Authors: Mackenzie Morgan
“I won’t, at least not on purpose,” Petar said solemnly.
“And when this job of yours is done, bring her back to us.”
Petar hesitated and gave a little nod. “If I can. But if this job goes as I hope it will, I’ll be doing it until I’m an old man.”
Fenway nodded. “Then I hope it works out for you, but if it doesn’t, come on back. The two of you will always have a home here.” Fenway stood up. “Guess I need to get back to work. Don’t you let her leave here without saying goodbye.”
“I won’t,” Petar said as the tavern master walked away to see to the rest of his customers. Petar sipped his scog as he gazed around the room. He knew every person in there, at least by name. When he came here two years ago he wouldn’t have believed Milhaven would end up feeling more like home than Trendon, but it did. He liked it here, and if he didn’t honestly believe Landis needed them, he wouldn’t leave.
After a while, Callie walked out of the kitchen and sat down opposite him. Her eyes were puffy with dark circles underneath. Petar wasn’t sure if she was exhausted or if she’d been crying, but either way, he wanted to take her in his arms and hold her. But since they were in a crowded tavern, he settled for taking her hand. “Rough day?”
Callie nodded. “In every way imaginable.”
“When will you be able to get out of here?”
“I’ve got a few more things to do in the kitchen, maybe twenty minutes.”
Petar nodded. “Fenway told me not to let you leave without saying goodbye.”
“But not out here. I’m not going to start crying in front of everyone. When I’m ready to go you can find him and tell him I want to see him in the kitchen.”
Petar nodded. “Is Ainsley around? I haven’t seen her since I got here.”
“She’s in the kitchen, taking notes on everything I’m doing. She’s been doing that all day.”
“Why?”
“Because when I told her father I was leaving, he told her she’s the new cook.”
“Ainsley?”
Callie nodded.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her pick up a knife. Can she cook?”
Callie shook her head. “Not a lick.”
Petar laughed. “I almost hate I’m going to miss this.”
“It’s not funny. I feel so sorry for her. I wish there was something I could do to help, but you can’t teach someone how to cook in one day. It just can’t be done.”
“He’ll find someone. Don’t worry about it.”
“I know, but in the meantime, I do feel sorry for her. She grew up in the tavern so she’s always had someone cooking for her. First her mother, then me.”
Petar decided to change the subject. “Are you packed?”
Callie nodded. “I did it last night after I got home.”
Petar frowned. “But you said you wanted to come in early this morning.”
“I did. I was here shortly after daybreak.”
“Did you get any sleep?”
“Maybe three hours.” Callie yawned. “Let’s not talk about sleep.” Callie took Petar’s mug and drank a swallow of scog. “I wasn’t sure you’d come by tonight. I thought you were meeting me at home.”
“I wanted to walk you home, but I think you may be too tired.”
“No, I’m fine. The walk will be nice, a break of sorts. But you could get me a mug of scog and bring it to the kitchen.”
“Consider it done.”
Callie stood back up and stretched her back. “Guess I need to get back in there. See you in a little bit.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Kevin almost didn’t recognize the place when he arrived at Garen’s camp Thursday afternoon. The only sign they’d camped there was the fire circle. They’d even brushed the ground they’d slept on so it looked undisturbed. The lean-tos were down and the wood and branches had been scattered. The crates he’d brought were packed and ready to go, as were the bags the men planned to carry with them.
Everything was nice and neat, except for Callie’s stuff. When he got there, she stepped beside three large boxes and four big bags and looked at him with a touch of defiance in her eyes. “I need this stuff, every bit of it,” she said as he glanced at the stack.
“No problem. I can take it for you, but are you sure that’s it? No furniture?”
Callie shook her head. “I left the furniture where it was. I’m sure someone can use it.”
Petar put his arm around her. “We’ll be fine.”
Kevin nodded. “If you change your mind, let me know. I can take furniture through the energy field as easily as boxes.” He looked around at the men. “How many of you have traveled by key before?” Only three of them raised their hands, including Cpt. Garen. “The first trip’s always rough. You’ll feel sick on your stomach, dizzy, and weak. The best thing you can do is bend over and concentrate on taking deep breaths until you feel steady again. It won’t take more than a couple of minutes to pass unless you decide you’re going to tough it out and try to move around. If you do that, you’ll find yourself flat on your back probably covered in your own vomit. Not a pretty picture. And certainly not the way you want to greet your families.”
