The Warrior Elf (4 page)

“What?” Gwynn grabbed the letter and quickly read it. She shook her head as she handed it back. “All that mess about abduction and her family’s concerns are lies. I don’t know what this is all about, but I do know our daughter. There’s no way she killed a man and didn’t let you know. She didn’t do this.”

“They’re saying someone’s seen Landis with a warrior elf and that can’t be coincidence. The girls have been seen together, and it didn’t happen in Willow Canyon.” Hayden stood up and started towards the door.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to finish putting the hay out for the horses. Then I’m going to find Xantha and see if he’ll take me to Willow Canyon tomorrow morning. I need to find out what this is all about.”

~ ~ ~ ~

By mid-afternoon, the chapel in Milhaven was almost back to normal. Between the women who had husbands up at the camp and the ones who’d found relatives to stay with, only Blair remained. While Hayley stripped the beds the other women had used, Theresa went in search of Blair. She found her in the kitchen making soup for that night’s dinner.

Theresa poured herself a cup of coffee and asked Blair if she’d like some.

“No, thank you,” Blair said as she continued chopping onions. “I’m fine.”

“I’d like to talk to you for a minute,” Theresa said. “Would you mind sitting with me while I drink mine?”

Blair put the knife down, washed her hands, and sat down. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Joan wants the rescued women who are still in Milhaven to meet at her house this evening to discuss options for the future.”

Blair looked down at her hands but she didn’t say anything.

“What’s going on, Blair? You were captured in Garnett’s Inlet. One of the women staying with Debra was also from there. She and her children went home yesterday. Why didn’t you want to go?”

“That’s not my home,” Blair said quietly. “I was staying with a friend. She was taken away as soon as we got to the caves, and she wasn’t one of the ones Myron rescued from the dungeons. She must have been sold.”

“All right, but if that’s not home, where is it?”

Blair shook her head but didn’t answer.

“Are your parents still alive?”

With a deep sigh, Blair nodded. When she looked up, tears were gathering in her eyes. “Please don’t make me go back. I’ll do anything, go anywhere you want me to, just don’t send me back home.”

“Let’s go for a walk,” Theresa said as she stood up. “Come on.” Once they were clear of the chapel, Theresa said, “Maybe you should tell me everything.”

“You won’t understand.”

“Maybe, maybe not, but I can give you my word that what you tell me will stay between us. I won’t repeat one word of it unless you want me to.”

“You won’t tell anyone?”

Theresa shook her head.

“My father believes it’s his responsibility to see that all of his children are taken care of. He wants us settled down and married, especially the girls. I’m the oldest, so he wants me married first, but no one wants to marry me.”

Theresa frowned. “Why not?”

“Because I’m ugly. Men want attractive women for their beds.”

Theresa’s frown deepened. “Why in the world would you say you’re ugly? There’s not a thing wrong with you.”

Blair turned towards Theresa and pointed to a tiny crescent birth mark on her cheek. “This is what’s wrong with me. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed it.”

“Your birthmark?”

Blair’s face turned red as she looked down. “I’m so ugly the guards wouldn’t send me to auction. They said the slavers would have to pay someone to take me. That’s why they kept me at the caves to cook for them.”

Theresa shook her head. “They kept you there to cook for them because you’re a natural in the kitchen. I doubt they’d ever had food that good before.”

“Cooking’s the only thing I’m good for, which is fine with me, but not with my father. He wanted to find me a husband, but no one was willing to marry me. Finally Derk said he would in exchange for some of my father’s land, but I couldn’t go through with it. He’s as old as my father and he’s mean. I’d rather go back to those caves and cook for the guards for the rest of my life than marry Derk, and if you make me go back home, I won’t have any choice.”

Theresa sighed. “Believe it or not, the same thing happened to me.”

“Huh?”

“A while back my father got the notion in his head that it was time for me to be married. He set it up before he said one word to me about it. The man he picked out was nice enough, but he was my father’s age, and set in his ways. He had some definite ideas about what I would and would not be doing for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, those ideas and mine didn’t mesh, so I left, and I haven’t been back since.”

“But you’re a sister. You had somewhere to go.”

