“Excellent,” Daniel replied. “Thank you for the help,” he offered, looking up from the bowl. “I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” Olivia responded with a smile. “When we’re done here, we should probably start thinking about dinner. It’s getting pretty late.”
“Yeah,” Daniel agreed, getting flustered by her gaze and dropping his eyes back to the plants in front of him. “I had a hard time finding these in the dark. Let me finish with this, and I’ll go back out and find some fruit. We still have meat left over from the other night, right?”
“Of course, it’s right here,” Lilly said. She ran her hands over the items in front of her before finding what she was looking for and picked up a large bundle from the table.
“Great. We’ll have that and whatever I can find outside.”
Daniel added a little water to his bowl and ground the flowers into a thick paste. When he finished, he took the foul smelling concoction to the closed bedroom door. He knocked gently. “I’ve got the yarrow for you,” he announced.
“Come in,” Aidan’s muffled voice called back.
Daniel opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. After a few minutes, he and Aidan returned to the main living area. Olivia smirked at the smears of paste that now marked Aidan’s exposed legs.
“Ha ha,” Aidan remarked, knowing what she was smiling about.
“I like the new look,” Olivia chortled. “Very zebra. Or, since you seem to be fond of cats, very tiger.”
Lilly laughed out loud before clamping her hands over her mouth and sitting down, embarrassed by her outburst. “Sorry,” she muttered.
Aidan rolled his eyes, but didn’t respond. He just wasn’t going to win this battle. Best to let them get it out of their systems.
“I’ll be right back,” Daniel announced as he left.
The three worked together and cleared their gear off the table, then set it for dinner. They’d also found a couple of full lanterns in one of the back rooms and brought them out to the table. Aidan fumbled with them in the gloomy room. After a few unsuccessful attempts, he finally managed to light them. They filled the room with a warm and welcoming glow. When Daniel returned, he grabbed a chair from the back room and leaned it against the front door to keep it closed while they ate. Content the door would stay put, Daniel dumped a small pile of berries into a bowl and set it on the table. “Sorry there’s not much. I couldn’t find them in the dark.”
“It’ll be fine,” Olivia said. She reached for his glass and poured him some water. After she’d finished pouring for the other three, the meat made its way around the table, followed by the berries. “There,” she announced. “A meal fit for a king, or queen,” she added as she reached across the table, giving her sister’s hand a squeeze.
The topic of conversation turned quickly to the events of the day, and Lilly again recounted the details of the attack and Olivia’s shooting prowess. Aidan chimed in at times with observations of his own, but the majority of the speaking was done by the two girls. Olivia watched Daniel throughout the meal, sensing in him a growing frustration as the story unfolded. It wasn’t anything tangible that he did. There were no clenched fists or jaws, no flared nostrils, just a general sense that something was bothering him. He sat, eyes on the table while he gently squeezed his earlobe between his right thumb and forefinger. Olivia realized he did that quite frequently, usually when lost in thought. She smiled at his little quirk and looked back to her sister. When Lilly was done with the story, Olivia quickly changed topics hoping to pull Daniel back into the conversation and out of whatever funk he’d fallen into.
“How about we play a game after dinner,” she suggested. “Something to take our minds off of the stress of the day.” Daniel looked at her quizzically. “I think I saw some games in the cupboard.”
Olivia got up from her seat and crossed the room to the kitchen. She paused and looked over at Daniel before opening the cabinet. He’d dropped his head down and now appeared to be inspecting something in his lap. A scowl crossed Olivia’s lips and she turned back to inspect the shelves.
“We’ve got Mancala,” Olivia announced proudly.
“I’m done,” Aidan quickly responded. “I’ll sign up for doing the dishes. You two can take turns playing Daniel.”
Lilly raised an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”
“I think I may have beaten him once in all the times we’ve played that game together. I’d rather do the dishes and go to bed than have him beating me all night long.” Aidan stood from his chair and began clearing the table of dishes. Lilly helped.
“Olivia, why don’t you play first. I’ll help Aidan and then I get to play the winner,” Lilly offered.
