The Warrior Elf (61 page)

Callie closed her eyes and swallowed hard. “How?”

Petar frowned. “What do you mean how?”

Callie looked at him with a puzzled look on her face. “How can I be ready to go in less than two days? What about Fenway? Who’s going to cook if I leave?”

“I’m sure there’s someone in Milhaven who can take over at Fenway’s.” Petar smiled and looked deep into her eyes. “Do you want to go with me, Callie, as my wife?”

Tears streamed down Callie’s face. “More than anything, yes.”

Petar gently wiped the tears away and held her face in his hands as he leaned in to kiss her, a kiss that held all the promise of the future. When they broke apart, Callie’s eyes were still damp, but they were brighter than he’d ever seen them. “So, think you can be packed and ready to go by Thursday morning?”

Callie’s mouth dropped open again and for a moment she stopped breathing. When she caught her breath again, she said, “I guess I’ll have to, but first I’ve got to tell Fenway.” Callie’s eyes widened. “What am I going to tell Fenway?”

“Tell him you’re getting married, and since your husband’s leaving, you’ve got to go, too.” Petar said. “Or, if you want me to, I can tell him.”

“No, I’ll handle it” Callie said slowly. “But not right now. Not while the tavern’s full of customers. I’ll wait until tomorrow morning, while it’s quiet. I’ll tell him after I’ve made a big pot of stew for lunch and put on something for dinner tomorrow night.”

“You’re planning to work tomorrow?” Petar asked. “What about packing?”

Callie shook her head. “I can’t not cook tomorrow. I’ve got to give him a little warning. Packing won’t take long. I don’t have much.” Then, after a moment, she said, “I’ve got a few pots and pans, but other than clothes, that’s about it. What are we going to do? Neither of us has much of anything.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll be fine,” Petar said. “Now, I’ve got to get back to the camp for a meeting. Go finish dinner. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

~ ~ ~ ~

While Petar was talking to Callie, Kevin was talking to Rhianna. “I’m sorry to show up so early, but I’ve got another meeting this evening so I won’t be able to get down here after dinner tonight.”

“You’ve been having a lot of evening meetings lately. Is that normal?” Rhianna asked.

Kevin shrugged. “I wouldn’t say they’re normal, but they’re not all that unusual. They do tend to come in bunches though. I may go a couple of months and not have any meetings after dinner, and then I’ll hit a stretch when it seems like I have one nearly every night. Guess this is one of those stretches.”

“Anything I need to know?”

“Actually yes, but not yet. There are several things I want to talk to you about, see what you think, but I need to gather a little more information first, and I want to wait until after this weekend to do it.”

“All right,” Rhianna said, more curious than anything. “Give me a hint?”

Kevin laughed. “Should have kept my mouth shut. I may be hiring some protection for someone. We’ll talk about it next week.”

Rhianna nodded and let the subject drop.

“How are Neisha and Shelley getting along here?”

Rhianna smiled. “Shelley is so sweet. Even Doreen’s falling in love with her. She’s talking about making a sandbox for her because she had so much fun playing in the one at the castle.”

“Let me know if she does and I’ll get the sand for her. I was afraid putting a child in here might be a little too much. These women have all been through an ordeal. I wasn’t sure they were ready to deal with a little one.”

Rhianna laughed. “You don’t need to worry about that. You might have the opposite problem though. I’m not sure they’ll be willing to let Shelley leave.”

“How’s Neisha doing?”

“She’s not comfortable yet, but she’s only been here twenty-four hours. She seems to like it though and she’s going out of her way to be helpful.”

“Let me know if anything changes.”

“I will.” When Kevin didn’t say anything more, she said, “I’ve got a question.”

“Okay.”

“Who’s walking Nikki this evening?”

“Chris, I guess.”

“He won’t be at the meeting with you?”

“Not this time.”

“Why don’t you give him the night off? I’ll go back with you and take care of Nikki while you’re gone.”

“Chris could use some free time, and I know she’d love it. You sure you want to do this?”

Rhianna nodded. “It’ll be fun.”

“When can you be ready to go?”

“Now.”

Kevin smiled as he took out his key and they left for the castle.

~ ~ ~ ~

It was after ten by the time Kevin took Rhianna back to Doreen’s and made it up to his room with Nikki. Chris was stretched out on the couch half-asleep. After Nikki jumped up on the couch to say hello, Chris sat up and rubbed his face. “I want something to drink. You?”

