Chapter Twelve
Arrietty led the way, rushing into the hall and Homily followed. Pod got in before he was totally soaked and set his end of the bead tube down so he could wipe his face with his handkerchief. Spiller got the worst of it and was pretty soaked when he finally got in and set down the other end of the tube. He shook himself like a wet dog and Homily stepped back saying, "oh, dear," as water flew off his hair and a puddle formed around his bare feet.
"I'll go get help," Arrietty said practically, and soon Halberd and Daubery were taking the bead tube in and Hemiola was rushing to make tea. The twins rushed for towels and Pod, Homily and Arrietty went back to the spare room to take turns changing into dry clothes. Actina handed one towel to Spiller and he dried himself off in the doorway as best as he could.
Sateen was ecstatic over the beads. "Oh, Spiller, these will make perfect buttons for the dresses! Wherever did you get them?"
"Little Fordham," Spiller replied, taking the cup of tea that Hemiola offered him. He looked over at Halberd. "Same lady as made your quilt had 'em."
Halberd understood this at once. "How are things in Little Fordham," he asked casually to change the subject.
"Pod's trying to get everything out of there and down to the mill. Just dropped off a load and will have to do at least one more." He glanced at Sateen. "If you don't use all of those beads can Homily have a few? She thinks they will make good dress buttons, too. She's keen to see the dresses you've made the girls for the wedding."
"I'd be happy to show her," Sateen said. "Would be nice to have another woman's opinion. Here, Spiller, have some more nice hot tea."
He sat down on a cork stool so as not to wet one of her padded seats and she smiled. He's getting quite domesticated, Sateen thought, and wondered if that was more Arrietty's doing or Homily's. She went and got him a piece of digestive biscuit to go with the tea to hold him until supper time, and then went to see if she could add anything to the supper to make it stretch for four more people.
"We can slice a loaf of bread and put it out with butter, and we can boil some more vegetables," Hemiola told her mother, "and I can stir some cinnamon into a crock of applesauce and set that out."
Sateen looked at her. "You might be able to manage a household after all. Cut up a carrot into small pieces and start cooking it. We can mix it in with the peas we already have cooked."
They all had a quite adequate supper and then while the men sat around the table and talked, the women all went back to the sewing room Sateen had set up in the back of the flat and began to ooh and ah over the dresses. Homily set to work at once helping Sateen get all the bead buttons sewn on. The camaraderie, Spiller decided, was nice. He looked around the table at the faces smiling through the winking candlelight, listened to the rise and fall of their voices and to the higher pitched laughter and voices coming from down the hall. His life really had changed.
When he had first found Pod's family, he had been struck by how much he enjoyed just sitting around the table after a good meal that someone else had cooked, and just talking. He had gotten away from that habit except occasionally with Burgonet, and it was easier to get back into than he had imagined it would be. Now he was enjoying talking not only to Pod, but to Daubery, who was finally treating Spiller like an adult, not a child, and to Halberd. This was the biggest change of all.
Like Arrietty, Spiller had never considered Halberd to be an interesting person, someone worth talking to. Whenever he had to stop in at Lupy's, Spiller had left as quickly as possible, never stopping to share a meal or have a conversation. He'd had enough of them all when they had taken over his stove although he didn't regret that knowing it was the best thing to do at the time. So many people though had been a shock to Spiller's system that he had not been eager to repeat. Now Spiller was so comfortable with Halberd that he could sit with him and Daubery's family and enjoy a sense of community in a way he never thought he would.
When he'd run away from his family's fire Spiller had instinctively known that staying with Daubery, who had found him on the riverbank one miserable night, had also been the best thing to do at the time, but having just lost one family he had not been able to let himself get too attached to another one. He'd appreciated everything Daubery and Sateen had done for him, been fond of the girls, and Actina's birth soon after had exorcised some of the demons that had haunted him after the loss of his mother and the new baby. He'd been grateful for this lovely, living child and for this family, but he had never completely accepted them.
When Pod, Homily and Arrietty had come along Spiller had finally come to terms with his past and been ready to think about a real future instead of merely surviving and taking his life day to day. The fact that Arrietty was a growing girl and he was becoming a young man had had something to do with that but it had been more to that.
He listened to the female voices coming from the sewing room and grinned. They were certainly delighted by their newfound companionship. Sateen and Homily were both happy to have a friend that lived the same way and had the same values. Tightly bound to the traditional house borrower lifestyle, they talked of women's doings, their children, and the everyday things that men just never paid attention to unless they had to.
Pod was good at working around the house, and could build almost anything Homily asked of him, but she was having much more fun discussing dresses and cooking and knitting patterns with another woman. The only problem turned out to be those dratted beads.
