Sorrel vented an exasperated sigh. "You know, Rush, I"ve drawn you and your brother out of wells of your own digging more than once when you were younger, because every boy"s got to survive his share of foolishness. But as you"re both so fond of telling me, you"re not youngsters anymore. Seems to me you got yourself up there. You can get yourself down."
Rush looked appalled at this unexpected parental betrayal. He started blurting a somewhat garbled account for his predicament involving an imaginary request relayed from Fawn.
Dag gave Sorrel another small headshake. Sorrel looked increasingly grim.
"No," Dag interrupted in a bored voice, "That"s not it. Think harder, Rush." After a moment, he said, "I should also mention, I suppose, that Sunny Sawman and his three strapping friends are now on their way downriver to West Blue. Under escort. Underwater, mostly. I don"t think they"ll be back for some several days."
"How did you-I don"t know what you"re talking about!"
More silence.
Rush added in a smaller voice, "Are they all right?"
"They"ll live," said Dag indifferently. "You can remember to thank me kindly for that, later."
And fell silent again.
After a couple more false starts, Rush at last began to "fess up. It was more or less the story Dag expected, of alehouse conspiracy and youthful bravado. In Rush"s version, Reed was the ringleader, valiantly horrified at the thought of his only sister marrying a Lakewalker corpse-eater and thus making him brother-in-law to one, and Rush"s motivations were lost in a mumble; Dag wasn"t sure whether this was strict truth or blame-casting, nor did he greatly care, as it was clear enough both boys were in it together. They had found a strangely enthusiastic helper in Sunny, fresh from a summer of stump-pulling and happy to show off his muscle. Unsurprisingly, it appeared Sunny had not seen fit to mention to the twins his prior encounter with Dag. Dag chose not to either. Sorrel looked grimmer and grimmer.
Rush at last stuttered to a halt. A cool silence fell in the warm barn. Rush began to sag down; Copperhead lunged again. Rush tightened up once more, clinging like a possum to a branch.
Dag could see that his arms were shaking.
"Now, Rush," said Dag. "I"m going to tell you you how it"s going to be. I am actually prepared to forgive and forget your brotherly plan to beat me crippled or dead and buried in your pa"s woods on the night before my wedding. The fact that you also seriously endangered the lives of your friends-because I would not, facing that death, have held back in defending myself-I leave to your pa to take up with you two. I"ll even forgive your lies to me." Dag"s voice dropped to a deadly register that made Sorrel glance aside in alarm. "What I do not forgive is the how it"s going to be. I am actually prepared to forgive and forget your brotherly plan to beat me crippled or dead and buried in your pa"s woods on the night before my wedding. The fact that you also seriously endangered the lives of your friends-because I would not, facing that death, have held back in defending myself-I leave to your pa to take up with you two. I"ll even forgive your lies to me." Dag"s voice dropped to a deadly register that made Sorrel glance aside in alarm. "What I do not forgive is the malice malice of your lies to Fawn. You"d planned for her to wake up joyful on her wedding morning and then tell her I"d scunnered out in the night, make her believe herself shamed and betrayed, humiliate her before her friends and kin, set her to weeping-although I think her real response might have surprised you." He glanced aside. "You like that picture, Sorrel? No? Good." Dag took a long breath. "Whatever reasons your parents tolerated your torment of your sister in the past, it stops tomorrow. You claim Reed was afraid of me? He wasn"t near afraid enough. Either of you so much as look cross-eyed at Fawn tomorrow, or anytime thereafter, I will give you reason to regret it every day for the rest of your lives. You hear me, Rush? of your lies to Fawn. You"d planned for her to wake up joyful on her wedding morning and then tell her I"d scunnered out in the night, make her believe herself shamed and betrayed, humiliate her before her friends and kin, set her to weeping-although I think her real response might have surprised you." He glanced aside. "You like that picture, Sorrel? No? Good." Dag took a long breath. "Whatever reasons your parents tolerated your torment of your sister in the past, it stops tomorrow. You claim Reed was afraid of me? He wasn"t near afraid enough. Either of you so much as look cross-eyed at Fawn tomorrow, or anytime thereafter, I will give you reason to regret it every day for the rest of your lives. You hear me, Rush? Look at me Look at me." Dag hadn"t used that voice since he was a company captain. He was pleased to note it still worked; Rush nearly fell from his perch. Copperhead shied. Even Sorrel stepped backward. Dag hissed, "You hear me?"