“Sounds good to me,” Olivia replied. She sat back down at the table across from Daniel. His mood seemed to have improved dramatically. A sly grin played on his lips as he took the board and small stones from the box. His eyes gleamed as he divided the pebbles among the appropriate cups.
“Ladies first,” Daniel mocked, sweeping his hand over the table.
Olivia rolled her eyes and reached forward. Taking the stones from one of the cups, she started dropping them one at a time into the following indentations.
“Your turn.”
Daniel grabbed a pile of his own and began plopping them into the bowls as well. Daniel was the first to capture a stone. Olivia frowned, but took her turn. Back and forth they continued until at last Daniel claimed victory.
“Good game,” Daniel said, standing and giving Olivia a bow over the table.
“Thanks.” Olivia stood and wandered over to the kitchen. “Your turn,” she told Lilly. Lilly dried her hands and went to join Daniel at the table while Olivia stayed to help Aidan finish up.
“He’s pretty good,” Olivia said while grabbing a plate to dry. Aidan snorted.
“He should be. He’s played it enough.”
“Oh?” Olivia prompted. She tried to act nonchalant in the hope that he’d continue.
“Daniel used to play that all the time with our father, back before… back before our parents were taken.” Aidan glanced over at Olivia and then back down into the sink. “They’d play it for hours, just the two of them.” He shook his head.
“Didn’t you ever play with them?”
Aidan finished rinsing the last plate and handed it to Olivia to be dried. Grabbing another towel from the counter, Aidan turned around and leaned back against the sink while drying his hands.
“I played every now and then,” he answered, “but I didn’t like it as much as they did. Usually I just read with our mother. Plus, when you lose every time, where’s the fun?” He shrugged. “I still play with him every now and then, but not very often. It seems like he’s getting better and I’m getting worse. Usually I just take it out when he’s in a bad mood. Something to try and cheer him up.” He glanced back at Olivia, then tossed the towel back onto the counter. “Well, I’m going to call it a night,” he announced. “I’ll share the room on the right with Daniel. You two can share the other. I’ll go get it set up for you before I go to bed.”
“I can take care of that,” Olivia replied. “I’ll take care of it while I wait for my turn again. Thank you though.”
“Okay. Goodnight all,” Aidan called back over his shoulder as he meandered to the bedroom.
“Goodnight,” they replied in unison.
Olivia had barely finished making up the beds when Lilly came in to let her know that it was her turn. “He throttled me,” Lilly huffed as Olivia passed her on the way out of the room.
The games continued late into the night, Lilly and Olivia taking turns being beaten by Daniel. Lilly kept her hand on Daniel’s to feel where he was placing his stones and keep track of the pieces. That slowed the process some, however they both enjoyed the competition too much to stop. Some games were closer than others, but Daniel remained undefeated at the end of the night, a huge smile plastered on his face as they chatted and played. Things finally s
ettled down and they decided to call it a night. Daniel put the game back in the cupboard and pulled out some tools to try and fix the door. The girls grabbed one of the lanterns and headed back to their bedroom.
“Goodnight, Olivia. Goodnight, Lilly. Thanks for the games. It’s been a while since I got to sit down and play Mancala.”
“Goodnight,” Lilly answered through a yawn.
“Goodnight,” Olivia replied as she walked to the back of the cottage. “Oh, and Daniel?” she said, pausing and turning to face him.
“Yes?”
“I will beat you.”
Daniel smiled. “I look forward to it.”
Chapter 14
A Time for Healing
The next morning, Aidan awoke to the smell of bacon. The fragrant meat immediately caused his mouth to water. Rolling out of bed and pulling on his pants and shirt, he opened the bedroom door and shuffled into the kitchen. Daniel stood at the stove cooking breakfast. He glanced over his shoulder at his younger brother before turning back to flip a slice of sizzling bacon.
“Morning,” Daniel remarked.
“Where’d you get the bacon?” Aidan asked. He pulled a chair over from the table and sat at the end of the kitchen counter. Daniel flipped another slice and pulled back with a hiss when the bacon popped and splattered hot grease on his hand.
