Silver Hollow (36 page)

“Ah…now precisely how much space does this shuttle occupy?” he asked with a smile, in spite of her laughter. “So have you thought much on your choice?”

A smile still tugged her cheeks, and she asked, “Hmm? What choice?”

“Oh, never mind. Now I have something fresh planned tomorrow morning, Jessamiene
,
and do not groan about waking up before hours!”

She groaned and sank into the soft flowers. “Oh cripes, what is it this time?”

“Lessons
,
of course,” he said, “quite different from any you’ve received thus far.”

“If they’re anything like
his
idea of lessons then you can count me out!” She propped onto her elbow to glare over
at
him.

Henr
y laughed
.
“Oh
,
nothing so horrid
! They happen to be very old friends of our family. Be ready at the stair after breakfast. I shall let you sleep in a bit longer, have Underhill bring you a tray…”

He was already planning things, Amie could tell by how quickly his
eyes
darted everywhere but her face. She couldn’t help the fondness she felt for the young-looking old coot. “What about Morcant? Is she coming too?” She tried to ask this as politely as possible.

Henry’s lips thinned before he replied, “No
,
lass. Matters must be attended to outside of our watch. She shall return for the ball.”

Amie watched him in her peripheral vision. She could tell there was more on his mind, more woes and cares she wanted to pry apart and ease. Being a person used to keeping to herself, she decided to change tactics. “So
,
a carriage ride, huh? Bet Slaine
has
been itching for this ever since you told him.”

Henry looked at her as though startled, then waved the thought away. “What? Oh
,
dash it all to curtains! We shan’t be riding
in
anything! You have any idea how insulted the horses would be should we deny them the visit? They have friends at Xcalibure Castle too
,
ye know!”

Amie’s laughter made Periwinkle, the old garden gnome smile as he snipped the last weeds of the day away and continued to keep his vigil over his masters. It would never do for them to be smuggled underground to the flobbergidit colony
,
now would it? Thus he was determined to keep watch.

Henry turned in, needing his hours dawdling in his study he claimed. He bid Amie goodnight and with a wink and kiss on her forehead,
said,
“Try not to bury yourself under too much mischief.”

Amie believed she had an X on her back somewhere, some sign
hovering
overhead betraying her. It screamed loudly to all locals, “Over here: gullible and naïve American!” Thus she waited for all possible mistakes she could potentially make to pass, staring at the stars and contemplating the patch of clouds and smell of rain in the wind. Hopefully it wouldn’t ruin her plans.

And how brilliant do your plans ever turn out to be
,
Wenderdowne? Huh?
’
Bout as clever as Scarlet
t
O’Hara, that’s who you’re becoming. She made a dress out of curtains and look how her life turned out.

Periwinkle’s craggy face appeared out of nowhere. Amie jumped and shouted, “Gah! You scared me
.
” She thought she saw the trace of a grin pull the corners of his beard just so. Over the past two weeks Periwinkle and the new Lady had grown used to one another. She always remembered the proper Gnome greetings and he responded in kind. Whether or not he
really was a garden Gnome, she was uncertain. But he did have an uncanny way of popping in and out of places. And personally Amie had always found the pointy-hatted elves disturbing. Periwinkle was anything but your average garden gnome.

His narrow, beaded eyes shifted this way and that,
and he
held a hand to his lips so as to cut them in halves.

“Anyone listening in?”
s
he breathed and he shook his head. When he began to walk into the hedge maze Amie followed with a spring in her step.

Then again, Scarlet
t
did what she wanted and had fun doing it. Why can’t I have a little fun before I nix some bad
-
guy arse?

Periwinkle stood guard while she parted the vines blocking the way inside. With her newfound gift the vines parted willingly and plants curled towards her wherever she walked.

Puck was dancing a jig by himself
inside of his new home. In the f
aerie city the others mingled and dined together. Puck was a loner. He liked to wait for Amie most nights, when he wasn’t pinching babies and pulling out cat whiskers no doubt.

Tonight his light brightened the moment she arrived. Before she could begin he was zipping around her head, pulling her curls until they tumbled loose over her shoulders
,
and displaying a row of sharp teeth.

Amie swatted at him. “Hey
,
take it easy! I brought the goods
,
so you can just chillax
,
buddy.” She set up her gift in his home, the natural hollow of a silver
-
barked tree. Puck was pleased, she could tell because when their fingers met a
zing
of warmth shot up her arm.

Emrys would have a fit if he knew about this.

Puck was thinking the same thing, because one of the images that entered her mind was of the disapproving glare of the dark
-
eyed male. The f
aerie doubled over in hissing laughter until Amie poked him in his leaf
-
coated chest.

“Okay
,
so where is it?” When Puck held out his hands and shrugged Amie narrowed her eyes. “Oh no
,
you don’t. You better show me that dress in the next two seconds or I’m never bringing you any more of Cook’s
T
urkish delight!” She wagged a finger at him so he knew she meant business. Puck stamped his foot at the air and nearly sent himself reeling into the clover bed. His win
g
s perked at the last second and with a wave of his hands the package appeared between them and fell into Amie’s arms.