Rush nodded frantically.
"All right. I will halter Copperhead, and you will climb down from there. Then you will pick up every bit of my gear and put it back where you found it. What"s broken, you and your brother can fix, what"s been rolled through the manure you can scrub-which will keep you two out of further mischief for the rest of the evening, I think-what can"t be fixed, you"ll replace, what can"t be replaced, I leave you to work out with your pa."
"You heard the patroller, Rush," said Sorrel, in a deeply paternal snarl. Really, it was almost as good as the company-captain voice.
Dag extended his ground to his horse, a familiar reach long practiced; he"d been saddled with this chestnut idiot for about eight years, now. Disappointed at the loss of his toy, Copperhead lowered his head to the stall floor and began lipping straw, pretending that it all never happened. Dag thought he had a lot in common with Rush, that way. "You can get down,"
said Dag.
"He isn"t haltered," said Rush nervously.
"Yes, he is," said Dag, "now." Sorrel"s eyebrows climbed, but he didn"t say anything.
Cautiously, Rush climbed down. Red-faced, his eyes wary on Copperhead, he began collecting Dag"s strewn possessions: clothing and saddlebags and ripped bedroll, knocked-about saddle and pummeled saddle blanket. The adapted bow, though kicked into a corner, was undamaged; Dag was glad. Only the reasonably benign outcome was keeping him from utter fury right now-that, plus not thinking too hard about Spark. But he had to think about Spark.
"Now," Dag said, as Rush made his way out of the stall with his arms loaded, and Dag closed the stall door after him. Rush set the tangled gear down very carefully. "We come to the other question. What of all this would you have me tell Fawn?"
The place had been quiet like a barn; for a moment, it grew quiet like a tomb.
Sorrel"s face screwed up. He said cautiously, "Seems to me she"d be near as distressed for the word of this as for the thing itself. I mean, with respect to Reed and Rush," he added, visions of Fawn weeping over Dag"s battered corpse evidently presenting themselves to his mind"s eye, as indeed they did to Dag"s. Rush, who had been rather red, turned rather white.
"Seems that way to me, too," said Dag. "But, you know, there"s eight people who know the truth about what happened tonight. Granted, four of them will be telling lies when they drag home tonight, though I doubt even those will all be the same lies. Some kind of word"s going to get around."
Dag let them both dwell on this ugly vision for a little, then said, "I"m not Reed"s and Rush"s linker, though I should have been. I will not lie to her her for for them them. But I"ll give you this much, and no more: I"ll not speak first."
Sorrel took this in almost without expression for a moment, clearly thinking through the deeply unpleasant family ramifications. Then he nodded shortly. "Fair enough, patroller."
Dag extended his groundsense briefly, for all that the proximity of the two shaken Bluefields made it painful. He said, "Reed is coming back to the house with Fawn, now. I"d prefer to leave him to you, Sorrel."
"Send him down here to the barn," said Sorrel, somewhat through his teeth.
"That I will, sir." Dag gave a nod in place of his usual salute.
"Thank you-sir." Sorrel nodded back.
Fawn returned to the kitchen with Reed in some annoyance with him for dragging her out in the dark. She lit a few candle stubs on the mantel to lighten both the room and her mood.
Better still for the latter was the sound of Dag"s long footfalls coming through from the front hall. Reed, who had ducked into Nattie"s weaving room for some reason, came out with an inexplicable triumphant smile on his face. She was about to ask why he was so happy all of a sudden when the look was wiped clean at the sight of Dag entering the kitchen. Fawn bit back yet more irritation with her brother. She had better things to do than fuss at Reed; hugging Dag h.e.l.lo was on the top of that list.
He gave her a quick return embrace with his left arm and turned to Reed. "Ah, Reed. Your papa wants to see you in the old barn. Now."
Reed looked at Dag as though he were a poisonous snake surprised in some place he"d been about to put his hand. "Why?" he asked in a suspicious voice.
"I believe he and Rush have quite a lot to say to you." Dag tilted his head and gave Reed a little smile, which had to be one of the least friendly expressions to go by that name Fawn had ever seen. Reed"s mouth flattened in return, but he didn"t argue; to Fawn"s relief, he took himself off. She heard the front door slam behind him.
Fawn pushed back her unruly curls. "Well, that that was a fool"s errand." was a fool"s errand."
"Where did you two go off to?" Dag asked.
