Though Jindera had urged Audin to spend the night with them, he decided to continue on. She handed him a packed containing the remainder of the prepared food and the letter for the elders. Corin added coins to the pouch.
Once Audin left, Jindera turned to Corin. “We need to take the road from this village where thee sought the new yarn. Since we travel that way to find where the Inner Circle abides, we can stop at the farm. Perhaps thee can gain another exclusive.”
Corin laughed. “Thee are learning peddler’s ways. We can stop, but what if another peddler has visited the farm?
Jindera wrinkled her nose. “I asked the tavern owner and he told me no others have come.” She climbed onto the seat. “Since we have the cart and the wares, being a peddler suits me.”
“There are other things we can do. Thee have thy Jewel.”
“And thee have healing skills.”
“I do.” He met her gaze. “I don’t think we should ask for coins when we heal since we have a way to earn our living.”
“What if Liara decides differently?” she asked. “If we learn how to destroy the Jewels, our healing abilities may lessen.”
“I don’t think so. We both showed these talents before the Red Jewel entered our lives. Healers of all kinds will be needed.” He flicked the reins and the cart moved forward.
Three days later, they reached a farm. Was this the one they sought? They had passed two others, but one had raised bovines and the other horses and ponies. Corin halted by the fence. Jindera climbed down and stood by the fence to study the large flock of silk sheep. The animals looked like most of the ones raised near the Garden except more of these were white.
Corin fastened the ponies to the fence. “Wait here. I’ll see if the farmer is around.”
Soon he and a woman walked from the house. He gestured to Jindera. “Do we have healal, fiola root and tansey leaves?”
“Yes. Why?”
“My littles are feverish,” the woman said. “They have a rash and have just begun to cough.”
“Take me to them. I have knowledge of medicinals.” She followed the woman to the house. When Jindera saw the children, she pulled the covers from them. “We need water, not hot or cold.” She stripped off the heavy nightclothes.
“Don’t do that,” the woman said. “They’ll take a chill.”
“We need to lower their fever.” Jindera heard strident coughs and gasping breaths. “Make a tea from the healal and tansey and bring a basin of water.” She pulled the Red Jewel from beneath her tunic and held the gem against the throat of the child who struggled the hardest for breath. At least she could stop the sealing membrane from forming and closing off the child’s lungs.
Corin appeared in the doorway. “I brought the herbs. Is there anything else I can do?”
“Ask her for some lard or sheep’s fat if she has any. Mix crushed healal, fiola root and mintos to make a paste.” She moved from the first child to the second and then to the third.
By the time Corin and the children’s mother had returned, Jindera had stabilized the breathing. The mother and she fed the three the tea and bathed them with the cool water. Jindera covered the rash with the ointment. Corin stood with his hands on her shoulders. His energy flowed into her.
Jindera drew a deep breath. “In a few days, they’ll be fine. Give each of them a cup of tea in the morning and the evening for three days. Apply the ointment twice a day, too.”
“What was wrong with them?’ the mother asked.
“The sealing sickness, but I’ve destroyed the membrane so it can’t return.” Jindera wavered.
Corin caught her. “What’s wrong?”
“I need to eat.”
The woman scurried into the kitchen. Corin helped Jindera to the table. The woman cut several pieces of cheese and poured a mug of cider.
As Jindera ate, a bearded man strode into the room. “What is a peddler doing here?”
The woman went to him. “He is a peddler, but she is a healer and blessed are we to have her come.”
“The children.”
“Not just a slight illness but the sealing sickness. She removed the membrane”
“How?”
Jindera finished the cider. “Because I wear this.” She displayed the Red Jewel.
The man’s dark eyes widened. The woman gasped. “Holder, were you drawn here?”
Jindera shook her head. “We came to trade.”
Corin put his hand on her shoulder. “A lunar or more ago, I stopped in the nearest village. Someone sold me a length of white sheep silk softer and finer than any I’ve ever seen. I was told where you lived and once I settled some business, I came.”
