Zypheria's Call (A Tanyth Fairport Adventure) (20 page)

Mabel gave a sideways glance at Rebecca then looked at her hands. “Frank’s a good man, ain’t he, mum?”

“Oh, yes. He’s that.”

Rebecca cleared her throat and drained her tea with a sudden toss of the mug. “If you two would ’scuse me?” She rose from the table and grinned at Tanyth. “Need to pick up the room a bit now that you’re movin’ back in.”

Mabel snickered and Tanyth felt her color rise.

Rebecca chuckled as she climbed the stairs and disappeared.

Mabel glanced after her. “She’s somethin’ else, ain’t she?”

“Rebecca? Yeah. Thinks we’re on a grand adventure.”

Mabel shrugged. “Well, you are, aren’t ya?”

Tanyth laughed. “I s’pose so.”

“She been with ya long?”

Tanyth shook her head. “Just a few weeks. She was tired of livin’ at Ravenwood. Wanted to see some other sights.”

“Well, she’s seen Kleesport now.”

Tanyth grinned. “She grew up here. She’s lookin’ forward to North Haven.”

Mabel cocked her head. “She’s from Kleesport? You know who her people are?”

Tanyth nodded. “I do, but it’s not my story to tell.”

Mabel arched an eyebrow at that but nodded and lowered her gaze to where her fingers twisted together on the table. After a few moments she looked up from under lowered lashes. “Can I ask, mum...?”

“Ask what, my dear?”

“Why you didn’t leave with him? With Frank, I mean.” Mabel seemed almost embarrassed to ask, but Tanyth saw the curiosity in the younger woman’s eyes.

“We got different roads to travel. The village needs Frank more’n I do right now.” She offered a helpless shrug.

Mabel seemed scandalized by the revelation. “Really, mum? You two seemed like quite the item. You sure you don’t need ’im?” The last question had a bit of sly grin behind it.

Tanyth smiled back. “Oh, he’s a good ’un to have about, no question.” She paused and sipped her tea, not sure what she should be admitting to the younger woman.

“So? What’s more important than havin’ a good man about, mum?” Mabel seemed perplexed. “I don’t know what I’d do without my Matt.” She paused and looked at Tanyth with narrowed eyes. “You don’t strike me as the spinster type, mum.”

Tanyth sighed and sipped her tea. “I’ve got a son out there somewhere.” She waved her mug in the general direction of the door. “He left home when he was only about fourteen winters. Joined up and got away.”

“Where is he now, mum?”

She shrugged. “Dunno. Never heard from him after that.”

Mabel’s eyes grew large. “Not once? He never wrote home to his mother?”

“Not that I know of.” Tanyth paused for a moment. “I left soon after. Been on the road ever since.”

“Left, mum? Left what?”

“House, home...” Her voice trailed off.

“Husband?” Mabel’s voice almost squeaked.

Tanyth gave a small shrug and took another sip of cooling tea.

Mabel’s look of astonishment cleared in an instant. “Got away, you said.”

Tanyth nodded.

Mabel sat back in her chair, arms hanging limp at her sides. “Whoosh, mum. That’s a story.”

Her exclamation drew a low chuckle out of Tanyth. “You have no idea, my dear. No idea at all.”

Mabel leaned in. “Was he a drunk?”

Tanyth gave another shrug. “No more’n a lot of men. He liked his ale in the evenin’. Sometimes too much. He had a temper, though. Quick to heat and slow to cool. Ale didn’t help that, but it was the temper that drove me away.”

Mabel looked into Tanyth’s eyes and, for once, she didn’t look away. Tanyth didn’t like the look of pity that came into the younger woman’s face, but she accepted it.

“How long ago was this?” Mabel asked.

“Over twenty winters gone.”

Mabel’s eyes got wide again. “And you never went back?”

Tanyth shook her head. “Nothin’ to go back to.”

“What’d you do, mum?”

“I spent that first winter with a woman lived nearby. Holed up in her spare room, doin’ chores and the heavy liftin’ she couldn’t. She started teachin’ me about the herbs and plants. It was interestin’ and she said I had a gift for it. When winter broke, I moved on to another old woman who taught me more. Been going from hearth to hearth ever since. Every new hearth I learned more. They showed me how to use the plants and which plants did what.”