“I went out this morning when the sun came up,” Daniel answered, rubbing the back of his hand. “I found a wild boar and traded it to a farmer for some supplies. I figured we could use some food in this place if we’re going to stay here for a few days.”
“Sure smells good,” Aidan commented before letting loose a tremendous yawn.
Daniel smirked and pulled a few pieces out of the pan and put them on a plate. He slid it down the counter toward his brother.
Aidan caught it at the end. “Thanks!” He hooked his hair with his pinkies and pulled it back behind his ears before picking up a slice, blowing on it, and shoving it in his mouth. It tasted as good as it had smelled. Aidan grabbed the other two pieces and sent the plate back down the counter to Daniel.
“Listen,” Daniel murmured, dropping his eyes to the stove in front of him and busying himself with cooking more bacon. “About our fight, I’m sorry I hit you.”
Aidan swallowed his mouthful of bacon. “It’s alright. I probably deserved it.” Aidan pressed slightly on the bridge of his still swollen nose. “Besides, I think I look pretty good with a nose pushed a little to the left.”
Daniel looked over at his younger brother. “Sorry, I just lost it. If it’ll make up for it, you can get a few shots in on me. I won’t even fight back.” Daniel put the fork he was using down on the counter and stood, arms out to his sides, palms up in a defenseless gesture.
“Oh, cook the bacon,” Aidan huffed. “I’m not going to hit you. I’m already in trouble with the girls for the things I said back there. What do you think they’ll do if they come out and I’m hitting you and you’re not fighting back? I’ll tell you what they’ll do. First they’ll beat the heck out of me. Then Lilly will go find a pack of werewolves to bring back here. This time they’ll lock me outside. Heck, Olivia might even shoot at me while I’m trying to get away. No, sir. I’m going to sit here and eat bacon if that’s all right with you. I’m sorry for what I said. You’re sorry for hitting me. Let’s just move on.”
Daniel nodded. “Okay. Here’re a couple more pieces. When you’re done, why don’t you run out and refill the water buckets. I’ll cook up the eggs and put out the fruit. We can have breakfast when you get back. Wake up the girls on your way out.”
“Wait a second. First bacon, and now eggs and fruit? Where did you find all this stuff?”
“I told you,” Daniel answered. “I got up early. I found the pig in the forest. There’s a blackberry patch not too far north of here that I missed last night in the dark. The eggs are from the same farmer as the bacon. It’s a ways off, but an easy enough run for me.”
Aidan looked at him disapprovingly. “You’d better rest that ankle for a couple of days. You need it to heal, and it’s not going to if you keep running around on it.”
“I know, I know. I’ll try and stay off of it today, now go get the water. And don’t forget to wake Olivia and Lilly on your way out.”
Aidan got up and slipped his moccasins on, then walked to the closed bedroom door. Pressing his ear to the door, he knocked lightly. “Time to get up,” he called. “Breakfast is almost ready.”
A muffled and sleepy voice called back. “Ugh, it’s morning already?” There was the brief sound of creaking bedsprings before things again went silent. He knocked again. “Okay, we’ll be right there.” Aidan could hear the creak of one of the beds as someone’s weight shifted. He heard Olivia mumble to her sister to get up.
Satisfied that they were getting out of bed, Aidan grabbed the buckets and started another trek down to the creek. When he returned, Daniel was serving up plates while Olivia and Lilly set the table. Aidan took the pails into the kitchen and grabbed some pitchers. After transferring the water to them, he took the pitchers to the dining table and set them down. Olivia and Lilly grabbed their plates, and Daniel grabbed the other two. He handed one to Aidan and sat down.
As the other three ate, Daniel picked at his food. “What’s on your mind?” Aidan asked through a mouthful of eggs.
“Just trying to figure out how we’re going to fight Argyle’s men.” Daniel replied. He dropped his fork with a clank and looked up from his plate while wiping his mouth on his sleeve.
