“Wall, yore welcome t’ watch me work, liddle piskie,” he told it gravely. “But there ain’t much t’see right now, I reckon.”

He went back to work again, and the afternoon passed much too quickly for her liking, what with telling him what she knew about how magic worked, and the kinds of critters he was likely to see. She didn’t get into the Cherokee critters, nor the Cherokee magic. Partly, that was caution—she had no idea what the Holcrofts knew about the Cherokee living in the Holler. Partly, it was because she didn’t know if he’d be allowed to know about them, or about Cherokee magic. The Ravens might not cotton to that notion. And partly it was because she didn’t know if any of the Cherokee spirits would be inclined to show themselves to him, being as he was a white man with no connection to them. She wasn’t quite sure why she had been seeing the Little People even before she came here and met her aunt and the Ravens, but Josh didn’t describe anything like the Little People, so she elected to keep their existence to herself for now.

She also didn’t tell him about Jolene.

And that was just pure selfishness. If he knew Jolene—that is, the Jolene that the people of Ducktown clearly knew—she didn’t want him approaching the woman to ask about magic, which he might. He was friendly, and open, and honest, and she could give him no good reason why he shouldn’t ask Jolene about magic if he had the chance.

And once he approached her, that was where the trouble might start. How could she ever compete with someone as beautiful as Jolene, if Jolene took an interest in him? And she surely, surely did not want Jolene taking an interest in him.

Never get between Jolene and something she wants.

So, best to leave Jolene out of this discussion altogether.

Finally the westering sun told her that she was going to have to take her leave of him if she wanted to get back to the cabin without running afoul of her aunt. “I gotta go,” she said reluctantly.

“Or yore aunt’ll hev a conniption, an’ y’all will be late for supper. Not in thet order,” he agreed, and put down his hammer and chisel again to turn and take her face in both of his dust-covered hands. “I meant what I done said, Anna May Jones. All of’t. Y’all’s th’ best thang t’come t’Lonesome Holler, ever, an’ I don’t intend t’let m’chance with y’all slip away.” And with that, he very gently kissed her on the lips, and quickly let her go. “Now y’all better skedaddle. I’m a-gonna go find Pa, an’ let him know what we’re a-thinkin’.”

Then he turned her bedazzled self around by the shoulders, faced her toward the opening into the barn, and gave her a gentle push.

She absolutely did not remember a single moment of the trip up to the cabin, because the next thing she knew, she was washing up at the well alongside her aunt. Thankfully, either Jinny hadn’t said anything, or she had somehow managed to respond intelligently, because her aunt said nothing until they were both sitting down to supper, with the light gilding the landscape outside the door.