The man stroked his brown beard. “Since you have come to our aid, I’ll trade with you. I’ll give you give of the fifteen skeins of yarn for the healing.”
Jindera shook her head. “There is no payment needed for my services.”
“Did you not earn a payment?”
“If there was no other way for me to live I would accept payment, but Corin and I are peddlers.”
“Good enough,” the man said. “We’ll trade. This is the second season for the sheep. Next year, there’ll be more silk. We had a large crop of lambs.”
“Are they always white?” Corin asked.
The man nodded. He left the room and returned with a length of cloth. “Takes and holds a dye well.”
Corin rose. “Come to the wagon and we’ll deal. Will you give me an exclusive for three years?”
“Willingly, but only with you.”
Besides the coins, the couple selected a variety of goods. When they finished, Jindera returned to the house to check the children. She repeated the instructions for their care.”
“Where are you going?” the woman asked. “There are no farms or villages beyond here, except for a Healers’ Garden. The women there don’t like visitors.”
“We need to speak to them,” Corin said.
“Take care. Just yesterday, I saw two riders headed that way.”
Jindera looked at Corin. Had the pair been Tomon and his aunt?
“Will you stay for the evening meal?” the woman asked.
Jindera shook her head. She felt a strong urge to hurry. “We must go. When we finish our business, we’ll stop to check the children.” She and Corin reached the wagon. They traveled until the moons rose.
Two days later at mid-afternoon, they arrived at a nearly overgrown lane. Jindera noticed where horses must have forced their way past the thorn hedge. These signs told her this must be the place they sought. Corin pulled the wagon from the road and parked it in a copse near a narrow stream. He unhitched the ponies and let them browse while he and Jindera strung rope and briars to form a corral.
She danced from foot to foot. “We need to hurry.”
Corin clasped her hand. “We should wait until dark. If Tomon and his aunt are here, they’ll try to stop us, and even take thee prisoner.”
She pulled free. “Something’s wrong.” She strove to keep her voice calm. “I don’t know what, but the Jewel pulses.” She pulled the Red free. “Look.”
Corin stared at the stone. “I see what you mean, but we need to be cautious.”
They set out along the path that twisted and turned. Briars pulled at her clothes. Before long she saw a stone cottage. Corin crept toward the door. She followed. The door was ajar. She pushed it open and covered her mouth to hide a gasp. Two women lay on the floor. She knelt and touched their throats. “They’re dead/”
In the next room, they found another dead woman. Hopelessness descended like a shroud. How would they find their thread? She looked at Corin. “What will we do now?”
A moan sounded. Jindera followed the sound. In a second sleeping chamber she found a woman sprawled across a bed. The woman’s breathing came is shallow breaths. Her skin was flushed, but there was no evidence of fever. Jindera pressed the Red Jewel to the woman’s chest. “What happened?”
“Poison.”
“Who?”
“Makia. Her nephew.”
Jindera knelt beside the bed. “What did they want?”
“The mold. The scroll.”
“Where are they?” Corin asked.
“Gone. Took mold.” Her voice grew weaker.
“The scroll?” Jindera asked.
“Buried. Oka grove.”
Jindera watched the light in the gem’s depths flicker. The woman was near death. “Can they use what’s in the scroll?”
“Not him. Not her. Maybe wizards.” The woman’s voice grew fainter.
“Who killed the other women?” Corin asked.
“Makia. Poison. Tea.”
“How did you live?”
“Poison taster.”
The light in the gem dimmed again. Jindera poured strength into the woman. “How long ago did they leave?”
“One. Two –“
Hours? Days? Though Jindera tried to revive the woman, she failed. She turned to Corin. “Now what?” Her voice rose to a wail. Was her quest to end in failure?”
“We must bury them.”
“And the scroll?”