“I don’t think it’ll be a problem,” Aidan answered back, reaching over and grabbing some of Daniel’s bacon, before shoving it into his mouth. “Lilly can probably find them. If not, I’ll try to get a feel from the animals where they are. Once we find them, we’ll fight.”
“I don’t think it’ll be that easy,” Lilly retorted. “Now that Argyle has lost one group of men, the next ones he sends out will be harder to fight. They’ll probably be bigger and have more weapons. You took the first group by surprise. I don’t think they’re used to anyone fighting back. At least not anyone with your special gifts.” Aidan’s chest swelled while Daniel seemed to shrink in his chair. Olivia noticed the differing reactions, but Lilly didn’t and so continued. “The next groups will be ready. They’ll know something happened to the others, and they’ll be extra careful.”
Daniel nodded his agreement. “I think we need to put together several plans of attack, based on the different areas where we might find them. What if we don’t have a good place to hide Olivia and Lilly? If we don’t have cover for them, they’ll be easy targets. What if there aren’t many animals around? Your gift to turn into whatever you want will come in handy, Aidan, but we’ll need more support to keep the men busy with diversions other than you and me.”
Aidan looked like he’d been slapped. “I hadn’t thought of that, any of that,” he conceded. He pushed his plate away and sat back slowly in his chair, a frown creasing his brow.
“That’s why we need to talk this out,” Daniel responded. “If we all talk it through, we should be able to come up with alternative scenarios for whatever happens.” Daniel finally started in on his breakfast while the others pondered what he’d said. Olivia and Aidan looked back and forth at one another across the small table while Lilly sat and quietly finished her breakfast. None of them seemed to have any answers to the problems Daniel had just posed.
“Do you have any suggestions?” Olivia asked Daniel after a minute of silence.
Daniel nodded his head and swallowed his mouthful of food. “I think we need to try and fight them on our turf. We can set traps for them.”
“How are we going to do that?” Lilly inquired. “We’d have to know where they’re going and get there before them.”
Daniel shook his head. “Not necessarily,” he answered. “We just have to get an idea of which direction they’re headed and set a trap near where they’re going. Aidan and I know a lot about the lay of the land all aroun
d here.” Daniel saw Olivia’s eyebrows rise up in confusion, and so explained, “Aidan’s done a lot of flying and running around as different animals, and I’ve done my own share of running around these forests and hills. We figure out a good place to attack and bait them in.”
“Bait them in?” Olivia exclaimed. “And just how are we going to do that?”
“I’ll do it,” Daniel replied. He could see the shock on the others’ faces and so pressed on. “We’ll find a location we can defend, with a place where Olivia and Lilly can hide and shoot, and where Aidan can bring in his friends to fight with us. Then I’ll go out and bring them back.” He could see the doubt in their eyes. “I’m the one with the speed. There’s no way they can catch me. I’m not worried about them shooting at me either. They can’t hit me. I’ll run slowly enough that they can chase me, not catch me, and I’ll bring them back to you three. Hopefully that will give us the advantage we need.”
“I don’t know if I like that idea,” Olivia responded.
Daniel turned to face the older of the two sisters. “It’s the best we can do,” Daniel replied. “We can’t send you or Lilly out as bait. We could send Aidan. He’d only be safe, somewhat safe, in one of his animal forms, so he’d have to change. They’re not going to chase a mountain lion into the woods, but they will me.”
Aidan nodded his agreement. “Daniel’s right. He’s the only one who can do it. And we’ll need to search out our own places to fight whenever we can. It’s our best chance of beating them.”
“And what if they find us somewhere else, somewhere that we don’t expect, where we haven’t set a trap?” Olivia asked. “What then?”
“Then we run,” Daniel answered. “We get out. I don’t want to try and fight them when they have the advantage. Maybe Aidan and I can keep them busy while you two get out, or we can carry the two of you away. But I don’t want to get into a fight unless we’re the ones to initiate it. This is going to be hard enough, dangerous enough. We need to be as careful as we can. If that means we pass on a couple of fights, so be it.”
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