Honeyed Words (34 page)

They immediately had the mob formed into their two separate units, each armed with an assortment of weapons, including the pikes from the side of the house. They marched them out into the back of the yard just beyond the barn and set some sergeants to drilling them on their formations. Once that was going, they trotted back over to us. I noticed that Trisha had a squad of six. She handled her pike with strength and grace. Not quite a cash register, but she knew her stuff.

“They should be busy for an hour,” Stuart said, smiling up at me.

“Hi, Stuart,” I said.

He stormed up the stairs and threw his arms open wide. I melted into his hug. “Let that giant of a man hug you first,” he groused. “I’m beginning to think you like him best.”

I looked over his shoulder to Gunther, who stood at the bottom of the stairs and grinned. “Saved the best for last,” I said and winked at Gunther.

Stuart squeezed me harder and stepped back, wiping his eyes. “You’ve stayed away all summer,” he growled. “You are seriously behind in your training.”

He turned and pointed out to the two squads drilling. “We’ve got a few new recruits and are working them into a more cohesive fighting corps. We can’t have a repeat of this spring’s massacre.”

“And with your buddy there,” Gunther added. “Those who were skeptical about what we’ve told them will be dancing to a different tune.”

Stuart looked over at Bub and shook his head. “Gonna mean more questions, you mean.”

Not something I’d thought about. Hell, I just assumed that since I was living in the land of the strange the rest of the world was up to my speed. Stupid on my part.

“No mind,” Stuart said, brushing the subject aside. “When can we expect to see you swinging some rattan?”

I nodded, serious and attentive. “Soon,” I said. “I’d love to start coming out here again, you know, depending…” I could feel the fear and shame rising in me, suddenly. Jimmy blamed me for Deidre’s being hurt, for so many dead, for bringing the dragons down on all of us. My blood grew hot, and I felt the flush run up my neck. I glanced over at Jimmy. “If I’m welcome.”

Jimmy stepped to Deidre’s side and placed his arm over her shoulder. “It’s been pointed out,” he gave Deidre’s shoulder a squeeze, “that there’s a slight chance I’ve been a right grumpy bastard.”

I started to open my mouth, but Deidre gave me a look that quelled that instinct. “Don’t everyone rush in to correct me,” he said with a smidge of crankitude.

“What he means to say,” Deidre said, poking Jimmy in the side, “is that you’re welcome here anytime, Sarah.”

Jimmy cleared his throat. “Of course. We’re all family here.” He glanced down at Deidre, who shot him a look. He rolled his eyes, but a smile graced his face. “You’ve been gone too damn long.”

And just like that, the anvil hanging over my head vanished. Katie came up the steps and people started cheering. The troops in the field had stopped marching and were shaking their pikes in the air. I’m not sure what the signal was that alerted them, but it was amazing. I lost my anger and my fury but let the love and acceptance of this crowd, this family I’d chosen, wash over me.

It was like losing ten pounds after a week of beer and chocolate. I kissed Katie again, just because I wanted to, and then waved out at the crowd with my arm around her. Here, if nowhere else, I was free to love who I wanted and could lay my own ghosts aside. Nice to have a place like that.

We settled in, the bunch of us: Katie, Julie, Jimmy, Deidre, Gunther, and Stuart. The twins tapped a keg of summer ale, and we raised a pint in remembrance of the fallen.

I gave them the 411 on all that had happened in the last few weeks, from the concert and kidnapping to the rumors of the King of Vancouver, the mead, dwarves, elves, Skella, Gletts, Anezka, and finally Bub.

I pushed Jimmy for answers of my own. He didn’t like talking about it, but with all the things that had gone on, and with Deidre’s prodding, I got some information out of him.

I learned about his parents, for example, and the fact that they were members of a secret sect of scholars who’d been following dragon lore for centuries.

Gunther shared his bit of history, the part where he was raised for the first ten years in a monastery outside Beattyville, Kentucky, before moving to the Northwest.

