The Warrior Elf (75 page)

“You said Myron and Rhianna were out there. Are you talking about the elf?”

Shana nodded.

“Why were they there?”

“They had dinner with Laryn and Steve. From what I overheard, Myron took Rhianna around to meet all his aunts and uncles.”

“Why?”

“I can’t say for sure, but if you want my opinion, I think it’s because he likes her.”

“Likes her?”

“You know, interested in her. He had his arm around her while they were in the parlor and he held her hand when they left.”

“Is she still around?”

Shana nodded.

“Where? At the castle?”

Shana shook her head. “She lives in Milhaven, but she’s teaching a lot of the castle staff how to handle a dagger, so she’s around the castle a lot.”

“Do you think she knows anything about Landis?”

Shana shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“I don’t care how you do it, but find out if she knows where Landis is hiding.” A nasty grin spread over Rolan’s face. “And keep in mind what happens to your mother if I’m not convinced you’re doing as you’re told.”

Shana felt the blood drain from her face but she stood up straight and asked, “And how do I know my parents are still alive?”

“You don’t. You’ll have to take my word for it,” Rolan said with a sneer. “But do you want to take that chance? Do you really want to be responsible for what I’ll do? If she gets hurt, or even killed, it’ll be your fault. Want to live with that?” Rolan watched as Shana’s shoulders fell. “I didn’t think so. Meet me here two weeks from tonight, and you better have some information for me if you have any hope of ever seeing your mother alive again.”

Chapter 45

Family Ties

Friday evening, when Kevin and Marshall got to Shadron’s, Brandt was sitting on the front porch. He stood up as they approached and told Myron to go on in the house, that his mother was in the kitchen. Then he turned to Marshall and gave him a good once-over. “Is it true you’re in charge of the castle stable? I’d love to have that job. How did you get it?”

Marshall shrugged as his face turned red. “I’m not sure. I think Neiven was in charge before I got there, but once I started working at the stable, he let me handle things on my own. He’s still there, in his shop, if I need to ask him anything, but I do the everyday stuff.”

“Are you going to train their horses? That’s the part I like. Taking care of them isn’t too bad, but mucking out stalls is the worst job ever.”

Marshall shook his head and laughed. “I don’t know anything about training horses. From what I understand, our horses come from here. Mainly I take care of them, exercise them, clean the tack, feed them, and muck out the stalls. I have worked with training dogs a little though.”

“Uncle Kyle?”

Marshall nodded.

“Here, let me have your bag. I’ll toss it in the house and then we’ll go out to the stable. Father’s around there somewhere.” When he set Marshall’s bag inside, Brandt called out, “Mother, I’m going to show Marshall around. We’ll be back in time for dinner.”

As the door banged shut, Kevin laughed. “It sounds like Brandt’s taking care of things. What time do you want us to pick Marshall up Sunday?”

Kayla thought for a second. “Brandt’s not leaving until after dinner, so let’s plan on Marshall staying until seven.”

Kevin nodded as he took out his key. “Chris will be the one to pick him up. Tell Shadron I said thanks for inviting him.”

Kayla nodded. “And tell Chris I’ll save him some cake.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin and Nikki hadn’t been down to Doreen’s as often lately as normal because Kevin was spending a lot of his evenings on the island, so when they showed up Friday evening, Doreen stepped out on the porch and asked him if everything was all right.

Kevin nodded. “What makes you think something might be wrong?”

“Well, you haven’t been around as much recently. I was wondering if we’d done something to make you uncomfortable.” What she really wanted to know was if he and Rhianna had had another fight.

Kevin shook his head. “I’ve had some meetings on the other side of Terah this week. Their morning is our evening, so I’ve had to go after dinner. Hopefully it’ll slack up soon.”

“Well, I’m glad we aren’t to blame. Rhianna went upstairs to change. She’s been working outside today and was covered in pollen and dirt. Want to come in and wait?”

“We’ll wait out here, but thanks.”

Doreen nodded and stepped back inside.

Five minutes later the door opened again and Rhianna walked out.

While they were walking, Kevin said, “Marshall’s up at Shadron’s this weekend.”

“Want me to keep Nikki?”

Kevin paused. “If you could look after her during the day, I’d appreciate it, but I want her back at night.”

