Zypheria's Call (A Tanyth Fairport Adventure) (8 page)

Amber snorted. “And back most likely.”

They heard the sound of boot heels in the common room and Amber frowned. “I didn’t hear anybody come in.”

Just as she turned to investigate, the connecting door swung open. A youth slipped through and froze, mouth poised to speak. Tanyth had just time enough to register the homespun trousers and deer hide vest before she recognized the face staring out at her.

“Rebecca?” Tanyth said.

“Well, that kinda spoils the surprise,” Sadie said.

“Oh, mum. I figured you’d be in your hut packin’.” Rebecca sighed and let the door close behind her. “You’d have seen at dinner anyway, but we were gonna surprise ya.”

“Well, I’m surprised right enough,” Tanyth said with a short laugh. “What’ve you done?”

Rebecca stood with her arms out from her sides and gave a shuffling turn. “Got the clothes from the quarrymen. Mostly they’re Kurt’s stuff that the others couldn’t use. Got a spare pair of pants and a couple of shirts.”

“You cut your hair?” Tanyth felt a pang of guilt for the woman’s sacrifice. “You had such a lovely braid.”

“Thanks, mum, but it’s just hair. It’ll grow back. Charlotte cuts the quarrymen’s hair. She did a good job with it?”

A leather thong held a small, ruddy-brown ponytail back off Rebecca’s face. Charlotte had chopped her bangs off square in the front and it emphasized Rebecca’s chin by taking some of the roundness out of her face. She’d never pass close inspection, but at a distance, she should fool most.

“You got a hat?” Tanyth asked.

“Yes’m, a wide brimmed one and a kerchief to hide my neck.”

Tanyth made a little twirling motion with her fingers and Rebecca twirled slowly around again.

“That vest does a good job hiding your chest,” Tanyth said.

“Well, I learned that from you, mum.”

Tanyth’s eyes widened in surprise. “From me?”

“Yes’m. You wrap your chest when you’re travelin’, don’t ya?” Rebecca cast her eyes down and gave a little shrug. “I noticed when you were cut up.”

Tanyth nodded her head slowly in approval. It was a habit she’d fallen out of since the run in with Birchwood, but it was one she’d need to start again.

“The vest hides her hips,” Amber said with a smile.

Tanyth blinked and looked again.

“Slip your vest off, Becca,” Sarah said.

With a grin, Rebecca slid the deer hide off her shoulders and did another little twirl. Even the bulky shirt and homespun trousers couldn’t disguise the very feminine roundness of the young woman’s hips and backside. Rebecca put the vest back on and Tanyth noticed that it fell just far enough to mask the top edge of the curve and making her seem much more masculine.

“My face is still too clean, but a little soot and dirt on the sides...” Rebecca scrubbed at the edges of her cheeks, “and it’ll look more realistic.”

Tanyth squinted her eyes a bit and nodded again. “Yeah. A few days on the road and you’ll look grubby enough. You’re still lookin’ too young to be my son, but you could be my grandson.” She smiled. “You still lookin’ forward to the trip?”

“More’n ever, mum.” Rebecca’s face brightened. “I’ve packed up what I’ve got that nobody else wants and I’ll leave a trunk with my auntie in Kleesport. I’ve got a rucksack and bedroll and all my gear fits in it.”

Tanyth grinned. “Yeah, I heard you were practicin’ with Thomas...” she said.

Rebecca shot an angry look at Amber.

“Yep,” Amber put in quickly. “We happened to mention you were practicing your fire makin’ and such so you’d be ready for the road.”

Rebecca nodded. “Oh, yeah. Right. He’s real helpful on packin’ and unpackin’. What to put on the bottom of the pack and all.”

Tanyth hid the grin behind her mug and sipped the cooling tea. “Per’aps you’d like to come help me pack, then,” she said. “Might be you learned a trick or two I haven’t stumbled on.”

Rebecca blinked a couple of times but surprised Tanyth by nodding agreement. “I’d be happy to, mum, if you think I can help.”

“Dinner’s still a couple hours away, mum,” Amber said. “There’s time if you wanna. Save some time in the morning.”

Sadie gave her a knowing smirk. “And you’ll prob’ly be too busy after dinner to do much. Now’d be a good time.”