“I wasn’t a sister then. Didn’t even know I had healing hands.”

“So what did you do?”

“I joined a minstrel group and traveled with them for a while.”

“I bet that was fun.”

“It was, but it’s not something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

“But you’re a sister now. You have something to do that people respect. You have a place to live. I don’t have anything.”

“Yes, you do, at least for now. You can stay with us.” Theresa put her arm around Blair’s shoulders. “No one’s going to make you marry a man you don’t want to while I’m around. And no one’s going to make you go home either. I won’t allow it. You’re a good cook, and now that everyone’s gone, we could use an extra pair of hands around the chapel.”

Blair frowned. “I don’t know anything about herbs or illnesses. I can clean though, if that would help.”

“You can cook,” Theresa repeated. “I’m not saying you have to stay here forever, but you can stay and cook for us until you figure out what you want to do. I’ll talk to Joan and tell her you’re taken care of. But there is one other thing you might want to think about.”

“What?”

“Your parents. From what you said, your father was trying to look out for you when he made those arrangements. Don’t you want to let them know you’re safe? That you’ve found a place for yourself and they can stop worrying about you and concentrate on marrying off the others?”

“I don’t know,” Blair said hesitantly. “He may want me to come back and honor the deal he made with Derk.”

“Your father probably won’t be upset as long as your future’s secure. After all, if you don’t marry Derk, he doesn’t have to give him any land.”

“I don’t know.”

“Is he likely to argue with a sister?”

Blair shook her head. “No. Never.”

“Then I’ll go with you and tell him I’ve hired you to work in the chapel. That should settle it once and for all.”

~ ~ ~ ~

By dinner Sunday evening, two of the three rescued women who’d stayed with Jana were gone and things were starting to get back to normal around her house. Unfortunately the most difficult of the three was still there.

Jana had been ready for Doreen to leave before she’d been there a week, so naturally she’d be the one who had no place to go. She seemed perfectly healthy, and at times she could be pleasant, but most of the time she acted like a pompous little ninny. Jana shook her head as she started washing dishes. Not once had the woman lifted her hand to help out. She’d either been pampered and waited on all her life or she wanted everyone to think she had. Jana hated to admit it, but she couldn’t wait to get Doreen out of her house.

The source of Jana’s irritation was sitting in her bedroom trying to figure out how to approach the meeting at Joan’s that evening. When the women were first rescued, Doreen was relieved to find herself at the castle, a place where people weren’t expected to help out, where she’d be treated as a guest, but almost as soon as they got there, they were whisked away again.

When she ended up at Jana’s, she decided she’d rather have people think she was spoiled than stupid, so instead of admitting she didn’t know how to do anything around the house, she used the word “don’t” instead of “can’t” when asked to help out. She was aware she wasn’t winning any friends with that approach, but at least the others didn’t pity her.

She might be useless around the house, but she wasn’t brainless. She had skills, just none that would do her any good in Milhaven, so she decided her best bet for the meeting at Joan’s was to keep playing the role she’d chosen at Jana’s. If she could convince Myron to intercede for her and force the marriage with Jared, she’d soon be back where she belonged, running her father’s fishing boats. She knew how to build and handle boats, find the best fishing, manage the crews, handle the payroll, and keep up with all of the accounts. And she was determined no one was going to feel sorry for her because she couldn’t make a cup of tea or wash her own clothes.

~ ~ ~ ~

Joan had no idea what to expect from the women she was meeting with that evening. They’d lost their families and had no one left to turn to. She could understand if they were depressed and afraid of what the future might hold, or even if they were resentful and angry at the way their lives had been upended. But she had little patience for anyone who was wallowing in self-pity and expecting someone else to bail them out. Things would go a lot better for them if they realized how lucky they were to be alive and free and were ready to make plans for the future.

Shortly after dinner the first woman arrived. She was short, a little on the plump side, and her hair was more gray than brown. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” the woman said with a smile as she shook Joan’s hand. “My name’s Margot and I want to thank you for all the effort you put into finding places for us to stay. My hosts couldn’t have been any kinder. Thank you so much for making all the arrangements.”