He pointed to the sky. “The moons have not yet risen. How can we search for something in a dark grove?”
She knew he was right, but she had to see if Tomon and his aunt had stolen the scroll as well as the mold. If they had, she and Corin must follow them. She wished they had kept one of the horses. The wagon moved too slowly.
Corin left and soon returned with two shovels. They dug a trench in the garden where the soil had been prepared for planting. They wrapped the women in bed linens and placed them in the grave.
Once the earth covered the four, Corin spoke. “Your names I do not know, but this I say. Remain on this plane until the ones who caused your death are dead. By the lights of Mother Sun and Sisters Moon, cast shadows on their lives.”
Jindera stared at the grave. “My farewell is the same. Do not leave this plane until justice is found.” As the moons rose, she dropped the shovel and walked toward the oka grove.
* * *
Corin ran after Jindera. What if Tomon and his aunt lurked in the grove? Had the poisoned woman remained alive for two hours or two days? He caught Jindera’s arm. “I fear we’re too late.”
“Maybe not,” Jindera said. “The gem has heated. Let me see if I can find the reason.”
“What if we meet Tomon?”
She turned. “I’ll use the Red against him.”
“Thee would use the gem to harm?”
“If I must.”
Her firm decision bothered him. Wasn’t that the way the Holders had used their Jewels when the Black ruled? He grasped her arm. “Use thy Jewel to search. If we encounter thy cousin, mine will be the hand to act.” He followed her into the grove.
While she concentrated on the path, he would protect her. He tensed his arm muscles and felt the throwing knives slide into his hands. Though the moons had risen, beneath the trees shadows became stalkers.
The sound of leaves and small branches crunching beneath their boots seemed loud. Would their presence be discovered? A shrill yipping made him jump. Were there dire wolves nearby? Jindera picked up a thick branch in one hand and a rock in the other. She darted into a small clearing. “Hurry.”
“What do thee see?”
“Kayotes. A body.” She threw the rock and waved the branch. “Go away.”
Corin stepped ahead of her. The body lay face down in the leaves and decaying matter. He flipped one of his knives. A kayote collapsed. Jindera threw another rock. Corin joined the bombardment. The beasts backed away, then ran. Corin retrieved his knife from the kayote’s eye and approached the woman’s body.
“Who is she?”
“My aunt.”
He touched her arm. “She’s cool.”
“Was she poisoned?” Jindera asked.
Corin rolled the woman to her back. “She was stabbed with a knife that’s thinner than my throwing knives.”
“A stilwire. From the desert.” Jindera leaned closer. “She resembles my mother. Why did Tomon kill her?”
“We may never know.” Corin studied the ground. “Look here. Horse tracks. There were two and both had riders. Who do thee suppose they were?”
“Tomon for one.”
He spotted a metal tube that had been beneath the body. “A scroll case. Can thee open it?”
Jindera accepted the tube and carefully opened the end. She removed the scroll. “I think this is what we want, but there’s not enough light to read.”
“What about her?”
“No matter what she did, we can’t leave her here for the scavengers. We can bury her with her victims.”
“And together they’ll travel to the next plane. I pray she finds just punishment there.”
Jindera put the scroll case in her pocket and lifted the woman’s legs. “She was my aunt yet I feel no sorrow at her passing.”
“Why should thee? She wished you harm.” Corin lifted the woman’s upper body.
“Do thee think Tomon and whoever was with him could still be lurking around here?”
He shook his head. “Thy aunt’s been dead for more than an hour. The kayotes wouldn’t have approached if anyone had been near. From what I can see, the riders rode from here toward the road.”
“What about our wagon? Could they find it?”
“That wasn’t the way they were heading.” He shifted the body. “We need to finish this and rest.”
By the time they extended the grave and buried the body, Corin wondered if he had enough energy to reach the wagon. Pre-dawn lightened the sky. Jindera held his hand. “Let us go.”