Rhianna laughed. “No problem. I can bring her up there or you can come down after dinner. Either way works for me.”

“I’ll come down. It’ll give me an excuse to get away from the office. Oh, and I’ll be Elsewhere Sunday evening. I won’t be back until two or three in the morning and I’ll want to sleep late Monday. I might get you to keep her Sunday night.”

“Won’t Marshall be back?”

Kevin nodded. “And he can keep her if need be, but I don’t like to send her home with him very often. I feel like I’m imposing on Neiven.”

Rhianna nodded. “I’ll keep her. I can bring her back to the castle with me Monday morning.”

“Were you planning to go up there anyway?”

“Shana and a couple of the girls who work in the kitchen asked if I’d teach them how to use a dagger. I’m meeting them Monday morning.”

“Shana?”

Rhianna nodded.

“Wonder why.”

“Maybe she wants to stick it in someone?”

Kevin laughed. “We should be so lucky.” Then he shook his head. “Pay attention to what she says and how she acts.”

“Already planning on it. In fact, if I’m lucky, maybe we can spend some time one-on-one.”

“Why?”

“You’re the one who keeps saying these people may not be doing this voluntarily. Who knows? If she has an opening, she may talk.”

“She may, but she’s had plenty of chances to talk to Laryn and she hasn’t.”

“Can’t hurt.”

“No, can’t hurt.”

They walked on for a while and then Rhianna asked, “How are things going Elsewhere.”

“Pretty well. The men are almost ready for their families to come. One more day and they should be all set.”

“How’s Callie?”

Kevin laughed. “Busy. And she seems to be having a lot of fun.”

Rhianna grinned. “With Petar? Or cooking?”

“Both. I think she’s really happy.”

“Too bad I can’t say the same for Ainsley.”

“Why?”

“Callie’s gone.”

“Oh,” Kevin said. “I know some of the men have said the food’s not as good. Is that the problem?”

Rhianna laughed. “Let’s say ‘not as good’ is an understatement. The food’s inedible. And Ainsley knows it.”

“Can’t Fenway hire someone? Ainsley’s a good waitress. The few times I was in there she got along great with the customers.”

“She does, and Fenway’s tried to find someone, but no one who can cook is willing to take the job. But that’s only half the problem. Callie was also Ainsley’s best friend, possibly her only friend.”

Kevin shook his head. “No, she’s friends with everyone in town.”

“No, that’s work. I’m talking about someone she can talk to, who listens, who cares. She jokes around with a lot of the customers, even flirts with a few, but there’s no one she can confide in now. And working like she does doesn’t leave a lot of time for making friends. That’s why she and Callie were so perfect for each other. They had a lot of time in the kitchen to talk.” Rhianna thought for a moment. “Too bad Blair’s already working. She’d be perfect. She’s a good cook and she could use a friend, too.”

“Blair’s got all of you at the house.”

Rhianna shook her head. “She talks a little to Nan, but she avoids me and Doreen. And Neisha’s so wrapped up in Shelley she doesn’t notice anyone else.” Rhianna paused. “Blair tries to fade into the background whenever she can, which is most of the time. She won’t even eat with us. She cooks, disappears until we’re done, and comes back to clean up. I’ve tried to get her to join in when we do stuff, but I haven’t been able to so far. The only one who seemed to have any luck along that line was Theresa, and now she’s gone.”

Kevin didn’t say anything, mainly because he didn’t have any suggestions.

When they got back to the house, Rhianna asked, “Shall I invite you in? Or do you need to go?”

“I need to make a quick trip Elsewhere before I turn in so I guess we better go. See you tomorrow.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Marcus was waiting for his sister and her family in Kevin’s office when they got there Saturday morning. After they recovered from their trip through the energy field, Marcie turned to her brother and asked, “Is that what you and Hayley go through every time you visit us?”

Marcus shook his head. “It’s only bad the first couple of times. After that you don’t even notice it. Come on and I’ll show you to the rooms Cryslyn prepared for you.” As he picked up their bags, he thanked Kevin for bringing them down. “We’ll meet you in here shortly after lunch tomorrow.”

Kevin nodded as he turned to Marcie and Lance. “I’m glad you decided to visit. Let us know if there’s anything you need.”

