by Vance Huxley
Viktor wouldn’t be short of stew or roast the rest of the winter and possibly summer. Hektor had come on the hunt and despite needing most of the meat to see the pair over winter, Bliss sent some to her Da. Perry brought home a full half-share, and in addition Timath and Ellibeth had their hut-guarding pay. Spot’s earnings were definitely substantial, and a cause of much hilarity around the Village. Some of that had an edge because those saying it knew how the idea would burn Edan, especially with all the difficulty he had feeding his own dogs.
Viktor also benefitted from extra business, from the sudden influx of fine pelts needing proper attention. Most Hunters also paid for that in meat, and Viktor started joking that he had more meat to trade than a Hunter. Perry found himself busy for once, preparing the other hides and better still he carefully cured his own share and put them on display. The proof of his improving skills, especially on the pelt, would bring extra business through the summer. Billi refused to let Perry keep the Elk horns at his hut for showing the maids while Billi went hunting. Presumably he found somewhere else.
Billi traded some of his meat against future hides which he intended trading for more salt from the caravans before the fish run. He also traded against two more chairs and a decent bed, all made to split down for carrying. Billi wanted to improve the hut out in the valley, and make it even more of a home. Billi would have a small but snug dwelling by next winter, especially with the pieces to build a small stove that the Blacksmith had started making.
There were a lot of jokes about what Billi intended doing next year to liven winter up. Some were already talking of a repeat Winter Hunt if he couldn’t find another Great-Boar or maybe a Great-Bull, as there were half a dozen valleys there. Billi suggested that if a group hunted a different one each year and only made one trip that would make little difference to the prey available. The six years before Hunters went through the first valley again would provide another crop of prime adults. The Hunters took him seriously, and solemnly agreed to do just that but with one definite addition, next time there would be two ponies.
* * *
Eventually the snow started to melt and the first Tinkerer caravan came down the trail in their brightly painted wooden wagons. First visitors and last, the Tinkerers always pushed the winter hard at both ends to stretch their season. That also allowed them to claim the pick of the goods, and they did pay well for quality. Billi withstood the beguiling and parted with a selection of the small plush pelts he’d taken around the lakes to spoil himself with a new set of knives. They were a bit flashy but as he hunted alone nobody else would ever see the beautiful wavy pattern in the blades. More importantly they were superb quality as all such blades were.
Billi also allowed himself to be beguiled out of two of the small white pelts. With all the new Billi-huts planned, his own seemed more empty which had made this a long, lonely winter for him. The Tinkerer maids truly didn’t seem to see or care about his stump, and Billi discovered that the tattoos on at least one were both exotic and extensive.
Billi really enjoyed Springfest, his third dance, sitting with the older men who were very interested in a first-hand account of the Winter Hunt. They speculated about this fish farm, then resorted to determined probing to try and work out where it might be. Everyone now knew that Billi went off for at least a seven-day every moon, though the young Hunters were too polite to simply follow him. There were unwritten rules between Hunters out in the Forest, and the Hounds would know if one followed another to find a special hunting spot.
* * *
Mid-spring brought an outbreak of the spotted fever which sent two older folk and five of the littluns to the rock. Billi felt relieved that it passed him by, and that the fever spared Viktor’s family. Rubyn had the light rash that meant a mild case and that meant he probably wouldn’t get it again, a cause for some muted celebration.
While the fever worked its way through the Village, Billi stuck to his hut, and most folk did the same, stayed at home if they could rather than risk catching the fever. Though the ten-days Billi spent in his valley, catching up after the spring thaw, was a little more extreme than most avoidance. Perry, Timath and Ellibeth were all happy to look after his hut while he did so, possibly to get out of their crowded home. Billi had been worried about Ellibeth if Edan’s friends came again, but she reckoned she’d skin the three of them if they turned up.
In the moon following the fever, something changed in the Village. Billi didn’t realise at first, but finally noticed a gradual lessening in the number of smiles as he made his way down the street. The second time Perry turned up to look after the hut with skinned knuckles, Billi sat him down to find out why. “Just rumours and we all know where they come from, Billi, but some folk will believe anything.”
