Silent Heart

by Susan Simone

  It was long hard work. Stone wouldn’t let me do much but I did what I could, mostly just clearing away dirt and debris with my hands from time to time. Together we rolled the body into the hole. Stone arranged his arms and legs and head to some semblance of dignity. I took a handful of early flowers growing along the edges and put them in his hand. We both pushed the dirt over him and patted it smooth with the earth. We stood there for a minute or two with heads bowed for respect. I prayed.

  Dear God, please take care of this man. I don’t know who he is or what kind of man he was, but no one deserves to die like he did. Please find a place for him with you.

  Stone took my arm and turned to leave, but I stopped him. I ran to the edge of the forest and picked up an acorn. I kissed it for luck and planted it over the man’s head. Maybe someday there would be a strong oak tree there to stand witness to a man’s sacrifice and another man’s friendship. Maybe his blue eyed spirit would protect those that came to this clearing and found shelter under the tree. Stone looked at me oddly and I walked down the path ahead of him, leaving him to follow.

  He followed very far behind. I let him. He seemed to need time to himself. I checked over my shoulder a few times to make sure he was there, but otherwise ignored him. He was grieving. He shouldn’t be forced to have companionship.

  Anyway my part in it was over as far as I was concerned and there was a new day of work to think about. I saw Garland on the path, carrying my supplies and groceries. He hurried over to me and stopped short in stunned surprise. He looked past my shoulder his eyes growing wide. It all happened so fast I didn’t have time to turn around.

  Garland started to shout just as a hand reached around me and grabbed him by the shirt making him drop everything. Stone brought him nose to nose. Garland was young, and every bit as tall as the other man, but his frame was thin and wiry. Stone was demanding answers and Garland sort of hung by his shirt and shook his head.

  I whipped around and pushed Stone back by his chest with both hands. Confused he dropped the boy—that’s what Garland was really—and stepped back. I crouched down and started picking up the things he’d dropped. Garland met me there. He took my shoulders and tried to ask who that was. I didn’t need gestures. The questions were in his eyes. I waved dismissively at Stone and helped him get things back to rights. When I stood up I angrily motioned Stone to stay outside and pulled Garland inside.

  Garland put everything down on the table and took my shoulders again. He was very worried. He took my face in his hands and inspected my bruises. He pointed outside demanding to know if Stone had done that. I shook my head and pushed him away. It was too much to explain. I started picking through what I would sell that month instead.

  I pulled out my blouse and showed him the rip hopefully. He took it in his hands completely astonished. I held up two fingers hoping he’d get the hint that I wanted two blouses. He made a sewing motion with his hands and I shook my head and held up my fingers again. He nodded seeming to understand.

  He took his box of goods for town and walked out. I followed him. He took three paintings, six jars of paint and three cases of brushes. He and Stone eyed each other warily and Garland hurried away.

  Stone strode up to me and pointed after him demanding to know who that was. He was fuming mad. I regarded him levelly.

  ‘Garland,’ I made the appropriate gesture for his name.

  ‘Who’s Garland?’ he demanded. Rolling my eyes I dragged him into the house, slamming the door, and put him in a chair at the table. Angrily I took the scratch paper and drew a family tree. I drew Bear and me and our mother above us. I drew a line to the side and drew another woman. I drew Garland underneath her. I tapped his picture forcefully and pointed out the door. ‘Garland. Cousin.’ Stone’s head dropped in what I hoped was shame and I stormed out.

  The nerve of the man! Couldn’t he see Garland was just a boy, a tall boy, almost a man, but just a boy none the less? Not to mention I didn’t try to send him away and wasn’t afraid of him. I picked up the axe and started splitting a meager pile of wood Bear had set out before he left last time. I was furious. I understood he was trying to protect me but all he had to do was stand there and ask. He didn’t need go off all half cocked. Now Garland was convinced Stone had hurt me. I had no way to correct him.

