The Endless Forest
Page 96

“Well, then,” Nathaniel said, not in the least ruffled. “Maybe it’s Callie and Martha you want to scare, could that be it? Because let me tell you plain, I have been guardian to those girls since your good wife there deserted them. All done legal, with attorneys before a judge.”
Jemima blinked but otherwise she seemed unsurprised.
Focht said, “We will go to law if we must.”
There was a small silence. Elizabeth fought for something to say, but Nathaniel was ahead of her, as he usually was in such situations that aroused emotion.
“Now you see, we do have business,” Nathaniel said. “We’ll just call on our attorney before we take this any further.”
Curiosity turned the trap onto the lane just in time to see Birdie’s ma and da come out of the Red Dog. Before Birdie could even wave to catch their attention they were surrounded by a crowd—thirty people or more, and most of them looked angry or worried. No sign of Hannah or Jennet, who were probably inside. There was no time to ask one of the bystanders for information, because Curiosity was calling out to a group of boys who stood by, watching.
Her grandson Leo heard her voice and came trotting straight over. Curiosity’s grown grandchildren loved her only slightly more than they held her in awe. Which Birdie understood, because she felt the same way. Or had felt the same way, for all of her life until last night. Now she didn’t know exactly what she should feel. Odder still, she had no sense of her ma’s feelings about the whole business. It had happened so long ago, but then again it was her own ma who had suffered.
While Leo helped Curiosity—mostly by lifting her like a small child and setting her on the ground—she told him what she wanted him to do with the horse and trap, and with Birdie too.
“Take the girl on down to the smithy with you,” she said. “This ain’t no place for a child, not right now.”
Birdie’s surprised squawk didn’t even give Curiosity a moment’s pause, and before she could think of how to protest, Ginny lurched into a walk.
“Don’t fuss,” Leo said to her. “It won’t do no good.”
It was irritating to be told things you already knew, but Birdie held her tongue. For all his quiet nature, Leo was as stubborn as his grandmother, and the only thing to do was to wait until her chance came. Which didn’t take long; as soon as the wheels came to a standstill outside the smithy Birdie’s feet hit the ground and she sprinted off, back the way they had come. She would get a closer look at Jemima Southern. The only way Leo could stop her was to tie her hand and foot. If he could catch her first, which would be hard as she wasn’t so foolish as to go right up the road.
Birdie slipped along behind the schoolhouse, mud sucking at her bare feet. Just as she came to the spot where she’d have to walk into the open she heard familiar voices. She pressed herself to the wall and held her breath.
Curiosity was coming along between Birdie’s ma and da, gripping their arms so that her feet barely skimmed the ground. They went into the schoolhouse and the door closed firmly, the latch catching with a sharp click.
A great stroke of good luck. Now Birdie could go see what was going on at the Red Dog and get a look at Jemima and the boy while her people huddled together on the other side of the very wall where Birdie stood and talked about what was to happen.
Jemima could wait a few minutes. From what Curiosity said of her, she wasn’t the kind to tuck tail and run at the first sign of trouble.
Birdie slipped around to the rear door. She knew which steps creaked, and how to slip the latch so quietly that no one—not even her father with his hearing like a bat—would know.
Once in the hall she had little choice. The only place she could be sure of hearing them talk was the cloakroom, which opened onto both classrooms. She hesitated for less than a heartbeat before she made up her mind.
Jennet said, “Well, is this no a fine mess? What a good thing Daniel kept Martha behind. Jemima willna dare step foot on Hidden Wolf.”
“Please Jesus,” Curiosity said. “Now I’m wondering where has Callie got to. Do you know, Ethan?”
“I have a good idea.”
“We have to have some kind of plan,” Elizabeth said. “Some unified approach.”
“I wish Ben would get back,” Hannah said. “I’d like to know what Martha wants.”
“To be free of her mama,” said Curiosity. “Same thing Callie want.”
“I wonder if he’s really a lawyer,” Luke said.
“Or if the boy is who she say he is,” said Curiosity. “I don’t know what to make of any of it. You saw the child, Elizabeth. What do you think?”
Elizabeth drew in a noisy breath and let it go. “I have no idea, and I doubt there’s any way to prove or disprove her claim about the boy’s parentage.” She thought about saying more and realized that her impressions of the boy were so vague and unsettling that she could not express them to her own satisfaction.
“We really do need a lawyer,” she said.
“Well, now,” said Curiosity. “Here come John Mayfair. Ethan, you sent for him?”
“I knew we’d need an attorney, and John is very good. I believe we can trust him.”
Birdie had to be very still to hear, but she had had a lot of practice and she knew how to be patient. When she paid calls with Hannah to see how a wound was healing, or went with her father to check his trap lines, everything required patience. A hunter had to disappear into the woods, and Birdie could disappear into dim corners.