“About what, Perry?” All that Billi could think of was Ellibeth but that battle had already been fought once over Bliss. Unless Edan wanted another black eye and split lip, because this time Billi would thump him personally.
“There’s folk saying you brought the spotted fever. That you had it and went to hide in the Forest, so none would know where it came from.” Perry scowled. “Nobody is actually saying that, but everyone has heard. That sort of thing.”
“But you know I didn’t.”
Perry brandished his knuckles. “I’ve just explained that, again. The trouble is that those grieving littluns will look for any reason, anything to blame. There’s them that are feeding the flames, if I could just catch one of them at it.”
“You tell me if you find one. Don’t you be getting in the same state as Timath.” The answer had baffled Billi. “How am I supposed to have brought this fever?”
“Some say you caught it from Tinkerer beguilers, but in that case you wouldn’t be the only one. Everyone knows, if they think twice, that the Tinkerer beguilers are cleaner than the Trader maids in the purple wagons.” Perry gave a short laugh. “Those are cheaper though, which means they get more visitors. Folk should be looking closer at them as visit there.”
“What else, there must be more rumours because two minute’s thought makes a nonsense of that idea?” Billi would have been angry, but just like when Timath had been beaten he had no target.
“The other reason for the fever is that you’ve been playing fast and loose with the Law and the Wild is taking revenge.” Perry shook his head. “The trouble with that is that most have never been out there so any nonsense might be believable. There’s tales that the reed bed and this mystery fish pond have broken the Laws.”
“But everyone knows the fever goes from person to person. There are no people out in the Forest.” Billi snorted. “Anyway, if the Wild doesn’t like what a Hunter does, the Wild will take the Hunter and the Hound.”
“The Hunters all say that. That’s one group who seem solidly behind you Billi, but a good few villagers consider all Hunters a bit strange.” Perry glanced at Rabbit. “It’s the way you all know what your Hound is thinking, how you don’t always give a command but the Hound does it.” The youth shrugged. “As I said, all nonsense and no proof but the rumours keep coming back and stick a bit more each time.”
Billi thought about it, but unless someone spoke to him directly, he couldn’t just thump someone on suspicion. “With luck it will pass. Thank ye, Perry, but don’t get in strife over me.”
“I don’t need to Billi.” Perry grinned. “I can find my own.”
* * *
But the rumours didn’t pass, probably because someone kept feeding them. Going into the Village began to feel unpleasant for Billi, with pointing fingers and whispers following him down the street. Billi gradually gave up his occasional visits to the alehouse after a few started whispering together and glaring. Eventually he only ventured into the Village when going to the traders he needed to see.
The rumours continued to grow very gradually through the summer and some of the businesses in the Village such as the Brewer and the Potter became less welcoming. The majority of tradespeople still seemed pleased
to do business with Billi, especially those who did most trade with the Hunters, so he just stayed away from the others. The Blacksmith and Fellip both made a point of letting Billi know they considered the whole thing to be nonsense, as did Viktor. The occasional Hunter still called by his hut for an ale and a bit of gossip, so even as he pulled back from the Village Billi didn’t end up in his previous solitary state.
The suspicious stares and hard glares hurt a bit more than before, though Billi felt sure some would be the same old reason. Billi one-leg, cripple, half-man who had a Hound, but a crippled Hound. He and Rabbit were marked by that and some just didn’t like anything different, or were jealous about Rabbit even with his three legs. Billi had learned to live with it, keep to himself, but after a year of being accepted and even making friends he’d let his guard down.
Though Billi’s life stayed better in one way because through the long days of late spring and summer Billi and Rabbit roamed the green whenever they wished, for as long as they wanted. They made some long trips out in different directions but found nothing exceptional, though they were in unexplored Forest where the game knew nothing of Hunters. They ate well, and new streams meant finding occasional stones and this year a few gold nuggets. Maybe spending so long in the Forest didn’t help with the rumours and bad feeling, but it made Billi and Rabbit feel better.
