Andy shook his head with a sigh and several tsk, tsks. “You really should control that temper, William. You got that from your father, I know, and it really doesn’t become you.” He lowered his voice and leaned forward to whisper. “And it really would be tragic if something were to happen to this lovely little hideaway in the wood, now wouldn’t it?”
“Nothing’s going to happen, Birchwood.” William stood his ground calmly, but Tanyth could see his left fist clench and the muscles in his back tense from where she stood behind him.
“Now, how can you say that, William. Why, just any kind of troublemaker could ride down the Pike and decide that this delightful little hamlet would make a wonderful place to live. Now what would you say to that?”
“Anybody’s welcome to live here, so long as they do their share, tend their business, and respect the neighbors, Birchwood.”
Birchwood made a show of being aghast. “You can’t mean that, William! Surely, you’d not let murdering scum live next to your lovely wife and your two gorgeous children.”
“I didn’t say your kind was welcome, Birchwood. I said folks as was willing to do their share, tend their business, and respect the neighbors. I know you and your boyos, there, and you’re not that kind.”
“William, you wound me. I’m cut to the quick. You do me such disservice, and here I am just trying to help you hold on to what’s yours.” He sighed. “But I can see I’ve come at a bad time, end of the day and all. You must be tired after the day you’ve had cutting wood miles away in the forest.” He gathered his reins in one immaculately gloved hand. “I’ll just let you think about it for a bit. The boys and I will come back in a couple of days and you can tell me how much you think it’s worth to not have trouble with strangers.” He turned his horse and nodded to his men. The troop of them rode down the lane and turned south onto the Pike.
William stood still until the sound of their horses faded into the distance. Then he turned to the group arrayed behind him. “We’ll need to keep watch.”
Chapter 16
On Guard
Frank volunteered for the first watch. “I don’t have much to do tomorrow.” He looked at Thomas. “Wake you at midnight?”
Thomas shook his head. “I’ll be up with you. We’ll need to do this in pairs.”
William nodded his agreement. “Wake me at midnight. I’ll get one of Jakey’s boys to sit up with me.”
Frank agreed with a nod of his head. “They’re just wrapping up now at the quarry. Should be able to finish loading with one less hand, but what about the days?”
William pursed his lips. “We’ll need to keep a closer eye on the kids. Be just like him to grab one of them.” He sighed. “I thought we were shut of him, once and for all.”
“Who is he?” Tanyth looked from face to face.
“His name is Andrew Birchwood. Dandy Andy, they call him. Six or seven winters back. He and his boyos were running a protection racket on the docks. They were the muscle along with a half dozen others.” His mind was turning over. Tanyth could almost see him pulling the knowledge out from another place and time. “They had a tidy little racket going, beating up women and children when the menfolk were at work unless they paid protection to ’em.”
“Dandy Andy?” Frank asked. “That boyo was Dandy Andy?”
William nodded. “When Father got wind of it, he and several of the ship fitters paid a visit to Dandy Andy and convinced him to take his operation elsewhere.”
Frank frowned. “I remember hearing something about that. Why didn’t they call the King’s Own?”
“Wasn’t against the law.”
Frank looked at the younger man. “How could that be?”
“Father went to the magistrate and was told that if they arrested Dandy Andy and his crew, they’d have to arrest all the insurers who were underwriting the voyages.”
Frank spat. “Magistrates.”
William shrugged. “Could see the point. A bit.”
“Only point would be if the insurers were sinking the ships on purpose if anybody didn’t buy insurance.”
William looked at him coldly, but made no comment.
Frank saw the look and his mouth made a soundless, “Oh.”
William continued. “Afterwards Andy and the boys left town. Rumor was they went down to Easton and tried their little insurance scheme down there.”
Thomas shrugged. “Well, they’re still sellin’ insurance.”
Tanyth caught William’s eye. “You think they’ll try something here.” It wasn’t a question.
William nodded slowly.
Frank scrubbed the back of his neck with a hand. “Why don’t we just...” he paused and looked at Tanyth out of the corner of his eye. “...deal with him.”
William looked at the older man. “Pay him?” William barked a laugh. “He’ll want more than we can give and if he guesses too low at first, keep upping the bill until it is.”
Frank shook his head. “No. Why don’t we just remove the problem.”
William sighed and looked at the ground. “We may have to, but I hate the idea of just killing him out of hand.”
Thomas grinned in the gathering gloom. “Threatenin’ us like that isn’t exactly bein’ neighborly.” He paused. “You thinkin’ he’s gonna find redemption over night?”
William shook his head. “No. I think he’s gonna cause just as much havoc as he can.” He shrugged. “But if we don’t catch him in the act, then we’re no better than they are.”
Frank grunted his agreement. “But we’d be alive. Can’t say as he’d give us the same chances.”
William nodded. “I know. But he’s not done anything yet. Maybe he won’t.”
Thomas snorted. “You don’t believe that.”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t but I’m not going to ambush him on the road either.”
Frank scuffed at the grass. “You probably won’t have to. He’ll come to us.”
William’s expression turned wolfish. “If he does, that’s a different matter.”
