The Safe-Keeper's Secret
Read The Safe-Keeper's Secret Online
Authors: Sharon Shinn
With one abrupt movement, the man thrust his bundle through the open door. “Take the baby,” he said baldly. “The child is not safe in anyone else's hands.”
With a soft exclamation of surprise, the woman placed her candle on a nearby table and accepted the infant into her arms. “But whose child is this?” she murmured, looking down into the small sleeping face and beginning to rock slowly back and forth on the balls of her feet.
“I will whisper the name into your ear,” the man said, coming near enough to do just that. “It is a secret.”
She nodded, and he brought his mouth so close to her face he might have been kissing her on the cheek. She listened, nodded again, and looked him directly in the eyes as he straightened up and drew back.
“I will tell my sister,” she said.
“And no one else,” he said.
“And no one else,” she repeated.
W
HERE
F
ANTASY
T
AKES
F
LIGHT
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The Samaria
Novels
A
RCHANGEL
J
OVAH'S
A
NGEL
T
HE
A
LLELUIA
F
ILES
A
NGELICA
A
NGEL
-S
EEKER
T
HE
S
HAPE
-C
HANGER'S
W
IFE
W
RAPT IN
C
RYSTAL
H
EART OF
G
OLD
S
UMMERS AT
C
ASTLE
A
UBURN
J
ENNA
S
TARBORN
T
HE
S
AFE
-K
EEPER'S
S
ECRET
M
YSTIC AND
R
IDER
T
HE
T
RUTH
-T
ELLER'S
T
ALE
SHARON SHINN
FIREBIRD
AN IMPRINT OF PENGUIN GROUP (USA) INC.
FIREBIRD
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
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Registered Offices: Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published in the United States of America by Viking,
a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 2004
Published by Firebird, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 2005
3Â Â 5Â Â 7Â Â 9Â Â 10Â Â 8Â Â 6Â Â 4Â Â 2
Copyright © Sharon Shinn, 2004
All rights reserved
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE VIKING EDITION AS FOLLOWS:
Shinn, Sharon.
The Safe-Keeper's secret / by Sharon Shinn.
p. cm.
Summary: Fiona is Safe-Keeper in the small village of Tambleham,
where neighbors and strangers alike come one by one, in secret,
to tell her things they dare not share with anyone else.
[1. SecretsâFiction. 2. VillagesâFiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.S5572Saf 2004 [Fic]âdc22Â Â Â Â Â 2003023538
ISBN: 978-1-101-56397-7
Printed in the United States of America
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that
it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise
circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover
other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition
including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The publisher does not than any control over and does not assume any
responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
F
OR
A
ARON
Because reading the last few chapters aloud to
you is one of my most special memories.
A
TRUTH COMES OUT WHEN IT MUST
;
A
DREAM COMES TRUE WHEN IT WILL
.
T
HOUGH THE WORLD TURN TO ASH AND DUST
,
A
SECRET
â
S A SECRET STILL
.
Prologue
The solitary horse and rider clattered through the sleeping town, iron-shod hooves striking sharply against the half-buried cobblestones of the market square. Twenty yards outside the village green, the road turned to dirt again, and the animal's feet made only a muted thud against the dry soil. It was still an urgent sound, for the horse was moving fastâas fast as it could after a long night of hard running.
The rider only slowed as he passed the last houses on the road leading out of town. He bent to peer at each lawn and roofline, clearly looking for a mark or signal. Not till he came to the small gray-brick cottage on the very edge of Tambleham did he pull the horse to a complete halt.
A spray of roses by the gate, dark and colorless in the moonlight. A low hedge of no particular shape or beauty. And a kirrenberry tree planted by the front door.
A Safe-Keeper's house.
Moving awkwardly because of a bundle clutched tightly to his chest, the rider dismounted and led his horse through the gate. There he let the exhausted animal stand untethered while he hurried up the flagged walkway and knocked on the front door. When there was no immediate answer, he pounded even louder.
A moment later, a young woman opened the door, holding a candlestick that illuminated her face. Despite the lateness of the hour, she looked wide awake and not at all alarmed at the appearance of this midnight visitor. Her dark hair was pinned to the back of her head, and her yellow gown appeared to be spattered with a variety of stains.
“Yes?” she asked.
Her visitor was not nearly so calm. “You are the Safe-Keeper of this village?” he demanded in a low voice.
She shook her head. “No. Iâ”
He fell back a step, clutching his bundle even more tightly to him. “No! But youâbut the kirrenberry treeâ”