track.
Tanyth watched with an amused expression on her face until William offered her his good arm. “Shall we go, mum?”
She smiled up at him. “Thank you, William. I was a little afraid you were going to put me in the barrow, too.”
“The thought had occurred to me, mum. But I was a little leery about the struggle you’d probably put up.” He grinned. “I’m not sure I could win it.”
She smiled, clapped her hat on her head, and took up her staff before accepting his arm. They started a gentle amble in the wake of the men with the barrow.
William lowered his voice and turned to her as they walked. “Can I ask you something, mum?”
She glanced up at him briefly but nodded and looked back at her feet to make sure she didn’t stumble. “Ask away.”
“Are you a witch, mum?”
Tanyth’s bark of laughter echoed down the trail and Karl, who was tailing the procession, looked back with a quizzical expression for a moment.
William laughed softly himself. “I didn’t really think you’d find it that funny, mum.”
She patted his arm. “It just took me by surprise, William. Of all the things you might have wanted to ask, that wasn’t one that I expected.”
They walked along in silence for a few steps while Tanyth thought about her answer. “I don’t know.” She glanced up at him. “What’s a witch?”
He screwed his mouth into a grimace and nodded. “Fair point.” After a couple more steps he tried again. “Do you do magic? How did you know? Was it another raven dream?” The questions came out in a tumble.
She sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t think that magic exists, but if it doesn’t then none of this makes sense.” She looked up at him again. “In my dreams, I can see through the raven’s eye. I see like I’m her and I see what she sees. Sometimes it’s confusing.” Tanyth paused, not sure how much to say. “She likes to eat hornets. She sees things differently, but she sees enough of what’s happening to give me the warnings that we needed.”
“Hornets, mum?”
She shrugged. “One dream, while I was healing, she was hungry and ate some dropped apples from under a tree in the forest. They were covered with hornets after the sweet and she ate them, too.”
William looked at her in awe. “That’s amazing, mum.”
Tanyth nodded. “I’m not sure I believe it myself, but if it’s not happening, then how did I know? Did I really know or was it just a dream? But if it t’was just a dream then what about the fire and Birchwood and all?”
William took a deep breath and blew it out. “Yeah. That’s a riddle, for sure, mum.” They walked along a bit before the next question bubbled out of him. “It’s always the same raven?”
She nodded. “She defends her turf, and we’re in it. She finds us interesting to watch.”
He blinked. “Interesting to watch?”
She shrugged. “You tore the houses down and lined up the logs?”
He seemed startled. “Yes, mum. Did the raven show you that?”
Tanyth pointed to the spike of a tall fir tree. “She likes to sit up there and look.” She paused. “She sees a lot.”
William nodded, eying the tree. “Is she up there now?”
Tanyth shrugged. “I don’t know. I can only see through her eyes when I’m asleep, I think. She could be up there, hidden in the branches.” She shrugged again. “Or she could be out looking for food.”
“Is that the only magic you can do?” William seemed genuinely curious. “If you don’t mind my askin’, mum?”
She smiled and patted his arm again. “I don’t mind, William, but I’m afraid my answers will seem a bit like the ravings of a madwoman.” She snorted. “Which, in a certain sense, they are.”
“Mum? I’d sooner believe Amber is mad than you.” He looked at her seriously. “And she’s as sane as the day is long.”
“Well, I don’t know if it’s magic or a gift from the All-Mother or what, but that’s about the extent of my powers, if that’s what you wanna call ‘em.” She decided not to tell him about the dream of foretelling. She didn’t know if that were real or just some odd brain trick brought on by the shock of the fight.
“Really, mum?” His tone said he believed her, but there was another question on his mind. “Then how’d you kill Mort and Andrew? You didn’t cast a spell on them?”
She shook her. “No. Nothing magic.” She sighed. “I was terrified. I bashed their heads in with my staff.”
William stopped in his tracks. “You did what?”
Tanyth looked a bit chagrined. “I bashed their heads in. The first one as he stepped through the door. He never saw me. Birchwood, he was a bit more difficult.” She sighed.
“Mum? You faced down a man with a sword? And killed him with your s
taff?” William was astonished.
“What did you think happened?” Her forehead furrowed.