The gathering dusk closed around them and William turned to Tanyth. “You’re welcome to bed down at our hearth, mum. Staying on your own might make for an uneasy night.”
Tanyth thought about it, but dodged an answer. “Let’s get some dinner in us. And everybody will need to know what’s going on.”
Frank nodded his agreement. “Jakey’s quarry boys should bunk up together, too. We don’t want to leave Birchwood any easy targets.”
William nodded to Thomas. “Let’s go tell Amber and Sadie. Then we can split up and go around the village and let people know.”
Tanyth snorted. “I got a better idea.” She shot a look at Frank that had a bit of mischief in it. “Is it ready?”
He caught her meaning and nodded. “Yes, mum. It is.”
“No time like the present. Let’s see how it works.”
She marched off into the dusk with Frank right beside her. Thomas and William glanced at each other and scrambled to keep up. They headed for the back of Megan and Harry’s hut and Tanyth spoke up loudly as she rounded the corner. “We need to ring the bell, Megan. Don’t be startled.”
Frank looked at her. “That was considerate.”
She shrugged. “How would you like it if somebody started banging on your house without warning?”
He chuckled. “Not very much.”
The iron hoop hung nicely from the eaves on the back of the hut and the poker stuck out of the ground right under it. Before Tanyth could pull it out of the ground, Megan and Harry came out the back door of the house, spilling warm firelight into the dusk.
“What’s going on?” Harry asked.
“Alarm bell,” Tanyth said. “We need to see how well it works and there’s news everybody should have.”
She pulled the poker out of the ground and handed it to Frank with an impish grin. “Your turn.”
He took it and she stepped well back while Thomas, William, and the others looked on curiously. He d
rew back his arm. “You might wanna cover your ears,” he said.
Tanyth took him at his word and did so but the others were slow to respond.
He struck, not once but again and again. After about five or six good whacks, people started running out of the dusk. The horrendous clangor echoed in the quiet of the evening. Frank grinned like a madman.
The town was soon assembled and gathered around the back door. William stepped into the open so everybody could at least see his shape in the dim light.
“Sorry about the noise, but we did need to test the alarm. If there’s trouble here, ring it. Grab the poker there and pound until somebody comes to help.”
Jakey had a hank of bread in his hand and a napkin tucked into his shirt. “Do we have a reason for this, William?” He waved the bread in a circular motion indicating the gathering and the bell. He didn’t sound particularly pleased.
“Yes.” That one word silenced the still muttering crowd. “The riders who were here yesterday just paid us another little visit. They’ve actually been visiting all along. They may be still visiting for all we know.”
That brought anxious looks around at the darkened wood.
“They’re tryin’ to strong arm us into a protection scheme. In return for not beating us up, they’ll take money.”
Jakey snorted. “How much money?”
William shrugged. “We don’t know yet, but it’ll be more than we can afford and we’ll have to keep paying them every time they come calling.”
There was some grumbling from the group but nobody else had a comment so William continued. “We’ll need people who are living alone in the houses to double up–at least for now. They’re bullies and cowards so they’ll only pick on the easiest and least likely to hit back.” He paused. “That means we have to be doubly careful with the children and keep a closer eye on them for a while.”
An anxious sounding woman’s voice came out of the dusk. “How long, William?”
He shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know, but sooner or later they’ll get bored and move on to an easier target if we’re just careful and make it too difficult for them to hurt us.”
Tanyth had her doubts and from the look on Frank’s face, she thought he might have a few, too, but neither of them spoke.
William raised his voice one last time. “We’ll be standing watches at night. We’ll need pairs who’re willing to stay up and keep an eye open. We’ve got one more day before the lorry wagon is loaded up and heading for Kleesport. Frank’ll be taking the watch tonight and I’m hoping I can count on the quarry men to help out once the quarry gets shut down for the winter.”
“Well, we usually put a little aside for spring, William. You know that.” Jakey objected again.
“I know, Jakey, and pr’aps we can later, but right now the village is being threatened. If there’s no village, the quarry won’t mean much.”
“Aye, I’ll give ya that.” Jakey grumbled his agreement even as he gnawed another bite off the bread.
“Thanks, everyone. We should be alright. Just keep an eye open and don’t get separated.”
The crowd dispersed after that. Megan and Harry shooed their small brood into the hut but stood outside until the last of the villagers had wandered back to their homes. Harry spoke softly. “You really think this is gonna turn out well, William?”
William shrugged. “I don’t know, Harry. We’ve run ’em off once when they didn’t expect any problem, but we weren’t prepared for it either. With our heads up and points out, it’ll be harder for them to pull anything.”
The concern on Harry’s face was evident even in the scant light from the fire inside his hut. “Well, count me in on the guard detail. We’ll have the last of the barrels loaded tomorrow around midday, I’d guess. Then we’ll all be available, so long as Jakey doesn’t get too pushy.”
William clapped the man on the shoulder. “Thanks, Harry.”
Harry and Megan went down the stairs and, with a little wave, closed the door.
Amber and William headed for their house. Amber paused and turned to Tanyth. “You’re coming to stay with us, mum. No question, ok?”
