Chapter 15
Lydia
~
“That scruffy sort,” Roger mumbled between his scrambled eggs, “who camped along the east creek for a couple days, seems to have decided the valley isn’t to his likin’. Guess he didn’t care for not bein’ takin’ in by the Hamlet folk.”
The skin of my forearms prickled. I hadn’t liked the way the stranger looked at me. But I didn’t say anything to either of the men. I leaned over and chopped up lil’ Gladys’ sausage a bit finer for her.
“I gave him a good stock of venison, and may have suggested he’d be happier on the South Slope,” Lucas said softly, not looking up from his plate.
“This comin’ from a gent who welcomed orcs and daemons.” Roger grinned. “Go figger. That business with the Johanson fella has ya a bit suspicious of humans.”
“Not so.” Lucas took another bite before he continued. “S’pose it had more to do with Iza. She woke me the other mornin’ with a dream about eatin’ the man. She never said so, but didn’t like him. Didn’t like him in a big way.”
“Well, then ya made the right decision,” Roger said. “Dragons understand a man’s character better than an elf knows not to pee into a brisk breeze.”
Lucas laughed, and quickly covered his mouth to keep from spreading his breakfast about the table. Roger leaned back and covered his face with his arm. “Control yarself, little brother.”
I gave my husband a stern glare, but considering lil’ Gladys’ grin, my admonishment probably wasn’t very effective. My Roger is almost as incorrigible as his younger brother. Both act like adolescents on a mature day.
The two men talked several minutes about the chores pending for the day while I concentrated on studying how well lil’ Gladys’ coordination is coming along. She’s getting more in her mouth than her chin these days. The manipulations the doctor had recommended, which Hortense and I religiously follow several times a day, are finally resulting in improvement in the girl’s grasp and coordination.
A tear snuck into my right eye. It isn’t fair. The stroke, or whatever it was, to attack such a beautiful person as my baby— God’s will. Never liked that particular expression. Never heard an ogre or troll suggest such a thing. But I struggle to grasp their belief in gods, plural. Feels a bit blasphemous. I maybe sighed. I’d treated them unfairly for too long.
“And what are ya three ladies doin’ today?” Roger asked, thankfully interrupting my thoughts. Didn’t need gods and temples tumbling around in my head.
I exchanged a quick smile with Roger. He well knew what lil’ Gladys and I are up to. We’d been waiting weeks for the weather to warm enough, the gray sky of winter to clear.
“Ah—da,” lil’ Gladys screeched in her slur. “Wai ga haiken.”
“Ah. Is that today?” he teased. “I don’t know. It’s still awfully chilly out there.”
“Nah—ya—pra—maazed.”
“He did promise.” I smiled. “As soon as Hortense and I clean up from breakfast—”
“Don’t worry about that,” Hortense interrupted. “I’ll put you together a little lunch, and you two go off for your hike. I’m actually looking forward to the peace. I may take a blanket and set out on the porch and read a chapter or three.”
“In such a hurry to have us gone,” I teased.
“Ya—ca—go—wi us,” lil’ Gladys said.
Hortense reached over and pushed back a golden curl from the girl’s forehead, and traced the line of her cheek with her finger. “No child. My hiking days are long past. Besides, you need some special time with your mama. It’s been a long, cold winter. Time you got out and enjoyed yourself too, without your grouchy nurse about.”
Lil’ Gladys giggled. “Gr—chy—no. Swuit Hor—ense. Love—ya.”
“I love you too, sweetie pie.”
Lucas pushed back from the table, his chair screeching. “I better get gone, or the sun will be down before we get back. Ya take it easy,” he said to me. “Remember, ya’ve been sittin’ around all winter too, so yar muscles might not think too kindly of ya traipsin’ across the country.”
“Gentle trail up to our glen, and no farther,” I said. It’s like having two husbands, some days. Most, days.
“Good. See all yall later,” Lucas said between the last gulps of his coffee.
