Free The Mountains Rise by Michael G. Manning

you
     in time.”
    Daniel’s throat felt as if it were swelling shut , and he fought the urge to throttle the woman next to him.
    After a few minutes Kate returned to him and drew him out amongst the revelers once
     more. She felt the change in him immediately, though. “What’s wrong?”
    “It’s what we were talking about before,” he said, trying not to gag on the words.
     Through the crowd he could see her mother staring at him.
    “What about it?”
    “About the distance…”
    Kate didn’t reply, but she grew still in his arms.
    “What your mother said...,” he began.
    She swallowed, keeping her face against his neck so that he couldn’t see the sudden
     pain in her eyes. “Are you suggesting that there’s someone else?”
    It felt as if someone had thrust a spear through his heart. The pain was sudden and
     intense, almost physical. “I’ve made a terrible mistake, Kate. I’m not who you think
     I am, and I’m not worthy of you, not at all.”
    She was trembling now, like a sapling in a winter storm. At first she couldn’t speak,
     but when she did her words surprised him, “You said a mistake. If it was a mistake,
     I could forgive that.”
    The sudden possibility of forgiveness was something he had never considered, but he
     knew it was an empty dream. A girl, maybe, but not your mother, no one could forgive that.
    “I’m no good for you, Cat.”
    Her hands were gripping his shoulders now, desperate. “Whatever’s wrong, Daniel,
     you can trust me. I’m strong. Trust me to forgive,” she hesitated before continuing.
     “I love you.”
    Overwhelmed he pulled her close, squeezing hard to stop his own chest from heaving.
     He wanted to believe, but over her shoulder he could see her mother, watching. “I
     just don’t feel the same, Cat,” he answered, pushing her away, unable to hide his
     tears.
    “That’s a lie!” she cried, almost shouting. “I know you better than that.”
    He backed away while she stared at him in disbelief. After a few steps he could handle
     it no longer , and he turned away to avoid her wounded gaze. A few steps more and he was running
     through the crowd.
    As he ran , he heard her shout one more time, “That’s a lie!”
     
    ***
    He waited in the darkness, near his parents’ wagon. Daniel planned to tell them before
     he walked home, otherwise they might spend hours searching for him.
    Seth found him first.
    “I talked to Kate,” said his friend.
    Daniel only nodded.
    “Were you serious?” Seth asked.
    “Does it matter?” remarked Daniel.
    “Damn right it does!” argued Seth, beginning to grow angry with Daniel’s attitude.
     “I’d kill to have Kate look at me like that , and you’re just going to toss her away?”
    Daniel’s answer came to him from the darkness of his soul, “You’d make a good match
     for her. Someday she’ll forget about me.” It was only later that he would remember
     where he first heard those words, but he had no chance to recall just then.
    Sudden pain shot through his jaw as Seth’s fist came around in a vicious hook. The
     blow caught him off-guard , and he fell heavily to the ground.
    “You bastard! I hope the wardens take you!” cursed his one-time friend.
    Daniel didn’t respond, but he silently agreed, me too.

Chapter 9
    Winter came and with it the biting cold that made life in the hills both majestic
     and profoundly uncomfortable. In the past Daniel had often looked forward to it as
     a time with less work to do. They stockpiled hay through the summer , and once the snows came they stopped taking the sheep out to graze. His work usually
     lasted only through the morning then and sometimes not even that long. Once the animals
     had been fed and watered , the majority of his work was done, leaving him with far too much time to think.
    In past years he and Seth would see each other more often during the less hectic afternoons,
     but there were no visits that winter. He didn’t expect to see Kate, of