Billi spent a lot of time making his valley more and more domesticated. He took up the reeds where they were thin and planted them where he wanted them thick, and removed the last small shrubs from the water’s edge. The bramble shoots he had planted grew riotously so Billi put on thick hide gloves and bent and plaited the thorny branches together into a thick barrier, a real fence now. There were hints from the elders that if this fish farming experiment hadn’t failed, it had worked, in which case Billi should show someone where it was? Billi wasn’t ready to do that yet so he deliberately misunderstood the hints. He loved the quiet and solitude in the valley, especially with the current attitude in the Village, and felt unwilling to share it.
* * *
Just as the fruits and berries out in the Forest were starting to ripen, Viktor came round one evening for a talk. The Tanner didn’t usually come to Billi’s hut, and Billi immediately assumed it had to do with rumours and wondered what else had been invented. “This is really difficult, Billi. I hope ye don’t take it amiss because ‘tis just bad mouths again, but it’s affecting my family now.” Viktor did look ill at ease instead of his usual self.
“Are they taking trade elsewhere, Viktor?” That was all Billi could come up with.
Viktor actually laughed. “I wish it were. They’d get second best and my loyal customers would benefit in the trading. As it is, ‘tis the Hunters bring my trade and they don’t believe a word. This is about Ellibeth.”
“Ah. The same as with Bliss. It will be a pity to miss out on the hot pies waiting, but Timath and Perry can guard well enough.” Billi smiled. “Especially if they bring Spots.”
“Oh no, you won’t get rid of Ellibeth like that! There’s a wide streak of her Ma’s contrariness in that maid, and she’ll keep coming unless ye actually lock the door.” Viktor sighed. “I’m worried about her reputation and future prospects. Enough mud is being thrown for some to stick with those as don’t know us well. ‘Tis the overnights.”
“But I’m leagues away, deep in the Forest. Every Hound knows that if the folk don’t.” Billi knew he’d never find who said whatever it was, though he had got a definite hankering for thumping someone.
“Ah, the thing is Ellibeth really does sleep in your bed then, even if it is with Rubyn, so the plain statement is true. Then someone hints that maybe you come back early.” Viktor sighed, again. “Hints are hard to counter. The Hunters say ye don’t but a good few think Hunters are strange anyway, and that’s part of the rumours.”
Billi sighed as well. He knew all about hints plaguing someone. “Then Ellibeth stops sleeping here and just guards and cleans in the day. That should stop the nonsense.”
“Not according to Ellibeth because she says to stop now will hint it’s true. I tell you Billi, she’s got her heels dug in. These rumours have really rubbed her fur the wrong way. She stood in the mill and pointed out loud and clear that Rubyn is always at Billi’s hut with her.” Viktor chuckled. “She took Rubyn with her and asked if anyone wanted to ask him, asked loud enough for everyone to hear.” Viktor shook his head “Said no sneaking liar who wouldn’t stand up plain was telling her what to do.”
Billi chuckled. “Bet that pinned some ears back.” He sighed again, it was that sort of talk. “But if I say I don’t need her overnight, since you’re worried about her reputation? Though I won’t say that!” Billi added the last bit as he saw the alarm in Viktor’s eyes.
“Ellibeth would be upset, Billi. She’s stood up now and told the Village she isn’t stopping. Ellibeth is mad clear through and won’t listen to reason.” Viktor sounded completely flummoxed.
“There has to be a way to sort it out. A way so she can stop over, but not in my bed.” The two of them stared at the offending bed. “There isn’t room for another bed.”
“Even then, there isn’t room for a wall to split one from the other.” Viktor looked around the hut. “This place just isn’t big enough for that.”
They drank another ale each, chewing around and around it, then another ale and suddenly Billi grinned. “I’ve got a solution.” He quickly outlined it.
Viktor sat bemused. “Well, it would work, there’s nobody could say it didn’t. But that’s a bit extreme, Billi.” He scratched his head. “Expensive as well.”