“So now you’re going north,” Mabel said. “What’s up there?”

“Another hearth, I hope. Last of the old healers lives up that way.”

Mabel frowned. “I know a few healers here in town. Menfolk mostly but I s’pect there’s midwives and some wisewomen, too.”

Tanyth nodded. “Most cities attract healers. Not a pretty callin’ but one that’s needed. I may take it up myself when I’m done travelin’.”

Mabel’s face took on that sly, teasing look again. “Maybe go settle down with Frank?”

Tanyth smiled. “Maybe. Old woman could do a lot worse than settlin’ in with a comfortable old man.”

“So what’s stoppin’ ya, mum?”

Tanyth shook her head. “Not time, yet.”

Mabel cocked her head and Tanyth could see her thinking. “Nothin’ up north but hunters and trappers and lumberjacks, mum.”

Tanyth smiled. “Well, must be somethin’ there or they’d not be huntin’ and trappin’ and such.”

Mabel laughed. “Well, there’s the hermit, but—” Mabel’s voice cut off as she realized what she’d said. “All-Mother, you’re not going to hunt down the hermit, mum.”

Tanyth smiled but didn’t say anything.

“Mum, she’s not real friendly. Drivers come back tellin’ stories about this crazy old woman who lives in the wood up there. All alone. Been there for a hunnert winters.”

“Her name is Gertie Pinecrest, and I’m pretty sure she hasn’t been there that long,” Tanyth said, twisting her tea mug in her fingers. “I don’t think she’s dangerous.”

Mabel’s mouth worked for a few heartbeats before she was able to get words in order. “But, mum, she’s crazy.”

“Crazy how?” Tanyth asked. “I really don’t know much about her. Just the stories I’ve picked up on the road.”

Mabel grimaced. “Well, I don’t know first hand, mind. I only know what the drivers say...”

Tanyth nodded.

“She runs through the forest screaming at the lumberjacks makin’ ’em stop cuttin’ down trees.”

Tanyth arched an eyebrow. “She got a reason?”

Mabel shrugged. “Dunno. Nobody’s ever said. But she lets animals out of traps. Even busts up the traps sometimes.” Mabel stared into Tanyth’s eyes. “How strong do you have to be to break a steel trap, I ask ya? This just ain’t right, mum.”

Tanyth considered the woman’s words for a few moments. “Is that all?” she asked.

Mabel sat bolt upright in her chair as if stung. “Is that all? Isn’t that enough? Mum, the woman is dangerous.”

Tanyth smiled. “I don’t think she’s as bad as all that.”

“How can you say that, mum?” Mabel appeared aghast.

“Tales grow with the tellin’. You know that.”

Mabel paused and sat back in her chair. “Aye, they do. You think that’s what’s happened with the hermit, mum?”

Tanyth shrugged again. “I been on the road for over twenty winters. Holed up in cabins with old women every year, sometimes a couple different ones in the space of a few months. I been from Easton to the Western Marches. Went as far south as Ortala once. All on my own. Heard tales all along the road.”

“Weren’t you scared, mum?” Mabel asked after she’d had a moment to digest.

“Sure,” Tanyth said with a shrug. “Lots of times, but you musta been scared right here once in a while.”

Mabel looked around the taproom. “Well, sure, mum. I s’pose everybody gets scared sometimes.”

“There ya go,” Tanyth said. “You get scared and you just keep goin’. Nothin’ too excitin’ about it.”

Mabel kept shaking her head. “So, you need to go track down the hermit? And you’re not scared?”

Tanyth snorted. “Of course, I’m scared, but I gotta go track down the hermit.”

“Why, mum? Ain’t you afraid she’ll hurt you?”

“That’s the least o’ my worries. Why would she hurt me?”

Mabel blinked. “Really? What are you scared of then, mum?”

“Well, that she won’t take me in and teach me what she knows.” Tanyth sighed and leaned closer. “That old woman is the last of the keepers of the old knowledge. She may be crazy, or she may just be onto somethin’ the rest of us only got hints about. There’s powers in the world. Things I can hardly believe myself. Things that scare me a lot more than some jackass with his pants down and his brains in his hand. I think Mother Pinecrest knows what they are and how to use ’em. At least she might know what’s happenin’—” Tanyth bit her words off, unwilling to finish the sentence, unwilling to admit what was happening, even to the well-meaning younger woman.