  I lifted the axe again for another strike and something caught it. I turned around and Stone took the axe right out of my hands. He pushed me aside, motioning for me to sit, and took over the chopping. I supposed it was a peace offering but I was still too angry to sit. I had to admit he was a lot more efficient than I was. I would have liked it better if he was a bungling fool with the axe…or something…anything. Did he have to be good at everything he touched?

  Disgusted mostly with myself I stomped off and went about dinner. Stone brought in a bucket of water a little later on and placed it by the fire. I gave him a half smile and went back to ignoring him. Maybe that wasn’t fair, but I just didn’t have any other emotions at the time. I was a woman. Wasn’t it my right to be moody? Mostly I was just angry that I didn’t think I had the right to be. He was just trying to protect me, and he did just burry a friend he cared enough about to cry for and he didn’t know Garland. Still!

  I slammed our food down on the table. He joined me warily. I ate without ever looking at his face. He didn’t try to get my attention. The evening passed in a similar sulking fashion. I went to bed early not bothering to ask if Stone needed the light.

  Vibrations of hooves treading the ground worked their way through my bed frame. I woke startled and confused. My first thought was, oh my God they’re coming for me! I jumped out of bed and ran to Stone’s side of the curtain.

  He was gone.

  The pounding of the horse was circling the house. It seemed to be coming from everywhere. It was too close, but it never seemed to be slowing down. Was this what an earthquake felt like? Bear had told me stories of places where the earth itself shook and cracked and broke, but I had no idea if that was even true. He’d also told me stories of mountains that exploded fire into the air and stones that fell like rain, and of flying serpents like giant snakes with wings.

  I looked out the window eyeing the ground dubiously when Stone flashed past riding Sugar full tilt. I smiled relieved and shook my head at my own silliness. Of course. Stone was giving Sugar a workout but he also wasn’t going to ride very far away. He was circling the house in lieu of a long ride. Who ever heard of the earth shaking apart anyway? I set to breakfast chiding myself for being pulled into one of Bear’s crazy stories.

  After a time the vibrations stopped. I looked out to the stable and watched Stone unsaddle the horse and brush her down. Forget that Sugar liked everybody. He was exceedingly gentle with my horse. I thought for the second time that a man that gentle with a horse couldn’t be all bad.

  People often put on airs. They pretend to be something that they’re not around others. The weak want to be strong. The cruel want to appear kind. The powerless want to be seen as having power. The insecure want to be confident. Some were very good at their masks. I considered myself a good judge of character, but there were times when even I was stumped and missed some important cue. You could tell a lot about the person underneath by how they treated the beasts in their care. A beast couldn’t berate you, or inform on you, or be anything other than their nature. People were more themselves when left alone with a beast.

  I carried the bucket and a bowl of cereal out to him. Sugar pranced around like a dog happy to see its long lost owner. She enjoyed the run. I grinned and coddled my over friendly horse. Stone dug in his pocket and pulled out a handful of long black mane and tail hair. I took it surprised. He remembered. He retrieved his bowl from my hand and ate while guiding Sugar back to her stable still prancing and showing off.

  I went back inside and settled in to work. I put a pot of water and dye plants over the fire. To pass the time waiting for it to cook down I drew a silly little picture. I drew Sugar, of course, with stu
nning detail. Superimposed, but still inside I drew a large, very happy dog with his tongue lolling about and bright intelligent eyes. I drew Stone standing in front of her holding a sugar cube in his hand. Sugar was reaching to him with an extended neck and one giant tongue licking his face in a decidedly canine appreciation of friendship. I left it on Stone’s bed thinking he might like to remember my silly dog of a horse…if he ever left that is.

  He came inside while I was carving away and arranging horse hair for a new set of brushes. I was thinking about dying the wood when he put the picture in front of me. I looked up at him and he grinned. I grinned back and shrugged my shoulders. He threw back his head and his whole body shook with laughter. Still laughing he folded the picture and put it with the other papers in his jerkin, and walked outside with both buckets in hand.

