Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Truth be told I desperately wanted to go with him but I couldn’t balk in front of Will’s people. It would have made the precarious situation worse, especially when encouragements of rebellion filled the air.

Will slipped away, leaving me alone with mother and child. The late afternoon shadows stretched over us and my ears strained to hear any conversation from the barn, but alas, we stood too far away. I heard a faint curious sigh from my smaller companions and glanced down at the little girl.

An idea struck me and I turned to Emily and her daughter. I offered them a friendly smile which the mother reluctantly returned. The little girl hid behind her mother’s dress. “Hello, there. My name’s Rose.”

Steven’s wife bowed her head and curtsied. “We know who you are, Lady Thorn. It’s a pleasure to be making your acquaintance.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Please just call me Rose. I wouldn’t know what to do if everyone started calling me ‘Lady’ all the time.”

The woman relaxed a little at my request. “My name is Mrs. Emily Drut and this is my daughter, Sarah.”

I stooped and held out my hand to the little Sarah. “Glad to meet you, Sarah.”

Her eyes darted up to her mother who nodded. Sarah inched her way out from behind her parent and stretched out her shaking hand. Her quivering fingers brushed against mine and she gave a tiny yelp of surprise before dashing back behind her mother.

Emily frowned down at her child. “Is that any way to treat a guest?”

I laughed and shook my head. “It’s alright. I was that way when I was her age. Speaking of her age-” I looked around us and beheld another half dozen farms within a mile of where we stood, “-are there any other girls about Sarah’s age around here? Or maybe a little younger? Like six or so?”

Emily folded her arms and furrowed her brow. “About eight? There are some youngsters of that age in the village but I can’t recall any out here. Why do you ask?”

“I just thought I heard crying in the forest earlier today and was worried it might be a child,” I explained.

“It could be the kinderbird,” Emily suggested as she nodded at a nearby tree filled with little birds waiting to steal the crumbs from around the chicken coop. “It’s a kind of bird that sounds just like a child. It’s fooled me more than once into believing Sarah was outside.”

Sarah puffed her lips into a pout and nodded. “And I got yelled at.”

Emily smiled and stroked the top of her hair. “And then had a cookie for your trouble and a day without chores so I would know where you were.”

Sarah’s big eyes fell on me. “Do you have a little girl?”

I shook my head. “Not yet.”

“Are you going to have a little girl?”

“Sarah!” her mother scolded her.

Sarah blinked up at her parent. “Isn’t it good to have a little girl, Mama?”

“Yes, but it isn’t polite to be asking that of others,” Emily countered.

I grinned. “I don’t mind. I hope I have a little girl like Sarah here.”

Emily bit her lower lip. “Yes, but. . .the dragons-” Her eyes wandered over to the barn as she tried to form some polite words. “They’re not very. . .prolific, are they?”

I stood and shook my head. “No, but you never know with them. They tend to surprise you.”

“Well, we do hope to see more of the lord now that he has a bride to show around,” Emily added as she used her arms to gesture about the place. “Our home is your home, even excusing the land deal with His Lordship.”

“You don’t mind being a tenant?” I asked her.

She shook her head. “Not at all. He’s a good landlord, the best I’ve heard about, as far as I can tell. When the crops fail he doesn’t even charge us rent and when they do well he hardly takes anything.”

“So he must be pretty popular around here,” I mused. Emily bit her lower lip and turned her face away. My heart skipped a beat at the dark shadow on her brow. “Isn’t he?”

“Well, there are a few people who are unhappy with some things,” she reluctantly admitted.

Sarah tugged on her mother’s apron. “Ben’s dad said Mr. Dragon needed to come out here more often and fix things, didn’t he, Mother?”

Emily frowned down at her child. “Yes, but one mustn’t tell others that, Sarah.”

The small child’s shoulders slumped and she scowled at the ground. “Grownup rules are so strange.”

I was in the middle of a laugh when smoke tingled my nose. Emily’s eyes widened as she gaped at something over my shoulder. “The barn! It’s on fire!”

My heart skipped a beat and I spun around. Smoke billowed out of the upper windows of the barn. The few animals inside its walls stampeded out, encouraged by Ware and Allard as the dragons herded them out into the adjacent open field.