It was William’s turn to look chagrined. “I thought you’d spelled them to death.” He shrugged and eyed her staff. “I thought it was just a walking stick.”
She looked at her staff. “It’s good solid oak shod with cold iron, William. I’ve been usin’ it to fend off unwanted attention for twenty winters or more.” She grinned. “Most boyos don’t think an old lady with a stick is much of a challenge.”
He grinned back. “You have to admit, mum. It is a bit odd.”
She snorted. “Women been using brooms as weapons for long as there’s been brooms. This one just lacks the brush on the end. Besides, Birchwood didn’t have a sword. Just his dagger.” She paused. “And he came within an inch of killin’ me with it.”
He regarded her evenly for a few moments. “Does it bother you, mum?”
“What? That I killed them?”
He nodded.
She thought about it. “No. Not in the way you think.” She paused. “I’m sorry it was necessary. I don’t regret doing it when the need arose. They could have left us alone at any time. They didn’t.” She shrugged. “It was necessary. I did it.”
He thought about that for several long moments before offering his arm once more and they continued along the trail.
She glanced up at him. “Do you think me cold, William?”
He considered her out of the side of his eye before shaking his head. “No, mum. Not cold.” He shook his head. “But if Birchwood had known, he’d have gotten on his horse and kept riding until he was far away from here.”
She snorted. “If he had, he’d likely still be alive.” She looked up at him and tugged on his arm to get his attention. “But some other village would be threatened because he was too stupid and too arrogant to make an honest living.”
William blew out a slow breath. “You’ve the right of it there, mum. You most certainly do.”
They strolled in silence for the rest of the short walk, and in a few more minutes William helped her down the steps into her hut.
Jakey and the boys had laid a fire for her, and it was catching nicely as she entered. The cot and tick were set up, and her pack hung from a peg by the door. The woodbox and water bucket were both full and the spare baskets stood in the corner opposite the root cellar. There was even a set of crockery on the mantle board.
She stood her staff beside the door and hung her hat on the peg. “This was very considerate. Thank them for me?”
William nodded. “I’ll leave you to get settled, mum. Amber asked me to invite you to dinner tonight, so don’t worry about fixin’ a meal.”
She nodded. “That would be wonderful, thank you.”
He nodded and knuckled his forehead. “My pleasure, mum. If you need anything, just yell.”
He left the door open for the light and returned to the construction site.
She crossed to the hearth and noted that the water bubbled already and that some thoughtful person had left her a box of tea and a loaf of fresh bread. She smiled to herself and rinsed the teapot with hot water before beginning to brew. She sighed in satisfaction as she lowered herself onto an honest chair with a solid back instead of a stool. She looked around with a critical eye and had to admit, it felt like home.
While the tea steeped, she settled back to think about what she needed to accomplish before the snow came and what she could collect and store to work on over the dark months of deep winter. She sat and thought and planned as patches of sunlight traced their slow paths across the floor.
After what felt like a short time she realized that the mug in her hand held cold tea and that she could barely keep her eyes open. The unaccustomed exercise and stress of moving pressed her to close the doors and curl up on her cot with a blanket pulled over her. “Old woman needs her nap of a morning?” She asked herself the question but didn’t get a chance to answer before slumber stole her away.
The activity in the yard below gave her something to look at, but she needed food. She took wing to soar deeper into the forest. The dropped apples were still there and delicious. She gorged on them but wished for meat—a rabbit perhaps or a squirrel. The cold wriggly things from the pond would do almost as well. She jumped into the air and winged to the pond but the hunting was not good and she only found one small frog. She hopped up to a broken limb and preened a bit in the warm sun. She felt winter approaching and knew she needed to hunt.
Tanyth awoke just before noon and took advantage of the fresh bread and a small block of cheese to make a light lunch for herself. Preparing the simple meal was a delicious change of pace from the round of rich broths and soups that had been made for her while convalescing. The routine activity let her think about what William had called her magic. Soaring with the raven during her nap showed her nothing of note, other than the raven felt the coming of winter and was driven to find as much food as she could. Tanyth considered that and wondered if she could help the raven, even as the raven had helped her. She made a mental note to ask Thomas for a plump squirrel the next time she saw him.
