Karen’s breath caught. “If you want.”
He held it out to her. She took it back, undid the clasp, then shifted forward on her knees.
Colin scooted around, back to her, and as soon as he saw the pendant fall down before his face, he ducked his head. He felt the chain against his neck, felt Karen’s hands brush his skin as she closed the clasp again and sat back.
Turning, he picked the pendant up in his hand, ran his fingers across its cold metal and glass, then slipped it inside his shirt, where its weight rested against his skin.
Karen smiled tentatively, then settled back to the rock beside him.
They sat together staring out into the unknown plains and dark night for another hour without saying a word.
“Are the last of the horses ready?” Colin’s father shouted from the end of the line.
Colin looked down the wagons, saw the foreman on the end signal with a hand wave, then turned back toward his father, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted, “All hitched and ready!”
Three wagons down, his father waved, then ducked between the lead horses out of sight. Colin heard him shouting to someone else, men yelling and whistling on all sides. All the families that had been asked to join the wagon train except two had been assembled. One of those families was still frantically dismantling the tent they’d lived in for the past two months; the other had decided at the last minute to return to Andover instead. Colin could still hear the man apologizing to his father and Sam, his wife standing behind him, a stern look on her face, body rigid with disapproval as she stared at the men loading the last of the supplies. As soon as her husband joined her, she headed toward the remains of Lean-to, her husband following meekly behind.
“Looks like he was whipped with a pussy willow,” Sam said as they watched the two retreat. One of the men nearby snickered.
Colin’s father merely grunted. “Two less mouths to feed. And two less souls to worry about. I’m certain more will head back to Portstown and Andover once we get started.”
The wagons appeared ready. Goats bleated, hitched to the backs with rope, and children shrieked as they chased each other and the dogs everywhere, the dogs yipping and barking. Mothers muttered curses, hurrying to get their last-minute supplies onto the wagon beds, and men laughed, standing in small groups, conversing.
Colin scanned the plains ahead, eyes shaded against the morning sun still low on the horizon, and grinned. His satchel hung at his side, containing only a few rocks and his sling. He’d helped his mother strip everything of use from their hut, including wood from the sides and roof. All they were waiting for now was the Proprietor.
Even as he thought it, he heard Sam’s piercing whistle. Abandoning the front of the wagons, where the horses were stamping the ground restlessly with all the heightened activity, Colin slid between the two nearest wagons, hand raised to brush the cured hides that formed their roofs, and emerged on the far side.
Everyone was gathering near the back of the first wagon. Colin saw his father standing in front, but they weren’t waiting for the Proprietor. A group of twenty men approached the wagons from the direction of the rougher section of Lean-to, mostly conscripts, their faces hard, eyes black with hatred. The few members of the Armory who’d remained with the wagons headed out to meet them, most of the men from the wagon train, including Colin’s father, joining them a moment later.
Colin caught his mother searching for him, her face troubled, but before she found him, he jogged down the slope and joined the group, pushing forward to the front, where his father and the man who led the group were facing each other, both tense, both frowning.
“What do you want, Karl?” his father asked.
The leader of the conscripts smiled, but it didn’t touch his eyes above his bristly beard. “So you’re going through with it? You’re really going to take Sartori up on his offer?” His voice blended disbelief, resentment, and sarcasm.
Colin’s father straightened. “Yes.”
Karl shook his head. “You know he can’t be trusted. He’ll take back whatever he promised you eventually.”
A few of the settlers shifted uncomfortably, trading glances, but Colin’s father didn’t waver. “I don’t think he will. He needs us. He needs our skills.”
“He needs your cooperation,” Karl barked, and for the first time Colin noticed that he carried an ax, the weapon hooked through his belt. Most of the men behind him carried weapons as well, mostly knives but a few swords. They all shifted restlessly, the tension on the air increasing as the Armory around Colin responded in kind. Still focused on Colin’s father, Karl continued. “You should stay here, join us. We could use you and your men, the materials in those wagons, your skills. Sartori doesn’t have the right to force us out.”
“Yes, he does,” Colin’s father said sharply. “He’s the Proprietor, named by the charter that was signed and sealed by the Court. This isn’t Andover or Trent. There are no judges here, no courts. There’s only the Proprietor.”
Karl bristled, his lips compressing, arms crossed over his chest beneath his beard. “Then perhaps we need a new Proprietor.” The men behind him rumbled agreement.
Colin’s father stiffened. “I’m not willing to take that risk, not when my wife or my son may pay the price.” He didn’t glance toward Colin, but Colin felt his attention on him nonetheless. The guildsmen from Lean-to behind him nodded. “You’ll have to find someone else to join your rebellion. You’ll get no support here.”
Karl grunted, head lowering. “So be it. But if Sartori comes with his Armory…” He left the threat unfinished, glancing meaningfully toward the Armory at Tom’s back.
When Tom didn’t respond, Karl spat to one side and stalked off in the direction of Lean-to, his men parting before him, then closing up behind.
“He’s the new Shay,” Colin’s father said, his stance relaxing as the group moved farther away. “And like Shay, he’s going to get himself killed.”
He frowned, turned toward Colin, then the rest of those gathered behind him. But before the group could begin to head back toward the wagons, someone shouted and motioned toward Portstown.
A group of Armory guardsmen trudged up the slope from the direction of the town, ahead of another group of ten on horseback, including the Proprietor, Signal Daverren from the West Wind Trading Company, along with one of his assistants in a brown vest, Sedric, Walter, and Patris Brindisi and another priest.
Colin frowned when he saw Walter scowling.
The group that had gathered to meet Karl and his men split, some heading back to the wagons, the rest moving to intercept the Proprietor. Colin spotted his mother headed toward the Proprietor as well and pushed through those gathered to her side. She smiled when she saw him, caught him by the shoulders as he moved to stand in front of her. He realized with a start that he was almost the same height as she.
He’d grown in the last few months.
Then Sartori and his escort drew to a halt before his father. The Proprietor dismounted, followed by all of the rest, and made his way between the Armory to the front. Arten, the commander of the guard, stood beside him on the right, with the Signal, Walter, and Sedric to the left, everyone else behind.
“Tom Harten,” Sartori said, nodding in greeting. “Is everything ready?”
“Proprietor, all of the men, women, and children are assembled and our supplies loaded. We were simply waiting for you.”
“Good. Then I’ll make this quick so you can be on your way. I’ve brought my contingent of representatives for this endeavor. There will be ten members from the Armory to serve as protection for the group and as escort. Commander Arten has volunteered for this service, along with nine other members of the Armory under his command.”
Arten nodded toward Sartori and then toward Tom Harten, while the other guardsmen shifted from Sartori’s group to the wagons. They were all dressed in armor and carried swords. And they all held the reins of their horses. Colin was happy to see the unshaven man who’d watched over him while he’d been imprisoned leading his own and Arten’s horse. There were a few uncertain whispers from the families gathered around them, but these died down quickly.
“From the West Wind Trading Company,” Sartori continued, “Signal Daverren is sending his assistant, Jackson Seytor.” Jackson stepped forward, pulling down on his vest as he did so to straighten out the wrinkles. He shook hands with Daverren and Sartori, then turned to Colin’s father, nodding before moving to join the Armory guardsmen with his own horse. “Also, Patris Brindisi noticed that your group had no priest. He has convinced one