“Leave that there,” Hortense grumbled with a wave of her hand, as he collected his dishes.
Lucas winked at her, and tickled lil’ Gladys before he trotted for the door. After leaning over and kissing each of the three of us on the cheek, Roger followed him.
~
Hortense groaned melodramatically as she lifted lil’ Gladys into the special backpack Janding constructed for us, which I had strung across my shoulders.
“My, you’re getting to be quite the little lady,” Hortense said.
I should have smiled, I know, but it’s an unpleasant thought that the wisp of a thing can’t put on weight. She still weighs less than she had eighteen months ago, before the attack.
“Now don’t wear your mama out,” Hortense said.
“I — wawt,” she said, and giggled, pressing her face into the back of my neck.
Hortense and I exchanged glances. I know the nurse’s last message was intended for me. My daughter is such a fragile little thing, didn’t even truly notice her weight when Hortense got her into the pack. I figured lil’ Gladys would lie across my shoulder most of the way up to the near peak, and back, sleeping.
“Got our blanket, got our lunch. Be back in a few hours. You enjoy yourself, you hear?”
“The sun on the porch is going to feel right nice,” Hortense said. “Will take me a million years to adjust to the Range winters.”
Lil’ Gladys giggled.
~
Lil’ Gladys stayed alert all the way up after all, chatting non-stop, as though we hadn’t been locked in a cabin together all winter. The sun and trees appeared to invigorate her, but the slur in her voice worsened, proving she tired.
The sun was nearly midway toward its apex when I stepped upon the new-grass covered crest, our destination. The view of the Lake below was absolutely majestic, the sky an unbelievable purple-blue. The breeze whispered through the trees and nipped at exposed flesh, reminding us of the snow still piled under the trees, but the heat of the sun was magnificent after the past season.
“Bu—full—mom—me.”
“It is, isn’t it? All right, let’s see if we can get you out of this pack without one of us breaking something.”
My daughter giggled in that innocent, purely gleeful way that touches the heart. I had to giggle with her, as I squatted on the ground and worked my shoulders out of the pack’s straps. Lil’ Gladys stepped out and took a wobbly step, but leaned back on my shoulder. A few steps on the deck are no problem now. But the uneven ground remained a challenge for my little one.
She waited as I spread out the blanket, and we sat facing the Lake. Lil’ Gladys’ eyes drooped as she munched on the little sandwich Hortense packed us. Lil’ Gladys ended up finishing it, lying across my lap.
“It’d that a sweet picture?”
I jerked, looking for the origin of the voice. I looked left and right, and back. Finally the man stepped out of the shadows of the trees. I froze in place. A shiver flicked from my scalp, throughout my body. I looked down quickly at lil’ Gladys. Her blonde eyelashes fluttered a moment, but she otherwise remained still.
“Sneaking up on a woman alone is not a wise thing to do.” I hope my words sounded braver than I felt. Doubted they did.
“Not unless that’s your plan,” he said.
My heart lurched, like when someone pretends to throw something at you in jest. A whole new sense of terror cramped my shoulders. I struggled to breathe. I scooped lil’ Gladys up in my arms and stood, looked left and right, praying there was somewhere to escape. But there was nothing but the tumbling trail leading to the Lake.
“Lucas told me you had moved on. That’d be the best thing for you to do.”
“Yall have quite the deal down there, doncha?” the stranger said. “Your own little, mono—whatcha callit? Got everyone else cut out, divided between you. An honest man can’t survive down there in that pile of orcs and trolls and ogres.”
“A man willing to work would thrive,” I challenged him.
“Work with that lot? Make me feel dirty. None of ya have any self-respect, dealing with them.” He pointed toward the Lake and grimaced.
“Please, go.”
“Or what? That giant dragon of yorn gonna tear me to shreds? I seen it fly off west with that feller, Lucas. Your man seemed to be working off north. A shame, leaving you two alone like this, out here, with orcs a quarter mile one way, daemons a quarter mile the other. Ogres a bit farther up. Yall surrounded by them creatures. More trusting than me. You’re all fools.”