Homily and Sateen had checked the size of the button holes on all of the dresses and just started sewing them on when Homily said wistfully, "If you don't use them all, Sateen, I'd love to have some of them to use myself."
"I'll make you up a bag of them. I have plenty," Sateen said, and setting her sewing aside began to do just that.
"You can put them on Arrietty's wedding dress!" Actina piped up.
'Yes," Sateen said, "have you given any thought to what kind of dress you want, Arrietty?"
"Not yet," she said, holding her head down over the hemming she was doing on the dress for Elegancy. Sateen had finished hemming the dresses for the twins but since Elegancy seemed to get taller by the week her dress had been put off.
"We've got plenty of time before Arrietty thinks of getting married," Homily said in a martyred tone. "I mean she's talked about it but her father and I aren't sure about that at all."
Semplice and Sennet cried out in unison at this.
"But Spiller and Arrietty both said it would be next spring!" Semplice said.
"Yes, we were so looking forward to hearing all about it! I adore weddings!" Sennet added.
Homily whirled around and glared at Arrietty, who rose slowly to face her. "Arrietty! You and Spiller told them you were getting married next year?"
"Yes," Arrietty said calmly, "and he told Aunt Lupy and Uncle Hendreary, too. I'm as old as you were when you got married. This is what I want and you know it."
Homily shrieked Spiller's name and he and Pod and Halberd came barreling down the hallway. "What's happened?" Pod asked, worried.
"Spiller and Arrietty told all of them that they're getting married next spring! Did you agree to that?"
Pod's eyes went very round, the way they always did when he was upset. "We never set no date, but he's talked about it and she's talked about it." He glanced at Spiller reproachfully
"He told my family about it," Halberd said, trying to be helpful and just making things worse. "We were all happy for them. We all just assumed they'd set a date eventually."
"Lupy knows about this and I don't?" Homily was now beside herself, and Spiller felt like he had to defend himself. He and Arrietty had discussed this on and off so much, and he had discussed it with so many other people, that he had just assumed everyone would see it as clearly as he did. Apparently not.
"We have not set a date," he said firmly, "but next year we want to and I can't believe anyone expected any different. One wedding at a time is enough, though, so let's get through this one and next year we can come back to it."
"Yes, let's," Arrietty interjected. "It's not like Spiller and I have to decide any time soon."
"I should hope not," Homily said under her breath reaching for her bag of beads, which she knocked over. All of the girls had to help her pick up.
The men went back into the other room. "Honestly, Spiller," Daubery said sternly, "I had no idea you hadn't told Pod here that Arrietty had agreed to marry you next year."
"Told him I wanted to marry her," Spiller said through clenched teeth, "and she's told them she wants to marry me. That part is settled. All that's left now is the details. Some days we wish it was sooner and some days we wish it was later, but we'll sort it out sometime next year for sure. Not sure what the big deal is!"
Pod poured himself a bit more tea. "It's one thing to talk about it happening someday. But it's the beginning of October. Next year is coming up sooner than we're ready for. We're still trying to sort out the move to the mill. Can't you and Arrietty let us enjoy that for awhile?"
"Can try but I'm not sure if Arrietty will ever be happy there," Spiller said firmly. "You're more than welcome to see but she just doesn't think under the floor is the kind of life she wants to live anymore. Why do you think she's been moping and stalling?"
"Personally," Halberd said, "I'd think seeing all of this uproar the wedding is causing us would turn her off the idea altogether. I never realized how much work getting myself married would be. Spiller, are you sure we'll be all right in those tunnels behind your stove through the winter?"
"Positive," Spiller answered, grateful for the neat way Halberd had changed the topic. "As long as them pinholes in the gas pipe keep burning you'll be fine."
"Homily can make some more of those light blue blankets for you," Pod put in. "She's going to want to give you a wedding present anyway, and we have plenty of material left that she hadn't taken apart. I'll tell her that's what you need and she can get working on it right away when we get back to the mill. Then when Spiller picks up Arrietty to take her to the wedding, Homily can have them ready. You may even be able to have the wedding sooner than you thought. It won't take until the end of the month to settle all this."
"I have another handkerchief that she can use for binding the edges if you want her to make more blankets, and I agree about the wedding. We should be able to move it up a week at least," said Spiller. After that the evening progressed better for him, at least until it was time for him to curl up on the couch and sleep. Arrietty was not so lucky, since she was sharing a room with her parents and Homily was never good at letting anything drop. When Arrietty came back from the bathroom and started to make up her bed on the rug as she had always done at Sateen's when her parents were using Spiller's old room, Homily started in again.
"Arrietty, why do you keep bringing up this notion of marrying Spiller? It's humiliating that you've led everyone on to believe that you two are ready to get married."