“This is great
,
Puck. Thanks for hiding it for me.” She shook the garment out, because her book told her never
to trust a f
aerie, and gasped in horror. “What did you do to it
,
Puck
?
” Puck was already dancing his jig, eating his latest sampling of Cook’s inventions and obviously ignoring her.

Amie turned back to the dress, eyes trailing the elaborate silver thread stitching Puck
had added to it. The dress was f
aerie
-
marked now, with Amie’s family crest to boot. Rolling her eyes
,
she huffed and marched out of the garden. She could hear Puck’s hissing laughter trailing her and did not stop until she was beyond the hedge and paused beside Periwinkle’s marigold patch.

Forget
the
demented dragonfly for a second and focus
,
Wenderdowne! You’ve still got a job to do.

For a long time she
breathed in and out shallowly
like he had taught her, and listened. She could still hear his words clearly in her head.

“
Let the stillness come from within ye first, till not even the beat of your heart sounds louder than what you listen for.
”

Amie heard the oddly capped workers singing as they finished their supper in the gooseberry fields. She could hear the songs of the faerie folk and rustlings of flobbergidits beneath her hands. Cook was washing his pots in
the
tub with Underhill’s help. Apparently she wanted in on his latest recipe again. A multitude of sounds swept with each push the wind gave to the trees. Somewhere in the castle Henry and Emrys were discussing matters Amie
would
rather not hear.

Stupid Seelie super powers.

Henry wearily interrupted, “You shall have to do it when the time comes. I am nay strong enough and far out of my depth.”

“I would even if ye didn’t ask me
,
Iudicael.”

“Aye, I know.”

Ignoring the temptation to eavesdrop some more, she turned to the stables and grinned. Metal pounded into metal as Dearg refined his tools in the blacksmith
’
s shed. Clutching the bundle to her chest
,
Amie tipped her fingers to Periwinkle one last time. The old gnome drove his pick into a sneaking flobbergidit
before it consumed
his prize chrysanthemum.

Slaine Cutterworthy was nowhere in sight Amie found once she crossed the path to the stables. Only the horses, sick sheep and cows were witness to her arrival. Rain heralded her coming once more, a light sprinkling of it to accompany ever
-
freezing seasonal winds.

Once she made it through she found him pounding the horseshoe. He wore a blacksmith’s apron, the type of thing you would see in the
O
ld
W
est, Amie thought. His shirt underneath
was
coated in the same slick sweat
which
plastered his ginger hair to his cheeks and made the muscles in his arms gleam
like
every girl’s fantasy. Dearg was not very large, rather lanky and thin
,
but there was no doubt of his strength now.

Naughty thoughts
,
chica! Do something!

Avoiding a cow pie, Amie came to stand on the other side of the billows and shouted, “Dearg!”

His eyes widened and he nearly hammered his hand rather than the shoe, jerked away from the billows and its steam.

Fearing he had nailed himself, Amie ran to him and stopped short the moment their eyes met. “S-sorry
,
”
s
he stammered.

He shook his head, rubbed his hand over his face. White smoke escaped everywhere his fingers touched. His hands searched for things to do because he was still shaken by her presence. After taming the fire he snatched a nearby cloth to rub the rest of the grime away.

“Here!” She shoved the folded dress into his hands, cringed as his fingers ran over the faerie’s needlework. “Sorry about the spiders
’
silk. My f
aerie did that. I didn’t ask him to, but I couldn’t keep the darn thing in the house with Underhill sniffing through my things and
you-know-who l
urking around.”

Dearg clutched the fabric with an affectionate squeeze and smiled. Without looking up he said, “She would have fancied it.” He watched as she bit her lip and tried not to reveal how much he unnerved her. “I canna remember the last time I saw spiders
’
silk…Faerie do nay exactly favor my kind.”

Amie barked a laugh, and replied, “Your kind…it would be nice if y’all came with labels for these kinds of things, maybe a T-shirt? I can’t keep it straight.” She leaned against the nearby wooden post and shut her eyes, letting the rain drum through her clouded mind.

Turning the dress over in his hands he seemed to be searching for the right words.
He n
odd
ed
in answer to her question before he spoke out loud
.
“Aye… You know
,
after living here a hundred years
,
nothing makes it easier to grasp.”

“Wel
l
,
I’m still waiting to find a
book that betrays all of your secrets.”

“Why are you here?”
Dearg said.
A goofy smile tilted her lips as she pointed to the object currently being held in his hands. “No, this is not why you have come. You could have given it to a blood
-
bound servant and they would have ne’er betrayed you.”

Why indeed
,
Jessamiene? Come on
,
d
on’t just stutter like Rain Man.

She squirmed under his gaze. “I—well
,
I didn’t want you to get in trouble—for helping me the other night.” The heat from the billows contrasted to the breeze blowing into the stables
,
made her shiver and sweat at once. “Because if you did, if they knew it was you…” She left the rest for him to make whatever he willed it to be. She didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth in case it mattered to him.

He stared at the dress until the quiet rang loudly in her ears. “You should keep this. She would have wanted you to have it.” Each step he took to meet her was labored, as if he was Atlas carrying the weight of his world. After setting the garment back into Amie’s hands he traced the patters with his fingers and smoke escaped his touch.