They reached the wagon and sought their blankets. The sun was near setting when they woke. Instead of cooking a meal, they hitched the ponies and ate dried fruit and nuts as they rode. When the moons rose, they made camp.
“Should we open the scroll?” Corin asked.
She yawned. “Tomorrow.”
He shrugged. “Thy choice. Do thee think we could stop at the Garden before going to Pala?”
“A good idea to see if the elders honored my letter.”
“And a chance to gather more of the herbs and spices to make sure I have enough to purchase my place in the guild.”
* * *
Jindera woke to the aroma of kaf and the sound and scent of shoat sizzling in a pan. She stretched, washed and dressed. Corin sat beside the brazier. She poured a mug of the aromatic beverage. “Sorry I slept so long.”
“I’ve only been awake long enough to start a meal.” He dropped two eggs into the skillet. “Would thee look at the scroll and see if it’s the thread we were sent to find?”
She put the mug on the ground and opened the metal tube. Corin pulled the pan from the fire and moved closer so he could read. Jindera unrolled the parchment. “This is our thread.”
He dished the food onto plates. “So we head to Pala.”
“With several stops on the way.”
“Several?”
“First at the silk sheep farm to check on the children, and then as we agreed, the Garden.”
“About the Garden, we don’t have to make a special trip.”
“We need to be sure Audin and his family are there.”
He nodded. “Maybe I can buy some of that cheese with the white coating. Best I’ve ever had.”
Jindera laughed. “I know the kind thee mean. For a skein of the new yarn, I imagine she’ll sell thee three or even four rounds.”
“Thee want to sell our exclusive before we reach Pala?”
“Why not? Peddlers seldom come to our village. Most people travel to Desert’s Edge if they have a special need.”
“With two exclusives, that will change. I will have to come at least once a year.”
Jindera finished her food and quickly washed the dishes they had used. Corin hitched the ponies to the wagon. As they left the campsite her feelings soared. She noticed Corin’s frown. “Do thee have a problem?”
He shook his head. “Just thinking about the strange dream I had about my mother and a wizard. She said he was my father, but he had no face.”
“And thee are worried because he was in Pala. I don’t blame thee. When I think about the hidden wizards my muscles tighten. If Tomon has united with one, there will be trouble. I wish we didn’t have to go to the palace.”
“We have to go. Our thread is needed.”
“I know.” She retreated into her thoughts. The plodding pace of the ponies lulled her into a half-sleep. When the cart stopped, she looked around. “What?”
“Just time for our midday meal.”
Jindera reached beneath the seat for the flatbread and cheese. Once they’d eaten and walked a bit, they continued on.
Late the next afternoon, they reached the silk sheep farm. The farmer’s wife opened the door.
“The children?” Jindera asked.
“They’re fine. Went off to help their father. Come in. I’ve just baked bread and summer berry tarts.”
Jindera smiled. The small tart berries were among her favorites. “You don’t have to feed us.”
“My way of saying thank you.”
They were soon at the kitchen table with slices of bread dripping with butter and honey, large glasses of milk and two tarts for each of them. The woman joined them. “Was worried about you. Just yesterday, two men galloped past. One was a black robe. Feared they’d attacked you.”
“Guess we missed them,” Corin said.
The information told Jindera what she feared. Tomon had joined the wizards.
Once they finished the food, she and Corin left. Should they hurry to Pala? They couldn’t reach the palace before Tomon and the wizard arrived in the town. Keeping to the original plan was the best choice.
Five days of travel saw them to Jindera’s home village. Corin parked the wagon in the village square and opened the trading side. Before long he and Jindera were busy selling and striking bargains. A skein of the new wool brought four of the cheeses he favored. They traded a bottle of tragon for their midday meal and a barrel of cider.
As they settled at the table in the tavern, the three elders joined them. “Red Holder, we honored your request. Audin and his family now tend your garden.”
Discovering the Jewels' Secret Page 11
