The Return of Absent Souls (After The Rift Book 6)

by C. J. Archer

  Chapter 8

  “The turd! The prick! The vile piece of—”

  “Kitty!” Meg cried. “Mind your language. You are still a duchess.”

  Kitty spread her fingers and attempted to throttle the air in the vicinity of the duke of Gladstow’s neck as if he’d been standing before her. “I hate him.”

  “He is not worth another moment’s thought,” I said.

  “Clearly he never loved me. He hardly even mourned me.”

  “And you never loved him, so what does it matter? Besides, you expected him to marry Violette quickly. The Deerhorns would have been pushing for the union.”

  Kitty flopped onto one of the chairs at the cottage’s kitchen table, her bottom lip thrust forward in a pout. Then she suddenly grabbed Dane’s hand as he passed, taking him by surprise. “You must listen to your mother and claim what’s rightfully yours.”

  He extricated his hand and folded his arms over his chest. “So you can reveal that you’re alive and scuttle their plans?”

  “I was thinking more of stripping him of his title, confiscating his estate, and watching them have to work to survive. He could be a tenant farmer for the new landlord and she could be a whore. She’s as good as one anyway.”

  Meg and I burst out laughing, and Dane looked as though he was struggling to contain his smile.

  “If it were in my power, I would do it myself,” Kitty declared.

  Meg pulled a face behind Kitty’s back. “Will you be all right here alone if we go to the village?”

  “Yes, go, see your family. I’ll be fine here.” Her morose tone implied otherwise. Martha and Yelena had already gone to the village. Of all of us, they were deemed safe to walk out alone. Brant knew nothing about their connection to us.

  “I’ll send Erik to keep you company,” Dane said.

  “Only if he wants to come.”

  “He will.”

  Meg and I returned to the palace with Dane, where we stopped by the servants’ commons. I exchanged greetings with the maids I knew, and we traveled to Mull in one of the carriages that wasn’t currently in use. With only the two dukes and their small retinues at the palace, the royal carriages were sitting idle. We didn’t travel in one of the luxurious conveyances reserved for the king, of course, but used one of the lesser, unmarked ones.

  Dane followed on horseback.

  We went straight to Meg’s house. I tried to avoid looking at the Ashmoles’ cottage, but I couldn’t resist taking a peek. Then I forced myself to look away. Even that small glance tore a small strip off my heart. I had so many fond memories of the cottage that had once belonged to me, but those memories were in danger of being tarnished by the venomous new doctor and his wife. If I wanted to retain my wonderful memories, I could not think about them living there.

  Meg’s sisters squealed with delight when she walked in and smothered her with hugs and kisses. Mistress Diver burst into tears.

  We stayed for some time, drinking tea and talking about the places we’d seen. We had to repeat ourselves when Meg’s father and brother returned home from work, and Dane joined us too after keeping watch outside.

  “We thought you’d come home after the duchess’s death,” Lyle said with a pointed glare for his sister.

  “Ignore him,” their mother said to Meg. “He’s jealous that you’ve had more interesting adventures than him.”

  “I am not!”

  Meg gave him a smug smile. “You should get out of Mull once in a while, Lyle, and broaden your horizons.”

  “I will when the war starts.”

  That smothered our good mood like a wet blanket. Mr. and Mistress Diver exchanged worried glances and even Lyle looked as though he regretted mentioning it.

  “Maybe there won’t be a war,” Meg said, trying to sound cheerful. “I hear there has been a delay.”

  “But for how long?” Mr. Diver said with a shrug. “Nobody knows. The dukes tell us nothing. We’re always the last to find out anything and the first they call on to fight.”

  Lyle folded his arms high up his chest, tucking his hands beneath his armpits. “Bloody nobles,” he muttered. “I don’t want to die for either duke.”

  “Then don’t fight,” Meg said.

  “I might have to pick a side if it looks like Gladstow’s going to win. None of us in Mull want him as king. He’s well on the way to ruining this village now he’s in bed with the Deerhorns.”