Marcie thanked him as she and her family followed Marcus out of the office.

Before long, they were unpacked and ready to go. On their way to the stable, Marcus stopped by the kitchen to pick up the basket he’d asked Miranda to prepare. He’d already put blankets, a tea pot, and other picnic essentials in the wagon. All that was left was to hitch up the horses. By mid-morning, they were exploring the countryside.

Hayley met them for lunch, and while the others cleaned up, Marcie asked her to go for a walk with her. “There’s something I want to talk to you about without little ears, or big ones for that matter, listening to every word.”

Hayley laughed and followed Marcie down the road. For a while Marcie caught Hayley up to date on the happenings in the settlement and in Bridgeport. After they were well away from the others, Marcie said, “Thom’s father, Morris, asked me to talk to you.”

“Morris?” Hayley asked. “Is he all right?”

“He’s fine. It’s nothing like that. You know he’s the town director, don’t you?”

Hayley nodded.

“He wants to write Sister Brena and request you as the resident sister of Bridgeport, but he doesn’t want to do it unless it’s all right with you.”

Hayley stopped walking and turned towards Marcie. “What are you talking about? There’s no chapel in Bridgeport.”

“Not yet, but there will be soon.”

“And they want me?”

Marcie nodded. “We all do. No one realized how nice it is to have a local sister who knows us and knows our children until you started taking care of us. We’d like for you to be our sister, but only if you want to. We don’t want to cause you any problems. If you want to stay here, Morris will ask Sister Brena to send us a sister and let it go at that, but if you’d like to come up there to live, we’d love to have you.”

“I don’t know what to say.” Hayley turned back to the road and started walking again. “I never dreamed I’d have my own chapel, but at the same time, I already feel like all of you are my patients. But Theresa just left. I don’t know how Sister Agnes would feel if I left, too. I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, you don’t have to decide right now. We can give you some time to think about it.”

“When do I need to let you know something?”

“There’s no big rush. When are you planning to come visit again?”

“Probably next weekend.”

“Why don’t you think about it, talk to Sister Agnes and anyone else you need to, and let us know something then.”

“Wow. My own chapel. This is enormous. I don’t know what to say or what to do.”

Marcie laughed and put her arm around Hayley as they turned to walk back.

After a few minutes, Hayley asked, “Do they know what you wanted to talk to me about?”

“You mean Rayne and Caleb?”

Hayley nodded.

Marcie shook her head. “I haven’t mentioned anything to them. I didn’t want them begging you to accept it, and they would. Lance knows though.”

“What about Marcus?”

Again, Marcie shook her head. “I didn’t think it was my place. That one’s up to you.”

Hayley paused. “I’ll tell him, but not yet. I need to think about it first.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Sunday afternoon, after Marcie and her family had gone back home, Marcus went to the chapel in search of Hayley. He found her in the kitchen fixing some tea.

“Hi,” he said as he sat down at the table. “Are you going to be long?”

Hayley shook her head. “No. I’m about done. Why?”

“I thought we might go for a walk.”

“All right.” Hayley finished pouring the tea into a container. “Let me check with Sister Agnes and see if she needs anything.”

Ten minutes later, when they were outside and headed away from the chapel, Marcus asked, “Is something wrong?”

“What makes you ask that?”

“Ever since you and Marcie went for that walk yesterday you’ve been miles away.”

Hayley sighed but didn’t answer immediately. “I wasn’t ready to talk to you about this yet.”

Marcus felt a chill hit him. “About what?”

“Morris wants to ask Sister Brena to assign me to the chapel in Bridgeport.”

“But they don’t have a chapel.”

“According to Marcie, they will soon.”

“Why?”

“From what she said, they’ve gotten used to having me around and they like it. They’ve decided they want a sister on a permanent basis, one who lives there. And they want me.”

“That’s the only part about this that doesn’t surprise me.” Marcus raked his hand through his hair. “How do you feel about it?”

“I’m not sure,” Hayley said slowly. “There’s so much to consider. For one thing, I don’t know about leaving Sister Agnes. Now that Theresa’s gone, I’m all she has left.”

“Well, wasn’t she the only sister here before Theresa came? And there have been a lot of times when you and Theresa were both gone. She handled things on her own then.”