"Mother, we are and everyone knows it. We haven't led anyone on. The first time I ever came here and Spiller introduced me to everyone, he called me his Arrietty. When he told the cousins, not a one of them was really surprised, except maybe Aunt Lupy. He wants to marry me and I want to marry him. I've been telling you I wanted to marry him since we got out of the attic. You got married when you were my age, didn't you?" Arrietty still thought that stressing this indisputable fact would help her case even though it never seemed to.
"But I want better for you!"
"There is nothing better! We like the same things and want the same things out of life. We're happiest when we're together. We want to live the same way and we want to do it together." Arrietty got her blankets arranged and plopped down on them.
"Is that coming from him, or from you, Arrietty," Pod asked, grumbling. "I know you like the out of doors, but while it's Spiller's way, it's just not the normal borrower way. He keeps saying you won't be happy again under a floor. It's ridiculous. That's where borrowers belong. When we get settled in the mill again, you'll see."
"Papa, for the last time, that's not what I want. Spiller says that because he knows me for who I am and not who he wants me to be. I was starting to hate living under the floor at Firbank long before we ever left. Remember when you first decided to take me borrowing? Mother used to complain about my hankering for blue sky and grass and suchlike, but that wasn't just an odd notion. It's part of who I am."
Homily buried her face in her hands. "It's that grating," she moaned. "I wish we'd never had that grating. When she started spending all her time looking out that grating that's when everything went wrong. She would have been happy if it weren't for that."
"No, I wouldn't have," Arrietty said with a vengeance, punching the pillow they'd given her. "I would have started hating the gates and dust and nothing but light through the cracks, just like Eggletina did. All those stories about her you used to scare me with! And the whole time she got out and she was fine. And I'll be fine, too, as long as I've got Spiller."
"We didn't know that and you can't know that," said Pod heatedly. Then something occurred to him that he never would have thought of, especially with her. "Arrietty Clock, are you and Spiller doing anything you shouldn't be? We've been trusting you two and I'd hate to think that trust has been wasted. I know you've been kissing. Is that it?"
Homily gasped, and swiveled her head around to gape at her daughter.
"Papa, that's not why we want to get married. You can trust us. I trust Spiller and I trust myself. We don't have to get married because of what we do that way. We want to get married because we love each other and belong together. I will go to the mill, that I will do, because even Spiller agrees indoors is the place to stay when snow is deep and winter is coming, but when winter is over we are going to talk about it again and decide about when to hold the wedding. Spiller will be twenty later this month and I'll be eighteen in June, and that's as long as we need to wait."
"I won't let you!" Homily said passionately. "You need to come to your senses."
"You need to come to yours," Arrietty said rudely. "I can't imagine having a wedding without you and Papa there to give me to Spiller, but if you won't, there's other ways to do it."
She rolled over in her blankets, turning her back to them refusing to answer anymore. Pod gave up and blew out the candle. They didn't speak to each other at breakfast either. This was not noticeable to anyone but Spiller, since so many other people were talking about so many other things but he did notice and was not looking forward to the ride home to Little Fordham. He decided that he would just stay in the front of the boat and do what he had to do, and leave Arrietty's parents to Arrietty.
Homily and Pod got in a better mood during the day. Semplice and Sennet complained that they had heard a noise while they had been trying to get to sleep in the huge room that served as a dormitory for the girls. Elegancy backed that up, insisting that they had mice in the wall behind them. Spiller fetched his bow and arrows from the boat to check this out and yes, caught a pair of mice, trying to build a winter den in the vicar's house.
He managed to shoot them both. Pod and Daubery who had followed him to see what was going to happen, were in awe at the silent way he moved with an arrow notched in his bow, and the lighting fast way he fired it and pulled another from his quiver.
Pod knew he was a good shot but had never seen him do it before. He had gotten a bit cross when Spiller had hissed at him and Daubery to be quieter in the passageway, since they were moving quietly, or so they thought, but Spiller's silence and quickness amazed them.
"I had forgotten how good you are at that," Daubery said, wiping his face with a handkerchief after they had pulled the mice back to the main hallway.
"I never saw the likes of that," Pod said, looking at Spiller with his old respect.
Spiller, feeling boyishly bashful, rubbed a hand across his forehead as he yanked the arrows out of the mice, wiped them with a piece of cloth he carried in his quiver and shoved them back in. "Nothing to it. Been doing it since I was smaller than Actina."
"That's true," Daubery said. "When we first laid eyes on him he was little more than a tot and had been feeding himself all the way down river, and fires! He can make a fire out of next to nothing, even when the wood is wet."
"Hardly ever totally wet," Spiller explained. "Usually can at least get some dry bark from the underside of the logs."
"Cheer up, Pod," Daubery said, slapping him on the back. "At least Arrietty will never go hungry with this lad."
"I never thought that," Pod answered slowly. "I never did think that, Spiller and I want you to know that. Just hate losing her so soon. Didn't think it would be this soon."