  His parents nodded solemnly before Mistress Diver shooed the younger girls away. Once they’d gone, Mr. Diver said, “Ever since Gladstow married Lady Violette, things started to change for the worse here.”

  “We heard about Sheriff Neerim,” Dane said.

  Mistress Diver pressed a hand to her chest. “They say it was an accidental drowning, but no one believes that.”

  “The new sheriff is the Deerhorns’ man.” Mr. Diver wagged a finger at me. “You’d better be careful, Josie. Don’t go fixing people’s wounds. If anyone asks you to, you send them to Dr. Ashmole."

  Mistress Diver wrinkled her nose. “Loathsome man. His wife’s no better.”

  Lyle chuckled. “I hear the women of the village are turning their husbands away from their beds because they’re too worried about getting pregnant and having her deliver their babies.”

  His mother smacked his arm. “It’s not a joke. Anyway, now that Josie’s back, she can be the midwife again.”

  I shook my head. “Mistress Ashmole won’t be willing to give up the role, not to me, and I don’t want to stir up trouble with them.”

  “Then what will you do?”

  I kept my gaze strictly averted from Dane. “I’m considering my options.”

  Lyle and his parents all looked to Dane.

  “I’ll take care of Josie,” he said. “We’re getting married.”

  Mistress Diver clamped her hands to her cheeks. “Oh, how marvelous. Why didn’t you say sooner?”

  “Yes, Josie,” Meg bit off. “Why didn’t you?”

  “We haven’t thought much about it yet,” I said. “We don’t even know where we’re going to live.”

  “At the palace,” Mistress Diver said, as if it were an easy decision to make.

  I gave her a tight smile. Dane simply said, “We’ll see.”

  Mistress Diver reached across the table and patted my hand. “I am so relieved that you’ll have him to take care of you. Your parents would have been pleased with your choice.”

  “If I were you,” Lyle said, “I’d start a new life together away from Mull.”

  “Why?” Meg snapped. “Mull is her home. All of her friends are here.”

  “You’ll find Mull has changed even more since you left. It’s not just the change in sheriffs, but everything is back under the Deerhorns’ control and just when we thought we were rid of them, too.”

  His father agreed. “It’s worse than ever ‘round here. It’s like they’re punishing the villagers for the riots, and for destroying their castle to save you, Josie.”

  “How are they punishing everyone?” I asked weakly.

  “Supplies are slow to be processed in the customs’ house, unless the cargo came on Deerhorn ships or is destined for the Deerhorn estate. No new buildings are being built to house the poor, food is in short supply and costs are still high.”

  “But when we left, there was plenty of grain,” Meg said. “We released it from the Deerhorns’ own stores.”

  “All gone and supplies are once again low, thanks to the slow processing of cargo.”

  “And the dukes are just allowing this to go on?”

  “Buxton is too busy elsewhere in the country,” Mr. Diver said, “and Gladstow wants his wife’s family to prosper because he’ll reap the rewards too. He needs money for mercenaries and weapons.”

  “He needs the support of the people,” Meg shot back. “Why aren’t the villagers rioting again?”

  Lyle snorted. “Maybe they’re waiting for you to lead them, Sis.”

  His mother smacked his arm
again. “Don’t encourage her.”

  Dane and I left Meg with her family and walked to the green at the village’s heart where I hoped to see old friends. Dane kept his distance, his gaze darting around, watching for Brant or Deerhorns, anyone who might want to kidnap me and use me to bargain for the gem.

  While I didn’t recognize many of the people conducting business or meeting up in the village green and on the forecourts and steps of the public buildings, I did see quite a number of familiar faces.

  Except those faces were not as friendly as they used to be. Few would look me in the eye and most hurried away after a brief greeting.

  When I spotted Sara Cotter with the baby I’d delivered some months ago, I hailed her. She scanned the vicinity before smiling at me. It was a little forced, but there was genuine warmth there too.

  “He’s adorable,” I said, putting my arms out to hold her baby.

