Free Ghost's Sight by Morwen Navarre Page A

and not notice.” He freed Ghost’s hands, but before Ghost could enjoy the freedom, Bernd yanked Ghost’s hands back and tied them again. “I don’t want you touching that mark and witching me again. Now walk.”
     
    Chapter 7
     
    Gerry took a deep breath as he entered the yard in front of the Witch’s house, the place curiously quiet. He was not more than halfway to the house when the door opened. The Witch stepped out, her fierce eyes fixed on him.
    “Bright morning,” Gerry said, offering a polite greeting, but the Witch cut him off.
    “What brings you here, lad?” The Witch held herself very still, and Gerry felt a tingle of unease. She was guarded, unlike her manner the day before when Gerry had eaten at her table with Ghost.
    Gerry took a quick breath. “I was actually hoping to speak to you first, and then to Ghost,” he admitted, his cheeks starting to feel warm.
    The Witch frowned. “He’s not here.”
    “Do you know when he’ll return?” Gerry was aware of the growing dampness in his palms, but did not dare rub them on his fine breeches.
    “I’ve no idea,” the Witch snapped, her voice sharp. “I thought maybe he was with you.”
    Gerry shook his head. “No, I haven’t seen him since I left with Mother. He said he’d wait for me.” Gerry took a deep breath, dread making his stomach twist. “I was going to offer for him, ask you for permission to ask him to be my dependent.”
    “If he said he’d wait, then he would. He’s nothing if not honest, that one. Unless he took it into his head to go to you.” The Witch looked at Gerry, stern and fierce. “Stay here while I get my bag, and then we need to go find Mother and get him to help look for the little one.”
    Gerry waited, his thoughts running dark. The path to the Witch’s house from the village was direct for the most part. It needed to be, since she was the nearest healer. She was midwife for the dams when the babes were due. There was no way Ghost could have missed the village if the young man had followed the path, and there was no reason for Ghost to go any other way. The sind made their lairs east of the Witch’s house. They never ranged this far from the dens, not when there were likely to be whelps there. None of it made sense.
    “Don’t stand there looking like an idiot, lad.” The Witch’s dry voice interrupted Gerry’s fretting. “We need to go.”
    The Witch let Gerry lead the way, a leather pouch over her shoulder and a stout staff in her hand. She showed no inclination to make conversation on the way to the village. Gerry was far too busy running over the same futile guesses to have much to say himself, so he welcomed the silence. Try as he might, he could find no reason for Ghost to have run off, and no good reason for Ghost to have vanished on the way to the village.
    Mother was in the yard when Gerry and the Witch arrived, and he looked up with mild surprise. “I didn’t expect you back so quickly. There was no need for the Witch and me to confer, you know.”
    Gerry shook his head, the lump in his throat making it hard to speak. “He’s missing. Ghost is missing.”
    “The little one wasn’t there this morning,” the Witch said. “I thought perhaps he’d gone to find your lad here, since it didn’t take much to see that they were drawn to each other. Imagine my surprise when the lad here turns up.”
    Mother frowned. “We need to find him, then. Are there any places he might go?”
    “Yes.” The Witch looked thoughtful. “He has a few places he goes when I annoy him, but there’s one in particular he favors. He thinks I don’t know about it, but there’s little that I miss, even if I am getting old. It’s one of the ruined places, and I warned him off it years ago, knowing he’d go there. It’s been scavenged past reason, and there’s nothing dangerous there, but it makes a good place for a little ghost to hide.”
    “Give me a moment to get my bow,” Gerry said, his heart pounding