Thieves at Heart (12 page)

The birds still chirped and twittered above and about, a little red breasted bird hopping around just a few paces away. The girl made a face at it when it cocked its head at her and she hissed at it when it flew a few widths closer. She finally put her head down to try and block out the little bird, feeling her stomach pains ache lower. When she looked up the little bird was gone. Her stomach was still cramped but at least some of the pressure was gone. She pulled out the rag she had tucked in her pocket to wipe herself, wrinkling her nose as she did and her mouth falling open when she looked at the scrap of cloth.

Blood.

Was it really blood? The girl cursed under her breath. It was pinkish. If the fabric had been darker, she wouldn’t have noticed but there was a pink and red smear on the fabric. She finished wiping and left it there, pulling her pants back up and wiping her palms on her thighs as she walked back towards the campsite. Derk was sitting up on his bedroll now, looking in her direction. His eyes were narrowed, watching her carefully as she walked back, tripping over her own feet but catching herself. He looked her over. “Everything alright?”

Hesitant sounds came out of her mouth and she made a few faces as she looked into the embers of the fire, scratching her head. “I…yeah. I just think…maybe…it started?” She chewed on the side of her mouth, not sure what else to say. Tavera knew what was happening, she was fairly certain. Prisca had told her about it and Old Gam had mentioned it. Derk just looked at her blankly, strangely alert.

“What started, Tavi? Are you sick?” He coughed into his fist, squinting at her. Tavera put her hands under her stomach and felt tired.

“It’s…it’s my Red Earth time,” she said, quietly. In the early morning stillness it still seemed loud and Derk’s eyes went wide as they stared at each other for several breaths. Eventually Derk seemed to snap on it and a paranoid smile came across his face as he scrambled up from his bedroll.

“I’ve got to boil some water,” he said, picking his belt up and buckling it around his waist, grabbing his vest off the pile of things that belonged to him. “This couldn’t have come at a better time, with Gam being in town. This is your first, right? Tavi? Tavi? Are you okay?” He grabbed the pot and then set it down again, going into his pack and pulling out a pair of pants. “Tavi, come sit down, dear.”

Tavi walked over to where the beds were and sat down watching as he pulled off his pants. He put on the pair he had removed from the pack.“Derk, what are you doing?” she finally asked, slightly exasperated by his sudden increase in activity.

“I’m changing into my good pants so we can tear up my old ones for you,” he said, buckling his belt again and having some trouble as he had the kettle in one of his hands. “But I’ve to get water to boil the rags in. Then we have to go into town to the temple so you can have first rites.”

“First rites?!” Tavera squeaked. Her stomach was still tying and unraveling, and she squirmed in her seat, wishing she had something to make the pain go away “Like what? Is it like a holiday?”

“I guess I haven’t kept you ‘round girls your age, have I? Otherwise you’d know. Hasn’t Old Gam told you about this?” Derk put a hand up to stop the both of them from talking, his blond hair still mussed atop his head and his shirt half tucked into his trousers. “Let me get this water. If you’re up to it, rip these old things into strips. I needed a new pair anyway.” He fumbled around in his bedroll, pulling out his dagger and handing it to her. “You’ll be alright?”

“It’s blood, not brain,” Tavera snorted, taking the dagger from him. “What, like for wounds?”

“I don’t know!” Derk said and he blushed, avoiding her eyes. “Just think about…what you think you need! But I should boil them first, some of them at least. I’m going!” he shouted, walking away. “Scream if you need me!”

“Fine!” she shouted after him, watching him go. There was a little spring not too far away from where they had set up camp. Tavera ripped off a rectangle of fabric and looked at it, wondering how big it should be. Her gaze wandered towards the fire pit, seeing the pile of sticks that lay close at hand to feed it. She set the pants and dagger aside; Derk couldn’t boil water if there wasn’t a fire. She stirred the ashes with one of the sticks, seeing if any embers lay underneath. A handful of dried grass fed the remains of the night’s fire, going from yellow to brown, then black and glowing orange as they caught on fire. Twigs came next. A low, long yawn was stifled as she heard Derk shout and saw him rush forward, throwing the kettle of water onto the fire she was building.

