Free Fire Arrow by Edith Pattou Page B

journey. "It's a nice little place," he said, "but there's nothing on that side of the Blue Stacks that you can't find on this side, and then some. And who in their right mind would want to go to all that trouble getting over Beirthoud's Pass? That's my opinion, anyway. And I say that even though I found the treasure of my own life there." His eyes softened as he gazed toward Rilla.
    Brie said she was set on going, and Ladran replied that in that case he'd be more than happy to show her the best way through the Blue Stack Mountains.
    After dinner Rilla took out a box of paints. She began painting on small circles of wood. "Panners, they're called," explained Ladran. Each was no bigger than a small locket. "No one makes a lovelier panner than my Rilla. It's a craft native to Dungal."
    Brie went around behind Rilla and saw that she was painting a miniature portrait on the small wooden disk. The face was that of a man, with a beard and keen blue eyes.
    "My father," Rilla said softly. It was extraordinary, Brie thought, how the girl used tiny dots of color and hatch marks to create a face so alive it looked as though it might speak.
    "It's exquisite," Brie said.
    Rilla flushed slightly then smiled.
    ***
    It rained through the night and into the next day. Rilla shyly invited Brie to stay on with them for the day and, as it was not the most inviting weather to travel in, Brie found herself accepting. Rilla offered her a pallet in the farmhouse, but catching a frown on Ladran's face, Brie said she preferred to sleep in the barn.
    Ladran was gone on an errand to a neighboring town from late morning until sundown. As she helped Rilla with chores around the farmhold, Brie found the young farmwife to be very reserved, but then she asked her about Dungal and Rilla's reticence evaporated. Her soft voice became animated as she spoke of her family in the fishing village of Ardara; of the fishing boat called Storm Petrel, on which her father would go out every morning; and of the times, remembered with an acute longing, that Rilla had joined her father on the boat. As Rilla spoke, Brie could almost feel the rough wooden planks of the Storm Petrel under her bare feet and the spray on her face.
    "Why did you leave?" Brie asked.
    Rilla's face closed. "I married Ladran. He has been a good husband to me," she said tonelessly, and after that she would not speak more of Dungal.
    Later, as Brie swept the hearth and Rilla made preserves out of gooseberries, Brie felt as though she was being watched. She turned to find Rilla gazing intently at her. The look on her face was strange, as if she were watching a story unfold. Then she gave a little nod and a smile, and returned to the stirring of the simmering berries.
    When Rilla took out her panner work that night, she set aside the one of her father and began a new miniature. She worked on it with great concentration, seemingly unaware of the conversation going on around her. And she placed her hand over it whenever anyone came near.
    Ladran also seemed distracted that night, though he made a great commotion about giving Brie directions through the Blue Stacks. After making sure the wooden table was free of crumbs, he laid out a square of muslin. Carefully he drew a map of Beirthoud's Pass on the cloth. His directions were clear, and he went slowly to make sure Brie followed as he traced the way through twisting mountain paths.
    He didn't offer to walk Brie to the barn as he had the night before. Brie thanked the couple for dinner, saying she would stop in to bid them farewell in the morning before she left.
    As Brie crossed to the barn she was startled by a sudden loud bray. It sounded like a goat. She couldn't remember seeing goats among the animals in Ladran's farmhold. Apprehensively, she looked around in the darkness but saw nothing.
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    Brie slept fitfully. After several hours she woke. The animals in the barn were restless; a cow lowed uneasily. Brie was filled with a strong desire to see the