“It was my pleasure.” Joan ushered Margot into the living room. As Margot sat down, Joan heard another knock on her door, so she excused herself to answer it.

The woman on her doorstep this time was younger, maybe mid-twenties. She was slender with long blond hair and would have been attractive had it not been for the haughty look in her eyes. When Joan held out her hand in greeting, the woman stared at it for several seconds before deigning to shake it.

“Hello,” Joan said. “We’re meeting in the living room.”

The woman nodded and walked past Joan into the living room.

“I’m sorry. I must have missed your name,” Joan said as the woman sat down in a chair off to the side.

“I didn’t say,” the woman answered. “It’s Doreen.”

Another knock at the door gave Joan a reason to excuse herself. The two young women standing on the porch looked nervous. Both were in their late teens, one dark, one fair. As Joan greeted them, the dark-headed one introduced herself as Jacelyn and the blond said her name was Sherri.

Before Joan could direct them to the living room, the last two ladies arrived. Both were around forty, but that was the only thing they had in common. One was tall and skinny with ebony hair and mocha-colored skin. The other was short and plump, fair skinned, and redheaded. The first introduced herself as Lyla and the redhead said her name was Nan.

After they were seated, Joan introduced everyone. “Since all of you are on your own, we need to come up with a plan. You need some way to support yourself and somewhere to live.” Joan paused and glanced around. The three older women nodded, the two teenagers looked at each other nervously, but Doreen frowned. “I’m sure you’ve all thought about it. Have any of you come up with anything you’d like to do or any place you’d like to live?”

“I’ve given it a bit of thought,” Margot said. When Joan nodded at her, she continued. “Since all of my family was either captured or killed, I need to start over, and if I’m going to do that, I’d like to do it somewhere warm. I’m tired of snow and ice.”

Joan smiled. “Where did you live?”

“Along Longleaf Lake, and we had really cold winters. And since I’ll need to support myself, I’d like to live in a town, a good-sized town, one where I can find some work.”

“Any idea what type of work?” Joan asked.

“I think I’d like working in a tavern. I’ve certainly had plenty of experience cooking and waiting on people,” Margot answered. “And I don’t mind cleaning up the bedrooms if the tavern’s also an inn, but if I do that, I’ll expect room and board thrown in.”

“That’s reasonable,” Joan said as she made some notes. “Let me send out a few letters and see if I can find something like that for you.”

Margot nodded and leaned back.

“Has anyone else given it any thought?” Joan asked.

“I have,” Nan said. “I figured I was on my own as soon as my husband didn’t show up with the men from the mines. I was raised in a town, and I’d like to live in one again. My parents had a dry goods store. I helped out in there from the time I could walk until I got married. I can buy goods, sell goods, keep up with the inventory, put up stock, all of it. If you know of anyone who could use an experienced clerk, I’d love to do that again, and if they happen to live in an area that doesn’t get too cold, these old bones of mine would be grateful.”

“I’ll see if I can set something up for you along those lines.” Joan made a few notes and then looked around the room. “Next?”

When no one else spoke up, Sherri cleared her throat and said, “I’ve always wanted to be a chapel aide. I don’t know if they need one though.”

Joan smiled. “Maybe not here, but I’m sure they could use one somewhere. I’ll ask Sister Agnes to look into it.”

Sherri blushed as she smiled. “Thank you.”

Joan glanced at Jacelyn. “Have you given it any thought?”

Jacelyn nodded. “I don’t know if there’s a job for it, but I like taking care of children, playing with them, watching them. I used to do it at home while the men were fishing and the women were working. But I don’t want to live at the coast anymore. I don’t ever want to get captured again.”

“I can’t say you’ll never go through that again, slavers are everywhere, but I can find you a place inland,” Joan said as she jotted down Jacelyn’s request. “I don’t know of anyone who needs a nanny right now, but I’ll see what I can find.”

“Nanny?” Jacelyn asked, puzzled.

Joan looked up from her notes. “That’s what we called people who looked after other people’s children where I grew up.” Joan paused and then added, “I don’t know if they need anyone else right now, but we have a playground at the castle for the staff’s children. If they can use another person, would you be interested in working at the castle?”