I turned to walk down the steep hill.
“Ack!” he called. “That ain’t the way it’s gonna go. See, your man is gonna do what I say to protect you, and you’re gonna do exactly what I say to protect that little thing.” He pointed at lil’ Gladys with a filthy hand, holding a long blade that glimmered in the sunlight.
~
The climb into the next level of peaks was much more demanding and my leg muscles burned. Lil’ Gladys woke when I struggled to climb around a clump of boulders.
“Wh—ah—we?” she asked.
“Keep her quiet,” the man snapped.
I opened my mouth to complain, but the man held up a finger at me in warning.
“Besides, we about be where we going,” he said. “Just keep your mouth shut.”
He led us through a rough crag. The earth fell steeply below a ledge. He pushed me in the gloom another fifteen feet.
“Mom—ma. Ah—scared.”
“Shh. Be quiet sweetheart. Everything’s all right. We’re playing a little game of hide and seek.”
“Sit,” the man demanded. The new surroundings must have emboldened him. His voice rang deeper, more confident, meaner.
The rocky space smelled of guano, among other things, damp, cold. No way I was going to sit in the dark. He ignored me for a few minutes, and I stood still. I heard him blowing, and old coals that had been hidden in ash glowed in the dark. A flutter of flames danced about the kindling he fed it. In a few moments golden light darted across the walls of the tiny cavern, more a crag of boulders leaning against each other. He continued working at the flames until he set two, good-sized limbs across them.
“Mom—”
“Won’t this be a wonderful place to hide until Papa comes and finds you?” he interrupted lil’ Gladys. “You’ll have to be really quiet if you want to win the game though. There be a glob of candy in it for you, if you can do that. You like candy, doncha?”
For years I’d thought the Southern Accent sounded uneducated, but this man’s words, familiar grammar, implied something dirty.
He turned his attention to me. “Great place, eh? Almost fell into it. How lucky of me, eh? No one else in a million years will find the place. Even the smoke winds its way up inside the mountain to disappear. Nothing at all to trace.”
“You’re making a mistake,” I whispered. “Forget what my husband and brother-in-law will do to you. Iza will slowly pull you limb for limb as she rips out— I wrenched my focus to lil’ Gladys. Her eyes were saucers. She clucked her mouth closed—too aware this isn’t a game.
“But remember our deal. You be doing as I say, or it won’t be good.”
I held lil’ Gladys tightly, fighting the threat of a sob. The tiny girl’s face looked up at me, tinged orange from the fire. She lie strangely calm in my arms. Yes. Understood this isn’t a game, but didn’t say a word to deny it.
“Iza fin us,” she whispered.
The man laughed harshly. “Sorry little lady. No dragon gonna be finding nothing under these trees.”
“Be—all—rah,” lil’ Gladys said, plunging her face into my chest. This tiny baby was trying to soothe my fears.
~
It had to be getting dark. I realized the man intended to do nothing today. I shifted my weight. Legs were numb where they didn’t ache. Glad that lil’ Gladys slept. But I worried what the cold of the cave, the night, would do to her.
“Do you understand how fragile she is?” I whispered.
“The more reason for you to do as you’re told,” he said, poking his stick idly into the fire.
“I don’t understand. What are we doing here?”
“They gotta be good and worried about you by now, I’d guess,” he said softly. “Take a little of the boldness out of their thoughts.”
“Once we’re free, what do you think will stop them from tracking you down?” I asked.
“I been avoiding folk all my life,” he said. “I got pretty good at it. You think they ain’t already men looking to string me up?”
He chuckled, but I sensed it wasn’t from amusement.
“I figure I’ve been hiding in the shadows as long as I can remember. Never knew no kin. Up North, in the big city, no one care about a snot-nosed runt sleeping in the streets.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel sorry for you?”
He glared, eyes not blinking. “Hardly. I taught ’em. A lot of folk paid.”
