I stopped near the edge of the mound and sighed. I didn’t know where the path picked up again, or if it even did. I’d been marching straight across and hoping something good had happened. “Peck, that sounds like a fair trade, if we can do it before supper.”
“I would prefer that.” Peck chuckled. “You’re less likely to slip and drag some of my good snake onto the floor.”
Whistler made a sick face. “Leave it there.”
The tall man led me to an outbuilding at a bouncing walk and pointed at a small anvil. “Lay ’em up there.” A tiny forge and a table full of smith’s tools stood nearby.
I forced myself to lay my left hand out. “Did you cart all of this here yourself?”
“Mm. Some.” Peck selected a chisel. “I hired the rest of it done. I had to kill the porters afterward, of course, and throw their bodies into the swamp. Hold still now. Don’t move a jot.”
I whipped my hand off the anvil.
Peck laughed until his eyes watered, and his grimy fingers left smudges as he rubbed at the tears. “Sorry, but you looked awfully serious about everything. Of course I didn’t kill them! I met them partway and hauled things the rest of the distance myself. Now lay your hand up here.”
I took the chance, and within two minutes, the manacles lay on the ground. Peck wound them up and stowed them in a solid-looking chest.
Back outside, everyone but Halla loitered, shifting from foot to foot and murmuring. Halla stood as if she’d been planted and was waiting to sprout fruit.
Whistler hefted his pack. “It was nice to meet you. Have fun eating your snake.”
I laughed. “Thank you, Peck. Sorry we can’t stay for supper.”
Every smidge of happiness fell off the man’s face. “I wish you would. Really do. If you don’t like snake, I have some day-old swamp rat. It’s damned chewy, though.”
“It would please me to stay, but every minute we tarry is a minute of torture for those children. Um, where’s the path north?”
“Wait!” Peck shifted to stand in front of me. “Do you care about a secret path out of the bog? It would shorten your trip north by half a day.”
Bea ran up beside me. “Yes! If it saves time, show it to us!”
Peck gave Bea a tiny bow. “Showing it to you would give me pleasure. After supper.”
Bea kicked Peck hard in the shin. “Not after supper. My baby may be dying. Now!”
The hound ran toward Bea, growling.
The hexer jumped back, hopping a little, and whistled at his dog. The dog sat and watched Bea like she may grow claws and horns. Peck made no move toward a path, secret or not.
Bea tried to kick him on the other shin, but he held her off with one arm. She screeched, “Let go, you criminal!”
Halla grasped Bea’s arm and held her in place. “Eating snake does not take much time.”
Bea curled her lip at Halla and lowered her voice, but every word fell like a marble in a quiet room. “Your children may be an hour away from dead, but you whine about supper? What kind of woman are you?”
Halla froze, still holding Bea’s arm. Then she let the small woman go and gazed at the ground. “I am ashamed. I am a woman who is ashamed. Thank you.”
Peck was rubbing his shin and glaring at Bea. I edged closer in case the man tried to hit her or kick her in return. Instead, he straightened and smiled. “I suppose you’re in a spanking hurry to travel on, that your task is more important than a good snake stew. You ought to sleep here for the night, though.” He shifted his gaze to Halla and me. “You can set off rested. Besides, you’ll want to travel through the bog as little as possible in darkness. Does that make sense?”
Suddenly things did make sense. I had been looking for treachery, but Peck was just lonesome and wanted to share a meal. Well, if he desired company, he shouldn’t live in the middle of a damn swamp. I turned to Halla. “We can get out of this smelly, sucking hole half a day sooner than Leddie’s men expect.”
Whistler said, “To hell with Leddie’s men. Beg pardon.” He nodded at Bea. “This place smells like a sick pig that’s passed through an alligator. Let’s cross it as fast as possible.”
Halla nodded. “Peck, show us this secret path.”
The hexer threw his head back and laughed. “Wonderful! You can stay for supper!”
“No, we will leave now,” Halla said. “Tell us about this path.”
Bea stepped up beside Halla and nodded.
“You seem set on this, and that is damned unfortunate.” Peck crossed his arms. “You’ll all stumble off the trail and die as soon as the sun sets, and that’s an unlikely path to victory. Think of those children. No, I’ll have to guide you. And there will be a cost.” The man chuckled.
That was to be expected. Even hermits needed to buy things now and then. I made a show of digging in a pouch that I knew held no coins. “We can scrape together a little silver between us. We might find a smidge of gold deep in a pouch someplace, but I couldn’t promise it.”
Peck stopped smiling. “I don’t need gold. The toads and raccoons don’t care about it. I need help with a problem.”
I should have ignored Peck at that point, just pretended he never lived and gone off into the swamp without him. But everybody else started asking about his problem, and Bea promised straight-out to help him before she heard a single detail. Whistler backed her up half a breath later. Peck started explaining things, Halla and Pil asked questions, and the whole situation flew beyond my control in less than a minute.
Peck’s problem was lawlessness. For a few
