Part 23 (1/2)

”Put it in there,” River said motioning with her chin toward an empty pot on the floor.

Nettle slid the fish in the pot.

Talen still stood on the other side of the room brooding.

”What are you doing?” River asked him. ”Go sit down.”

”I'm not getting anywhere close to that,” Talen said and pointed at Sugar.

”Her name is Sugar,” River corrected. ”And you are going to be the gracious host.”

Just then, Legs appeared in the doorway of the back room holding the covered chamber pot.

River smiled. ”Here's the perfect chance. It looks like you have a little business in the back room that needs to be dealt with.”

Talen looked at Legs and curled his nose in disgust. ”A little business?” he asked in dismay. ”No.” He shook his head. ”I will not.”

”You will empty the chamber pot for him, and then you will empty it for Sugar.”

”No,” said Sugar. ”Please.” They'd already put this family in grave danger. She didn't want them to do one thing more.

”You can't go outside,” said River. ”That would be foolhardy. Besides, we wouldn't have this problem except for Talen. So he can take responsibility for the messes he makes.”

”I'm not doing it,” said Talen. He looked at Nettle.

Nettle held up both hands. ”This is your house, not mine.”

Ke s.h.i.+fted his enormous frame in his seat to face Talen squarely. ”You're going to be the little chamber pot man,” said Ke. ”And you're going to be happy about it.”

The threat was obvious, but Talen didn't move. Then Ke stood and took a threatening step.

”Fine,” Talen said, irritated. ”Tell him to put it down and step away.”

Legs set the pot on the floor and backed away.

”Come,” said Sugar, ”we'll go back down.”

Legs began to feel his way over to Sugar. Only then did Talen brush past. He picked up the pot with great distaste and hurried outside.

”Please stay here,” River said to Sugar. ”Talen will be all right. You just sit down and enjoy your meal.”

It felt so good to stand straight and see sunlight. Perhaps she could stay up here for just a little while.

”I can understand his reluctance,” said Sugar.

”He's not the only one that's reluctant,” said Nettle.

When Talen returned, they ate in relative silence, River asking Sugar questions that would make any normal guest feel comfortable. But these were not normal circ.u.mstances, and they only made the meal more strained.

Toward the end, River turned to Talen and said, ”Because of last night, Ke and I now must find Sugar and Legs another place. So we'll be hunting one up today. That means you're going to stay here to finish the ch.o.r.es and to keep an eye out. Sugar and Legs are your charge until we return.”

Talen just looked into his bowl.

”Look at me, Talen. Do you think Da and I are stupid people? I know Ke, of course, is suspect . . .” She grinned.

It was a good effort to break the tension, but Talen did not accept it. ”Yes, given the facts, I do think you're stupid. But then I know you're not stupid, so that means you're hiding some of the facts.”

River glanced at Ke then back to Talen.

”And you've been hiding them for quite some time,” said Talen.

”It wasn't supposed to happen this way,” she said. ”Da knows these people. They're good, Talen. And there's more to this than you realize. So much more. But now's not the time or place to explain. All you have to do is finish the ch.o.r.es and keep an eye out. I want you to give Sugar and Legs some time up here. And that means you'll have to stay in the house. Because you won't be able to warn her or cover her retreat if you're outside.”

”Then how do I do the ch.o.r.es?”

Both River and Ke looked at Nettle.

”Right,” said Nettle. ”I'll be out in the fields.”

”Oh, no you don't,” said Talen. ”You're not leaving me alone with these two.”

”Ch.o.r.es have got to be done,” said Ke. ”It will look odd, a fine day like today and n.o.body working. Besides, a man shoulders his own burdens.”

”Sure,” said Talen. ”And when these two eat me, I guess you'll be the one cleaning up what's left.”

River said, ”They present no more danger than me or Ke.”

”Just the presence of them,” Talen said, ”is enough to put a noose around every one of our necks.”

But River didn't listen to him. She stroked Sugar's hair and finished eating. Nettle finished and went out to the fields. Finally, River and Ke stood and announced they would be back. Talen asked where they were going.

”Out,” Ke replied. Then the two of them exited the house.

While River had been there, Sugar, for the first time since the awful events, felt a lightening in her mood. There were some people that possessed such great quant.i.ties of openness and hope that it spilled over to others. River was one of these people. Of course, when River closed the door behind her, Sugar and Legs were left with Talen.

He threw the bar on the door then turned to her. He shook his head as if he still couldn't believe his predicament and picked up his bow. He withdrew two arrows from one of the three tall baskets that hung on the wall. Each basket held arrows with that were ringed with a different color just below the fletching. She a.s.sumed the colors distinguished a different spine strength and weight that would match the strength of the bow. He nocked one of the arrows marked with an ochre ring. The other he kept in the hand that held the bow. Both had gray goose feathers. Both were plain, but they had clearly been heated and straightened and would fly true to deliver the iron tips that shone with grease to keep the rust off. ”Here's the first thing we're going to get straight,” said Talen. ”Me and my immortal parts are off limits. You see that smudge on the lintel of the doorway to the loft?”

Sugar turned to look where he pointed. A moment later the bow hummed and an arrow shaft sank into a dark coloration on the pale whitewashed lintel.

She turned back to him. He held two more of the ochre ringed arrows, one nocked just as before.

Legs sat at the table eating the last sc.r.a.ps of his food. He put down his spoon and held very still.

”I've been thinking all morning,” Talen said. ”I don't know what game my father is playing, but I do know this: if you cross me, I won't hesitate. In fact, by all rights, I should shoot you down now.”

Sugar knew the look in his eyes. She knew he was considering it. Her father had taught her to never show fear in a fight. Never show pain. Never give an opponent any reason for courage unless you wanted to lure them into a trap. What kind of a fighter was Talen? Was he one that only respected force? Or was he one that was more interested in avoiding a fight?

”Why does my father harbor a hatchling?” he asked.