Behind the man, a pair of narrowly spaced eyes reflected the glare of the fire. My heart jumped. If it’s who I think it was, he’d be bringing his friend the dwarf soon, followed by plenty of others.
The man followed my look. The gnome blinked into the ethereal. My tormentor lurched to pick up his knife, which lay in his lap. “What was that?” he snapped.
“I don’t know. Maybe a feral cat. Coon. Who knows. A lot of different creatures up in these mountains. Majical beasts of all kinds.”
Muttering under his breath, he stood and walked toward the entrance of the cave, stooped over to avoid the overhang. He held his knife out.
“What are you worried about?” I needled him. “You’re the one who said no one would ever find us here.”
After a nervous peek about the entrance, he walked back, glaring at me. Had I said more than I should? But he only set a couple more limbs on the fire, which I appreciated. “You shut up, if ya know what be good for you. Go to sleep. I need to think.”
I wanted to worry him, give him things to embroil his thoughts, ruin his sleep. If help was on the way though, that wouldn’t serve any purpose. The more relaxed and unconcerned, the easier it would be, maybe.
“You have an extra blanket?” I asked.
“You know, all those nights as a kid, sleeping on the streets, nobody ever offered me a blanket. Make do.”
~
It was impossible to sleep because of the cold. I leaned against my stone backrest quietly, shivering, holding lil’ Gladys close. Evidently our captor didn’t have much empathy or conscience, for he did fall asleep, rolled inside his sleeping fur. As his uneasy snore echoed against the stone walls, the cave filled with gnomes. None of them made a sound. The one I recognized as Coedwig’s friend blinked out again, and I watched as the dwarf silently made his way toward us from the cave entrance. The fire glimmered off a blade in his hand. The dozens of gnomes blinked away.
Coedwig slid the steel toward our captor’s neck. I closed my eyes, expecting one quick motion. But instead there was silence. I opened my eyes. The man glared up at the dwarf. There was no fear in his expression. Seemed more like resignation.
“Are ya two all right, sweetie?” Coedwig whispered without taking his eyes from the man.
“Yes, sir.”
“Can ya get up?”
I tried to lean forward, but the cold locked me in place. My frozen limbs wouldn’t react. The dwarf patiently waited without budging, as I was surrounded by gnomes, who helped me stand.
“There are some friends just outside ready to help ya,” Coedwig said.
It was the softest I’d ever heard the grumpy old dwarf speak. I’m sure belied the anger in his heart—lil’ Gladys is his favorite person in the world, does his part to spoil her rotten. His eyes glinted in the gloom. I struggled to walk. Fretted about dropping lil’ Gladys, my arms and hands were so numb from the cold. I must have clutched lil’ Gladys too tightly, as she squirmed a bit inside her blanket.
I finally made it to the entrance, oddly, my mind filled with worry for what my saviors would do with the man. I blinked at the absolute blackness of the forest save for a dozen pairs of distinctive, copper-colored, glowing eyes. Trolls. They certainly wouldn’t need any torches, no matter how dark it is.
An arm wrapped around my back, another across the back of my legs, and I rose into the air as though Lil’ Gladys and I weighed no more than a pair of rag dolls. The troll’s arms and chest felt hot compared to the cold night. A number of blankets were tucked around me and lil’ Gladys.
“We’ll have ya home in no time,” a deep, gentle and familiar voice said. “Yar men folk wanted to come along. Had to about bust ’em in the head to make ’em stay behind. The mountains at night are no place for ya humans, blind as ya are without a lantern. Loud as a cattle stampede. Should learn to walk without those blasted boots.”
I pressed my head against Yoso’s chest, and tears came.
“That’s good,” the old troll said. “Let it out, sweetie.”
The gentle roll of the giant’s gait calmed me after a bit. Lil’ Gladys wiggled in my arms.
“Tol—y—be—o—k,” she said.
I couldn’t help myself. A sob snuck out before I could stop it. They kept coming.
~
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