Free Darkthaw by Kate A. Boorman Page B

“I know we’ve got some bad blood between us, from the past.”
    I wait.
    â€œBut the way I see it, we can’t go backwards. We’re out here now, and I know that wasn’t your decision. I know you were only doing as you saw fit when you went after them Lost People, when you brought them in.”
    I swallow. This sounds like an apology.
    â€œAnyhow, I wanted to say I’m grateful you’ve taken us in. Hope I can find a way to repay you.”
    And I don’t know what to think or say. Soeur Manon told me I would change, that I’d make decisions I never thought I’d have to. Well, mayhap forgetting what happened at the settlement, trusting that we’re all moving forward, is part of that.
    I still the flicker of doubt in my mind.
    â€œAppreciate that, Charlie,” I say. “I want to put the past in the past, too.”
    â€¡
    When we get back to camp, Kane and the rest are arriving back from hunting.
    â€œThank the Almighty!” Sister Violet says, hurrying forward to take Daniel by the arm. “Where were they?”
    â€œJust looking at the new frogs,” I say.
    Kane sets a rabbit carcass on a rock near his ma and sheathes his knife, his eyes on my face. His ma shepherds the boys to scrub their hands. No one takes much mind of Charlie, who’s heading back to his own tent with Josiah. No one, that is, except Isi. He’s standing with his arms crossed, a strap with two gutted animals on it dangling from his hand. He makes no move to take it over to Matisa, who’s getting a rack ready over the fire.
    He stares at Charlie, and then at me.
    I feel my face start to flame, like it does when I’m embarrassed. I feel a rush of anger. What does he think? That I’d betray Kane with Charlie? The very thought makes me want to either shudder or laugh. I could explain, could march over to him and tell him that the youngsters were missing.
    No, that’s not what he’s thinking. The way he looked at Charlie, and then at me, it was . . . It hits me like a rock in the gut: it was the same.
    Mistrustful. Wary.
    My heart sinks.
    â€œEm?” My head snaps away from Isi to find Kane. Somehow he’s crossed the camp and is beside me. “You all right?”
    â€œSure,” I say, brushing at my tunic.
    â€œThanks for going after the boys,” he says. “I—” He pauses.“I worry about them doing something foolish out here. But not when you’re around.” He smiles that funny half smile and my worry over Isi melts away.
    I smile back. “Course,” I say. “I defended them from those frogs, no trouble.” Out here in the sunshine, with Kane standing so close, my panic from earlier seems right laughable.
    â€œDid you now?” His smile widens, pulling up the other side of his mouth. “Mayhap we should put you on frog patrol.”
    I shrug. “I’m not scared.”
    He laughs and takes my hand, squeezing it in his warm, strong one. My cheeks flare bright red as I dart a glance over my shoulder, searching for his ma.
    Everyone is busy with getting prepared for dinner. Isi is gone.
    I turn back to him, and my pulse skips into my throat as he leans close, his collar open, the smooth skin of his throat and the top of his chest radiating a heat that matches the hot breath in my ear.
    â€œI know,” he says, his voice low. “It’s why I love you.”
    The Watch flats are empty. Everyone is gone.
    I sit beneath the dogwood. The soil shifts through my hands. I am digging. Digging.
    The river sings beside me, voices of all those long dead. All those we cast in the Cleansing Waters.
    The earth beneath my palm shifts, moves of its own accord. My hand springs back from the movement—away from whatever is coming to the surface.
    The head first, shaking—shedding its earth-trappings—and the rest emerges slow. Brittle fingers, grasping at the earth. The soil falls away as it