Kevin nodded. “But I’ll go get it. You’re supposed to be taking the night off. Rhianna said so.”

“Yeah, well if you go down there, the guards will want to fix it for you, and then they’ll want to bring it up for you, and so on. I can get it a lot quicker and with a lot less fuss.” Chris stood up and stretched. “Back in a minute.”

While he was gone, Kevin started brushing Nikki. He was almost done when Chris walked in carrying a tray with two mugs of scog and two plates covered with apple pie.

“Where did you get the pie? And is Miranda going to kill us for eating it?”

Chris shook his head as he sat down and picked up one of the plates. “She left it on the counter with a note saying it was for us.”

“You’re winning her over.” Kevin picked up his slice.

“About time. I’ve been working on her for over a year now.”

“Did you get a message off to Sister Brena?”

Chris nodded. “Sent it this morning. She’s probably already sent it on to Sister Glenice. I told Sister Glenice we’d be in her office at seven Sunday evening, and to let us know if Robyn couldn’t make it.”

Kevin frowned. “Why did you say that?”

“What else could I say? Be there or else?”

“No, but I’d like to find out what he thinks before I go any farther with this.”

“He’ll be there if he can.” Chris finished his pie. “How did it go tonight? With Garen’s men.”

Kevin ate the last bite of his pie before he answered. “They asked a couple of questions, like how much of their stuff can they take.”

“What did you tell them?”

“As much as they wanted.” Kevin took a swallow of scog. “I said I’d drop off a couple of crates tomorrow morning. I figured we could go downstairs tonight and find a couple of empty ones. I’ll take them out to the camp early tomorrow morning before anyone’s up.”

“I know where a couple of empty ones are, provided no one’s moved them. What else?”

“They were concerned about their horses. I told them Cpt. Lawrence would take care of them. Oh, and Petar asked Callie to marry him this evening.”

“Seriously?”

Kevin nodded.

Chris shook his head. “There are going to be a lot of unhappy people in Milhaven when she leaves.”

“Are you one of them?”

Chris nodded. “I haven’t eaten at Fenway’s much, but when I have, the food’s been excellent. The guards and soldiers eat down there all the time.”

“I’ve only eaten there a couple of times, but it was good. I guess how upset everyone gets depends on who he finds to replace her.”

“As long as it’s not Miranda.” Chris took a big swallow of scog. “I do not want to have to break anyone else in.”

Kevin laughed. “I don’t think you have to worry about that, but if you hear she’s considering leaving, let me know and we’ll find some way to keep her.”

“Wonder if Fenway knows about Callie yet?”

Kevin shook his head. “According to Petar, she’s not going to tell him until tomorrow morning. She wasn’t sure how he’d react so she didn’t want to say anything with customers around.”

Chris nodded. “Think I’ll stay out of Milhaven until the dust settles. Did Garen get a chance to talk to that other group? The ones looking for Landis?”

“He went down before dinner this evening.”

“How did that go?”

“Just like he said it would. They offered to keep an eye on Milhaven while he and his men check out the valley up north. Garen told them they’d be gone by the weekend.”

“Good, so everyone who might ask questions already has answers.”

“Before the questions get asked,” Kevin said. “Just the way I like it.”

~ ~ ~ ~

When Fenway and Ainsley got to the tavern Wednesday morning, the heat from the ovens hit them as soon as they opened the door and the aromas coming from the kitchen made their mouths water.

“Did you know Callie was coming in early today?” Fenway asked.

Ainsley shook her head. “But she was a bit distracted when she came back from talking to Petar last night.”

“Wonder if that has anything to do with it.”

When they walked into the kitchen, Ainsley’s mouth dropped open. There were two big pots on the stove, half a dozen loaves of bread were cooling on the table, and Callie was making a big meat pie. “Are we having a party here today or something?”

Callie hadn’t heard them come in, but as soon as Ainsley spoke, she grabbed a towel, wiped her hands and turned towards them. “No, nothing like that.” Callie’s eyes were bloodshot and her hair was wet with sweat. “I just wanted to get some extra food made up today.”

“Why?” Ainsley walked across the kitchen and picked up her apron. “What’s going on?”

Callie broke into a big smile. “Petar asked me to marry him!”

