He guffawed at that. “I et good beefsteak an’ taters fer dinner an’ supper ev’ damn day! Y’all thank I’m a-hankerin’ fer beans an’ hoecake?”

“When y’all’s been a-standin’ there till th’ sun goes down, an’ yore belly’s plumb up agin’ yore backbone, an’ yore a-smellin my good cornbread, I reckon y’all’d beg on yore knees fer a chitlin’,” she retorted. “An’ I ain’t a-feedin’ y’all, an’ I ain’t lettin’ y’all over the threshold. So y’all c’n stand there an’ wait an’ starve, an’ then stand there in th’ dark till dawn, an’ then figger out how y’all is gonna excuse yerself t’ the mine boss when y’all ain’t there on time.” She smirked. “It do git cold up here at night. An’ y’all don’ seem t’ hev brought yoreself so much’s a blanket.”

McDaran’s face turned almost purple with rage, and his free hand clenched and unclenched spasmodically. For a moment, Anna was afraid that he was somehow going to get past the shield and to hit her aunt anyway. Jinny just stared at him fearlessly, not moving an inch.

“Y’all ain’t heerd th’ last of this, Jinny Alscot!” he roared, shaking his fist in the air. “Don’t think y’all hev!”

And with that, he wrenched the poor horse’s head around, flung himself into the saddle, and spurred the beast so viciously that it leapt into a gallop from a standing start.

They watched as Jinny watched him disappear into the distance, then strode up the path between her garden plots up to the cabin.

The mirror misted over, and Anna thought that was all there was going to be. But neither Raven moved, and after a while it misted again, and her aunt’s anxious face peered up at them. The anxious look cleared immediately.

“You got Anna,” she said in Cherokee. “Good. Did you see McDaran?” she asked.

“Most of it, I think.” Old Raven was the one to answer.

She shook her head. “I wish I hadn’t made him angry, because he holds grudges, but maybe he’ll concentrate on his anger and not on looking for Anna.”

“I think we should keep her overnight, just to be sure he does not return,” Young Raven suggested. “I would not be surprised that he should tie the horse up halfway down the lane, and come creeping back in the dusk to see if Anna returns to your home.” Then Young Raven smiled. “But if he does that, he will either have to beg transport of Matt Holcroft, or walk, because the Little People would enjoy untying his horse and sending it back to its stables.”

Jinny cackled. “I do reckon that the horse would be right pleased if that were to happen. You don’t mind keeping Anna for the night, then?”

The old woman, who up until this moment had not spoken, leaned over Old Raven’s shoulder. “And are you insulting my hospitality and manners, Virginia Alscot?”

Aunt Jinny finally laughed, if weakly. “No, Dawn Greeter. I most certainly am not. Thank you kindly.”