He regretted the peas. Without a pot or a container of some sort he couldn’t make porridge with them. Since they were his only remaining food, he would have to eat them dry the next day. The past two days had shown him just how little he really knew about surviving in the wilderness.
Belly full, he began to grow sleepy. The padded gambeson was sufficiently warm, so he removed his cloak and hung it by the fire. Melting snow had gradually soaked it, and while it still felt dry, the wool was many times heavier than normal. That was one of the nice things about wool. It could absorb a great deal of moisture before it felt wet. He hoped the fire would dry it out somewhat while he slept.
Leaning back against a tree, he let his eyes close.
Sometime later he woke. The darkness was thick and suffocating. His fire had burned out long ago, and the moonlight couldn’t reach beneath the canopy of the trees. Will’s body felt cold and sore. And he was hungry again—of course.
With a groan, he got to his feet and checked his cloak. If it had dried by an appreciable amount, he couldn’t tell. It still felt as though it was made of lead.
Unable to see the sky, he had no idea what time it was, or which direction was which. Rather than stumble through the dark, he took down the cloak and wrapped it around himself. Then he tried to find a more comfortable position to sleep in.
It didn’t feel like he slept any, but the sun surprised him, tickling his eyes as it danced between the shadows of leaves on his face. When he opened them, he was startled out of his wits, for just a few inches away were two green eyes staring back at him.
Tailtiu laughed as he yelped, jumped, and then tripped over a heavy branch. “It’s a wonder your race has survived this long,” she commented. “Your kind slumbers so heavily anyone could kill you in your sleep.”
Will didn’t reply as he gathered his thoughts. Tailtiu’s face seemed normal, but he could see silver lines crisscrossing her features. “Are you better?” he asked at last.
“Mostly,” she answered.
Reaching out, he touched her arm, tracing the lines there. “Will these…”
She grinned. “I haven’t decided yet. Novelty is prized when you live forever. I may keep them for a while. Do you think I should color them? Red would look wicked, wouldn’t it?”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” admitted Will. “I feel bad when I see them.”
“So, I should remove my stripes to make you feel better?” she asked. “Is this part of my service?”
He shook his head. “That’s up to you.” Then he added, “You only have one day left, then you’re free to do as you please.”
She held up two fingers. “Two days. My time recovering doesn’t count.”
That didn’t seem fair, but he didn’t feel like arguing. Either way it hardly mattered. He couldn’t cross the pass and he was nearly out of food. His only option was to return home and accept his punishment. “You may as well return home. There’s nothing else I need.”
She turned her head to the side once more, curious. “What was it you wanted to accomplish? Were you trying to freeze to death?”
Resting his elbows on his knees, he stared at the leaf litter on the ground. “I was trying to reach Branscombe, but that doesn’t seem possible.”
“Is that where Branscombe lies? It never seemed so mountainous.”
“No. It’s to the west, on the other side of the mountains. Don’t you know where anything is?” he asked, somewhat surprised.
Tailtiu laughed again. “Not in this world. When my people wish to go somewhere in your world, we use whatever congruence is closest to our destination. Traveling through your world is too unpleasant.”
Will stared at her, then asked, “Can you take me there?”
“It would be dangerous from here. The place you took me yesterday is a long way from the point that connects to Branscombe. You should have called me before you started your journey. There’s a spot behind Father’s house that comes out very close to a place in Faerie that connects to Branscombe,” she explained.
“Behind Father’s house,” Will muttered, comprehension dawning on him. “You mean Arrogan—”
She nodded, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “The place where you live.”
Leaning sideways, he began lightly banging his head against the tree he had slept beside, though the steel cap and padding robbed the action of much of its impact. Will had rarely felt so stupid, even back when Arrogan had been there to remind him daily. “Butter, cheese, beef, spices,” he chanted quietly, listing all the mysterious items his grandfather had shown up with over the years.
Tailtiu studied him with a look of concern.
“I thought he chose to live there so he could be close to his descendants,” said Will, still talking to himself. But he was hundreds of years old. He probably had grandchildren all over the kingdom. Now he understood. The old man had hated everyone. The place he had chosen was half an hour’s walk from one of the most remote villages on the edge of Terabinia. He had picked it for solitude and easy access to a town market. Will and Erisa living nearby had merely been a coincidence. “Wow.”
“Are you all right?”
“Yeah,” answered Will. “Just amazed at all the things that never occurred to me before. Can you show me the spot?”
His aunt frowned. “I’d rather not. There’s a creature there that doesn’t take kindly to my kind. If you wish, I can meet you on the fae side.”
“The goddamn cat.”
He might have imagined it, but Tailtiu seemed to pale slightly. “Is that what you call it?”
“What do you call it then?”
His aunt shook her head, pressing her lips firmly together before answering, “It can hear its name when spoken, much like my people.”
Will sighed. “Can you describe the spot to me then?”
“It is easy to find, just beyond the garden behind your house. Look for the largest tree, an oak. There’s an opening amidst the roots. I should be able to get there before you.”
He remembered the tree she was describing, though he hadn’t noticed anything odd about it before. Of course, he didn’t think he’d ever examined it after his sight had been awakened. Rising to his feet once more, he gauged the sun’s position and started northward. “I’ll meet you there,” he said. Tailtiu was already gone when he looked back.
Chapter 34
The journey back home took most of the day, and Will was forced to stop and hide twice when he heard the sounds of men and horses. It seemed the Darrowans were taking the job of patrolling the area around Barrowden seriously. Then again, it was also possible that word of what had happened to a couple of their sentries in the pass had already been reported. Will assumed that they probably thought someone had attacked the sentries while sneaking into the area around Barrowden.
He grew nervous when he got to the area near Arrogan’s house. For some reason being caught by his mother was more terrifying to him than being caught by the enemy. He gave the house a wide berth, circling around it to approach the tree that Tailtiu had mentioned from the far side.
The congruence point was right where she had mentioned, and as Will stepped up to it he noticed a set of claw marks on the ground. Something big had scored the earth as well as the bark on that side of the tree. The goddamn cat, he guessed. Glancing around, he felt as though something was watching him, but he saw no sign of the feline. He suppressed a shiver and shifted himself to Faerie.