32
Gifts
Frank turned the lorry wagon off the Pike and back into the village just as the sun slipped down behind the trees, three days before the full Axe Moon. Everyone turned out to greet the returning party with much laughter and celebration. The somber note of Kurt’s loss was overshadowed by the news that Birchwood and his gang were no more. Tanyth stood at her front door and watched the reunions but stayed back out of the melee.
After a few minutes of dooryard greetings, William climbed up beside Frank and they took the wagon up toward the barn. Most of the village followed along in the wake while Tanyth went back into her house and poked up the fire a bit. The evening was cold and she still needed some warmer clothing. She was wearing three layers of shirt already and sidled up to the fire to avoid having to put on her coat as well.
“You could have more than a small smudge of a fire.” She muttered to herself but didn’t take action. She knew every stick she burned would be one that William or one of the others would have to replace. She had organized Riley and some of the older children into a kind of work party to help her harvest some of the forest’s bounty. They’d done very well dragging back several gleaner’s bags full of apples. They saw harvesting the groundnuts as riotous adventure—if a bit muddier than she’d expected. She kicked herself over that one. She should have realized that at least half of the children would fall into the pond at some point or other—either accidentally or on purpose. She sighed but laughed softly at the memory. “Cute li’l buggers, they are.”
The tea water came up to a boil and she was just thinking about what she wanted to brew when she heard footsteps approaching the house. She went to the door and opened it as Frank raised his hand to knock. His face split in a smile that seemed to glow in the dark against his weathered face. “Good evenin’, mum. I hope I didn’t disturb you, but I thought you might like this.” He held out a cotton bag. “The rest of the things you wanted are up at the store room, but I thought you might like your oatmeal tonight.”
She found her own face had taken on a smile to match his but she wasn’t sure if she were happier to see him or the oatmeal. “That was very thoughtful of you, Frank.” She took the bag from him. “Would you like to come in and sit? Have a cup of tea? I was just about to brew a pot.”
He nodded. “Thank you, mum. I’d love a cup.” He grinned. “But maybe I’ll stand. I’ve been sittin’ a lot the last few days.”
She chuckled sympathetically and stepped back so he could come in. He closed the door and followed her to the fire. He stepped up close to the flame and warmed himself while she christened the pot and then set about brewing some rose hips.
She realized that he wasn’t saying much, just staring into the fire and absorbing the warmth.
“How was the trip?”
He shrugged. “Long. The first week or so, we were afrai
d that they might come after us. Being out in the open, movin’ slow, and with the horses. We took turns guardin’. It worked out alright. The boys stayed up all night and then put down their bedrolls in the wagon for most of the day. First few days were the worst and then they got used to sleepin’ while we were movin’.”
She made a sympathetic noise. “How was it traveling with a crew?”
He shot her a sideways glance and snorted. “Not as bad as I thought. They’re a funny bunch.” He turned and presented his backside to the flames. “We were half mad with worry the whole time.” His voice barely rose above the crackling fire.
She offered him a mug of hot tea and then took her chair. “Oh, we were worried about you as well at first, but then Birchwood paid us so much attention, we were pretty sure you were safe.”
Frank gave a small sideways shrug. “Yeah, well, he wouldn’t want to interfere with the money, mum. It would not be in his best interest to keep us from market—especially since he’d expect us to bring back money.”
She sipped her tea and nodded.
“All the way back we expected him to come jumpin’ out of the trees after us.” His voice turned serious. “We were all so worried about what he might be doin’ here. It was hard to stop at night to give the horses enough rest.” He sipped at his mug and gave her a sideways glance. “Are you ok, mum? William said you’d been hurt?”
She glanced down reflexively. “I’m ok now. It’s still not fully healed but as long as I go easy, it’s ok.” She smiled up at him. “No lastin’ damage.”
He nodded over his cup but didn’t smile. “He also said you killed two of them?”
“Sometimes you have to put an animal down.” Tanyth frowned into her mug. “Not somethin’ anybody likes doin’ but sometimes it has to be done.”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
The conversation lapsed for a bit but the silence was more comfortable than awkward.
Frank broke the silence first. “I see they’ve moved the inn up to the pump.”
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