I grasped Emily’s hands and caught her terrified eyes in my gaze. “You two stay here. I’ll see what’s wrong.”

I didn’t wait for a reply but dashed toward the barn. Already less smoke poured from the upstairs windows but I raced through the doors and found myself staring down a long aisle with large stalls on either side. A tack area was on my left and hay filled the lofts above the stalls. Or at least, there used to be hay. A flurry of ash rained down on me but the kindling was so combusted that it didn’t get a chance to spark the dry hay on the floor but completely evaporated before reaching the boards.

Vargas stood near the open door where she held a handkerchief over her mouth. I hurried up to her and saw that she stared up at the loft. The smoky figures of Will, Steven, and Raines could be seen moving around. They kicked at straw, creating piles that Will then carefully torched with his flame magic.

“What’s going on?” I asked the lady dragon.

She rolled her eyes. “Lord Thorn is cleansing the loft by burning the hay.”

My eyes widened. “ All the loft?”

“Of course.”

I whipped my head back to the loft and my gaze traveled up and down the fifty yards on either side. “That’s. . .that’s a lot of hay.”

“Quite a lot,” she agreed.

I heard a gasp behind me and I spun around to find Emily standing just outside the doorway with Sarah cowering behind her. Her hand flew to her agape mouth as her horrified eyes beheld the ruins of the hay in the loft. Her terrified eyes fell on me. “What’s happened? Why is all the hay being burned?”

I hurried over to her and grasped her arms. “I don’t know but I’m sure there’s a good reason for it-”

“An infestation,” Vargas spoke up as she sauntered over to us. She grasped our arms and turned us around so we all faced the exit. She marched us out of the barn away from the smoke and ash. “Now we should let the men do their work. It will not take long.”

“But the animals!” Emily protested as she twisted around to get a look at the fiery loft. “How will we feed them over the winter?”

“Lord Thorn has already promised your husband all the grain and straw your animals will need,” Vargas assured her.

“But he may catch the barn on fire!” Emily pointed out as Vargas released us some twenty yards from the barn close to the chicken coop.

“Mama, what’s going on?” Sarah wailed as she clung to her mother’s leg. “Why is Daddy in there with all the smoke? Is he in trouble?”

Emily turned and knelt in front of her daughter. She grasped Sarah’s shoulders and gave her a shaky smile. “It’s alright, dear. Daddy is doing some cleaning in the barn with Lord Thorn. They’ll be done very soon and then we’ll have some supper, alright?”

Sarah nodded. “Alright.”

Vargas turned to face the barn and nodded. “You will get that supper soon. They are just about finished.”

Very little smoke came out of the windows and Steven, Will, and Raines emerged from the barn a few minutes later. All three were covered in smoke and ash, their faces blackened faces of work with sweat lines that trailed down their visages to create ghastly streaks. Emily and I could barely contain ourselves, so eager were both of us to run over to our husbands.

Steven came up to his bride and gave her a white toothy grin that stood out from his dark face. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the loft as clean as that since we moved in.”

Emily grasped his arms and looked him over. “You are absolutely filthy. Come along and let me help you get cleaned up.”

Steven nodded. “Sure thing, Emily.” He glanced at Will and his smile faltered. “Thanks for your help.”

“There’s no need to thank me, but I would like to know if the old-timers still meet at the pub at around seven in the evening,” Will asked him.

Steven nodded. “That they do. Why do you ask?”

Will’s eyes twinkled but the corners of his lips had a tension to them that belied the seriousness of his intentions. “Tell them I’ll be their guest tonight to trade some old stories and listen to some of their own.”

Steven’s mouth fell slightly agape before he clamped it shut and bobbed his head. “Yes, My Lord. I’ll do just that.”

“Thank you for your help, My Lord,” Emily spoke up as she bowed her head.

“I will be sure to send over the fresh hay in a fortnight,” Will replied as he half-turned toward the barn. Allard and Ware, seeing that the deed was done, approached us. “The air should be cleared up by then for the first load.”

“We’ll be ready for it, My Lord,” Steven promised before the family left us for a good scrubbing.