Chapter Nine

The Bond

Catherine was, at the least, surprised, when Bran walked into her room the next day and set her breakfast on the table. Jane and Clara had both been told to stay in Isabella's abandoned room and had moved out around dawn that morning, saying they had decided to stay another day; a storm was coming.

"Hello," Catherine said.

"Where are those papers you took from Daniel?" Bran demanded.

Catherine pulled them out of the sack. He was angry, sure, but not too angry with her. That was good. "Since when did you become translator?" she asked

"Meaning?"

"That stuff is nearly all but illegible. It gave me a headache."

Bran looked over the pages and made a thoughtful sound. Then he became hard again. "From now on, if you disagree with something I or anyone else here says, you have to say so. I will allow you to argue over it. You may learn something, and perhaps they will. But from now on, whenever you know we are right, when I tell you something and you know it would be best for you to obey me, you must obey. Is that clear?"

Catherine blinked and nodded mutely.

"From now on, if you do something wrong, you will be reprimanded. I understand that you had a very loose childhood- no one much cared to teach you right from wrong. Well, that ends now. From now on, I'll be teaching you morality as well."

Catherine couldn't catch her tongue in time. "You? Morality?"

Bran glared at her. This time, she didn't attempt to stand against it.

"Yes. We will continue teaching you how to fight, but only because we can't protect you from Daniel forever. Clara and Jane will teach you manners, as they have been doing. God knows you need them."

He gathered the papers and began to leave.

"Wait!" Catherine said, jumping off the bed. "Where are you going with those papers?"

"You said so yourself they were practically illegible and gave you a headache. At least I can read them and use them."

"Oh." Catherine passed him and held the door open for him. Bran left. "Bran," Catherine called when he was in the doorway. He stopped and turned. She hugged him quickly. "Thank you, Bran."

* * *

Daniel stuck a knife in his belt and took one last look around. Pity they didn't have guns in this time. And even the Dark had rules about those. Seeing nothing else he needed, he left. He was ready.

* * *

That afternoon, the storm struck. Catherine sat by the window, holding Michael. At first he was scared of the thunder and lightning, but she managed to calm him and show him how pretty it was when you actually watched it. And then she saw something coming into the road leading to the inn. A figure dressed in dark clothes, stocky, water running through the black hair.

She had sense enough to set Michael down on the ground before running to the door. She tried to open it, remembered too late that they'd locked it.

It wasn't even that bad! The girl wasn't even badly hurt! she felt like crying out. Instead, she pounded on the door, screaming that he was coming. Either no one cared or no one heard. She kept screaming until her throat hurt, and by then he was coming through the window. They'd locked the door, but not the window. Why?

She ran to get Michael away from him. They both got there at the same time. She held fast to one of the boy's hands, holding it gently but firmly. Daniel held the other tightly, picked up the boy, and began pulling.

"No!" she shouted. "Please no! You'll hurt him!"

He didn't say anything. He grabbed her wrist with a hand that seemed to come from nowhere. He pinched it, harder and harder, until at last she let go. Then he half-shoved, half-threw her onto the bed. She sat up. He was holding this Michael the same way as the one before. "Shame this can't end where it began," he said. "But end it will."

She heard the too-familiar pop and sat up, a scream stuck in her throat. She clamped her hand over her mouth before she could get it out. Don't let him know you're awake, she told herself. She looked around. It was dark. Past afternoon. The storm hadn't left completely; the rain was still falling gently. Shaking, she lit a candle and held it up high. She looked around the room, studying every crevice, every shadow. Nothing.

It had been only a dream.

She sniffled, and she drew her knees up to her chin. Quickly, she shook her head. There were other things she had to do. Get Michael and get out were among her top priorities. She placed the candle on the table and wrapped Michael in the too big blanket. He stirred a little, but went on sleeping, lost in dreams of his own.

"What I'd give to be able to sleep as peacefully as you," she said softly. She gathered the candle and went to the door. They hadn't locked it. She was slightly surprised by this; she'd never tried it before because Bran had made it so clear that she was to stay, but in the dream, she had been so certain.

She swallowed and stepped into the hall. She'd left her shoes and socks in the room, and there was a draft running through that made her shiver. She tried hard to remember where Bran's room was. She'd hardly known where to find it before, and now she had the darkness working against her as well.

After too many eternities of wandering, she found what she hoped was the right room and knocked softly. He came a few seconds later.

"Cat," he said surprised.

"Please don't make me stay there tonight," she whispered.

He looked at her and stepped back to let her in. She came in gratefully and looked around. A few candles were lit, the papers she'd given him spread out. The candles had been lit for a while; the wax was wet and dripping.

"You were already awake," she said simply.

"Yes." He closed the door. "Now, then. Why did you leave your room when I thought I'd made it clear I'd wanted you to stay there?"

She shivered and began explaining about her nightmare. She hesitated when she got to the part when no one would come, but made that part short enough that he hopefully wouldn't notice, and she nearly had to stop altogether when she told him what Daniel had said. It wasn't until she told him she'd heard the pop, that Daniel had killed this one as well, that she lost control.

"Promise me," she said as he handed her a cup of water. She sipped at it, trying to get under control of herself again. "Promise me that you'll make sure Michael stays all right."

"I already promised," he pointed out.

"Then promise me again."

"I promise you again, then."

"Thank you, Bran."

She made sure Michael was comfortably sleeping and lay down beside him. A few minutes before she fell asleep, the scratching of a pen distracted her. "Go to sleep, Bran," she said sleepily.

"I will," he said.

"You'll do it now," she said, more forcefully and more awake.

"May I ask why you are giving orders to me?"

"Because you need sleep."

"I need to do this as well."

"You aren't doing anyone any good if you're half-dead. Go to bed, Bran."

"All right, all right."

* * *

The next day, Catherine was allowed out again. It was still raining, making the road too dangerous to travel. She refused to go into her room to gather her things until Clara agreed to go in with her. After that, she took the third bed in Isabella's abandoned room. That night, she asked Arthur to keep Michael in his room. They both knew that Bran had told him about her nightmare, and he agreed.

They stayed at the inn for three more days, until the road was safe enough to travel again. Catherine stayed close to the others, preferring to walk with either Bran or the girls. Four days after her nightmare, and ever since her dream, she'd had a growing awareness that he was coming closer. She didn't know why he hadn't been closer before, but now she felt intention behind everything. Four days cooped up in the inn only mean that Daniel was four days closer.

"It's a rush now, isn't it? To get to the top of the mountain?" she asked Bran.

"Yes."

"Good."

And then she noticed Jane and Will walking together comfortably, and she met Jane's eyes, and winked.

Jane blushed brilliantly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

© 2001. Hey, guys. 'Sup? Anyway, few more chapters. I'm sorry, guys, but I feel like such an irresponsible writer. It wasn't until I sat down to finish this (I had run into a snag in Chapter Ten) that I realized I already had two chapters ready for posting. C'est la vie. It's 3:17 in the morning, but I will see to it that you guys get this entire story today! (And I can get some rest. LOL.)