“Oh sorry miss,” the voice behind me says and I stiffen instantly. Gods, not him. I try to move in the other direction but a dark head pushes past my shoulder to get a look at my face.
“Tara? Is that you?” I can hear the disbelief in his voice and I turn on my heel to give him the steeliest of looks.
“Not a word...not one word! This dress was your ma’s idea, not mine,” I say waiting for the insults to start flying. Instead he is looking at me all wide eyed, like he cain’t believe what he’s seeing.
“By gods...you look like a girl!” he says.
“I am a girl jackass,” I say, glaring at him.
“No I mean without all the dirt and mud and stink....you ain’t half bad.”
I don’t know how to take this. Is it a compliment or an insult? I ain’t sure. So I don’t say nuthin and neither does Jax. We just kind of stare at each other in silence. Finally...
“Tara, I....”
“Listen Jax...”
We both speak at the same time interrupting each other. He nods at me.
“You first,” he says.
“No, go ahead,” I say.
“I just wanted to...”
“Jax! There you are.” A small wisp of a girl with the loveliest sun bleached curly hair I’d ever seen moves between us and grabs Jax’s hand. She throws a smile my way.
“Hello, I’m Sky. Hope you don’t mind but I want to dance and Jax here is the best dancing partner.”
“Really?” I say disbelievingly, my eyes opening wide. This dour, sullen stick in the mud is a good dancer? Somehow I cain’t picture it.
“Yes really,” he says defensively, like he can see what I’m thinking.
“Well nice to meet you Sky...and by all means. Don’t let me stop you from having the best dancing partner. This I gotta see!” I don’t bother to hide my amused grin but Jax looks a mite irritated by it.
“Look Sky, I really need to talk to Tara right now,” he says but I interrupt.
“Nah...it ain’t nuthin that cain’t wait. Go dance.” I literally push him towards the ever smiling Sky and he shoots me a look before he lets her lead him away as if to say ‘this ain’t finished’. I watch them walk away, Jax seeming to tower over the impossibly tiny girl. Finn comes to stand next to me, munching loudly on an ear of corn.
“Who’s that with Jax?” he mumbles round his mouthful of food.
“Sky,” I say simply.
“She’s real pretty,” he says.
“Aye, that she is,” I say, but cain’t help but feel a bit put out. She did look real pretty in her nice girly dress ... no confusing her with not being a girl. She weren’t the type of girl you would describe as ‘ain’t half bad.’ For some reason I cain’t fathom, it don’t sit well with me. Must be the hunger getting the better of me, I think. I nudge Finn and grin.
“Did you save me any?”
Shizen! Don’t think I could eat another bite even if my life depended on it. I must have tried everything on the table and twice over. And the dress that had been tight before...well it now threatened to cut off my life’s breath. But I didn’t care...I would have died full and happy.
We had just stood there, me and Finn, eating and grinning at each other as the juices ran down our chins. We would nod hello or such to anyone who happened to speak to us but we don’t let nuthin deter us from the food. Cat would occasionally saunter over and gobble up anything we dropped, but she mainly stayed hidden under the table. There were too many people round for her liking. I knew how she felt. If I could have gotten away with it I would have crawled under there with her. Only when the shouts started of “A tale Tater! A tale!” did we let ourselves be pulled away from the food.
Eagerly we join Vi and Jax and the others gathered round the fire. Vi scoots over on the wooden bench and nods for us to sit. Finn moves real quick and sets himself next to Vi leaving me no option but to squeeze between him and Jax. For some reason I hesitate. I don’t want to sit that close to Jax and Sky but at his raised brow I decide I’m being foolish and sit myself down. Or try to at least but I take one step and my boot hooks into the tail of my dress and I go sprawling in the dirt at Jax’s feet. Horrified I stare at Jax’s boots, too embarrassed to look any higher.
“Oh my, are you okay Tara?” I know its Sky’s voice asking but it ain’t her hands that help me to my feet and set me straight. I look into the mocking blue eyes and brush his hands angrily from my shoulders.