Her curiosity piqued, Tanyth finished off the last of her tea and stood. “All right. Let’s do that.”

Rebecca led the way out of the kitchen, back through the common room, and out of the inn.

“You’ll be fine as long as you’re standin’ still, I think,” Tanyth said following the younger woman down the steps.

Rebecca glanced over her shoulder. “Standin’ still?”

Tanyth smiled. “You’ll need to practice walkin’ without the wiggle.”

Rebecca colored. “Oh, mum,...”

Tanyth laughed. “It’s all right, my dear. We’ll have plenty of time to practice and after the first twenty miles, you’ll have it under control, I’m sure.”

“True enough,” Rebecca said.

Tanyth nodded to herself. The threat of miles hadn’t bothered the woman. Perhaps it would work out after all. A lot would get settled by the time they got to Kleesport.

“What’ll I call you on the road, mum?” Rebecca asked as they crunched their way across the newly laid gravel.

“Call me?” Tanyth’s mind went blank.

“Yes’m. I can’t call you ‘mum’ or people will know.”

Tanyth snorted. “You don’t think people will know as soon as you speak?”

Rebecca grinned and shook her head. “No, mum. I’m pretty sure they won’t.” The husky tenor voice that came so naturally from Rebecca’s mouth could have come from any young man. “I’ve been practicin’.”

Tanyth laughed then from the sheer surprise of it. “You’ll have to do the talkin’ for us both then,” she said. “I’ve never been able to do much with my voice.”

Rebecca grinned. “The boys from the quarry think it’s pretty funny. I just mimic Jakey. It comes out like this.”

Tanyth caught a hint of the gruff supervisor’s tone in her voice. “But you don’t sound that much like him. You sound like one of the quarrymen trying to imitate him, and badly.”

Rebecca’s eyes twinkled. “Yes, mum. One of the quarry
men
.”

Tanyth lifted her face to the sky and her laughter echoed around the huts. “Indeed you do, my dear. Indeed, you do.”

Tanyth slipped the latch and led the way out of the fading afternoon sun and into the cool dimness of the hut. She had arrayed her traveling gear on the table and around the hearth. Clothing lay folded on the bed. She turned to Rebecca. “Well? What did you learn about packin’?”

“Heavy on the bottom,” she said. “Light on the top. Stuff you need fast on the outside.” Rebecca cast her eyes over the array of goods scattered about the hut. “You’re going to carry all that, mum?”

Tanyth shook her head. “Not all of it. Some is staying here in the storage room for others to use.” She waved a hand at the table. “All that, and everything that’s set along the edge of the hearth. That pile of small clothes, and this pile of outer wear,” she said, pointing out the goods. “The rest I’ll leave.”

Rebecca’s eyes narrowed as she looked around the hut. “You’re leavin’ the teapot?”

“Yeah. China is heavy and it can break. On the road we’ll just brew tea in the kettle.” Tanyth pulled her battered rucksack off its peg and held it up for Rebecca to see. “What do I put in first?”

“What’s heaviest, mum?”

Tanyth gave a little nod of approval and crossed to the table. “This.” She hefted a canvas wrapped bundle about a foot long, half a foot wide, and nearly four inches tall.

“What’s that, mum?”

“Notes. Pressed leaves. All the things I’ve collected over the last twenty odd winters on the road.”

Rebecca frowned. “Twenty winters, mum? In that?”

Tanyth held it out in one hand and Rebecca took it, her two hands drooping from the weight. “Lord and Lady, mum, you’re gonna lug that around with you?”

Tanyth grinned. “Been carryin’ it all this way. Can’t see any good reason to stop now.”

“Can I look?” Rebecca asked.

Tanyth held out her hand. “Not much to see, but sure. A quick peek before it goes into the bag won’t hurt.”

Rebecca handed the bundle back and, with the younger woman’s help, Tanyth gently unfolded the canvas wrapping. As the stained covering opened, it revealed bundles of papers bound in leather thongs. Each individual bundle looked much like the next. Small, neat lettering covered each page. As she flipped through the bundles, Tanyth displayed small sketches, the occasional pressed sample, and even pages written in an obviously different hand.