“What the tits are you doing?!” Tavera started, some of the water splashing up onto her. She glared at Derk, still holding the twigs in her hand. He just looked at her sheepishly, putting the kettle under his arm. “I know how to make a fire, you know it! Why’d you do that!?”

“You can’t build a fire-”

“Yes I can, I do it-”

“NOT…now,” he said, finally lowering his voice. He rubbed his eye with the palm of his hand and sighed heavily, looking into the empty kettle. “Now…it’s not good. You can’t build a fire. When you’re on your Red Earth time. It’s….”

“That don’t make no sense,” Tavera said and her good ear twitched as she said it. It didn’t. Why couldn’t she build a fire? She still knew how to build a fire and she had done it countless times. Whatever had been left of the fire was gone now, a pile of soggy ash and grass. “No ladies build fire in their red time? How do they cook then?!”

“It’s just…it’s one of those things, Tavera,” Derk said and when he said it, he sounded unsure about it. “I’m sorry I splashed you. But it’s supposed to be…bad. A taboo.”

“What like…like plowing children?” She asked it hushed and after she said it, they both looked around worriedly. Derk mumbled something under his breath and set the kettle down, mechanically tugging at the prayer bracelet he wore around his wrist. He shook his head at her, his lips a thin line that cut across his face.

“Not that bad, no,” he said, still looking around. “It’s an old…like I said. It’s bad luck.” He picked up the kettle and looked her over again, cocking his head to the side like that bird had done. “You look pale.”

“I’m more dark than you.”

“Eat something, if you can manage. I’ll fetch more water. And do those rags if you can, you’ll need them.”

“What food is there?”

“Whatever you didn’t cram yesterday. I might have something sweet in my pack.” Tavera watched him leave and she huffed, blowing her hair out of her face. She wasn’t really hungry. Her stomach still hurt, her body trying to squeeze the unused earth out of her, to make space for new earth, new life. That’s what she had been taught happened at this time. Prisca mentioned Tavera would start seeing men after her first time came. In all honesty, she hadn’t really understood all of what Prisca had said regarding her Red Earth. She would have to start doing what Prisca did and she would get money for it. That had been a long time ago and hadn’t come to be. Derk took her in and cared for her whereas Prisca…the sound of Derk’s footsteps on the leaves and twigs brought her back to her cramps and her task, ripping a few more rags off of the old pants. The man set the kettle down carefully so as not to spill any of the water and went about rearranging the stones
next to the old fire pit, trying to rescue what he could.

“What else can’t I do?” she asked, ripping off another strip, using the knife to turn it into two, hand sized rags. Derk shrugged and shuffled over to his pack, picking out the two fire stones wrapped in their special bag. He wrinkled his nose at her as he rolled them out, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand before he crouched into the wind.

“Depends on who you ask,” he said, striking a stone against the other. “Some would say you can’t drink milk. No kissing babies. I’d say no kissing boys.”

“That can’t be one of them,” she said, ripping of another ring of fabric. The dagger tugged at the seam and she pulled it with a jerk, loosening the piece from the rest. “I know it ain’t true.”

“You could, I just would prefer you wouldn’t,” he said, striking the stones again, his back towards her so that his words were muffled. “Or rather, I should say, I wish you would stop kissing boys.”

“Oh, pa, you know I only kissed that last one because his mam worked at the Wren! There was a whole bag of seedbarley to get!”

“And just last week it was that red headed one for a bolt of fabric and then before that the dark haired lad with the big ears. I don’t even remember what that was about.”

“I liked his ears, I thought they were cute.”

“Tavi!” Derk said, looking back at her finally. Tavera tried her best to stifle her laugh, making her face long and her eyes big. Her attempt just wiped Derk’s stern expression from his face and he sighed, turning back to the fire that he had barely started. “Tavi, just…be careful. If that red headed one and the blond one find out about one another, they could get in a row and then the parents come looking for me.”

“Fine, I’ll just kiss boys that got no parents.”

“That’s not what I’m…or what about this?” he offered. The sparks had been transformed into a happy little flame and he grabbed a piece of bigger kindling, snapping it in two before he placed it carefully over the fire. “What about women? You’re just hitting men up! That’s half the people in the Valley you can’t use your tricks on!”