“Aye she’s okay,” he says all the while still snickering at me. “She ain’t used to dressing as a girl is all...right Tara?”
“Mule turd,” I mutter at him and sit myself next to Finn, squishing him almost so as not to have any part of me touch Jax at all. I ignore his sniggering and stare straight ahead at Tater, my cheeks burning hot from my embarrassment. Even Finn is laughing at me, but I give him my steeliest glare and mutter under my breath “Don’t you even dare.”
He stops laughing real quick. Thankfully everyone’s focus soon turns to Tater as he gets himself into his story telling mode. He clears his throat a couple of times and stares dramatically at the night sky. I recognize the look of intense concentration and I shiver in anticipation, forgetting about my earlier embarrassment. This was going to be a good one.
He is as still as a statue, silhouetted against the roaring campfire. A hush falls over the crowd. Even the music makers have stopped playing for this treat. Tater drags the silence out for a bit, building the suspense. It was so quiet you could probably hear a leaf drop. Then suddenly, his voice booms out in a deep, resonating timbre...
“Many many years ago and in a land far far away...”
Every soul there is held spell bound as Tater tells us the story of a magical tree planted by the gods that grew up through the clouds...right to the sky! And of how a poor boy named Finn (we all laugh at this) came across this tree while hunting for food one day in the woods and climbs to the sky to find himself in a magical kingdom ruled by an evil giant. Now this giant has kept the kingdoms true, good queen locked away in a gilded cage for many many years. He tells us of how Finn finds this Queen, so sad and lonely in her confinement. She requests of Finn to release her from her prison cage and in repayment she promises him her jeweled locket. The problem however is the giant keeps the key to the cage on him at all times. Brave Finn waits ‘til the giant falls asleep then sneaks into the giants pocket looking for the key to release the Queen, trying desperately not to awaken the giant. All the young’uns sitting at our feet squeal in fright as Tater, who had been pretending to be the sleeping giant, opens his eyes, jumps up on a tree stump and booms out...
“Ahoy! Ahoy! I smell the flesh of a foolish boy!”
Even the real Finn next to me jumps and grabs my arm in fright at this.
Our hero Finn succeeds in getting the key and freeing the Queen but the giant is furious at the boy and tries to stomp him into the ground. Tater builds up the excitement by describing the chase between Finn and the giant. Finn is running for his life....climbing down the tree as fast as he can but the giant is on his heels. Halfway down the boy yells to his ma to bring his ax and once on the ground starts hacking at the tree. Tater is by now acting it out ...chopping at the air as if his life truly depended on it. The young’uns are all huddled together terrified....I even find myself on edge a little, holding my breath; he has drawn me into the story so. I steal a sideways glance over at Jax and am amazed to see his usual frown replaced by amusement as he watches Tater. Sky is huddled into Jax’s arm as if she was terrified by the story. Snorting to myself in disgust I turn away. Really? She was acting like one of the young’uns.
Finn nearly has the tree chopped through when the weight of the giant topples it the rest of the way and the giant falls from the sky to the ground, creating a fierce hole...so wide and deep into the earth that he disappears, never to be seen again. This hole eventually fills up from the rains and becomes what the settlers of old used to call an ‘ocean’. As for Finn, the locket was a treasure indeed a
nd it gives him and his ma the means to live the rest of their lives happily and fruitfully…ever after.
Tater stops talking and for a bit there ain’t nuthin but silence, then the whooping and clapping starts. It’s so loud it echoes in my ears. Shouts of ‘Wonderful’ and ‘Magnificent’ and ‘Another! Another!’ Tater is soaking it up, smiling and bowing, but he shakes his head to another tale. Instead he happily accepts a mug of ale from his rosy cheeked companion and is content to let the music makers break into a lively dance step. He is truly where he belongs, I think as I watch someone supply him with a flute and he joins in the music making, dancing a little jig as he plays.
