Free Diamonds and Dreams by Rebecca Paisley

know why, but catchin’ fish isn’t as bad as
shootin’ runnin’ animals or flyin’ birds. Maybe it’s because fish
don’t scream. ‘Course I don’t reckon it feels too good to have a
hook stuck up in the roof of your mouth. You ever go fishin’?”
    Saber picked up a twig and began flicking
sand around with the point of it. After a moment, he tossed the
stick into the pond. As he watched it splash into the water, he
recalled that the last time he’d fished was when his father was
still alive. A forgotten memory came to him. He remembered catching
a really big fish. His father had been so proud. Delia had cooked
it that night. What a wonderful evening that had been, sharing his
catch with his mother and father. He hadn’t thought of that night
in many years. “I haven’t fished in a very long time,” he said
quietly.
    Goldie saw the wistful look on his face and
thought he would have liked to go fishing. “It’s a damn shame we
don’t have any poles, huh? I’m a good fisherwoman. The secret is
the bait, y’see. Most people use worms, but not me. I use cheese.
You wouldn’t believe how much fish love cheese.”
    “How fascinating,” Saber said, thinking
about all the many things she’d told him in the ten minutes she’d
been talking. “You mentioned a duke. Your duke, to be
specific. Who is this duke?”
    Goldie sighed again. “Duke Marion. I thought
it was gonna be so easy, but we haven’t found anyone who looks like
him. They all had something that wasn’t right. My Duke Marion’s
gotta be tall and strong like you. His eyes have to be green...like
yours. His hair...black. Strong jaw, high cheekbones...long,
straight nose...” Her voice trailed off as she studied him more
intently. On her hands and knees, she crawled toward him, stopping
only when her face was a mere inch away from his. “Great day Miss
Agnes!”
    Before Saber could react, she’d thrown her
arms around him and planted a kiss right on his mouth.
    Instantly, Goldie drew back. “I—I’m sorry. I
didn’t mean to kiss you like that. I—It’s just that—” She took a
moment to regard him, and when she saw that he didn’t look angry,
her excitement returned in full force. “I’ve never kissed a strange
man before, but I reckon I kissed you because I’m so happy right
now that I just couldn’t help myself! The fact of the matter is
that you’re only the second man I’ve ever kissed. Fred Wattle was
the first. You know anything about duke stuff? I’ll swannee, I
can’t believe I’ve been talkin’ to you for so long and didn’t see
how much you look like ole Duke Marion! You just can’t believe how
desperate I was to find you, and now here you are!”
    “I—Did you say Marion ?”
    “Y’know anything about dukes?” she asked
again. “Maybe you’ve been near one, one time? The more y’know about
dukes, the easier it’ll be on all of us, y’see. But if you don’t
know anything, don’t worry. I’ll teach you. I’ve got the diaries.
Even though there’s a bunch of water spilled all over ’em you can
still read parts, and I guess at what I can’t read. And I remember
everything Mildred Fickle said. And everyone knows some stuff about dukish men. A lot of it’s just plain common sense. For
instance, y’know those canes dukish men carry? Not all dukish men are crippled, so y’want to know why they all carry canes?”
    Saber couldn’t keep up with her quicksilver
chatter. “Why?” he asked absently.
    “Well, if some common person dares to insult
a dukish man, the duke man uses his cane to bash the commoner over
the head. That’s the kind of thing everyone knows about
dukish folks. We’ll get you a cane as soon as we can. And when Big
gets that rabbit ready, the first thing I want to see you do is
sniff each bite of it. It’s not really poisoned, but you have to
get a good whiff of it anyway. Think you can remember to smell your
food every time you eat?”
    Saber frowned. “Whiff of it? Poison? Uh,