A couple of the men swallowed hard, but they all nodded.
Kevin looked at Cpt. Garen. “You said one of your men has been there, that he was with your families when they settled, right?” When Cpt. Garen nodded, Kevin said, “He’ll have to take me the first time so I’ll know where to go. And since no one’s expecting us, I think you should go with us.”
Cpt. Garen nodded at Alyan and the two of them walked towards Kevin. Kevin put one hand on Alyan’s arm and handed him the key with his other hand. “When I tell you to, I want you to picture the settlement where your family’s living, see it in your mind. Then, when you have a clear image of it, turn the key. Got that?”
Alyan nodded slowly. “I think so.”
“Don’t worry. As long as I’ve got my hand on your arm, you won’t get lost. Even if we don’t end up at the right place, I can get us back here to try again. It’ll be all right.” He glanced at Cpt. Garen. “Ready?”
Cpt. Garen put his hand on Alyan’s arm and nodded.
Kevin turned his attention back to Alyan. “Now picture the settlement. Do you see the houses?”
Alyan closed his eyes and nodded.
“Turn the key,” Kevin said softly.
A few moments later, they were at the edge of a small clearing with a wide river to their backs. On the other side of the clearing stood four buildings shaped more like barracks than houses, but they had doors, windows, and chimneys. And in the clearing there were several children, all of whom had frozen in place when three men appeared out of thin air. One of the older girls yelled, “Mother! Come out here. Now!” at the same time one of the boys tilted his head and asked, “Father?”
Alyan was still trying to catch his breath when he heard his son. He slowly straightened up and turned towards the clearing. When his eyes found his son, a big smile spread across his face and he started to take a step towards him, but Kevin caught his arm. “Wait a minute. You’re still dizzy, and you’ve got my key.”
Alyan looked down at his hand and grinned. “It worked. I did it.”
Kevin laughed as he gently took the key back. “Yes, you did.”
By that time, Alyan’s son had run over and put his arm around his father, concern written all over his face.
“Your father’s fine,” Kevin said, “but I imagine he’d love a glass of water. Can you find him one?”
As Alyan’s son lead him across the clearing, people started pouring out of the buildings so Kevin turned to Cpt. Garen. “I’ll leave explanations to you. I’ll go back for the rest of your men. And it might be a good idea for someone to get some water out here. It really does help.”
As Cpt. Garen nodded, Kevin turned the key and left for the camp.
An hour later, all of Garen’s men and their possessions had been moved to the clearing in Nandelia. Petar had asked if he and Callie could be last, and by the time Kevin got to them, Callie was too tired to be nervous. All she wanted was to be done, to get settled somewhere with Petar and get some sleep.
While Petar introduced Callie to the other wives, Cpt. Garen joined Kevin on the side of the clearing. “Thank you. I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it is to see my wife and hug my children again. It’s been a long time, too long.”
“You’re welcome,” Kevin answered. “And now that you’re here, are you sure you want to pursue the idea of protecting Landis?”
Cpt. Garen nodded. “I owe it to Tsareth.”
“No guarantees, but I’ll check into it.”
“Any idea when you might know something?”
Kevin shook his head. “But I’ll be back in a couple of weeks to let you know what’s going on. You are planning to stay here, right?”
Cpt. Garen nodded. “At least until we find out something about Landis.”
As Kevin took out his key, he smiled and nodded towards all the people standing around talking in the clearing. “They look happy. That’s nice to see.” Then he turned the key and went home.
Chapter 37
A Hectic Weekend
Friday morning Kevin was in his office when Darrell knocked on the side of his door.
“Come on in,” Kevin said without looking up
“You invite just anybody into your office? Without bothering to see who it is?”
“You got past Ariel.” Kevin folded and sealed the letter he was writing. “And Chris.” Then he looked up. “What can I do for you?”
“How did it go when you took Garen and his men to their families?”
Kevin leaned back and grinned. “You should have seen the faces of those women when their husbands showed up. There’s no way to fake that kind of happiness. And the men were as bad as their wives.”
Darrell smiled. “So their families really were there.”
“Of course.” Then it hit him. “You were expecting me to walk into a trap, weren’t you?”