"Haven't lost her and won't," Spiller said shortly, walking over to take a mouse by the tail. "Won't be that different than it is now. We'll come see you."
Pod considered this, a half remembered statement of Arrietty's coming back to mind. "She said that. Once, when we were doing the balloon. She said if she married you that she could come back and see us more than if she married into a family with a set house."
Spiller grinned, thinking of Arrietty reasoning it out and telling her parents that. "That must be part of why she likes me. I thought it was just the out of doors, but Pod, don't you see? She likes me because she knows I'll never leave you and Homily either, just like I'll never really leave Sateen and Daubery and the kids." He looked over at Daubery. "Told you that before, didn't I?'
"Many's the time when he was setting off for wherever he's told me he'll always come back," Daubery assured Pod. "If we ever don't see it the girls will worry themselves to death."
"Oh, not that much," Spiller exclaimed, starting down the hall with the mouse, feeling embarrassed again. "Not that much." Pod and Daubery looked at each other, grinned as well, and, one on each end, picked up the other, larger mouse.
"He has no idea," Daubery whispered, "the way he makes anyone feel, except maybe Arrietty."
"Yes, they seem to understand each other well enough," Pod said, getting a better grip on the mouse's fur. At that moment he finally became resigned to the whole situation.
It was the housekeeper's day off and the vicar was over in his office so after they got the mice cut up Pod and Daubery went borrowing in his kitchen with Spiller. Homily and Sateen discussed how to cook the mice. Two of them would make a fair dinner for all of them, and then got into methods of food preservation. They canned some vegetables with Hemiola that morning.
Arrietty had taken Actina, who had been upset by the presence and fate of the mice, off to the other room to tell her a story. Halberd watched them, drawn in by the way Arrietty wove her words and the way her voice rose and fell. When Actina finally got called away to set the table for dinner, Halberd looked at Arrietty admiringly.
"Now I know why Timmis always wanted you to tell him stories! You and Spiller should have lots of little ones. You're wonderful with children."
"I wish I'd had some to play with when I was younger," Arrietty said with a sigh. "I was so lonely. There was no one left in the big house after you all left. The others had all left back when they ran the gas pipe through the field. Papa said it was because there weren't the pickings there used to be."
He nodded. "It must have been hard to be the last ones. At least I had my brothers and it wasn't that long after we left that we found Eggletina. She had been living outside all spring. I don't know how she did it."
"Mother and Papa used to hold her over my head," Arrietty said frankly. "Look what happened to Eggletina, was what they always said when I wanted to do something they thought was dangerous, but they wouldn't tell me what happened to her. They finally admitted that she'd been eaten by a cat after Uncle Hendreary was seen but that wasn't so."
"They thought she had been" Halberd said. "My father was completely broken up by it. I don't know what would have happened if she hadn't seen us leaving the house and come after us. She would have kept living outside, I suppose, until the weather got bad. Then maybe she would have come back in and she could have been your friend."
Arrietty got up in a fluid motion. "I would have liked that. It would have been nice to have a friend but I have lots now, and I have Spiller."
"Yes, you do, and don't let your parents get you muddled about him. I think you're perfect for each other. My parents didn't want me to plan a wedding either but there comes a time for all of us when we borrowers grow up and need to go out on our own."
"Yes," Arrietty said firmly. "We younger borrowers are growing up."
Sateen called from the kitchen then, telling everyone to wash up, and the line in the bathroom began. Over supper, Spiller said that he and Pod's family would have to be leaving after dinner. They needed to get back to Little Fordham and do the rest of the sorting and packing, but that he would be back again with Arrietty in a few days after Pod and Homily were settled in the mill.
Then he would go get Lupy and Hendreary for the wedding, and he needed to pay a visit to Burgonet before winter set in. As he outlined his schedule out loud, he realized what a busy autumn it would be.
"You're already coming to the wedding, but come with me then, too, won't you Arrietty? Be the last time we can have a nice peaceful visit with them before their baby comes." He looked at her as he passed her the gravy.
"I'd love to see her. Arista probably needs some help getting ready for winter," Arrietty answered, "and I'm so excited about the wedding. My packing is all done. I just have to set aside the dress I'm going to wear to the wedding."
"Good luck to both of you, trying to travel with Lupy on a boat," Homily said tartly.
"Now, dear, that won't be until near the end of the month," Pod said, trying to head off a long anti-Lupy rant. "We'll be all settled at the mill then."
When they got back to Little Fordham, it was almost dawn. Pod and Spiller had stayed up most of the night, but Arrietty and Homily had gone to sleep rolled up in sheep's wool. When Spiller and Pod were tying the boat up, Homily began to fret about what they would have for breakfast.
