Free Immortal Confessions by Tara Fox Hall Page B

them up and moved them into a
stand of trees a few yards away. After, I listened, and heard
animals moving nervously in the barn. Their uneasiness was likely
because they were hungry. Most likely they had not been fed today,
by the growling of their stomachs.
    * * * *
    I entered the small barn. There was a cow, a
small pig, a small herd of goats, and a few chickens. There were
two horses, though they were not quality animals. Alas, this was a
poor farm: that was to be expected.
    I was happy to see there was one room that
was being used as a tannery. There was a large pile of skins that
had already been processed, the fur supple and thick. There were
other skins that had been stretched, and some that were in process
of being tanned. Likely, the man had been trapping all winter,
planning to head to the nearest town to sell his wares in another
few weeks.
    The skins would fetch a good price when a fur
merchant journeyed into the rural market to buy them for a client
in the city. But selling them direct to a clothier in the city
would give us the greatest profit. We had our money here to start
our life together, if I could learn enough on my own to finish the
skins in transition, and tan a few more.
    * * * *
    I fed the animals, and brought the pig’s body
back in with me, after drinking its blood out of Anna’s sight and
dressing it. She took it from me when I came in, thanking me. As
she prepared its flesh for dinner and storage, I told her what I’d
discovered.
    “Can you trap, at night?”
    “I’m not sure,” I said. “I will have to try
to discover his trap line, which may take a few nights. And this
one is almost over.”
    “I will do it, as you sleep,” Ann said.
    I was taken aback. “Love, your place is here,
it is my duty—”
    “Stuff your duty,” she said flatly. “We don’t
know that these people will not have kin nearby or be missed, when
they do not show up for church tomorrow morning.”
    It was Saturday already? Must be. I tried
another tack. “Love, what if you are set upon by another bear, or a
wolf? I saw skins of the latter in the stack in the barn.”
    “I can shoot a gun well enough,” she said
staunchly. “And I will take one of the horses. Hopefully, the horse
will know the trap line. In winter, the man would have needed it,
unless he wanted to spend nights in the forest, leaving his young
wife alone.”
    I was still guessing daughter, but didn’t say
anything, as it was a moot point. I was impressed again with her
mind, that she had thought of that, when I had not. I was a little
irritable actually that she had, her being a woman. I told myself
with a flash of pride that this intelligence and ability to plan
was why I loved her, and had not loved anyone before her.
    “Agreed,” I said, nodding. “Please return as
soon as you can. Take no chances.”
    “I will leave after sunrise,” she said. “I
need to use the time now to inventory what is here. I know prices
of woman’s clothing and men’s, and household things. There is not
much we won’t need though, Dev.”
    “I know,” I said, getting to my feet. “There
is some livestock also that we can use. I’ll go now and take care
of the animals.” Mucking stalls...ugh. “At least I’ll have a ready
supply of blood.”
    Anna looked ill, then nodded. “You are right.
They would die without someone to care for them. It is more of a
sin to not make use of them. I can also use the meat. There is not
much food in the larder here.”
    I nodded. “I will begin to learn how to treat
the skins, so they fetch the best price. If we work together, we
can accomplish more.”
    “But it will be day,” Anna said in confusion.
“How can you be outside in the day?”
    “So long as I am covered, and my skin is not
exposed to sunlight, there will be no danger, Love.” I gave her a
kiss to reassure her.
    She nodded, and we went about our duties.
    The break of day had me at least a passable
skin-worker. The materials and processes were