The new person was panting hard.
Then he spoke, and I knew him.
“These two are under my protection, First One,” panted Dannel.
“Of course, my child,” said the man by the fire. “This is Lord Beam’s niece, is it not? We would never hurt one of his kin. Unless she hurt us first.” He grinned. His teeth gleamed sharp in the firelight. “Your uncle was a great friend to me and my kin.”
That’d be right. Uncle Batty was very easy-going if you left him alone.
“Please sit down, my dear. And introduce me to your pale and interesting companion. I’ve not seen a ghost in person before.”
As Dannel stepped past us to go to his leader’s side, he touched my arm and smiled at me. Probably the smile was meant to be reassuring, but... Shadow’s hand gripped my arm even tighter and I heard a small hiss. He had a silver tube in his hand. He’d been gripping it when we’d been down the pit. I’d meant to ask him what it was, but I’d got distracted. Clearly it was some kind of lucky talisman.
“Where’s my cousin?”
“I left him tidying up after you,” said Dannel. “That was a good shot. Marm Shine shot a mage right though the face,” he said to the First One. “Blood everywhere.”
The other man looked pleased. “Very good. But I assume she did not kill him.”
“No.”
“Even better.” He gave me another of his strange smiles. “We prefer mages not be killed. It tends to bring the whole lot sniffing around. I do wish you’d sit down and have something to eat.”
I wished I could too. The scent of the hot stew was making my stomach grumble about the delay.
“I’ll wait for my cousin,” I said.
“At least sit,” said Dannel. “I promise you can trust us. Come on. You’ve known me all your life.”
“You’re rogues. “
“We’re shapeshifters,” said the First One primly. “It’s quite a different thing. There have always been Mooncats born in this valley. Even before the light bringers came. It’s only the light bringers who call us ‘rogues’ and class us with criminals.”
“I see. Well. Thank you. I’m fine here,” I said, even though my feet were aching. The ghost, Katti and I stood there tensely, watching the two of them sitting by the fire and eating stew until the gate latch clicked again.
The door swung open and Bright came breezing in, with Stefan close on his heels. Stefan was carrying a big basket over his arm.
“Shine—praise the Lady! You’re safe. I’ve been worried sick about you. And now I find you in complete comfort here, eating dinner with the Mooncats as if nothing’s wrong. How typical.”
I loved Bright, but sometimes he was so annoying.
But I forgave him quickly, because when he saw the bruises on my neck, he was furious.
“The dog. If I’d known he tried to strangle you, I’d have left him for the cats to eat.”
Instead Bright had taken the still unconscious Illuminus back to Willow and left him on the front lawn for someone to find.
By then Dannel and the First One had gone and we were sitting by the fire eating stew. Stefan pottered about the cottage behind us as I filled in my side of the long sad tale of the Blessing festival and my attempts to hide the ghost from Illuminus. “It’s been a bad Blessing feast,” I said. “Blazeann tried to throw me over the balcony as well.”
“And now she’s dead. Poor old Blazeann,” said Bright.
Bright knew all about that part of it. When Blazeann was found dead, Hilly had sent a runner up the mountain to tell Bright. He had flown down and lurked around outside the house to see if he was needed. Unfortunately Eff hadn’t known he was there when she sent me off into the forest. By the time she found out and sent Bright after me, it was mid-afternoon and the whole business with Illuminus had played itself out.
Bright was shocked and angry at the way Great Aunt Glisten had spoken to his mother, but he didn’t find it hard to believe that Illuminus was involved in crystal smuggling.
He shook his head and said, “Flara’s get. They’re capable of anything. They should make it their family motto.”
“You shouldn’t have stayed. They might have caught you.”
“It’s lucky I did, though, isn’t it? I’m safe enough up here. No one’s going to take me by surprise. Not with the Mooncats on watch.”
“They chased us.”
“They chase everyone they don’t know. You were supposed to run back down the mountain, not up here.”
I was beginning to get annoyed at the matter-of-fact way people kept telling me that our terror was all for nothing.
“I thought they were rogues. I went for the closest safe place. Who wouldn’t?”
“Most of the peasants wouldn’t. But they know all about Mooncats. Most of them are their friends and relatives.”
“They’re not rogues?
“Not at all. Every now and then someone is born round here who changes into a cat at the full moon. It comes on like all magic, during puberty. If they cover themselves with crystal dust, like a rogue, they can change whenever they want. But they’re not rogues—they protect the villagers, they don’t prey on them. They keep bandits out of the forest, and in return, the villagers leave them offerings. Sometimes they even live among the villagers. But they’re always dangerous at the full moon. That’s when the cat side takes over.”
“That’s why Hilly told us never to go into the forest on the full moon? Does she know about Mooncats? Who else? How did you find out?”
“Stefan told me. Once I saw him with Dannel. All the mundanes hereabout know about the Mooncats. They never tell the gentry, because the mages would hunt them down and they... But Uncle Batty knew about them. Used to have little soirees with them up here, used to let them use his fire to cook on, that sort of thing. They live in the old mine workings. That’s why Mother never worried about him up here by himself.”
“Eff knows? Curse it, does everyone know except me?”
“None of the other gentry know,” said Bright, shooting me a rueful grin.
“That’s hardly a comfort. Surely I’m a bit more trustworthy than that lot.”
Bright shrugged. “Don’t be cross. The peasants trust you. It’s just that no one ever needed to tell you.”
“Does Klea know?”
“About the Mooncats? Of course not.”
“About you still being here?”
“No. Thought it best to keep it among ourselves. She’s a good woman but not... She’s not a local. Did she find what she was looking for?”
“Oh, Bright,” I said. “I’m so shocked about Klea. It’s terrible. I don’t know what to think.”
The ghost looked up from his bowl. “Marm Shine, I’m sure she had her reasons.”
“Maybe she’s like the rest of the family. Maybe it is all about money.”
“What happened?” asked Bright.
I looked at Stefan’s back. We shared most things with him, but this was too awful. “I can’t tell you here,” I said.
“Why don’t we go and look at Uncle Batty’s grave?” said Bright, after a moment of difficult silence.