Marysvale (7 page)

I didn’t bother to stop him, knowing it
wouldn’t last long. It wasn’t the first time he had spoken of his
father in anger, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

Then, as quickly as the tempest
started, it ended. With his emotions spent, he lapsed into a glum
silence.

We continued up the stream until
midmorning when Thomas shouted excitedly, “Look! I see some tracks
up ahead.”

Following them, we found the small
bovine herd; and in its midst was a very pregnant cow.

“
She doesn’t look sick,”
observed Thomas.

“
No,” I agreed, “she
doesn’t. However, since we’re here, we might as well be
thorough.”

While we checked, I attempted to read
her. All animals were hard to read and, when I did find something,
it was usually difficult, if not impossible, to interpret. There
wasn’t much there behind her eyes. Unlike horses, cows mostly
functioned out of instinct, and the pregnant mother gave me nothing
of use. I took that as a good sign.

“
I don’t see anything
wrong,” said Thomas.

“
I don’t either.”

“
Do you think there was ever
anything wrong?” he asked.

“
I can’t be sure,” I
replied. “But I’m doubtful.”

I viewed our surroundings. The forest
looked much more menacing than it had minutes before. The shadows
and undergrowth now seemed perfectly capable of hiding a few armed
men. Suddenly, I gained an overwhelming desire to flee this place.
However, for Thomas’ sake, I decided running away like a little
girl wasn’t the most impressive thing I could do. So, I remained
calm, and fought back the urge.

“
If you don’t mind, Thomas,
I think I’ll have you tell Governor Potts that his animal is well,
if he doesn’t already know.”

After all, running away and being
cautious are two different things
, I reasoned.

“
That’s probably a good
idea. Should I go now?”

“
No. I believe tomorrow will
be soon enough.”

“
Would you like me to wait
until you’ve left to join the hunting party?”

“
I would appreciate
that.”

Still expecting to see someone lurking
behind a tree, I added, “I also think that, perhaps, we shouldn’t
go back the way we came.”

He agreed.

The trip to Widow Snow’s was
uneventful. She greeted us warmly with a big bowl of steaming stew
and freshly baked bread. It was delicious and much better than
anything I could make.

With Thomas’ willingness to stay and
help, even though I hadn’t asked him to, we worked quickly—mostly
repairing her cottage roof, along with a few other things that we
noticed. Despite his assistance, it took longer than I’d hoped and
the day grew late. When we had finished, Widow Snow thanked us and
sent us on our way with the rest of the bread.

We walked the horses, while watching
our shadows grow long. After a mile or so, I suggested, “You should
get home before the sun sets.”

He shrugged and made no attempt to
leave.

I let it slide for another mile, but
then, as the sun dipped even lower, I insisted, “Thomas, you need
to go. I’ll be safe. My cottage isn’t far and I’ll leave in the
morning, long before anyone wakes up. Besides, you’re assuming
something malicious is going to happen, and so far nothing
has.”

“
I know,” he said. “It’s
just...I’ve been thinking, and it seems that when
Him
is
happy about something, it means that someone else is about to have
a very rough time.”

It was a likely statement, but I
replied, “Don’t worry about me—you need to worry about what your
father will do to
you
if you don’t return home quickly.
Since he didn’t know you were going to spend the rest of the day
with me, I’m afraid he’ll be in an awful mood.”

“
I’m sure you’re right. I’m
just not ready to face him,” he said with a sense of
dread.

“
It’ll be worse the longer
you wait,” I cautioned.

He didn’t reply immediately, but after
a moment of silence, he reluctantly agreed, “I’ll see you in a few
days then?”

I nodded.

Slowly, he turned his horse toward town
and, after a few steps, called back, “Be careful. Don’t get mauled
by a bear or anything.”

Laughing, I replied, “I’ll do my
best.”

I watched him ride off before heading
home. Normally, I would’ve gone through town; but since most of the
men I liked (and more importantly, who liked me) were gone, I went
around it. Upon arrival, Smoke greeted me, although he hadn’t
forgiven me for leaving him behind. He let me know his displeasure
by walking well out of my reach every time I tried to pet him.
Giving up, I unsaddled and groomed the mare, fed all the horses,
and then walked back to my small cottage. It looked so dark inside
that I hesitated, debating if anything nasty awaited me.

Probably just paranoid
, I
thought.

Yet, I stood outside, trying to detect
the slightest movement. After a long while, I finally mustered the
courage to go in, mostly because I got tired of standing. Reaching
for the door, I steeled myself, then, with gusto, flung it open. I
quickly scanned the inside, prepared to bolt if any reason
presented itself. However, the only thing waiting for me was the
familiar, musty smell. I let out a long sigh of relief. Being home
in familiar surroundings made me feel better—enough to resist the
temptation to barricade myself behind the bed with every weapon I
owned. Eventually, after packing and cleaning myself, I even found
that sleep came easily.
Surely nothing will happen at night.
After all, they must be tired, too.

“
John, wake up!”

“
Mmm.”

“
Wake up! You don’t have
time to sleep!” said Thomas urgently.

The tone of his voice told me
everything.

