The brothers exchanged a quick glance. They knew the ship. The Quickening. Only one family flew it and only one member of that family would have brought her here.

Mirai Leah.

10

“SHE’S UP HERE!” THEIR MOTHER SHOUTED, CATCHING them both off guard. “Where have you two been? You were supposed to be back by midday!”

Sarys Ohmsford stood squarely in the open door of their home, staring down at them with a look on her face that reflected both suspicion and irritation. She was tall and slim, her Elven features all sharp planes and angles, her red hair worn long and loose about her shoulders. At times she had the look of a cat caught out in a windstorm. Today was one of those times. She looked wild and frazzled and out of patience.

Redden was quick to recognize the cause. “Sorry, Mother. We lost track of time. We were helping an old man down by the lake bring in his nets. It took longer than we thought.”

His mother gave him a look that clearly indicated she had doubts about his story. “Which old man would this be?”

They were walking toward the house now, Redden in the lead and Railing content to let him be so. “We don’t know his name. Never saw him before. He said he lived over by Shady Vale. He even knew our family name, from the old days. He came east in a lake skiff.”

Sarys shook her head. “I’m sure he did. Come say hello to your visitor. She’s beginning to wonder if you still live here.” She turned away as if dismissing them. “She’s in the kitchen eating lunch, but I wouldn’t test her patience any further if I were you.”

They hurried the rest of the way up the path, edging around spools of wire, barrels of nails, bundles of staves tied up with cord, and stacks of lumber under canvas. Building materials new and reclaimed were scattered everywhere, the source of what livelihood the family managed to produce. It was a bare-bones existence, but with their father gone it had been up to the boys from the time they were small to help their mother keep food on the table. Trade and barter with neighbors and the small towns that dotted the shoreline supplemented their efforts at self-sufficiency. It was a combination that provided a way of life for most of those who lived along the lake.

They passed the pens with the animals, the small forge and the cold storage, and were coming up on the house when they smelled the fresh-baked pies and suddenly found Mirai Leah standing in the door beside their mother.

“Your mother is right,” she said. “I was beginning to wonder if you were coming back at all.”

“No, no, we were coming, we just …”

“Just found things a little confusing …”

“More than we … what, Red?”

“Confusing, ’cause of the nets …”