  She hesitated before handing him over. “He’s always hungry,” she said. “But healthy, thank Hailia.” She looked around again then asked for him back. “How long are you in Mull?”

  “Permanently. This is my home, after all.” The edge to my tone made her bite her lip. “I’m sorry, Sara, but why is everyone being so rude to me? I feel as though I’m not welcome here.”

  “It’s not that.” She shifted the baby from her right hip to her left. “We’re all very grateful for the hard work you did as a midwife over the years, and when you assisted Dr. Cully too.”

  “But?”

  She sighed. “But you seem to get yourself into a lot of trouble with the Deerhorns, and when that happens, the village suffers.”

  “Oh.”

  “The fire in The Row was most likely set by the governor, under instruction from the Deerhorns, because you accused them of trying to buy the land cheaply and throw out the slum dwellers. You encouraged us to oppose the sale and look what happened. They just burnt the place to the ground and the governor sold the land to them anyway.”

  “That’s hardly my fault.”

  “And that led to the riots, which could have ended badly if the warrior priests from Merdu’s Guards hadn’t come. Then when the Deerhorns had you arrested and took you to their castle, the entire village stormed it and destroyed it in order to free you.”

  “I didn’t ask them to destroy the castle.”

  “Now the Deerhorns are back and they’ve increased rents, withheld grain, and are employing outsiders rather than local villagers because we supported you.”

  My heart sank a little further with every word. “I’m sorry,” I whispered pathetically.

  She jiggled the baby on her hip as he began to grizzle. “Not only do the Deerhorns own most of the land and buildings in this village, they also own us. They own the shops and lease them out to shopkeepers. They own warehouses they lease to businesses. Their ships, warehouses and docks employ many of our men. Our livelihoods depend on them.”

  As much as it hurt to hear, she was right. The Deerhorns’ influence in Mull was vast, and as Mull grew in size and prosperity, the Deerhorns’ wealth and influence grew too. If they wanted to punish the villagers, they could. With the governor and sheriff in their pocket, no one could stop them.

  “It was bad before,” Sara went on, “but it became worse after Lady Violette married the duke of Gladstow. Now that you’re back, some of us are afraid trouble will follow.” She winced, as if it pained her to say these things. “I’m sorry, Josie. I hate to be the one to bring bad news, but we’ve known each other a long time and, well, someone’s got to say it. We’re all truly grateful for everything you and your parents have done over the years, but we have young ones to protect.”

  “I know,” I muttered.

  She winced. “If I were you, I’d leave the village and not come back. And don’t go near the Ashmoles. She’ll accuse you of doctoring if she catches even a whiff of you helping someone.” She gave me a flat-lipped smile of sympathy then hurried off, head ducked as if she didn’t want anyone to recognize her.

  I joined Dane, now frowning at me. “Let’s go back to the palace.”

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “The Deerhorns have infected this place.”

  I looked around the green, edged by shops that were closing up for the day. The market had long since ended, the shutters on the permanent carts now locked. Men hurried home from the docks, their heads lowered, their steps determined. The sinking sun had taken the warmth with it, but even so, the air was merely crisp, not wintry. Yet hats were pulled down and hoods flipped up to avoid making eye contact with others.

  “They seem miserable,” Dane muttered.

  “The Deerhorns are making them afraid. Sara told me I should leave Mull. The villagers won’t show me support because they fear the Deerhorns will punish them. I have no friends here anymore.”

  He took my hand in his. “You do have friends here. And you have me.”

  I tried to give him a reassuring smile. “Thank you, Dane.”

  “You don’t have to thank me for loving you.”

  I looked around at the streets radiating off the green, the shadowy recesses between buildings, and the people lurking in doorways. There seemed to be quite a number just sitting about, idle. Mostly men, but some women and children too. They were the homeless, I realized, the dispossessed from The Row’s fire. They still had nowhere to go, even after all this time. No temporary accommodation had been built for them, not even tents erected on vacant land. With winter coming, the need to house them would become desperate, but the governor wouldn’t build them anything unless the Deerhorns allowed it, and they wouldn’t allow it unless the tenants paid a high price. These people couldn’t afford their next meal, let alone a new roof over their heads.