"He dragged me all the way to the back pasture to help rescue a calf stuck in a fence. If the brainless thing had got itself in, it had got itself out by the time we made it there. And then he wanted to walk the fence line while we were out there. I didn"t mind the walk, but I have things to do." She stood back and looked Dag over. He was often not especially tidy, but at the moment he looked downright rumpled. "Did you have your quiet think?"
"Yes, I just spent a very enlightening hour. Useful, too, I hope."
"Oh, you. I bet you never sat still." She brushed at a few stray bits of bark and leaf stuck to his shirt, and observed with disfavor a new rip in his trouser knee stained with blood from a sc.r.a.pe. "Walking in the woods, I think. I swear, you been walking so long you don"t know how to stop. What, were you climbing trees?"
"Just one."
"Well, that was a fool thing to try with that arm!" she scolded fondly. "Did you fall down?"
"No, not quite."
"That"s a blessing. You be more careful. Climbing trees, indeed! I thought I was joking. I don"t want my bridegroom broken, I"ll have you know."
"I know." He smiled, glancing around. Fawn realized that, miraculously, they were actually alone for a moment. He seemed to realize this at the same time, for he sat in the big wooden chair by the hearth and pulled her toward him. She climbed happily into his lap and raised her face for a kiss. The kiss went urgent, and they were both out of breath when their lips parted again.
She said gruffly, "They won"t be able to keep us apart much longer."
"Not even with ropes and wild horses," he agreed, his eyes glinting. His smile grew more serious. "Have you decided yet where you want us to be tomorrow night? Ride or bide?"
She sighed and sat up. "Do you have a partiality?"
He brushed her hair from her forehead with his lips, likely because he had a notable reluctance for touching her about the face with his hook. It turned into a small trail of kisses along the arches of her eyebrows before he, too, sat back thoughtfully. "Here would be physically easier. We won"t get to Hickory Lake in a day, still less in a couple of hours tomorrow evening. If we camped, you"d have to do most everything."
"I don"t mind the work." She tossed her head.
"There is this. We won"t just be making love, we"ll be making memories. It"s the sort of day you remember all your life, when other days fade. Real question, then, the only really important one, is what memories of this do you want to bear away into your future?"
Now, there was a voice of experience, she thought. Best listen to it. "It"s farmer custom for the couple to go off to their new house, sleep under the new roof. The party goes on. If we stay, I swear I"ll end up washing dishes at midnight, which is not what I want to be doing at midnight."
"I have no house for you. I don"t even have a tent with me. It"ll be a roof of stars, if it"s not a roof of rain."
"It doesn"t look like rain. This high blue weather this time of year usually holds for three or four days. I admit I prefer inn chambers to wheatfields, but at least with you there"s no mosquitoes."
"I think we might do better than a wheatfield."
She added more seriously, thinking about his words, "This place is chock-full of memories for me. Some are good, but a lot of them hurt, and the hurtful ones have this way of jostling into first place. And this house"ll be full of my family. Tomorrow night, I"d like to be someplace with no memories at all." And no family. And no family.
He ducked his head in understanding. "That"s what we"ll do, then."
Her spine straightened. "Besides, I"m marrying a patroller. We should go patroller-style.
Bedroll under the stars, right." She grinned and nuzzled his neck, and said seductively, "We could bathe in the river..."
He was looking immensely seduceable, eyes crinkling in the way she so loved to see.
"Bathing in the river is always good. A clean patroller is, um..."
"Unusual?" she suggested.
And she also loved the way his chest rumbled under her when he laughed deep down in it.
Like a quiet earthquake. "A happy patroller," he finished firmly.
"We could gather firewood," she went on, her lips working upward.
His worked downward. He murmured around his kiss, "Big, big bonfire."
"Scout for rowdy squirrels..."
"Those squirrels are a right menace." He looked down over his nose at her, though she didn"t see how he could focus his eyes at this distance. "All three? Optimistic, Spark!"
She giggled, joyful to see his eyes so alight. He"d seemed so moody when he"d first come in.
To her aggravation, she could hear heavy footsteps coming down the stairs, Fletch or Whit, heading this way. She sighed and sat up. "Ride, then."
"Unless we have a barker of a thunderstorm."
"Thunder and lightning couldn"t keep me in this house one more day," she said fervently.
"It"s time for me to go on. Do you see?"
He nodded. "I"m beginning to, farmer girl. This is right for you."
