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quickly—mostly
repairing her cottage roof, along with a few other things that we
noticed. Despite his assistance, it took longer than I’d hoped and
the day grew late. When we had finished, Widow Snow thanked us and
sent us on our way with the rest of the bread.
    We walked the horses, while watching
our shadows grow long. After a mile or so, I suggested, “You should
get home before the sun sets.”
    He shrugged and made no attempt to
leave.
    I let it slide for another mile, but
then, as the sun dipped even lower, I insisted, “Thomas, you need
to go. I’ll be safe. My cottage isn’t far and I’ll leave in the
morning, long before anyone wakes up. Besides, you’re assuming
something malicious is going to happen, and so far nothing
has.”
    “ I know,” he said. “It’s
just...I’ve been thinking, and it seems that when
Him
is
happy about something, it means that someone else is about to have
a very rough time.”
    It was a likely statement, but I
replied, “Don’t worry about me—you need to worry about what your
father will do to you if you don’t return home quickly.
Since he didn’t know you were going to spend the rest of the day
with me, I’m afraid he’ll be in an awful mood.”
    “ I’m sure you’re right. I’m
just not ready to face him,” he said with a sense of
dread.
    “ It’ll be worse the longer
you wait,” I cautioned.
    He didn’t reply immediately, but after
a moment of silence, he reluctantly agreed, “I’ll see you in a few
days then?”
    I nodded.
    Slowly, he turned his horse toward town
and, after a few steps, called back, “Be careful. Don’t get mauled
by a bear or anything.”
    Laughing, I replied, “I’ll do my
best.”
    I watched him ride off before heading
home. Normally, I would’ve gone through town; but since most of the
men I liked (and more importantly, who liked me) were gone, I went
around it. Upon arrival, Smoke greeted me, although he hadn’t
forgiven me for leaving him behind. He let me know his displeasure
by walking well out of my reach every time I tried to pet him.
Giving up, I unsaddled and groomed the mare, fed all the horses,
and then walked back to my small cottage. It looked so dark inside
that I hesitated, debating if anything nasty awaited me.
    Probably just paranoid
, I
thought.
    Yet, I stood outside, trying to detect
the slightest movement. After a long while, I finally mustered the
courage to go in, mostly because I got tired of standing. Reaching
for the door, I steeled myself, then, with gusto, flung it open. I
quickly scanned the inside, prepared to bolt if any reason
presented itself. However, the only thing waiting for me was the
familiar, musty smell. I let out a long sigh of relief. Being home
in familiar surroundings made me feel better—enough to resist the
temptation to barricade myself behind the bed with every weapon I
owned. Eventually, after packing and cleaning myself, I even found
that sleep came easily.
Surely nothing will happen at night.
After all, they must be tired, too.
     
***
     
    “ John, wake up!”
    “ Mmm.”
    “ Wake up! You don’t have
time to sleep!” said Thomas urgently.
    The tone of his voice told me
everything.
    “ Oh no,” I groaned. “They’re
coming for me, aren’t they?”
    “ Yes, and they’ll be here
quickly. They have decided to take you tonight!”
    I flew out of bed and scrambled into my
clothes.
    “ How do you know?” I asked,
glancing out the window. It was dark, but candlelight streamed out
of the windows in a few nearby cottages. I guessed only an hour or
two had passed since lying down exhausted from the day’s
work.
    “ You were right! When I got
home,
Him
was furious. He wanted to know where we had gone
and why we had not gone back to Governor Potts’ house; and where
you went after we separated. I’m sorry, I wasn’t going to tell,
but…”
    I could see the blood seeping through
the back of his shirt.
    “ No, don’t apologize—it’s
not your fault. I would have