I lounge with Vi by the fire listening to the music and tapping my foot to the rhythm. Finn, by now, has had enough of sitting and was in among the throng of dancers. I would catch a glimpse of him every now and then as he swung by on the arm of someone, head tipped back and howling with laughter. It gladdens my heart to see him having so much fun. That’s what young’uns were supposed to do...have fun. Jax is among the many dancers as well. I see him and Sky, swinging by, hear their laughter. It don’t seem right hearing that deep laughter coming from him. I ain’t used to it. I’m used to the sullen looks and glares of disgust, but Sky, she must truly bring out the best in him, I think. I watch in puzzlement as many of the dancers clap Jax on the back as they pass by or kiss Sky’s cheek. It’s almost as if they were congratulating them...but for what? Before I can ask Vi about this though, the mob of dancers swoop by and one of them falls out of the line, nearly landing in my lap. Laughingly the young man gets to his feet and takes a little bow in my direction.
“Why are you not dancing young miss? Come, dance with me.”
“Oh no…I cain’t,” I say shaking my head.
“Of course you can,” says Vi and she nudges my shoulder. “Go...have some fun.”
“No.....no!” I say more insistently as the man yanks me to my feet. Instantly I am whirled and spun about in every direction. The swarm of dancer’s crash in on me, then ebb out again like ripples in a pond. I am swung from one arm to the next as the magical spell of the music flows over me, stirring my blood, awakening some deep rooted need to just let loose. It was exhilarating, and the dancing surprisingly makes me feel so alive! My breathless laughter blends with the others as I grab the next person’s hand and am pulled into the crook of a strong arm. I look up into familiar blue eyes and I’m shocked to see them void of any disapproval, but filled with the pure joy of the moment. For a slight bit we share in the delight of the dance as Jax holds me tight against his chest and I stare into his face. I suddenly notice that he has shaved since our escape and the missing stubble allows me to see the tiny hollow in his chin. Funny, I ain’t noticed that little dent before. I’m stunned at the sudden urge I feel to reach up and touch it, but fighting it hard I keep my hands firmly planted on his chest. I can feel his heart thumping through his thin tunic against the palm of my hand. He suddenly smiles at me then, a real full out smile that reaches his eyes and makes them appear bluer than the summer sky, and my breath catches in my throat.
Time seems to stand still for a brief bit as the music and the laughter of the others fade into the background, surrounding us in our own little cocoon of silence. Like at this moment in time we are the only two people in the world. That nuthin else mattered. But then the contact is broken and I’m spun into the arms of the next dancer, surprised by the sharp twinge of loss. That was it...just a stupid little smile but it leaves me more breathless than any dancing. Light headed and stumbling I move away from the dancers and make my way back to the fire. Someone thrusts a mug into my hands and I drink the foul tasting ale down in big gulps. What the hell was wrong with me? It was just a stupid dance....why was my heart doing these crazy little flip flops?
Puzzled by what I’m feeling and not wanting to make conversation with Vi or anybody else for that matter right now, I head away from the bustling center and walk slowly towards the dark outskirts of the village. I feel the unexplainable need to get away and get some air. I walk along the dark path away from the ruckus ‘til the quiet babbling of a little brook beckons me. I head for it and settle down beside it letting the musical sound of its waters soothe me. I pull my knees up and cross my arms over them and close my eyes. I can still hear the laughter of the dancers and the music makers from afar and start humming along as they break into a chorus of ‘Sweet Sally’. I tap my foot along with my humming. Gra’da used to sing this, I think, as I smile to myself. The knife sharp pain that always accompanies my thoughts of him comes swiftly but it don’t linger as much as it used to. It turns quicker into more of a dull ache now. It kinda scares me ‘cause I’m afraid it means I’m starting to forget. I don’t want to forget.
“Tara.”
As lost in my thoughts as I was, the voice startles me and I jump. I look up as the shadowy figure of Jax approaches and blame my rapidly beating heart on my fright.