They answered every question I asked, even if they were evasive and shrouded in vagaries. Then we were back to Anezka, the oddities of her place, Bub, and the amulet.

They asked a few questions, but in general just listened. Gunther copied the runes from the amulet, but none of them touched it.

Bub for his part sat quietly outside our ring, listening and watching. When we were done, I asked him what he wanted to do.

“Go home,” he said quietly. “Can we, please?”

I actually patted him on the head. “If you can appear here when I call you, can you just pop home?”

“It’s pretty far,” he said. “I can come to the amulet, but going the other direction is too hard.”

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll get you home. Besides, someone has to watch over the place.”

He swelled up at that. Little eater just needed someone to look after, something to do. With Anezka’s mental state, he’d been running wild for a long time.

We stayed around long enough for the twins to break out the big grill and cook up a whole mess of burgers. The crowd was fascinated with Bub and took turns tossing burgers at him, delighting in him catching them in his mouth and eating them whole.

Not sure why none of them considered the possibilities that he could eat them just as easily. Maybe I was being paranoid.

Forty-eight

Sarah caught a ride back to civilization with Trisha. Katie needed to spend some time on family business. Sarah would’ve stayed, but she had work the next morning. As it was, Katie was pissed. She sat with Jimmy and Deidre, so obviously fuming that the twins excused themselves, wanting no part in a family feud.

“There’s more going on here than you’re letting on,” Katie said, rounding on Jimmy after the twins had gone. “All this, the dragons, Sarah’s sword, Mom and Dad.” Her voice cracked at the end, and she coughed in an attempt to cover it.

“What do you want from me?” Jimmy implored, placing his hands on the table, palms up. “They told me to protect you, told me to keep you from harm. How could I do any less?”

Deidre placed her hand on Jimmy’s shoulder, squeezing. “She’s a grown woman now, Jim. Maybe you need to stop protecting her, and start sharing things.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said, shaking his head. “She can’t be held responsible for what she doesn’t know.”

Katie laughed at that, a pained bark that opened the damn of tears. “Like when that fucking dragon snatched me? Like then, Jim?” She stood, slamming her chair against a cabinet. “Like when I watched Sarah in that hospital, burned by dragon fire. You saw her arm; it was horrible. And the battle? Were you going to protect us all from that as well?”

Jimmy hung his head. “I failed them,” he said quietly. “Failed Black Briar and failed you and Deidre.”

“You’re not my father, Jim. I appreciate everything you and Deidre did for me after Mom and Dad disappeared, but you’re my brother. You can’t fail me, unless you stop loving me.”

She reached out and squeezed his hand for a moment before drawing back. “But you know things about Mom and Dad. Things you have hidden from me. I deserve to know everything about them. I deserve to know why they disappeared.”

“It’s just not that simple,” he said. “It’s all muddled together—dragons and witches and all the rest.” He looked up, peering into her face. “And Sarah, dear god. She’s off the charts, Katie. I’ve talked it through with the twins; we can’t figure out why she’s here or who she represents.”

“Who she represents?” Katie let her voice grow louder. “She’s not one of your projects, Jim. Not something for you to catalog and hide from the world. She’s a caring person, broken and beautiful. And whether you approve or not, someone I happen to love. How dare you try and categorize her?”

“I didn’t mean … she’s not … I know she’s special.”

“Special? Like short-bus special, Jim? One of those flawed heroines who can’t get past her own baggage to save herself at the end of the movie?”

“This isn’t a movie,” he said quietly. “And, while she’s seriously flawed, she’s family.”

Katie sat back at that, crossed her arms, and pulled a face. “I’m terrified I’m gonna lose her like I lost Mom and Dad. I love her, damn it. Love her so bad it aches inside.”

They sat quietly for a long time.

“What’s it gonna be, Jim?” Katie asked, her voice shaking. “When do I get to be a grown-up?”

He didn’t answer, didn’t look at her, just squeezed his hands into fists and raged silently.