"There's still a bit of food in the pantry," Pod said uncertainly, but then Spiller said that if Pod and Homily would take the luggage to the Crown he would go to Pott's house and do some borrowing in the kitchen.
"You're too tired, Spiller. You might make a mistake and get in trouble," Pod warned him, but Arrietty spoke up quickly.
"I'm not a bit tired. I got lots of rest. I can go with him and be a lookout like I usually do."
She was worried about him, though. His dark eyes looked dull. There were circles under them and a shadow on his chin where he hadn't shaved. "After breakfast, you need a good long nap," she said, and he didn't disagree.
They didn't see Abel Pott when they slipped into the kitchen but they knew they could take what they wished and that he would not mind. They got a piece of cloth out of Miss Menzies sewing basket and put a piece of bread on it. They set an egg and a small orange on it next. Pulling carefully so as not to break the egg, they went toward the pub. When they got to the door, they were exhausted. Homily had started a fire and put on the kettle.
Looking over the food she asked Spiller if he couldn't have found some butter for the bread, and to cook the egg in, but Pod spoke sharply to her. "Do you have any idea how hard of a job Pott's ice box would be? Want Spiller seen? You're lucky they got all this. There's a bit of cooking oil in a bottle in the pantry. Use that for the egg." He looked at Spiller apologetically, but Spiller just shrugged.
"Going to clean up for breakfast," he said, "and then I need my bed."
"Oh, Spiller," Homily cried as she and Arrietty began to peel the orange, "I have so much to sort through in the kitchen. Do you think you could sleep in your upstairs room for once? I don't want to keep you awake."
"I could sleep anywhere the way I feel," he retorted, and she handed him a slice of orange in the way of an apology to hold him over as she and Arrietty got ready to scramble the egg.
After he ate a big breakfast Spiller went up to the beige bedroom and collapsed, while Pod and Homily, with heavy hearts, gathered everything up and made the Crown and Anchor look as much like it had the day they moved in as possible. Homily knew she would miss it. Not as much as Arrietty, but she would still miss it. Pod looked around and remembered happy things and for a fleeting instant he wished things could be different but knew they could not. Soon everything that they did not need for supper was packed and ready to be moved down to the boat.
Spiller slept a long time. He had very vivid dreams of fire and water, where he was struggling to escape and to reach Arrietty. When he found her it was sunset, and he took her in his arms gratefully with the sun blazing behind them. He woke with a start and realized it was afternoon.
He got up, straightened Miss Menzies lovely beige and green bedding and decided he was glad he had switched to winter clothes. He left his coat still in his pack, but gratefully put on his winter tunic and trousers, the boots Pod had made him, and with his bag packed went downstairs.
"We're all ready to go, Spiller. I think we have time for a bite, though," Homily said bravely.
Arrietty burst into tears. Pod and Homily looked at her bewildered and sad, but Spiller went over and took her in his arms. When she buried her face in his tunic he said into her hair, "Don't cry, Ari. We'll be back soon."
"I know," she said, and then smiled tremulously. "It just seems so final, even though it's not. You look nice in your new clothes and the boots Papa made for you look nice, too."
He grinned. "I'll get used to them, I suppose. Still think I need a fur pair for winter, though." He glanced at Pod, who nodded.
"I'll get started on those once we settle in at the mill."
They ate the food that was left, an odd assortment of things that needed to be used up and then Spiller, who hated to see Arrietty tearful, pushed his chair back from the table and said, "I could use some twine at the stove. Know where there's some. Pott's tool shed. Think I'll go see if I can get some. Arrietty, want to come be a lookout while your parents take a last whip round to make sure they haven't forgotten anything?"
She perked up at once. "I can do that." They went to Mr. Pott's house and found him and Miss Menzies just finishing their tea.
'Spiller, Arrietty, where have you been?" Miss Menzies scolded. "We were worried about you."
"She's been helping Pod and Homily pack," Spiller explained, as Miss Menzies rushed to get them a shortbread biscuit and some tea. "I've been helping Halberd get things ready for the wedding. Pod and Homily are moving out tonight but Arrietty and I will be back in a week or so and I'll take those baby things then. Will that be all right? With everything that's been going on I just haven't had time."
"You just let me know and I'll have it ready for you," Miss Menzies assured him, and then she gasped. "Oh, Abel, tell them about the cigarette case!"
"The one we found? What about it?" Spiller was mystified.
"Saw it advertised in the paper," Pott explained, wiping his mouth as he finished his food. "Described it to a tee, they did. I called the number they gave. Turns out a judge lost it. It had been a gift from his father. He was offering a reward of five pounds for it, so I gave it back to him. I guess that's your money. What do you want to do with it?"
"I don't want money. Wouldn't have nothing to do with it. Keep it for all you do for us," Spiller said, "but along those lines, I could really use a razor blade and some twine. Got any?"