  The next few days passed easier. Stone tended to my horse and did the heavy labor, like chopping wood and hauling water. I painted, and carved, and cooked new paints. I caught him watching me working more than once, but really didn’t have much to say about it. Maybe we didn’t talk much but we were companionable. I tried to figure out the puzzle of him while he tried to figure out the puzzle of me. Overall I decided I could get used to having him around…eventually.

  Five

  The fourth night in my little home, I began to wonder if he would ever leave. He was comfortable. We were both comfortable. I still didn’t know the least little thing about him other than he was good with horses and was there to protect me from a threat that had yet to show its face. Well to be fair, I also knew he was patient enough to take the time to try to communicate with me. Mostly he just watched me and tried to absorb as many gestures as he could. He usually surprised me picking up on and using words I didn’t remember teaching him.

  It was late—full dark—and I was stirring the pot for dinner when Stone grabbed me around the waist and yanked me to the corner. I forgot for a moment why he was there and started fighting back. He had to pin me down. In the tussle we ended up in a heap on the floor. He held my wrists tightly to fend me off. His hands were carefully above the bruises that lingered on my skin. He was starting to cover my mouth before I realized he had no intention of hurting me. This was Stone for crying out loud.

  I stilled and he let me go. I put my hand on his shoulder by way of apology. He motioned me to silence. Wasn’t that a bit redundant? I put my hand to the ground to steady myself and felt what he had probably heard. There were riders coming. Three. Moving fast. I tried to tell him this but something that complex was beyond his grasp of my language. I would have to show him.

  I got up to pull away but he grabbed my arm holding me in place. I held out a hand pleading with him. He let me go, but he pulled out his knife. It was only a step to the mantle above the fire. I picked up the toy horse and held up three fingers.

  ‘How?’ he asked. ‘How do you know?’

  I took his hand and put it on the ground and then reached up to brush his eyes closed. Why the hearing seemed to feel vibrations and other details better with their eyes closed instead of their ears I would never understand, but it was a fact I learned young. He opened his eyes and looked at me shocked.

  ‘Three?’ he asked.

  ‘Three.’

  The riders pulled up short by my door and Stone covered me with his body. A small red flag poked through a hole in the top corner of my door. It waved in a greeting I knew well. I knew exactly who was at my door. Stone stared at it completely astonished. I pushed past him breaking out of his grip before he could react and ran for the door. I threw it open and leapt into Bear’s arms.

  Bear was big and tall. Heavy muscles started to fill out his frame and with his scruffy black beard he really did look like a bear. He was my exact opposite in build. A giant man while I was even shorter and smaller than most women. If it wasn’t for my scant breasts most would think me still a child. He had my straight black hair, cut short for the army, and my exact same sapphire dark blue eyes. We used to joke as children that we were really identical twins but he was so greedy in the womb he took away all my food, leaving me small while he grew and grew.

  Bear hugged me back for a long moment while two friends I had never met came up behind us. He put me down and immediately started inspecting my bruises. I was about to explain when he literally picked me up and put me to the side. He drew his sword and advanced on Stone. One of his friends did the same. The other stood close to me.

  Stone didn’t pull a weapon but he readied to defend himself. The three men faced off and I could see Bear and Stone yelling at each other. Bear pulled out the ripped shirt I had sent with Garland and threw it at him. Their faces contorted in anger and indignation. Bear really was going to kill him, I thought shocked. I had no idea if Stone was a match for him or not, but I didn’t want to find out. They moved slowly watching each other. They started to remind me of the men in black and I shuddered.

  Enough of this! I was going to have to step in before they killed each other. I made a move in that direction and the man next to me put out an arm to stop me. I smacked it away hard, making my hand sting and walked almost in between the combatants. They paid me no notice. With an exasperated sigh I hoped they could hear I leapt up and smacked Bear on the back of the head followed closely by Stone. Both men looked at me astonished and held their heads where I hit them. Just in case they missed the point I crossed my arms and glared at both of them tapping my foot impatiently.