Tanyth nodded. “Of course, Amber. I’ll just go get my bed roll.”
Frank spoke up and forestalled William’s objection. “I’ll go with her so she’s not alone in the dark.”
William nodded, his face just a pale blur in the darkness. “Thank you. And you come back with her and have some dinner, too, eh? Amber’s got a stew on the fire that’s big enough to feed the village.”
The two of them wandered off leaving Frank and Tanyth to make their way to fetch Tanyth’s meager belongings.
“Seems like living on the road has an advantage, eh?” She looked up at him. “Packing is easy and I can carry everything on my back.”
His chuckle rumbled in his chest but he offered no comment, just kept scanning the darkness.
“They won’t try anything yet.” Tanyth’s voice was confident in the darkness.
“How do you figure that, mum?”
“Too soon. We’re alert and warned. They’ll wait until things quiet down.”
His voice sounded amused. “You have a lot of experience with this kind of thing, mum?”
Her reply carried no amusement whatsoever. “Yes.”
Thomas’s voice came out of the darkness behind them. “She’s right, Frank. Just before dawn, the hunter’s time. Moon will be down, sun won’t be up. We’ll all be asleep.”
As if on cue the silvery, nearly full Harvest moon peaked over the trees on the other side of the Pike. It’s glow had been lighting the sky since sundown, but the tall spruces and pines on the far side of the road kept it from shining directly on the village.
Thomas stepped up to her other side and nodded to Frank, who nodded back.
“Mum?” Thomas’s voice was quiet and deferential. “Can I ask you somthin’?”
She glanced at him before nodding. “Of course, Thomas. What is it?”
“How did you see that man?” He paused. “The one in the woods this morning?”
Her heart skipped once. She wasn’t ready to share that story in its entirety yet, but she also didn’t want to lie. “I wasn’t sure I had. That’s why I asked Frank to come with me to look.”
He nodded. “But what did you see that made you think there was somebody there, mum?”
“I don’t know exactly.” She was telling the truth, but she knew she was not being exactly forthright either.
He accepted her response, but she could tell he didn’t believe her entirely.
“Well, mum? If you ever think you see something like that again? Make sure you get one of us? Or all of us?” His eyes bored into hers, shining in the silvery light of the moon.
She nodded. “Of course, Thomas.”
“Thank you, mum.” He sounded relieved and she couldn’t imagine why. She certainly didn’t feel relieved.
At her door, they paused and by some unspoken agreement, the two men took up station on either side of it. “We’ll wait for you here, mum. Give you a chance to pack your things in private.” Frank seemed almost embarrassed.
“Thank you, Frank. I won’t be a moment.” She slipped into the hut. In a matter of moments had rolled up her bedding, tossed a few loose items into the top of the pack, and then collected her small collection of cooking gear. She didn’t think she’d need it, but she didn’t want to leave anything behind, just in case. She stopped inside the door and took one last look around the dim interior to see if she had missed anything. Outside she heard the two men talking.
“She didn’t see anything, Frank. She couldn’t have.”
Frank’s response was a rumbling question.
“Whoever was there was laying behind the roots of the trees and looking through the weeds. Across the village, into the darkness of the woods, picking out a face in the bushes?” Thomas’s voice was low and urgent. “I don’t know what magic she used, but I’m glad she’s on our side.”
She
froze. Magic? Preposterous! Her breath stopped in her lungs while her heart seemed to beat twice as fast. No. Impossible.
Frank’s rumble in return was unintelligible in detail but clearly unconvinced in tone.
“I don’t either, but I’m tellin’ you–”
She coughed and scuffed her feet as if just coming up to the door and exited the small house. “Thank you, both. That was very considerate.”
Frank smiled. “Our pleasure, mum.”
She closed and secured the door, conscious of Thomas’s intense gaze. She didn’t sigh, but she wanted to. The whole idea was absurd. Was he watching to see if she’d cast a spell or something?
The man had been in the undergrowth. Tanyth had apparently seen him in a dream through the eyes of a raven. The thought made her momentarily dizzy as she recalled the dream vision being overlaid on the reality of the crushed seedling in the forest.
Frank’s strong hand caught her arm to steady her. “You alright, mum?”
“Yes, thank you. A moment of dizziness.” She let it rest and turned to smile up at him and then over at Thomas. “Shall we?”
They escorted her carefully, alert to any stumble. For all of her joking earlier in the day, she felt old, slightly frail, and swept along by some forces she understood too well–like Dandy Andy and his bully boys–and by others she wasn’t even sure she could comprehend as the All-Mother’s natural progression took her monthly habit from her and leave her an old woman in reality, not just name.
In the forest an owl called and the night winds began playing in the treetops, skittering leaf against leaf in the silver light of the moon.
Chapter 17
Winter Plans
In spite of the tension, the night passed uneventfully. Tanyth spread her bedroll against the wall farthest from the hearth and, after a hurried dinner, everyone took to their blankets. Even the children settled quickly, perhaps because the excitement of having a guest was overshadowed by parental solemnity in going to bed early themselves to allow William to get some needed sleep before going on watch at midnight.
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