“I’m tired of being left out,” Katie said. “You can’t protect me from the world.”

She turned and stormed out of the kitchen, leaving him to his tears.

Forty-nine

I spent the next week operating out of Anezka’s place. Her truck was in such bad shape I had it towed to Black Briar. Some of the crew would fix it up. In the meantime, Jimmy loaned me his truck on a day-to-day basis. I’d hit Black Briar at o’dark thirty and swap my beast for his truck. I think he wanted to make sure I was out there every day, instead of being tied to Anezka’s place where things tended to get weird. I had to go into town to get Internet. The electronics were getting worse at her place.

I spent some time on the intertubes, looking for information about blood magic, researching the news around Vancouver, looking for clues. Rolph was a big help, being on the ground there and knowing of the dwarven communities. No word about Odin, but Vancouver was rife with rumors of the mead and of dragons.

Rolph had been contacted by the King of Vancouver, who questioned his place in the community. So far, Rolph had remained neutral in all of it, but he said the King was right pissed about the dragon interference.

Every day I’d hit one of the local farms: Broken Switch, Tandem Rail, and Busted Modem (Microsoftees). The work was good, but harder than I was used to, going solo. Luckily, these were small farms, mainly hobbies for the luxuriously wealthy.

On Tuesday I met the gang out at Black Briar and sparred with Stuart while Gunther worked on the Ducati. The bike was a dream, but the parts were hard to come by. Apparently they were produced by little old Italian women who only worked on alternate Wednesdays.

He said I’d have it by the weekend and loaned me a little Suzuki 550cc he kept around as a spare for when he was working on his Harley.

It was a sweet little bike, great on the city streets but not very powerful on the mountain pass. I rode it between Chumstick and Black Briar. It did okay, but I dreamed about tooling down the road with that Ducati humming between my thighs, Katie snuggled up against my back.

Helped while away the long hours back and forth to Anezka’s place. Anezka’d be coming home on Saturday as well. Bub was thrilled like I wouldn’t expect and asked me to get her a cake. Funny, the things he thought about. Of course, it did involve food.

Bub and I spent nights discussing smithing history as well as his recollection of dragons and the gods. His knowledge was sparse, having been tied to the amulet and its owner for so long. He spent years doing nothing more than keeping the hearth lit and the forge hot. I can’t imagine how freaking boring that would be.

I had great plans to research more, dig into things, but by the time I got home each night, chatting with Bub was the last thing I could muster. The place drained me. I can’t see how anyone lived here full-time. It was an energy sink. I slept on the couch and woke cranky nearly every morning. Bub was happy, though.

Julie was in hog heaven having the apartment to herself. I was afraid to ever go home again. I bet she’d have lace doilies inside the refrigerator by the time I got back. She was cruising around well enough on her cane. The docs said she could start driving an automatic soon. No stick shift for a while. I’d give her the Taurus, since I had the motorcycle now. Not what she needed to work, but she could start coming out to the farms, make a show of getting back in charge.

And Deidre was taking command of Black Briar. The house was hopping 24-7. Saturday we were having a planning meeting. They wanted to do some more building. A big surprise. I couldn’t wait.

First thing Saturday morning, I arranged to pick up Julie and head over to the hospital. Anezka was coming home.

Fifty

I drove the Taurus into town to get Julie and pick up a few things since I’d be staying out at Black Briar with Katie. Big shindig called for drinking and other things.

My place didn’t quite scream frilly valentine yet, but I thought I’d need a corset soon just to hang around the kitchen. It amazed me how much of a girl Julie was at times.

I filled my pack with fresh underthings and tossed her the keys to the Taurus. She was gonna love it. I didn’t quite run down the stairs, but between the doilies and the smell of cabbage, I barely recognized the place.

The ride over to Evergreen Hospital was more harrowing than I’d hoped. Julie hadn’t driven in six months, and apparently the concepts of mirrors and large yellow concrete barriers were lost on her. I was sure the right rear quarter panel would pop right back out. Yep, that was the theory.