“I suppose I should sort through this and see what’s there,” Tanyth said, “but there’ll be plenty of time for that when I get where I’m goin’.”

Rebecca shook her head. “That’s a lot of stuff, mum.”

Tanyth nodded. “When I get done travelin’, I’m gonna write a book. Fill in all the stuff I learned about herbs and medicinals. Make it so other people can learn without havin’ to spend twenty-odd winters to find out.”

“When’ll that be, mum?”

“Gertie Pinecrest is the last. I’ve visited all the others.”

Outside the raven called raucously.

“If I don’t go mad first,” Tanyth added.

Rebecca gave her a quick hug. “You’re not goin’ mad, mum. You’ve gotta be one of the sanest people I know.”

Tanyth pressed her cheek against the younger woman’s hair. “I hope so,” she said. “I surely do.”

Rebecca pulled back. “All right, then. Let’s see. Pack that bundle on the bottom?”

Tanyth nodded, immersing herself in the mundane tasks of getting ready for the road after months of habitation. The activity didn’t completely distract her from the raven’s intermittent calling, but it helped.

Chapter Seven:
Departure

Tanyth stood at the foot of the short stair and opened the door to let in the morning light. The cot stood naked along the back wall, the bedroll lashed to the bottom of her pack once more. The hearth wasn’t cold yet, but the ashes had been brushed back against the stonework and only a few glowing coals continued to smolder. The china rested on the mantel board along with the single oil lamp, its glass chimney finding the gray dawn and reflecting it. Beside it, a small white china teapot glowed against the dark stone of the fireplace. The table stood cleared. All her worldly possessions had gone into the pack or been scattered around the many pockets of her trousers.

In spite of herself, she sighed. She pulled her coat on, draping it over her left shoulder and slipping her free arm down the right sleeve before shrugging it into place. “You’re lucky your shirts are cut so full in the sleeve, old woman,” she muttered. A couple of tugs settled the coat around her. With a single smooth movement and a small grunt, she heaved the pack up onto the door-sill one-handed. Her hat came off its peg for the last time and onto her head. Grabbing the staff in her free hand, she levered herself up and out of the hut.

As she was trying to work out the mechanics of carrying pack and staff at once with only one hand, a man’s voice said, “I’ll get that, mum.” Thomas leaned down to grab her pack and hooked it over one shoulder. “You’ll have plenty of time to carry it when you get on the road.”

“Thank you, Thomas, but you didn’t need to worry about that.”

He started walking toward the inn and simply shook his head. “No, mum, but I want to.” He cast a glance at her and stopped. “You comin’? Sadie and Amber got breakfast ready. You got time to eat before Frank finishes with the team.”

She latched the door and nodded. “I hope they made enough. I’m hungry as a bear in springtime this morning.”

Thomas’ peal of laughter echoed off the front of the inn. “I think you’ll be able to find a stray crust or two if you ask nicely,” he said. “Per’aps a half a mug ’o tea as well.”

Tanyth huffed a quiet laugh of her own. “Well, we’ll just have to make do.”

When they stepped into the common room, Tanyth wasn’t at all surprised to find the whole village, except Frank and William, gathered around the long table. Tanyth found a place near the hearth and was soon elbow deep in hot tea, honeyed bread, and a bowl of oatmeal flavored with apples, currants and raisins.

The village had started eating a communal breakfast as soon as the inn’s dining room had been completed. Amber and Sadie found themselves surrounded by plenty of help in the kitchen and seemed to enjoy the hubbub that nearly twenty adults and children could make while still waking up in the morning.

Tanyth found herself sitting a bit back from the festivities, watching the homey meal unfold. Rough quarrymen helping young children with over-sized utensils. Some of the older children with their heads together at one corner of the wide table, furtive glances toward adults hinting at mischief in the making. Amber and William’s boy, Riley, appeared to be the ringleader, as always. Jakey’s dog snaked through under the table, looking for scraps, drops, and hand-outs—all readily available.

Amber took a break from hostess duty to pull up a stool. She did a quick survey of her own before turning a sad smile toward Tanyth. “Not gonna be the same without you, mum.”

Tanyth sniffed and leaned over to the younger woman. “Don’t you start on me. You know I can’t stay, much as I’d like to.” She tried to sound gruff.