Chapter Three

Plans for the Journey

The next morning was my turn to bring breakfast to the boy in the fields minding the flocks. Dawn had come, and the morning sun beamed cheerily overhead, daring me to come out and have some fun. But I was too tired and too pensive over what I had learned last night to be in the mood for any kind of fun. Instead of skipping merrily along or however the sunshine wanted me to travel, I trudged towards the Watch Rock where Hans perched, his mint green eyes gazing at one of the lambs frisking around its mother.

"Good morning," he said softly.

"Blrgh," I replied, and handed him the basket. Inside was my breakfast and his - a waterskin full of fresh milk, a dozen buns with currants and raisins baked in, and two of the winter plums that grew in the forest. Without talking or even speaking a blessing over the food, I tore into one of the buns and wolfed it down in five bites - an amazing feat, for the buns my aunt baked were almost as big as my doubled fist.

"You shouldn't stay up and eavesdrop on people," Hans said in return, and had the decency to pound me on the back when I choked on my bite of bun. I stared at him in shock as he added, "My father once said I had the ears of a cat, the eyes of an owl, and the nose of a wolf. I notice things."

It was then that I realized I had for some inexplicable reason assumed he had the night watch last night. Perhaps because no cry of "wolf!" had come shrieking out of the dark. The wolves seemed to stay away when Hans was on watch, playing his flute or simply gazing absently at the sheep. But no, for he had had the day watch, and no boy, no matter how old, was expected to stay awake all day and all night on my father's farm.

So Hans had been in the house... and known I was awake. Known I was listening to Lily and Wulf. But then, did he know what she had done?

"You need someone who can tell you where the winds are, right?" Hans asked, answering my unasked question. "You plan on going to the Regent for help, don't you?"

After a long, tense eon of silence, "Yes," I whispered in a rush. "I have to. My brothers are in trouble, and time is running out, I can feel it. I don't know how I know this, but I do."

Beside me, Hans sighed.

"I understand. My sister told me the same thing, once. Well, in that case, you and I had better be packed and well away before dusk."

"How? My father always comes to fetch me if I'm not in the house by the time the sky begins to darken."

He winked at me, but would say nothing, only told me to eat my breakfast and go in and pack for a long journey.

* * *

Wulf found me packing.

I suppose I should have been expecting it, because so far everything had gone far too easy. Everything was so simple: I overheard the witch talking about her plans, confided them to a would-be hero, and was getting ready to leave unmolested on a journey to save my brothers. But like in every story, things didn't work that way. Opposition always comes.

In this case, opposition came when the boy whom I'd thought to be my friend and thought until recently to be the witch's son surprised me more than I'd been surprised in a long time.

"I'm going with you," Wulf's voice came from behind me. I whirled around and had to clap my hand over my mouth to stifle the shriek waiting to pour out of it. With pounding heart, I looked up at the scruffy boy who stared at me, eyes challenging.

"Not on your life," I snapped. "Your mother...."

I trailed off, biting my tongue. I couldn't reveal to him that I knew what Lily had done, that I knew about the spell and knew who to go to in order to break it. But again, Wulf surprised me.

"Do you really think I'm as stupid as my mother thinks I am? Did you honestly believe that I don't pay attention to her every word, her every deed, and so I know how to break the spells she has on your brothers? Do you really think I needed to ask? I asked because I knew you were listening."

My blood turned to ice. My heart thundered in my chest until I thought my ribs would crack. There was a savage desperation in Wulf's voice I'd never heard before. Reaching out a hand, I took hold of Wulf's dirty hand.

"You knew I was there."

"Yes."

"And you asked the questions I could not, so I could hear the answers."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because my own mother cursed me, and your father loathes me, but you... you are kind to me. Why would I seek to hurt you?"

"I don't know. That's... that's a good point. But if I take you with us-"

"I swear I won't betray you," the scraggy boy inserted instantly, which told me he'd considered that I would think of this. "I don't know what oath I can give you," he added, and in truth, neither did I, "but I swear I won't betray you to Lily. I hate her. She kidnapped me as a child, and.... She is the only mother I have ever known, and she treats me worse than your family treats your sheep."

Trying to hide my wince, for I had seen this, I pushed back my choppy brown hair. It needed to be cut again, I noticed.

"All right," I replied, looking into his eyes like blue jewels. "But only if Hans is all right with it as well. I don't want there to be any problems between the two of you." Before he could get the protest out of his half-open mouth, I added, "I know how boys are. You both are good lads, and wonderful friends, and I don't want some stupid rivalry screwing up this trip when I have more important things to worry about, like my brothers."

We locked eyes, mine like violets, his like the sky. It seemed an eternity, though it was probably only a few minutes. In the end, it was I who won, and Wulf looked away.

"I will be waiting by the Watch Rock when the Evening Star touches the tops of the trees," I told him. "Be ready."

"I will."