“It crossed my mind, and it didn’t help that you didn’t take a bodyguard with you.”
“Darrell, even if I had misjudged those men there wasn’t time for them to set up an attack. Less than forty-eight hours after I talked to them, they were there.”
“And how did they get there?” Darrell asked. “You handed one of them the key, didn’t you?”
Kevin nodded.
“He could have taken you anywhere. You could have ended up in that cave on Fall Creek Road surrounded by assassins. You took a chance, Kevin, a big one,” Darrell argued. “I’m glad it turned out okay, but you’re way too trusting for your own good.”
“How did you find out about it?”
“Chris told me when I came by yesterday afternoon to find out what the next part of the plan was.”
“He didn’t mention that to me.”
“Probably thought you’d tell me yourself, which you should have, before it happened.”
“Okay. Point taken. I probably should have taken a guard.”
“No probably about it,” Darrell grunted. “By the way, Callie’s gone. I don’t know who’ll be cooking at the tavern now.”
“Do you eat there often?”
Darrell shrugged. “I try to eat there at least once a week. A lot of my men go down there when they’re off duty. Doesn’t hurt for them to know I’m subject to walk in at any moment.”
Kevin raised his eyebrows. “What are you expecting them to do? It’s not like they can get drunk on scog.”
“I know.” Then Darrell frowned. “We all knew Petar was going to ask her to marry him, but no one expected them to leave. From what I heard, he was offered a job somewhere. If I’d known he was looking, I’d have hired him myself. With a little training, he’d make a good guard. He certainly has the air of one already.”
Kevin grinned.
Darrell’s eyes opened wide. “No. You’re kidding. He’s not one of Garen’s men.” Darrell stood up. “Is he?”
Kevin nodded.
“That’s just not fair,” Darrell mumbled as he headed out the door.
Before Darrell made it out of the office, Rhianna walked in. As she shut Kevin’s door, she asked, “What did you do to Darrell?”
“What do you mean? I didn’t do anything to him.”
“You must have,” she insisted as she sat down. “He was scowling when he went by me just now and he was in a great mood a little while ago when we were working with some of the staff. What happened?”
Kevin shrugged. “He fussed a little because I didn’t take a bodyguard with me when I ran an errand yesterday, but I didn’t argue with him. I even told him he had a point.”
“Maybe he was hoping for an argument and you didn’t give him one.” Rhianna shrugged. “Oh well. You won’t believe what I heard last night. Callie’s gone. You know, the cook at Fenway’s. Anyway, the man she’s been seeing was offered a job somewhere and asked her to go with him, so she packed up and left. He didn’t find out about the job until Tuesday night and now they’re gone. I can’t believe it.”
Kevin smiled. “If that’s what she wanted, I’m happy for them.”
“Well, you might not be so happy the next time you run into Fenway. From what I hear, he’s like an angry bear. Callie had asked Doreen to make a planter for his kitchen, but she’s not sure she should do it until she finds out if the next cook wants one.”
“Who’s cooking now? I assume he’s still open, right?”
Rhianna nodded. “Callie cooked up some extra food and Ainsley’s serving that, but it’ll run out soon. I don’t know what will happen then. I had planned to take Dougan and the rest of them down there to eat this weekend. I thought it might help if he looked around town and saw for himself how friendly the people are and how well the castle staff’s treated down there. But I’m not sure that’ll be a good idea now. If the food at Fenway’s isn’t good and Fenway’s grumpy, it might be a place to avoid.”
Kevin didn’t say anything, so Rhianna shrugged again. “What time are you picking Eryn up?”
“In half an hour.”
Rhianna stood up. “I need to get cleaned up a bit. What did Marshall say when you told him?”
Kevin hesitated.
“You haven’t told him?”
As Kevin shook his head he felt his face warm. “I couldn’t figure out the best way to do it, so I kept putting it off.”
“So you think the best way is to let his grandfather just walk into the stable?”
Kevin bit his lips. “At least he won’t have spent days worrying about it.”
“You can’t do that to him, Myron. It’s cruel to spring something like this on someone with no warning. I’ll talk to him while you’re gone.” She looked down at her dusty tunic and leggings. “I really wanted to change clothes and clean up a bit before meeting Dougan.”