“What’s the reputation of a decent maid worth? Most of what I’ll need will come from the Forest anyway, so the cost won’t be that much.” Billi chuckled. “I’d love to hear the rumour mongers work their way around that!”
“So would I, especially if I hear them trying.” Viktor’s eye got a nasty little glint in it at that. He wasn’t a big man but Viktor cared deeply for his littluns, no matter how big they’d grown. “Though I don’t fancy trying to persuade Ellibeth.”
“So don’t.” Billi wasn’t sure if the sudden giggle was ale or the idea. “We’ll keep it a secret until it’s too late.”
Viktor laughed out loud. “That’ll be some trick. I’m going to hide while you tell her.” He sobered a bit. “But it’ll take some planning, and we’ll have to keep Timath and Perry quiet.” His grin grew again. “But I want to be in the alehouse when the news breaks.”
“Good a place to hide as any if Ellibeth blames you?” They both toasted each other with the last ale in the mugs, and Viktor went down the track chuckling. Billi set off to explain to his Sis, because the hut would be hers one day. He’d been a bit apprehensive since he kept out of her way usually, but she shocked him by giving him a hug and wishing him luck! Despite all the changes since the Wood Hunt that had to be one of the strangest things that had happened. Billi went home bemused because Sis seemed to mean it, and didn’t seem to be holding any grudge at all.
* * *
On his next trips Billi went back out to where he had seen fallen trees, too far for anyone to haul them home, and scouted a decent route to bring them back. They were only too far unless someone decided to be a little bit stubborn, someone who didn’t have to pay the Hunter’s tenth or for all the Hunters to guard. Billi felt both angry and stubborn, and even dipped into his nest egg to arrange the hire of ponies.
Then Billi went to see the Carpenter with a proposition. At first Adalmar seemed very cool about talking to Billi, until he realised what he’d been offered. He’d end up with part of a new tree and the location of a second, without paying the Hunter’s tenth, and at least one free guard while fetching it. The second tree would be the remainder of the payment for the work, but mostly a bonus if he kept quiet until after the job.
That meant Billi explaining why, and once he realised the reason for the work Adalmar thawed a little and agreed to the deal with better grace. Several days l
ater Billi, Hektor, Perry and Timath took six ponies and Adalmar out into the Forest for six days. That meant Ellibeth sleeping in Billi’s bed, but even the worst rumour monger couldn’t explain why Adalmar would lie about Billi’s whereabouts.
On the sixth day the ponies dragged the tree out of the Forest and up to Adalmar’s yard and the whole Village knew where they’d been. The carpenter began cutting and splitting straight away, and fending off enquiries and offers for timber. Perry, Timath and Gordi, the Thatcher’s nephew, set into digging big rocks out of the rougher pastures. Farmers never minded that since it improved their grazing, especially when the youths loaded the rocks into a hired pony cart and took them to Billi’s plot.
Syman the stonecutter came round to look at the job, extending Billi’s hut four paces. “Are you feeling cramped Billi? Or thinking of moving a maid in?” Syman held up his hands, “Sorry, I don’t mean the rumours, I meant it as a joke.”
Billi believed him so he smiled. “Maybe I am, Syman, and maybe I need a bit more room with the bit of luck I’ve been having. Can ye do it?”
“Yes, and since you’ve offered to pay for the best I’ll cut good building stone for the corners from Skull Rock. That’ll make a few more niches for the next skulls at the same time.” Syman eyed up the marks showing the size of the extension. “You’ll hire a pony and cart and supply labour to move the stones?”
“Yes, and Perry, Timath and Gordi will dig a foundation and fill the trench with big cobbles from the riverbank near the ford.”
“Ask them to put gravel in to fill the cracks and keep it all firm.” Syman looked around. “Those rocks from the pastures will do for building the walls themselves, along with some of the ones from the old end wall. I’d best be at it so you can move back in before it snows.”
Billi hesitated, because this might let the cat out of the bag. “Leave that wall until the place is weather-proof will you Syman, then I don’t have to move out.”