“
Oh no,” I groaned. “They’re
coming for me, aren’t they?”

“
Yes, and they’ll be here
quickly. They have decided to take you tonight!”

I flew out of bed and scrambled into my
clothes.

“
How do you know?” I asked,
glancing out the window. It was dark, but candlelight streamed out
of the windows in a few nearby cottages. I guessed only an hour or
two had passed since lying down exhausted from the day’s
work.

“
You were right! When I got
home,
Him
was furious. He wanted to know where we had gone
and why we had not gone back to Governor Potts’ house; and where
you went after we separated. I’m sorry, I wasn’t going to tell,
but…”

I could see the blood seeping through
the back of his shirt.

“
No, don’t apologize—it’s
not your fault. I would have wanted you to. Besides,” I added,
“they would have found me anyway.”

“
I wasn’t going to tell. I
didn’t want to, just to spite him. But then…” his voiced cracked
and his eyes watered, “he started on Mother.”

Through clenched teeth, he continued,
“He was making me watch. I couldn’t stand it,”

“
You don’t have to say
anymore.” I gently placed my arm around his shoulder.

The tears came more freely.

After a moment, he gained some control
and said, “I secretly followed him. He went into the town hall.
There were others there, too. I didn’t want to get caught, so I hid
outside under the window and listened…. John, they’re going to try
you for witchcraft. They say you’re unnaturally quick and stronger
than normal, and…they think you can read minds.”

“
And what do you think?” I
asked.

“
There is something
different about you; but it’s not bad. You’re good. Besides, I
tried testing you, just to see if you really could read minds…”
Then, with a slight grin, he declared, “You failed.”

I laughed. “Maybe I wasn’t
trying.”

He pondered that for a moment and then
said, “It doesn’t matter.”

His sense of urgency returning, he
pled, “Hurry, they won’t be long.”

I crammed into my riding boots, flung
on my cloak, and grabbed my packs. We made our way out back to the
stable where I readied Smoke for our flight into the
darkness.

Finally, I understood the deceit in
Potts’ eyes when he had first asked me to look at his cow. It was
to keep me from joining the hunting party. With most of my support
gone, they could take me, have a quick trial, and execute me, all
with a stacked court and little outcry. Once I was dead, they
probably wouldn’t stop. I’m sure Mr. Shepherd would be next....I
froze.
What if they had tricked him into staying too, and had
already had his trial?

“
Thomas, did you hear
anything about Mr. Shepherd?” I asked urgently.

“
No, I only heard your name;
but I left before they were finished. I needed to warn
you.”

It didn’t sound like they had taken
him; but I had no way of knowing for sure. I made a plan to find
the hunting party first thing and warn them.

“
John,” said Thomas
sadly.

“
Yes?”

“
I will miss
you.”

“
I’ll miss you, too! Don’t
worry, I won’t be gone long.”

“
Sure,” he said. But I could
tell he didn’t believe me, and I wasn’t sure I really did
either.

I leapt up onto Smoke’s
back.

“
Hurry back to the house,
Thomas! They mustn’t know you’ve warned me.”

“
Be careful, John! I know
you don’t believe it, but these are dark times and the forests are
unsafe, especially in the north.” His voice trailed off as he slid
through the shadows back to his house.

I kicked Smoke into action. However,
instead of heading south toward the hunting party, we turned north
and headed into town. Men wielding torches streamed out of the town
hall. A few were on horses, already streaking down the main street
in the direction of my now vacant cottage. I darted out of sight
and down a side street before they noticed.

The occasional smell of smoke rising
from the chimneys made me realize how much I’d miss Syre. I planned
on coming back, but, like Thomas, something inside me knew this
would be the last time I roamed these streets. It made me
sad.

When the riders had passed, I cut back
to the main road and began my search for the man who was behind
this and so many others’ misery. I just hoped he wasn’t one of the
riders.

He wasn’t. There, outside the town
hall, stood that foul being who called himself husband and father,
joking and laughing with a few others—the esteemed governor at his
side. The thudding of Smoke’s hooves caught their ears, and they
turned. They looked as if they were trying to figure out why a
rider was coming back without his quarry—not suspecting anything
could be wrong with their carefully thought-out plan. Finally,
recognition dawned and pandemonium broke out.

Martin yelled, “Stop him! Stop him!
He’s trying to escape!”

His statement wasn’t entirely
true—escape wasn’t my only motive.

Most of the men ignored him and were
more interested in getting out of the way of a half-ton horse and
rider bearing down on them. Some scrambled for cover; others dove
for safety. Governor Potts tried a dive; but on account of his
weight, he mostly fell straight down instead of out and away. Once
on the ground, he settled on a frantic rolling motion. Martin, on
the other hand, didn’t move. His face flushed with anger, as he
drew his pistol and took aim.

I wished I had taken the time to load
my musket, but then, I didn’t have much time to take.

I tensed and waited for the inevitable
as he pulled the trigger.

It all happened in the same instant: my
heart skipped a beat and my lungs quit working all together. The
gun belched fire and smoke as time slowed to a crawl, and a little,
deadly black ball whizzed towards me on a collision course with
destiny.