The Hallowed Ones

“Herr Stoltz has been imprisoned.”

He caught my elbow. “What do you mean, imprisoned? By the English?”

“No. By the Elders. There is a man with a gun, an Elder guarding his house. And the Bishop is there. I fear that they may put him under the Bann.”

“The Bann . . . Excommunicate him?”

I nodded fiercely. “Ja. If he does not confess and repent.”

“They’d be fools to do it!” he exclaimed. “The old wizard is their only hope.”

“I know it, and you know it. But they will not allow him to flout the rules like that.”

“But—”

“We will talk of this more. But show me Sunny,” I insisted. I might have no control over what the Bishop did to Herr Stoltz, but I could at the very least make sure that Sunny was safe.

“She’s here.”

I followed him to the back paddock. The dog lay on her blanket, uncovered. Her sides twitched, and her front paws moved, as if she were dreaming. She rolled her brown eyes up at me.

“Shhh, girl. It’s all right.” I knelt beside her, stroked her sides.

“Gah,” Alex said. “Is that what I think it is?”

I rinsed my hands in the bucket, then reached for the tiny gummy bundle that Sunny pushed out onto the straw. Sunny licked at it, worrying at the puppy while I pulled open the protective sack.

“Get me some scissors, would you? And some of the clean towels on the shelf beside the door.”

“Got it.” He sped away as fast as his feet could carry him.

I smiled to myself. The events of the last days may have left me shocked and stupefied. But this . . . this I could handle.

I rubbed the puppy gently in my lap with a corner of the blanket to stimulate its circulation. I lifted it to my ear, felt its heart beat and the flutter of its breathing. His tiny, delicate paws twitched, and I set him back beside Sunny’s belly. She began to serenely lick the top of his head.

Alex returned with the towels and scissors. Copper peered around the corner, whining.

“It’s okay, boys.” I chuckled, setting the scissors to the umbilical cord. “I think that Frau Gerlach might be right about your gender.”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

There was something reassuring about the normal, orderly process of birth. I smiled and cooed at the puppies as they came, one after the other. Copper developed enough nerve to lay down in the stall, and Alex sidled in behind him. I handed him one of the puppies.

He held it in his hands—hands that I remembered decapitating people just yesterday. I could see the terror on his face that he might drop it. He cradled the puppy close to his chest. “So tiny. And his eyes aren’t even open.”

“Her eyes. That one’s a her.”

“Eh. How can you tell?” He picked up a puppy and squinted at its tail region.

“The usual way.” I grinned as I rubbed the latest arrival down with a towel. There was little to see except to the trained eye.

“Bonnet, did anyone ever tell you that you’re a smart-ass?”

“No,” I said innocently. “Plain folk don’t use that kind of language.”

He snorted.

There were four puppies born over the afternoon. Four and the afterbirth, which Alex grimaced at. I took it away before Sunny had a chance to eat it. Though, in retrospect, it might have given me some small satisfaction to allow her to do it and disgust the Outsider.

I sat with my back to the paddock wall beside Alex, watching Sunny nose the puppies into position to nurse. Copper dozed in the straw, his tail slapping occasionally as he dreamed.

Alex casually draped his arm around me. And, for a moment, the world seemed right and good. The puppies were all healthy and perfect. Sunshine streamed in through the slats of the barn. I smelled sweet straw and snuggled up to Alex’s chest.

As I felt the joy growing in me to see the puppies making their way safely into the world, I also felt a pang of sorrow.

Alex must have sensed me frowning against his chest. He tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. My ear tingled at that light touch. “I’ve been thinking about what you said. About Stoltz. Your Elders. And your Bishop.”

At this moment, in the dazzling sunshine, I was more afraid of the men in black than the Hexenmeister’s terrible Darkness. “You have a plan? A plan to free Herr Stoltz?”

“Not exactly. If they found Stoltz, they’re going to be on a witch-hunt.”

“We are a nonviolent people, but . . .” I sighed. “It seems that their word is law. Now more than ever . . . and for things beyond the Ordnung. Without discussion.”

He kissed the top of my bonnet. “Then, I should go.”

“Go where?” I blinked up at him. “No. The vampires will have you before the moon comes up.”

“Yeah, well. Better me than you. And it’s not like I’m going to last here for long, anyway.”

“You are safe here, under the hex sign. And I will bring you food . . .”

“But what about winter? What about when it’s hip-deep in snow and you guys have exhausted your food? You just can’t.”

“Don’t,” I said. My fingers were wound in his shirt buttons. “Don’t leave.”

His head dipped close to mine, and for a moment I thought he meant to kiss me. But then he drew away, slid his arm from behind my neck.

“Look. I don’t want to make it any harder than it already is.” His tone was flat, and he pulled his knees up to his chest, let his elbows rest on them and his hands dangle into space. “I’m a dead man, Bonnet. It’s just a matter of timing now.”

I reached for his hand. “Don’t go.”

He shook his head, stared up at the light in the barn. “Day’s burnt. I’ll be out of your hair tomorrow, bright and early. Get a head start, that way.”

Tears prickled my eyes, but I nodded sharply. I let his hand go, rose to my feet.

“I will see you tomorrow morning, then,” I said quietly, turning so that he couldn’t see my face. “I’ll bring you some provisions.”

“Thanks.” He looked up at me. “I mean it. You’ve done a great thing for me, Bonnet. Your God would be pleased.”

I nodded. “And your god will be pleased to see you soon.”

Chapter Twenty-One

I had hoped . . .

Ja. I had hoped for many things. A normal life. A taste of freedom. Maybe some Coca-Cola and a movie once in a while.

But those things had dissipated, and I was left with smaller hopes. Like hoping that the stranger would stay. That, somehow, he could.

I had hoped.

After all, I had no one left. Not even to talk to about the Darkness falling over us.

I trudged back to my house, feeling the lowering sun on my back through the fabric of my dress. Maybe Alex was right. Maybe it didn’t matter anymore. Maybe our fates were inevitable, and the rest was just timing.

I scrubbed my sleeve across my face.

A scrap of fate from my old life was waiting for me on the back step when I returned. Elijah. His crutches