The Toll (53 page)

“
Why?”

“
It’s rare someone may be
comfortable enough with a Traveller to offer one, especially me,”
she admitted quietly, “not even Vidi, and to do so
freely.”

I felt a tiny kinship with Magda
then.

“
Ah, believe me, I know the
feeling.”

“
Had a feeling you would,”
was all she said, slipping into the sleeping area she shared with
Vidi.

Other Travels

One night turned into four weeks,
other members of the halfling nomads—Travellers—or the ‘lost and
foundlings’, as most of the young adults referred to
themselves—having graciously taken me in. They’d each come forward,
one wagon at a time, offering me a place to prop my back and sleep,
never for longer than a week at a time, against Magda’s
wishes.

I had a feeling it was all
Vidi’s doing, the young woman and I getting along instantly, and I
truly was grateful for her.
I have a
friend–a real friend.

Today I was helping the women wash
clothes, laughing as an older woman, Greta, told a funny story
about a male named Donovan trying to kiss her, ending up bum first
in a lake.

My fingers slipped over a small pocket
I’d sewn myself, making sure my hidden treasures were still safely
tucked away. I still hadn’t worn the necklace, resisting the urge
to pull it out of my coin pouch and put it on. It was safely tucked
away in the pocket of my only slightly warn out, new-enough-to-me
dress. A few of the ladies had been generous enough to let me
barter some goods from them, mainly three dresses that fit best to
my actual size, and all that went beneath. Not wanting to draw
attention to my monies, I’d let Vidi barter for me, a niggle of
guilt eating at me as I’d promised to pay her back as soon as I
could.

“
Hey, Nugget.”

Turning, I lifted the shirt I was
ringing out to hang on the branches of the bare tree a few feet
away, to find Vidi striding towards me hurriedly.

“
Do you have a moment?”
There was an odd note to her voice, eyes darting around quickly as
they swept over the group.

“
Of course. Betta, can you
hang this for me?” Wiping my hands off on a borrowed bit of cloth
we used as aprons, I handed the shirt off and followed after her,
glad to let someone else finish the chore.

As soon as we rounded the corner where
they’d decided to rest the horses for the night, Vidi whirled on
me. “I need to ask you something, it’s important, and I need you to
be honest with me, alright?

“
Right.”

Fidgeting in place, she
couldn’t seem to stand still.
What had her
so on edge?

“
Did you take it?” she
blurted, so fast I almost couldn’t make her out.

“
Uhm... take what?” My back
was aching something fierce, and my feet were killing
me.

When I couldn’t find a place on one of
the wagons to squeeze in and sit, it was either ride double on a
horse or walk. Some days, I was finding it was just easier to
walk.

“
The thing! The thing!” she
cried desperately, gripping my shoulders.

“
Vidi,” I warned, voice
deepening, and she immediately let go.

“
Sorry.” Vidi cursed a few
times under her breath, grimacing apologetically. “I’m
sorry.”

Rolling my shoulders, they loosened,
blue eyes dimming as soon as I no longer felt threatened. I’d been
on edge for weeks, but today was the worst.

“
Okay. The thing. Whatever
it was the lady said Granmamma was supposed to give
you.”

The locket.

“
I didn’t
take
anything?” She’d
plopped it in my hand.

A long look passed between us and my
lips puckered mulishly.

“
Please, Nugget,” Vidi
begged, “it’s important, and I need to know.”

“
Why?” I wasn’t about to
spill anyone’s secrets, least of all Magda’s. They weren’t mine to
tell, friendship with Vidi or not.

Vidi danced around for a minute as she
bit her lip, making a funny huffing/growling noise before she
stomped her foot in frustration and threw her arms up. “I can’t
say,” she grumbled piteously.

I found this funnier than it really
should be.

“
Stop smiling,” Vidi
muttered, petulant. “It’s sad, not laughable.”

“
Come on now,” I teased, my
face about to split. “You? Not allowed to talk about something?
Hah! You’d die.”

Vidi’s expression turned pained.
“That’s part of it.”

I froze, smile faltering. “Vidi...”
Not so funny anymore, I blinked up at her, concerned. “Tell
me.”

Hissing out a long breath, fists
wiggling at her sides, brows scrunched, she gritted out, “Can’t.”
There was a bit more bite to her words this time.

As my brows lifted questioningly, she
gestured in a circle, mimicking the wagons circling.

“
You can’t... here?” I
guessed, glancing around for nosy spies.

Vidi nodded, gesturing for me to keep
guessing.

Making little pop noises, fingers
raining down, she rolled her hands to get me going.

“
Not in the
rain?”

“
No.”

“
Not in the sunlight?
Stars? Explosions?” At her exasperated look, I deadpanned, “Help me
out, then?”

“
You’re full of it,” she
deadpanned back, her droll stare setting my eyes
rolling.

When she waited for me to say it, I
made her wait another minute, just for the jab alone.
“Magic.”

“
Yes!”

“
Okay, so... you can’t tell
me, because of my magic?” A magic I was slowly gaining a small
semblance of control over.

There was no contact from Troll
whatsoever, but I’d resigned myself to the loss of him, as well as
myself, as soon as the madness hit.

Here, with these people, though, it
softened the blow. I felt cocooned, safe within the group, the ache
in my chest only unbearable when I left the protective barrier.
There’s strength in numbers, at least with Fae.

“
No, I-” Vidi stopped,
mid-sentence, wheezing.

Slapping her on the back, I waited
until she was alright before I stepped back.

“
I can’t do this. Hold on.”
Vidi took off, leaving me standing there, staring after her,
wondering what all had just happened.

Fifteen minutes later, I was still
scratching my head, about to leave, when she finally came
back.

