LITMIR.BIZ

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in?’

      ‘Not me, old woman,’ said the innkeeper. ‘Him.’

      The woman looked at the prone figure on the table and said, ‘Caleb!’ She hurried to his side and said, ‘Get this tunic off so I may look at his wounds.’

      McGrudder began to pull Caleb upright to attempt to pull his jacket and tunic off, and the woman nearly screeched as she said, ‘Cut them off, you fool. Do you want to kill him?’

      Tad had been keeping Caleb’s hunting knife; he pulled out and reversed it, handing the hilt first to the innkeeper. McGrudder set to with practiced efficiency and cut away the jacket, then the tunic.

      The old woman looked at the wounds and said, ‘He’s near to death. Boil bandages, and fetch me a cup of wine. Hurry.’

      The woman carried a small leather pouch on a strap she wore over one shoulder. She moved to stand next to the table and rummaged around in the pouch, finding what she sought. She removed a folded parchment and when the wine was produced, she unfolded it, letting a fine powder fall into the wine. To Zane, she said, ‘You, boy, hold his head up and don’t let him choke as I give him the wine to drink.’

      Zane did as she instructed and Caleb’s lips moved slightly as she administered the potion. Then she went to the fire to check the cauldron. When the water began to roil, she put the bandages that had been cut from some spare bedding into it, and said, ‘You, girl, fetch me soap and cold water.’

      Margaret brought a bucket of cold water and the soap. The tiny woman ladled some hot water out of the cauldron into the bucket to warm the water then told Tad to put the bandages into the water.

      She set to with surprising vigour and washed Caleb’s wounds. She instructed McGrudder to use the metal ladle to fish out the bandages and let them drip on the floor, holding them before the fire so they would dry. When she was satisfied they were dry enough, she bound Caleb’s wounds and said, ‘Now, carry him up to a room and let him sleep.’

      McGrudder picked up Caleb as a man might a child and lugged him up the stairs. Zane asked, ‘Will he live?’

      The old woman fixed him with a sceptical eye and said, ‘Probably not. But he’ll linger, and that’s important.’

      ‘Why?’ asked Tad.

      The old woman gave him a faint smile and said, ‘Wait.’

      McGrudder returned and asked, ‘What more can we do?’

      ‘You know what you must do,’ and she turned to leave.

      ‘Wait!’ said Zane. ‘That’s all? A cup of wine and bandages?’

      ‘My potion is more than a cup of wine, boy. It’ll keep him alive long enough for McGrudder to fetch more help, and that help will save Caleb, son of Pug.’

      ‘What help?’ asked McGrudder.

      ‘Don’t dissemble with me, you old fraud,’ said the woman. ‘I know who your true master is, and I know if an emergency warrants you can send word in haste.’ She hiked a thumb towards the stairs and said, ‘His son lies dying, and if that’s not an emergency, I don’t know what is.’

      McGrudder looked hard at the old woman and said, ‘For a simple woman who claims to practice only herbs and root lore, you know a great deal more.’

      ‘Live a long time and you learn things,’ she said as she reached the door. ‘But Caleb did me a favour, and his father did one years ago, and there was another, a friend of his father’s who did me a great service as well, so that in the end, there is a great debt still. But to you and your masters I owe nothing; let us not be confused on that matter, McGrudder. The next time you disturb my sleep, you do so at risk.’

      Saying nothing more, she left the inn and Tad and Zane exchanged glances. McGrudder saw the look and said, ‘You boys can sleep in the room with Caleb, the second door on the left at the top of the stairs. He’s in the only bed, but there’s a large mat rolled up under the bed you can share.’ He glanced at the girl and said, ‘Get yourself back to bed, girl, we have a long day tomorrow.’ He then motioned to his wife who had been quietly washing the blood off the table and floor and said, ‘I’ll help you in a moment, Elizabeth.’

      She nodded. ‘I know. You need to send that message.’

      He returned the nod and left the common room through the door in the rear. The innkeeper’s wife looked at the boys and said, ‘Go up and get what rest you may. It is only three hours until sunrise, and there will be work for all tomorrow.’ She indicated a candle on the bar.

      Zane picked up the candleholder and the boys mounted the stairs without a word and paused a moment before the door, then entered. Caleb lay in his bed, a heavy down comforter pulled up to his chin, his face pale and drawn.

      Tad knelt and pulled the rolled-up mat, and the boys lay on it.

      ‘What do we do now?’ whispered Zane after a while.

       • CHAPTER FOUR •

       Dark Goddess

      TAD CAME AWAKE SUDDENLY.

      Someone was opening the door and he nudged Zane awake as it swung aside. It was near sunrise; the sky outside the window displayed a slightly rose-tinged grey light, but it was still too dark in the room to make out the features of the man who stood there.

      ‘Huh?’ said the half-asleep Zane as Tad fumbled to where he put the candle.

      ‘You won’t need that,’ said the figure in the doorway as he held up his hand. Suddenly light filled the room, an unnatural white glow that held a hint of blue. Zane blinked and Tad stood up as the figure entered the room.

      He matched Caleb in height and resembled the hunter, but his skin was fair and his hair was white. He had eyes of the palest blue, but their set and expression were exactly like Caleb’s. As he entered the room, another figure, McGrudder, stepped into the doorway.

      Zane scrambled to get out of the way as the stranger knelt to examine Caleb. After only a moment, the man said, ‘You did well to contact me. His breathing is shallow, his heartbeat is weak, and he burns with fever. If nothing is done, he’ll be dead by noon.’

      The man looked at Tad and said, ‘Who are you?’

      ‘Tad,’ he answered. ‘That’s Zane. We were travelling with Caleb.’

      ‘What are you to my brother?’

      Zane exchanged glances with Tad, then he said, ‘I suppose you would say Caleb was taking us to be apprentices.’

      The pale man frowned and said, ‘I wouldn’t say. What you are to him will be sorted out later, now I must take him with me to save him. You stay here.’

      ‘Wait a minute, Magnus,’ said McGrudder coming into the room. ‘You know they can’t stay here.’

      ‘Why not?’ asked Magnus, standing up. ‘You know I can’t take them with me.’

      ‘But you must,’ said McGrudder. ‘They’ve seen you, and even a chance remark to the wrong person …’ He inclined his head towards the boys. ‘You know.’

      ‘Put them to work,’ suggested Magnus.

      ‘I can’t. You know your father will move all of us out of here in a day or two. Those men might have been bandits, as the boys told me, or they may have been more than that. Either way, Pug will move us, just in case, and there will be another innkeeper and his family. They’ll say that they’re distant relatives, or that this place was purchased, or some story.’ He glanced around, as if already regretting the need to leave this cosy little inn. ‘The villagers know better than to say anything to strangers, but the old witch already

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