Mabel seemed to sense there was more behind the words. Tanyth kicked herself mentally for opening that door. Mabel didn’t ask the question that Tanyth expected. “Why are you tellin’ me this, mum?”

Tanyth shrugged and gave her a sheepish grin. “Don’t really know. I’m a little bit at odds and ends today. I miss Frank already, I won’t lie about that, and I’m nervous about getting’ on a ship and hoping to get north as soon as I can.”

Mabel nodded. “I can’t even imagine what you’re goin’ through, mum.”

Tanyth patted the woman’s hand where it rested on the table between them. “You caught an old woman on a foolish day. I’ll be fine.”

Mabel seemed to remember where she was and looked around the taproom as if not aware of how she got there or what she should be doing. “Well, you tell a good story, mum. No question about—”

A clatter and short shriek from the kitchen had Mabel up and moving before the sound stopped echoing in the near empty taproom. Tanyth followed Mabel into the tidy kitchen and found one of the serving girls leaning against a work counter, a metal tray of biscuits up-ended and scattered across the floor. The oven door stood open, the heat wafting into the room.

“Wendy? What is it, girl?”

Tears coursed down the girl’s face and she nodded at the mess on the floor. “I dropped the biscuits, mum. I’m so sorry.”

“There, there, dearie. It’s just biscuits. We can make more.”

The girl’s tears continued and Tanyth realized that she cradled one hand to her chest.

Mabel seemed to realize it at the same time. “Is there something wrong with your hand? Let me see.” She crossed to the girl and made to reach for the injured hand but the young woman held her arm out of reach.

“I burned it, mum. Don’t touch it. It hurts so.” The girl’s crying tapered off and she opened the offending hand to inspection.

A straight, red welt ran across the girl’s palm.

Mabel gasped and looked up at the girl. “You’re supposed to use a pot holder, my girl. Those pans get hot.”

She nodded. “I know, mum, but when I slid the tray out of the oven it started to slip and I grabbed the side to steady it. I wasn’t thinkin’, mum.” She sobbed again. “And now I’ve ruined everything.”

Mabel shushed the girl and wrapped a motherly arm about her shoulders. “Now stop bein’ a goose and let’s get you taken care of, then we can worry about the biscuits.”

The girl looked from Mabel to Tanyth, who still stood by the door. Mabel seemed to notice her for the first time. “Sorry about the excitement, mum,” she said.

Tanyth smiled and shrugged it off. “Anything I can do to help?”

“Know anything about burns?” Mabel asked. “I’d just slather on a little butter and wrap it in gauze, but you’re the expert here.”

Tanyth snorted. “I’m no healer. Just an old lady who knows a bit about herbs and such.” She crossed to the girl who offered the hand for inspection. The skin had already begun to blister. “Got a bucket of water? Colder the better.”

The girl looked to the sink and clean up area. “Just pumped this morning, mum.”

Tanyth led the girl to it and, taking her arm, thrust the hand into the bucket. “Leave it there. I’ve got some salve that should help in my pack.” She nodded to Mabel and ran up to her room.

Rebecca looked up as she burst through the door. “What is it, mum?”

Tanyth shook her head and dove for her pack. “Nothin’ serious. One of the kitchen girls got a burn. I got something in here that might help.”

On the top of her belongings she found a new, leather-bound book. She lifted it out and rubbed a hand over the tooled leather binding. It had no title and no markings on either spine or cover. She opened and found a note inside the cover.

“When you get to where you’re going, you’ll need a book or two to write it all down in. This one will get you started. —F.C.”

She also found one of the pens like Mabel used to sign in the guests and a new bottle of ink. She blinked away sudden tears and put the book on the bed to look at later. It took only a few moments for her to rummage about in the bottom of the pack and pull out one of the tins she kept there. The smell of it told her she had the right one. She rushed back to the kitchen to help Mabel tend to the injured girl.

Chapter Sixteen:
Fair Warning

By mid-morning Tanyth had enough of waiting around the inn. The conversation with Mabel and the injured girl bumped her out of her funk. “Enough of this sittin’ around,” she muttered and grabbed her hat, staff, and a jacket against the chilly spring breezes that found their way off the water and between the buildings.