Fenway’s grin spread from ear to ear. “It’s about time! The whole town’s been wondering what was taking the man so long.”

Ainsley hugged Callie. “I’m so happy for you. I know it’s what you’ve been wanting.”

“It is,” Callie said, “and I’m glad you’re both happy for me.”

“So why all the food?” Fenway asked as he looked around the kitchen.

“Well, Petar’s been offered a job, one he’s wanted for some time now, so we’ll be leaving Milhaven tomorrow.” Callie’s eyes were glued to Fenway’s face. She watched his jaw drop and his eyes widen. “I know it’s short notice, so I was trying to get some stuff made up to last you a couple of days until you could get a new cook in here.”

As the initial shock wore off, Fenway started shaking his head. “No, you can’t leave. Tell the man he’ll have to find work around here. We need you!”

Callie felt tears gather in her eyes. “I can’t do that, Fenway. This is really important to him, and he’s important to me. I have to go.”

“No, you can’t! People around here depend on you! Half the men in this town flock here for lunch everyday so they can get some decent food. Do you realize how many women in this town can’t cook?”

Callie shook her head. “You’ll find someone to take over in here. I’m sure of it. In a month you won’t even notice I’m gone.”

“You’re wrong, Callie. We can’t get along without you! The whole town counts on you. Don’t you know how important you are? You can’t leave!”

As tears began to run down Callie’s cheeks, Ainsley put her arm around her friend’s shoulders and hugged her. “It’s going to be fine, Callie. You’re getting married to the man you love. What could be better than that? Nothing else matters.” She glared at Fenway over the top of Callie’s head. “Stop it, Father! This should be the happiest day of Callie’s life and you’re ruining it for her. You should be wishing her luck and telling her how happy you are for her, not fussing because you’re going to miss her cooking!”

Fenway took a deep breath and gave a slight nod. “You’re right, Ainsley. I’m being selfish.” After another deep breath, he held his hand out to Callie. “We’re going to miss you around here, and that’s the truth. But I want you to be happy, and if that man makes you happy, then you’re right, you belong with him. I wish the two of you well.”

“That’s better,” Ainsley said, her arm still around Callie’s shoulders.

“Could I ask the two of you to do something for me?” Callie asked as she wiped her eyes.

“Sure.” Ainsley gave her father a look that said he’d better agree.

“Please don’t tell anyone. It’s going to be hard enough to say goodbye to the two of you. If anyone else comes in here to say goodbye, I won’t make it, and I really do want to get some more food cooked up, at least enough to get you through Friday.”

Fenway gave a quick nod. “I’d rather not have a lot of people traipsing through here anyway.”

Ainsley nodded. “It’ll be our secret for today.”

Fenway poured a cup of coffee. “And Callie, take a little time today to show Ainsley what she needs to do in here. She’s our new cook.”

“What?!” Ainsley cried. “Me? I can’t cook! I can’t even make coffee! You know that!”

“Then you better learn, and you better learn fast. If today’s Callie’s last day, tomorrow’s your first.”

~ ~ ~ ~

As the dinner rush at Fenway’s was winding down, Petar walked in and made his way to a table near the kitchen. He’d borrowed a wagon to take Callie’s stuff up to the camp and since the farmer he’d borrowed it from needed it back in the morning, Petar wanted to get her and her stuff moved up to the camp as soon as she finished up at the tavern. He also figured saying goodbye to Fenway and Ainsley was going to be rough on Callie, and he hoped his being there might make it a little easier. He still couldn’t believe she was willing to give up her home, her friends, her life here in Milhaven to go with him, especially since he didn’t know where they were going to sleep tomorrow night much less where they were going to live.

While he was worrying about what he was dragging her into, Fenway slammed a mug of scog down on the table in front of him and sat down opposite him.

“I don’t know whether to congratulate you on marrying one of the finest women I’ve ever known or slug you for stealing the best cook I’ve ever met,” the older man growled. “But either way, I’m telling you right now, you ever hurt that girl and I’ll stomp you into the ground, no matter where I have to go to do it.”

Petar grinned and held out his hand. “I’d say I’m sorry you’ll have to find a new cook, but I’d be lying. You can find another cook, but she’s the only woman for me.”

Fenway grunted and shook his hand. “You take good care of her, and don’t you ever make her cry.”