She stole one last kiss before sliding off his lap, thinking, Tomorrow we"ll be buying these Tomorrow we"ll be buying these kisses fair and square kisses fair and square. Her heart melted in the tenderness of the look he gave her as, reluctantly, he let her slip out of his arm. All storms might be weathered in the safe harbor of that smile.
Chapter 19.
Fawn flew through the irreducible farm ch.o.r.es the next morning. The milking fell to her; afterwards, waving a stick with resolute vigor, she sent the bewildered cows off to pasture at a brisk and unaccustomed trot. For practical reasons the rule about the marrying couple"s not seeing each other before the wedding was put aside till after the family breakfast, when Aunt Rose Bluefield arrived to help Mama with the food and the house, along with Fawn"s closest cousins and girlfriends Filly Bluefield and Ginger Roper to start the primping.
First came proper baths. The women went off to the well; the men were dispatched to the river. Fawn had grave doubts about leaving Dag to the mercies of her father, Fletch, and Whit for such a vulnerable enterprise, although at least the twins weren"t to follow till a long list of dirty ch.o.r.es had been completed. Filly and Ginger dragged her away as she was still yelling strict orders down the hill after the men about not letting Dag"s splints get wet. There followed a naked, wet, silly, and sudsy half hour by the well; Mama brought out her best scented soap for the task. Once they were back in the bedroom with Ginger and Filly starting on her hair, Fawn was relieved to hear footsteps and men"s voices through the closed door to the weaving room, Dag giving some calm instruction to Whit.
Filly and Ginger did their best, from Fawn"s dimly remembered description of what Reela had told her, to imitate Lakewalker wedding braids, although Fawn was glumly aware that her own hair was too curly and unruly to cooperate the way Lakewalkers" long locks no doubt did. The result was creditable, anyhow, with the hair drawn up in neat thick ropes from her temples to meet at her crown, and from there allowed to spin down loose behind after its own turbulent fashion. In the little hand mirror, held out at arm"s length, Fawn"s face looked startlingly refined and grown-up, and she blinked at the strangeness. Ginger"s brother had ridden all the way to Mirror Pond this morning, four miles upriver, to get the flowers Fawn had begged of him: three not-too-crumpled white water lilies, which Ginger now bound into the knot of hair on the crown of her head.
"Mama said you could have had all of her roses you wanted," Filly observed, tilting her head to examine the effect.
"These are more lake-ish," said Fawn. "Dag will like them. The poor man doesn"t have any family or friends here, and is pretty much having to borrow everything farmer. I know he was pining that he couldn"t send down his Lakewalker bride-gifts till after the wedding; they"re supposed to be given beforehand, I guess."
Filly said, "Mama wondered if no women of his own people would marry him because of his hand being maimed like that."
Fawn, choosing to ignore the implied reflection upon herself, said only, "I shouldn"t think so.
A lot of patrollers seem to get banged up, over time. Anyhow, he"s a widower."
Ginger said, "My brother said the twins said his horse talks human to him when there"s no one around."
Fawn snorted. "If no one"s around, how do they know?"
Ginger, considering this, conceded reluctantly, "That"s a point."
"Besides, it"s the twins." twins."
Filly granted, "That"s another." She added in regret, "So I guess they made up that story about him magicking together that gla.s.s bowl they broke, too?"
"Um. No. That one"s true," Fawn admitted. "Mama put it away upstairs for today, so it wouldn"t risk getting knocked down again."
A thoughtful silence followed this, while Filly poked at the curls in back to fluff them, and pushed away Fawn"s hands trying to smooth them.
"He"s so tall," said Ginger in a newly speculative tone, "and you"re so so short. I"d think he"d squash you flatter than a bug. Plus both his arms bein" hurt. However are you two going to manage, tonight?" short. I"d think he"d squash you flatter than a bug. Plus both his arms bein" hurt. However are you two going to manage, tonight?"
"Dag"s very ingenious," said Fawn firmly.
Filly poked her and giggled. "How would you know, eh?"
Ginger snickered. "Someone"s been samplin", I think. What were were you two doin", out on the road together for a month like that?" you two doin", out on the road together for a month like that?"
Fawn tossed her head and sniffed. "None of your business." She couldn"t help adding smugly after a moment, "I will say, there"s no going back to farmer boys, after." Which won some hoots, quickly muted as Nattie bustled back in.