Pott got up and went to the scullery and came back with a large roll of twine and one of the single sided blades he used when he was woodworking. "How much twine?" He asked.
"Not that much!" He and Spiller began to run some off and wind it into a more manageable ball for the borrowers. Miss Menzies looked at Arrietty.
"I'm glad you came to tell us Pod and Homily were going. They keep very quiet, but I knew they were still here. I would have worried if you'd gone off with no word."
Arrietty, forgetting her promise not to speak to human beings again, whispered, "We will come back, you know. I'll come as often as Spiller can bring me and I think Papa and Mother will want to come back for awhile next spring or summer."
"Maybe we can live here for awhile after the wedding," Spiller called over his shoulder, his sharp ears not missing a thing.
"I thought the wedding was in a few days," Miss Menzie said puzzled. "You said you were working on it now."
"He means ours," Arrietty said, "We're thinking of getting married next spring."
Miss Menzies shrieked with delight. "Oh, Arrietty, that would be wonderful! I had so hoped!"
"So did she, apparently," Spiller said, laughing.
"Laugh all you want about marriage," Pott said, "but it's a noble estate."
"Imagine me noble," Spiller retorted, and then they all laughed.
When they left the cottage, Miss Menzies watched them fondly. "I am going to make Arrietty the nicest trousseau anyone ever had. I'll work on it this winter. I don't think she'll grow anymore"
"Probably not," Pott agreed. "She's grown enough. Handsome young woman, that."
As twilight fell the borrowers began to take their last possessions out of the Crown and down to the boat. Arrietty slipped the ring for Hemiola into Spiller's hand as they were loading the boat, and he put it in a safe spot out of the way. Homily put the last scraps of food into a bag for them to eat on the way and then they set off toward the mill. It was a beautiful night, cool but calm on the water and the trees were starting to change color. Arrietty and Homily watched the scenery for awhile, then Arrietty fell asleep leaning against a burlap sack.
Spiller looked at her and shook his head. "Can never stay awake in a boat, that one."
"Let her sleep," Pod said. "She'll have enough to do when we get there. You all right?"
"I'm used to it," Spiller said simply, as he pulled the butter knife paddle through the water with long, smooth strokes. "You and Homily can take a bit of a nap, too. Just go settle down in the sheep's wool. I can rest once we get there and get unloaded."
Tying up and unloading proved to be difficult, though. The mill was running full tilt when they arrived in the morning. While Spiller was able to take the long way round, the water was churning like mad. He was panting with relief when it was finally done. "So much easier when the mill isn't running and we can go under the wheel," he said to Pod, who nodded, white faced.
Spiller helped them drag everything into the passageway, but by that time his legs were shaking and his eyes were very shadowed. Pod told him to get along and catch some sleep while the rest of them put things away. He practically staggered off to bed.
Homily spent the morning telling Pod and Arrietty where to put things, and then when they had them in place, telling them to move them to another spot. They were all tired and cross when they finally had the last of their belongings arranged in the afternoon.
"We need a nice cup of tea," Homily declared, but it was obvious that the small stove and a pot made from a bottle top were a disappointment to her after Little Fordham.
"Mustn't grumble," Pod told her when she was grumbling as she started the fire. "At least it's a place of our own and better than a boot or a kettle."
"I liked the boot and the kettle," Arrietty said, as she rinsed out the thimble cups which were in pretty good shape, and some acorn cups, which seemed dirty and awkward after having so many real cups and glasses to use at the Crown.
When Spiller got up from his nap the supper was nearly done and while Arrietty and her mother saw to it Pod took him around and showed Spiller how they had arranged things. He was pleased with what they had accomplished but at the same time aware of how much more they had to do.
"Make a list of what you need," Spiller said, "and once Halberd's wedding is over and I've taken the cargo to Arista and Burgonet that needs to get down there before winter I can start working on you again."
"You've done so much already," Pod argued. "I hate to see you traveling about when winter comes."
Spiller stood with arms akimbo. "I'll do what I can, but if the weather ever gets too bad and I have to hold up somewhere you'll just have to understand. Same as always, everything is dependent on the weather."
"We understand," Pod said firmly.
They stayed together that night and the next day but then Spiller, who had spent the afternoon napping to get ready for the journey on the river that night, said firmly over a supper of pea soup made from Miss Menzies' dried peas, "Ari, whatever you need for the wedding, you need to pack it so we can get on our way as soon as the sun starts to set."
"I can do that," she said, "and I will pack the clothes Mother made for you to wear at the ceremony, too. Then we can leave for Aunt Lupy's."
"Tell Halberd good luck from us," Pod said.