“I saw you walk away and figured this would be as good a time as any to talk to you.”
He joins me at the brook and plops himself down on the sandy bank. I look at him expectantly as he settles beside me, but he don’t say nuthin. I wait for a bit, the only sound being the music makers off in the distance and the running waters.
“Well the whole point of wanting to talk is to actually say words,” I say finally.
He don’t look at me...he keeps staring at the flowing water.
“I know that...I just wanted....I wanted to say thank you. As much as you don’t want to hear about what you did...you saved our lives. You saved my life.”
“Jax,” I interrupt immediatley. I don’t want to talk about this right now. I’m not ready. I’m not ready to admit to anything that I supposedly did, but he ain’t finished.
“Shizen, you took a slug for me! It would have surely killed me but you saved me. And for that I am eternally in your debt.”
“Eternally huh? That’s a frightfully long time,” I say, trying to change where this was heading. To make light of what had happened.
“Those words and a thank you all in the same conversation? You sure you ain’t been into the ale Jax? I mean this ain’t like you at all.”
He gives me a hard look with no trace of the earlier smile.
“Why you gotta be like that?” he says.
“Like what?” I say.
“Poking fun at me. I’m trying to be serious here and you’re laughing at me.”
“I ain’t laughing,” I say, smothering my grin so he don’t see it.
“Whatever....all I’m trying to say is thank you,” he says again and I nod.
“Well you’re welcome I guess,” I say. “You know, you never did tell me how you got captured in the first place. How did you end up in that raider’s cage anyways?”
He shrugs at my question. “Stupid really...was out on a hunting trip like I said, alone, and made the bad decision to go further into the mountains then I usually go. Should have known better but game was so scarce and I had promised some fresh meat for tonight’s celebration. Before I realized it I was a lot deeper into the mountains then I should have been. Reckoned I may as well spend the night and make my way back at first light. Made camp and settled in for the night...next thing I know I’m being awakened by a shooter poking into my gut and those bastards all around me.”
I nod. “Aye it pretty much happened that quick with us too. Funny thing is, for the longest time I didn’t know if I even believed raiders to be real...ain’t never seen them before. Tell you what though, now I know ‘em to be real I know I sure as hell don’t wanna meet ‘em again anytime soon,” I say.
“Yeah well I can certainly guarantee the raider’s daughter pretty much feels the same way about you,” he says and I cain’t help but laugh along with his low chuckling. Were we actually having a civilized conversation? Weird.
“Why do you think that mutie helped us escape?” he says then and I shrug my shoulders at him.
“Dunno.” I ain’t sure if tell
ing him what I think is such a good idea but I say it anyways. “I think....I think maybe it was following us...following me. I think I seen it before, back out in the sand lands when I left Rivercross. Though why it was helping us I cain’t say. Maybe it just felt sorry for us...maybe it recognized me as a fellow mutie....’cause that’s what you believe of me right?”
Don’t know why I added that last part. We had been talking all pleasant like and I had to go and throw that up at him. Why’d I do that?
“It is what it is....can’t change the facts,” he says, looking away from me like he don’t want to talk no more.
We both fall quiet then, our moment of camaraderie gone. Jax tosses a few pebbles into the brook and the plopping sounds are loud in the darkness. I can tell there’s more he wants to say but he don’t say it.
“Sky seems very nice,” I say finally, just to break the silence. The uneasy quiet was getting to me.
“That she is,” he agrees.
“And pretty too. Her hair is lovely. I ain’t ever seen hair that pretty,” I say. I know I’m rambling on now but I cain’t think of what else to say.
“I suppose so,” he says.
“Is she...are you two…” I trail off, I don’t know how to word it.
“She is my promised,” he says then. I ain’t sure what that means.
“Promised?”
“Aye. You know...promised. We will be wedded some day...when we’re ready.”
“Wedded! Wait...” I say, starting to understand now. “Your ma told me tonight was a betrothal celebration. Is this all for you and Sky?” He nods wordlessly at my question.
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