“Some ladies like other ladies, you know that,” Tavera chided, forgetting about the rags for the moment. “Don’t you remember when we went to-”

“But you shouldn’t lie about who you like or want to kiss,” Derk finally said. He put another piece of kindling on and got the frame to hang the kettle over, digging its points into the earth. “It’s not good to do, to garner ills from thwarted lovers. People don’t like to be kissed and left. And besides, I’ve warned you against being a dog of one use. I don’t want you to get lazy.”

Tavera kept her thoughts to herself, feeling another cramp twist inside of her making her queasy. She put the torn up pants on her lap and blinked, watching as Derk set the kettle of water over the fire finally. “So…” she said slowly, looking over the dagger in her hand. “We’re going to wait for the water to boil, and then boil the fabric and then wait for the rags to dry?”

Derk looked at the water quizzically and then to Tavera. After a breath he shook his head and put his hands up. “You got me,” he admitted, feeling around for his pipe. “I ain’t done this before, Tavi. I don’t know what’s going on.”

“We’re supposed to meet Gam and you wanted to get there by mid-meal,” Tavera said.

“I know, I know,” he muttered, fumbling around inside his pack. Tavera yawned and laid back on both of the bedrolls. Her father nudged her out of the way, finding the pipe but lacking the tobacco. “Just….”

“Hang them over the fire when they’re done,” Tavera said, curling up into a ball. Her stomach didn’t feel well. Derk looked to her and his eyes softened, sighing as he put a hand on her cheek. A rough hand brushed her hair out of her face.

“I’ll take care of it, Tavi dear.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, which made her smack at him. He growled at her and laughed. “You just rest and I’ll do these up as quick as I can. They’re small, they should dry fast. I’m sure we can find something else for you in town to help. Gam’ll have something for sure.” Derk looked into the kettle and started to pack his pipe, smirking at his daughter. “One good thing about this, most girls start growing in the shirt after they start their red times. Sure you’re not crying about that.”

Tavera nodded and rolled over onto her side, feeling tired but the sensations in her body and the slight excitement kept her eyes from closing. If it was any other day they would probably still be asleep, waking up when the sun had warmed everything it touched and eating on the road. She was supposed to be practicing her fighting but the girl didn’t think she’d be up to it today. Tavera rolled over again so she could see Derk, smoking peacefully on his pipe, sitting by the fire and watching her. “Can I get some tea in town?” she asked. “We used to sell a lot of purple cup to ladies on their Red Earth time. It’s supposed to help.”

“Whatever you want,” Derk said. He peeked into the fire again and they sat there, waiting for the water to boil. Tavera rolled over again and stared off into space, watching the little birds hop and flit about. Every time she thought she could nod off, a cramp would roll through her stomach and wake her up. She finally gave up altogether and sat up and started mending clothes with Derk, being sure to jokingly ask him if it was okay to do so. He made a face at her and they quietly mended clothes as they waited for the water to boil.

The wine was sweet and spiced. Tavera didn’t really like it but she was supposed to drink the whole bowl of it. Old Gam smiled at her and brushed her hair out of her face, hazel eyes sparkling at the girl who was now a woman. “How is it?” Old Gam asked, her curly hair framing her round face. They were standing at the altar after vespers. All the other worshipers had departed for drinks or home and the two of them had lagged behind for Tavera to receive first rites. The priestess poured the bowl of wine and gave it to Tavera, saying a prayer over the girl and anointing her with water from the sacred chalice.

Tavera always wanted the temple’s chalice for herself but she knew such a wish was bordering on blasphemy. She had mentioned it once to Derk and all joviality had drained from his face, and she had spent all of their meal apologizing. She still wanted them, one of them. This one was made out of some white stone, probably alabaster, and it had been carved to be perfectly round and smooth, the phases of the moon and inscriptions raised on the luxurious surface. Different temples had different styles of bowls and chalices, all of them beautiful.

Most households had plainer ones set in the house somewhere. Gam’s was set over her door, for protection. The priestess waited as Tavi drank from the bowl, her grey eyes smiling as she gazed down at the newest woman of the Valley. The wine was thick on Tavera’s tongue, warm on the back of her throat and hot in her belly, snaking around where there was a slight ache. What she really wanted to do was sleep but Old Gam had insisted on prying Tavera away from Derk, shooing him away to see Jezlen and taking her out for food and gifts.