Free Vixen Hunted by Christopher Kincaid

matching up."
    "Essa just thinks
you need a woman to help you around the homestead."
    The beagles growled,
their ears and tails bristling. Their eyes locked on Kit, who had paused a
distance away, three rabbits dangling from her hands. Leaves clung to her
skirt. Cat skidded between Kit and the dogs, bleating as if warning the dogs to
stay back. The rear of Kit's skirt flitted up.
    Quinn clapped his
hands. "Here now. None of that. Come over here now!"
    The beagles looked at
Kit once more before slinking back to their master. "Sit right there."
He cuffed each on the nose.
    "I'm sorry, lass.
I don't know what came over them." Quinn bobbed his head.
    Kit stalked past
Timothy. "I hate dogs," she muttered. Cat followed beside her,
keeping an eye on the dogs.
    "I think it is the
rabbits I caught. I wanted to give a little thank you, Master Abel, for
allowing us to stay."
    Quinn smirked at Abel.
    "None of that,
Quinn. She be the lad's. I will join you and Essa and…Mary some night."
Abel turned to Kit. He tapped his pipe against the fence and ground the dabble
into the dirt. "No thanks be needed, lass. You be earning your stay."
    "Well, I thought I
would cook rabbit stew tonight."
    "There be
vegetables in the garden around back. I see you are good with a sling. Best be
careful, lad. A red with a sling." Abel shook his graying head.
"Stove be needing cleaning yet, so the fire pit will have to do."
    "I will get
started then." Kit ignored Timothy. The lamb followed her to the house.
    Timothy went back to
gathering the grass. Quinn whistled. Timothy doubted the man did anything
quietly. "She be a looker." He grinned at Timothy. "You be a
lucky man, laddie!"
    "Give Essa my
blessings. I need to get this fence mended." Abel lifted his hammer and
trudged to the next fence post.
    Quinn nodded. "I
have some things Essa wants me to do. I'll let you know when we have that
supper. C'mon now." The beagles followed the farmer as he crossed the
fields and disappeared down behind a hill.
    "Pay Quinn no
mind, lad." Abel hefted his hammer. "He be one for stories more than
truth. Besides, we have enough to keep us busy."
    Abel proved true to his
word.
     

    Dusk found Timothy
washed and stretched out on his straw pile. His arms felt heavy after helping
Abel with the hopeless fence and cleaning out the wood stove inside the house.
He still smelled grass. His ears itched.
    Kit slipped into the
barn, wearing her brown shift. Her ears stood up in the lantern light. He
wished she would be more careful.
    She bounced the bag of
coins he received back at Fairhaven in her hand. "What is this?"
    "Where did you get
that?" He thought he had slipped it into his new shirt pocket.
    "If you had this,
why didn't we just pay the man instead of doing all this work?"
    "I hadn't thought
of it. We might need it later." His eyes itched. She wouldn't take the
money and run, would she? Then again, it might be easier if she did.
    "You hadn't
thought of it? With this much money, we could hire a carriage to your home
instead of walking and sweating!"
    "There isn't that
much money there. Besides, a carriage draws attention. We hardly look like we
should have money."
    "We could buy
clothes! They are silver coins, are they not?"
    "You don't know
much about money, do you?" He failed to tamp down his irritation and
stifled another yawn. "There is about a year's wages for a tradesman in
that bag. It is a good sum, especially for a shepherd. But it hardly goes
anywhere when you travel. Besides, we don't know how far we have to go. It
takes time to earn money. We are not even out of Fairhaven's farmland
yet."
    Kit danced and her tail
flourished. "I can earn money easily! The Amazing Fox and the Gullible
Shepherd! The story of love between mortal enemies! I can just see the crowds
applauding our play! We would beat this Shakespeare I hear so much about."
The white tip of her tail brushed his face.
    Timothy sneezed.
"Will you keep that away from me!" He rolled away from her.
"Just go to