  I wasn’t much better off, I realized with shock. With no work, I had no way of paying for food. Nor did Dane. At least we had the cottage on the palace estate, but it might only be a matter of time before it was discovered and we were evicted. We had no right to be there.

  Dane tugged on my hand. “Let’s ride back to the cottage. We could go via the pond in the forest if you like”

  “It’s too cool for a dip.”

  “Who says we’re going in the water?”

  I nudged him and smiled, despite my misery.

  We headed back to the Divers’ house. As I was about to knock, someone hailed me from the other side of the street. I turned to see Mistress Ashmole striding over, a look of determination on her pinched face.

  I sighed. She was the last person I wanted to see. “I am not here to take back your business,” I said heavily. “You are the midwife now and that is the end of it.”

  She bristled and glared at me through the slits of her eyes made narrower by the severe pulling back of her hair. “If I catch you giving so much as advice to an expectant mother, I will see that the sheriff hears of it.” Her lips stretched in what I suspected was her attempt at a grin. “It’s a new man, one who understands the way of the world, not that fool, Neerim. Thank the goddess for taking him from us and giving us this—”

  I lifted my hand to strike her, but she stumbled back with a gasp, and Dane quickly stepped between us.

  “Josie can be a midwife if she wants,” he said. “There’s no law against there being two in the village.”

  Mistress Ashmole bared her teeth as she pointed a boney finger at me. “You are fortunate your guard dog is here to stop you doing something stupid, Miss Cully.”

  Dane folded his arms. I turned away and knocked on the Divers’ door so did not see her walk off, although I heard her stomping all the way back across the street.

  We dined with the Divers and Dane left to pay a visit to Jon and Marnie. I’d first met the Vytill-born couple and their children in The Row after they moved to Mull. Marnie had given birth to her third child in the slum, but they’d managed to get out before the fire, after Jon was given a job as constable by Sheriff Neerim. Dane wanted his opinion of the new sheriff. I hoped Dane’s presence didn’t b
ring trouble to their door.

  Lyle and Mr. Diver also left after dinner to meet with friends at The Anchor. I urged Mistress Diver to spend some time with her younger daughters while Meg and I cleaned up. We were in the middle of a hushed debate about whether she should stay with her family that night or return to the safety of the forest cottage with us when her mother poked her head into the kitchen.

  “Visitor for you, Josie, by the name of Brant. He says he’s one of the captain’s men.”

  Brant! Our plan had worked. He’d heard of my return and now he wanted to talk. Indeed, our plan had worked better than we’d hoped. We’d thought he would try to kidnap me and use me as a bargaining tool, but he’d announced himself. This way we could have a civilized conversation in the open.

  “Wait for Dane to return,” Meg warned.

  “No harm will come from talking to him,” I said. “Besides, this is what we want—a chance to reason with him.”

  Meg followed me to the front door but remained hidden to the side as I opened it.

  The man standing there was not Brant. I didn’t recognize him.

  I looked left then right. Someone lurked in the dark not far away. “Who are you?” I demanded.

  The stranger on the doorstep clamped his hand over my mouth and hooked me around the waist, trapping my arms to my sides. I struggled against him and kicked out, but my feet missed him altogether. I tried to shout a warning to Meg not to attempt a rescue. With the second figure nearby, we couldn’t fight both by ourselves. She must have understood my muffled pleas because she remained hidden.

  The man dragged me away from the house. I managed to get in one good kick to his shin, but it didn’t slow him down. He was broad, strong, and his big hand restricted my breathing. I tried to gasp in air but gagged on the smell of onions and sweat.

  The figure in the darkness led the way to the alley where the brute half-carried, half-pushed me. I couldn’t make out who the other man was, but his silhouette wasn’t big enough for it to be Brant.

  It must be Lord Xavier.