"Yes, yes," said Homily distractedly, "give him and Hemiola our best wishes, and come back as soon as you can. I didn't have time to make another blanket, but you can take one of the ones we haven't used yet to him as a wedding present. I'll go fetch one after we finish eating and we can roll it up the way you roll up your quilt when you travel."
When that was done, he took it, and took the bags, while Arrietty carried a bag full of food that Homily was giving them to snack on if they got peckish on the way to the cottage to pick up Lupy and Hendreary.
"Sure you'll be all right for a few days?" Spiller asked Pod.
"Certainly," Pod answered. "We've got food and water and lots to do. If we get done with the rearranging of everything I can start shoemaking."
"Be careful, Papa," Arrietty said, kissing his cheek. "Don't let Mother wear you out moving the furniture back and forth."
"I never!" Homily said sharply, and then gave Arrietty a hug, which was a good thing because she didn't see Arrietty's smirk, or Pod and Spiller's either. "You be a good girl, hear, and come back soon and tell us all about the wedding."
"Of course, Mother, but don't forget, after we take Lupy and Hendreary home we're going to probably take Halberd and Hemiola to the stove, and then we want to stop in and see Arista and Burgonet before the snow flies."
"Well, just be careful," Homily sighed.
The river was rough that night. Spiller had his hands full controlling the boat. Arrietty tried to talk to him a bit but the wind was so loud she would have had to stay right next to him getting sprayed by the waves, so after a bit she just crawled into the sheepskin under the canopy and watched him for awhile until she fell asleep. She woke up as Spiller was tying the boat up for the day in his boat dock by Daubery's house, which was halfway between the mill and the groundskeeper's cottage. She rushed to help him make fast at one end, then the other.
He asked her for the ring he had to fix for Hemiola and she gave it to him. He sat under the canopy and wearily worked it into shape. "Might as well give them their gifts when we get in," he said, "instead of trying to hide 'em for later."
Arrietty carried her own bag to Daubery's house, knowing Spiller was just about knackered. When they staggered in everyone was at breakfast. The whole family was glad to see them and Halberd was relieved to hear that they were planning on leaving that night to pick up his parents.
"I was hoping nothing would keep you from doing that."
"I'll do it," Spiller said, helping himself to bacon, "but we couldn't get there in one night."
After breakfast Arrietty gave Hemiola the blanket from her mother and Spiller gave Halberd the ring. Hemiola was so happy that she hugged Spiller and kissed his scratchy, unwashed cheek.
"I'm so happy!" Hemiola exclaimed, and burst into tears.
"I'm glad, but can you be a little quieter at it?" Spiller asked with a tired grin. "I need a nap."
"Yes, it's been a long night for you," Arrietty said, kissing him herself.
"We'll get you up at supper time," Halberd assured Spiller as he poured himself some more tea. "Are you going to take Mother and Father through the drains?"
Spiller considered this. "No," he said finally. "I'll have to take them through the woods. If Hendreary knows those drains are there he won't leave them alone and it's too dangerous to be down there if you don't know what you're doing. So count on it taking me and Ari at least two days to get them here."
"So that will make the wedding three days from tomorrow," Sateen said thoughtfully, as she started to clear the table. "We can start baking after you leave then."
Arrietty spent the morning helping Sateen and the girls get the house clean from top to bottom for the wedding, and then took a nap after tea time, so she'd be up for awhile on the boat. After a good dinner they left for the drain.
"Should get there after the night bathers," Spiller said as they got the boat untied and pushed off, "and be able to walk through before morning baths start. Don't take anything you can't carry, all right, Ari? It will be hard enough of a trip without weighing yourself down."
"I can do it. I took a nap this afternoon before supper," Arrietty said firmly.
It was good and dark when they tied up the boat in the little tunnel under the cluster of brambles by the beach. As they got out and started to walk to the next beach over, where the drain was, Spiller looked back sadly. "Miss my kettle, I do."
"I wish Papa hadn't cut it loose," Arrietty said, "but once the cork came out and it started filling with water he said it was just a weight on the sticks."
"He was right," Spiller said, twisting his kit bag into a backpack. "Miss it anyway, though. Short of shelter I am, once winter comes. Not used to spending so much time staying with other people but with Halberd in the stove I'll either have to or find some new places to get in out of the weather." He helped Arrietty make her bag into a pack as well, and once she had her shawl wrapped around tightly she pulled it on and they headed toward the drain.
The morning was cold and clear. "Wouldn't be surprised if we had the first frost soon," Spiller commented as they headed toward the mouth of the drain.
"I hope we don't get wet then," Arrietty said. "How will we get Lupy and Hendreary to the beach if we don't come down the drain?"
"It will be an all day walk through the woods, that's for sure," Spiller said grimly. "There's plenty of cover but we'll have to keep out eyes open. Maybe young Tom can help but Lupy won't like that if he does."
