Now she must go; she must find a place of hiding as far from here as she might travel before the sun rose bright in the spring sky. Her helpers seemed to be waiting; perhaps they expected some reward. Nessa took her knife again and moved sunwise around the circle, undoing what she had made here. She spoke a few words to the guardian of each quarter, spending a little longer in the north, home of Bone Mother, for she knew the ancient one had sent courage to her heart and steadied her hand in this night’s work. There: the circle was unmade, the morning brightened, the wide sky showed a faint rim of rose pink to the east. Still they waited there, eyes dark and solemn, bodies clad in tattered rags, whose openings showed old, deep slashes to the skin, neat patterns of lines on chest, belly, back, or thigh. Some wore talismans of whalebone driven through ear or nose, and one had a necklace of tiny skulls.

“Th–thank you,” Nessa stammered, not at all sure they would understand. “I honor you for coming to aid me. Without you, I could not have completed this task.”

They stood unblinking.

“I would like to give you something, some token of my gratitude,” she said, “but I came away in haste; I have very little.”

Now they were staring at Guard; one licked his lips. The hound growled a warning.

“I have a little food. Bread, some hard cheese, some dried fruit. You are welcome to that.” She bent toward the bag, wondering how she would manage if even this meager supply were gone.

A bony finger tapped her shoulder. Nessa looked up. Its owner motioned toward her face, then to his own, touching the lips. A rustling went around the circle; they edged in closer.

“A kiss?” Nessa rose to her feet, blinking in amazement. “That is all you want? This I will give gladly, and then I must be on my way. I will remember each of you, and do my best to keep your secret places safe. Our kind and your kind, we are both of the fabric of these islands, though our feet seldom walk the same path.”

Right around the circle of them she went, stooping here, rising on tiptoe there. Each got his kiss; each felt the touch of her lips on cheek or mouth, each felt the warmth of her hands, and one or two were bold enough to put an arm around her, to touch roughened fingers to soft hair or narrow waist. When she was done, she opened her mouth to thank them again, and saw the grins that creased their fierce faces, but before she could speak, the lights faded away and, with a whisper of shadow on dew-touched grass, they were gone. Behind her, the mound still rustled with life as myriad small creatures worked their magic of remaking.