  I took Bear’s sword out of his hand and leaned it against the wall. I grabbed both men by the scruff of their necks, making them lean over because I was so much shorter than them in the process, and led them like unruly children to the table and forced them to sit. I snapped my fingers getting Bear’s attention.

  ‘Bear, translate,’ I demanded. ‘We will talk about this like adults.’

  ‘What did he do to you?’ he gestured firming his lips tightly closed.

  ‘Translate. He can’t understand me and I will say nothing until you include him in our discussion.’

  ‘Paige—.’

  ‘Don’t Paige me. I’m a grown woman and you have no idea what is going on. Translate or no one is saying anything.’

  “Fine,” he said and gestured at the same time clearly not happy. Grudgingly from that point on he spoke whatever I said and gestured whatever anyone else said, including himself. I sat down primly and gestured to the two fellows watching the scene to have a seat on Bear’s bed for the time being. I didn’t want strangers interjecting in this conversation.

  “So she does have her own language,” Stone said watching us.

  “It’s our twin language. Paige has been deaf from birth,” Bear explained. “I’m the only one that knows it as well as she does. Now somebody tell me what the hell is going on!”

  ‘To be honest I’m not even sure I understand what all happened,’ I said.

  “All I know is that I got a letter from Garland saying you were covered in bruises and that there was a strange man who threatened him staying here. I come to town to find out what was going on he hands me your torn blouse! For God’s sake Paige it was torn clean down the front! What the hell am I supposed to think is going on around here?”

  ‘Stone was trying to help me…I think.… Anyway he didn’t know Garland and for some reason thought he was a threat. I stopped him from hurting him. I think Garland got the wrong idea.’

  “And what idea was he supposed to get?”

  ‘That I needed a new blouse.’

  “And why do you need a new blouse?” he warned.

  ‘I was attacked. In the woods. Don’t look at me like that. I don’t know what happened. They were hurting a man. One minute they were enjoying themselves and the next they were coming after me. They didn’t know I’m deaf. My hands were tied so I couldn’t tell them. My blouse got ripped. It’s okay. Stone sort of rescued me.’

  “Sort of?”

  “Maybe I should explain,” Stone said.

  “Go ahead. I’m all ears…and hands.�
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  “I’m a spy,” he said. “King Evard’s chosen champion.”

  “You have proof of that?”

  “If need be. The Prince Rinald was abducted while on a mission of his own. I was sent out after him. He was investigating rumors of war from Xuma.”

  “But Xuma has always been our ally.”

  “There is a small group of insurgents who want war for their own reasons. They want to trick us into conflict. Evard’s no fool. He knows the emperor well. This mission was a joint effort. Rinald went missing, leaving his gear and weapons behind. I was sent to find him and if possible bring him home. You are close to the border here. I was following a group of men that looked likely as culprits. They always kept a day or so ahead of me.

  “I was traveling through your woods hot on the trail when I came across your sister being accosted by six men. She had already been bound and beaten and they were getting ready to rape her. I wouldn’t be Evard’s champion if I let something like that happen. I stepped in. She’s a smart girl. She ducked at exactly the right time and took her first chance to get out of there. Unfortunately when she ran she ran straight for home. They followed her. I may be good, but I don’t like my odds against six armed men. I stayed hidden. When she ran past I tackled her, and probably scared the life out of her in the process. I cut her loose and pulled her away.

  “I was trying figure out what happened when she made me understand that she’s deaf. I could hear the men calling to one another searching for her. I needed to know why she was so important to them, so I decided to stay here and make sure they didn’t find her.

  “In the morning she drew this.” He pulled out my nightmarish drawings. “That is Prince Rinald,” he said pointing to the blue eyed man. I caught my breath. I witnessed the murder of a prince! “Apparently she saw the whole thing. Your sister is the only witness to the assassination of a royal. They will come for her. It may not be for days yet, but they will come.”