Without a word, she motioned for me to
follow. I did, glancing around reluctantly, a bit uneasy about
sneaking around, because that’s what it felt like.

Once we’d left the safety of the
circle, I shivered with the renewed cold. Pulling a large sack from
behind a thick bush, Vidi pulled out two cloaks. “Here. We’ll need
these.”

“
Vidi?” I mumbled, alarmed
when I spotted all of my things safely stored away at the
bottom.

“
Look. I’ll explain on the
way, okay?”

“
No.” My voice was faint,
as light and airy as my head was feeling. I didn’t want to leave. I
like it here. These people, these Travellers, were beginning to
feel like family. I realized how badly I’d wanted to belong after
that first week.

Concern etched her features before a
hard glint kicked in. “I won’t let them hand you over, okay? But we
have to go, now.”

“
Hand me over? To who?”
Leaves rustled behind me as I shuffled back, brushing the skirt of
my soft grey dress.

Rubbing her face tiredly, Vidi turned
and walked deeper into the brush. “I don’t know. I just... I
overheard Magda talking one night and went to go see...”

That warning sense went off, stomach
twisting, and I knew I wasn’t going to like what she had to say.
“She knows about the baby. I heard her tell the lady.”

“
What lady? What baby?”
Gripping her arm, I pulled her to a stop. A few paces ahead, I saw
her horse, Gall, tied to a tree. He had bags on, and those too were
full. “I think there’s been some kind of
misunderstanding...”

“
Is your name
Daphedaenya?”

Not anymore!
The look on my face, as all the blood drained
from it, was answer enough.

No. No. No.
“There must be some mistake... Vidi, I’m not with
child.

“
She said they’re looking
for you, and-”

“
Who’s looking for
me?”

Vidi pressed my hand to Gall’s flank,
smoothing her free hand over his side.

“
The lady, didn’t you
know?”

“
No! What lady? Is she
here?”

Vidi glanced between the horse and
then me, untying Gall and swiftly mounting, offering me a hand up
to hop on. Grunting and grumbling, I finally managed to find my
seat, bare back on her great beast of a horse.

“
I thought you said you’d
ridden horses before?” Vidi teased, but it came out
forced.

“
I’m surprised you’re
coming too,” I observed. “I was beginning to think you were shoving
me off alone. And, for your information, this is not a horse, it’s
a monster,” I huffed indelicately, snubbing my nose at
her.

“
Why do you have dealings
with the corners?” Vidi asked when my joke fell flat, lapsing into
silence, and it soon grew to be too much. I knew this was good-bye,
and I felt dreadful, just plain awful. Will we ever see each other
again? I’m losing my first real friend.

“
I don’t deal in
corners.”

“
The four corners,
four.”
She put special
emphasis on that. “They lost track of you, and couldn’t find you. I
heard the lady telling Granmamma.”

“
The four... Oh,
god.”
The four corners! Wind, Fire, Earth,
and Water. ‘The Lady’,
not
a
lady. “They’re hunting
me? But why?”
They want me?

“
I don’t know,” Vidi
whispered. “The baby?”

“
No, but I’m not...” Bile
rising in my throat, I thought I might be sick, holding it back
with stubbornness and sheer will alone.

When was my last woman’s
time?
I couldn’t recall. Which let that
sinking feeling slowly washing over me hit deep. “It might not be
his.”

That thought made me feel so sick I
shouted for Vidi to stop, rushing to the ground to scramble far
enough away to empty my stomach. My belly heaved until there was
nothing left, a soft cry tearing from my throat.

“
Here.” A small square
draped over my shoulder and I took it.

“
Thank you.” Wiping my
mouth with the bit of cloth Vidi held out to me, I felt tears prick
my eyes.

“
Aw, I didn’t mean to,
I...” Vidi bent down and enveloped me in a bear hug as I flopped
back, body trembling.

Huge, gut wrenching sobs fell from my
lips, shoulders shaking, real fear, sharp and bitter, tipping my
tongue, filling my nostrils.

“
What am I going to do?” I
wailed, shoulders shaking, chest heaving.

“
I don’t know.”

And what else could she
say?

Lost And Found. Lost Again.

“
You have to go back.” It
wasn’t a question, and I didn’t expect an answer.

“
They’ll wonder,” Vidi said
after a moment, propped up on the side of the bed in the little
village inn we’d found just before we lost all day
light.

“
Won’t they be wondering
now?”

Popping another piece of bread in her
mouth, Vidi shook her head. “Magda thinks I’ve gone to meet with a
man.” At the astonished look on my face, she grinned. “It was her
doing. Friend of a friend of a something or other.”

My face scrunched up and I
shook my head, my long orange hair plastered to my skin as I washed
up in the small hip bath we’d managed to talk—
or I should say pay—
our generous
host into having one of his sons bring up here.

Vidi glanced over at me from the small
plate of bread and cheese she’d been nibbling on. “I think it was a
set up.”

“
What was?” Soaping up my
legs, I glanced up, the lavender scented bar Vidi had thought to
pack still in my hand.

“
The man. I don’t think
there ever was one. I think she wanted me gone.”

“
It did sound a bit
far-fetched to me,” I murmured in agreeance, cupping water over my
hands to rinse off.

“
She seemed really pushy
about me going, too,” Vidi thought aloud.

“
Do you think the two
things are connected?” Gesturing for her to hand me a towel, I
quickly dried off.

Nudity wasn’t an issue between us,
having had to bathe in rivers with the rest of the ladies, you grew
immune. I expected stares, and eventually questions, once others
grew more comfortable in my presence, but the questions never came.
The stares were inevitable, more curious than anything, but
inquiring minds never asked, all lips firmly shut.