They started walking and it soon got very dark but Arrietty was not afraid because even when it was the darkest, she was aware of Spiller beside her and she was never afraid with him. He knew his way so well. They didn't run into anymore bath water, although the drain smelled like sandalwood for a long while before switching to coal tar, and then at last to lavender.
"I smell lavender," Arrietty said then. "Is that where you borrowed my soap?" she asked, looking upward where there was more light, faint but unmistakable.
"Could be," Spiller said, setting down his back and stretching, stopping to rest for a moment. "We're more than halfway there, then."
"Thank you for letting me come along to the wedding," Arrietty said, easing her own pack off her shoulders. There was a bit of baked clay flooring, a bit higher than the rest that was dry, and they both sat down on it.
"Hang the wedding. I've missed you. I just wanted to spend some time with you," Spiller said mischievously, giving her a familiar v-shaped smile, which made Arrietty want to kiss him, which she did. He kissed her back, but then shook his head. "Want some privacy eventually, but this isn't what I had in mind. Let's get going before morning comes."
They were both tired when they got out of the drain. It was morning and they heard sounds coming from beyond the scullery. Spiller poked his head out, gesturing to Arrietty to be quiet. She waited patiently until he whispered, "It's just Tom having breakfast. Come along."
Arrietty was shocked at how much he'd grown. He was delighted to see her, though. "Hallo, Spiller, Arrietty. Want a bite of breakfast? You look smart in that dress, Arrietty. What are you doing back here?"
"I'd love some breakfast. As for why I'm here, Halberd's getting married. Spiller is taking me to the wedding," Arrietty said, walking toward him.
"Marriage, marriage, marriage! Does everyone in the whole blasted world wind up married?"
"No, but close to it," Spiller said with a grin, taking the piece of bacon Tom handed him and breaking it in half. Got a napkin? If you think Ari looks nice let's keep her that way. This grease will be all over her in a minute."
Tom tossed a tattered napkin to her and Arietty caught it. "I like bacon, though," she assured young Tom as she and Spiller sat down and began to break it into borrower sized pieces.
"Where is this wedding?" Tom asked, shoving a piece of bacon into his own mouth.
"Near Holmcroft," Spiller replied. "That's the problem. Lupy and Hendreary want to go to see it but I can't see walking them all the way through the woods. Not sure how I'm going to manage."
"Tomorrow?" Tom asked wiping his own greasy hands.
"Wanted to leave sometime tomorrow," Spiller answered.
"I can take the horse and wagon in to buy supplies. Granddad wants us to do some stocking up for winter. Can you get them onboard? What if I leave a basket on the ground next to the wagon in the morning and you get them in it? Then I'll put it on the wagon. When we get to Holmcroft I'll stop and take it out and set it on the ground for awhile. Then you can get them out of it."
"You'd have to leave us as close as possible to the west end of town, near the river," Spiller said, thinking this over.
"Do you know where that old man and woman live, just off the river, at the end of town by the boat landing?"
"Might," Spiller conceded, smiling, since that was exactly where he wanted to go. He couldn't come right out and tell Tom that Daubery's family lived there, too, but he was beginning to think this might be easier than he'd first thought it would be.
"They're friends of me granddad, you see. I haven't been to see them in ever so long. I could stop in for a visit and tell them how he's doing before I do the shopping, and while I'm there, I might be able to think of a reason to go back a few days later. Will that do?"
"Close enough," Spiller said, looking at Ari, who was trying not to laugh. "What time do you want us by the wagon?"
"I'll hitch up first thing in the morning after I eat and I takes Granddad his breakfast. Watch for the basket. I'll have a cloth hanging out of it. When you're all in pull the cloth inside and cover yourselves with it. Then I'll know you're ready to go."
"That," said Spiller, "sounds like a plan."
As expected, Lupy threw a fit when she heard that Tom would be involved in their trip, but when Spiller pointed out it was either ride with Tom or walk a day and a night through the woods to the river, she conceded that the ride sounded better.
"Don't worry," Grego assured her. "Tom won't hurt you."
"And don't worry about us here, either," Eggletina said. "I'll make sure everyone behaves."
Lupy packed her finest dress and the new suit she had made for Hendreary, and packed a lunch, while Spiller and Arrietty took a last minute look through their own things, sorting and rearranging their packs. Then they went down and followed Spiller's instructions on how to climb into the basket. Lupy nearly backed out of the whole deal at that point.
"How do we know Tom isn't going to harm us?" She asked shrilly.
"If he wanted to harm you, he'd have done it years ago," Arrietty said tartly. She was waiting her turn to get in and getting annoyed. "It's not like he didn't know where you were all this time. He put you there himself."
"But we were safe once we got into the wall," Lupy argued.
"Oh, please," Arrietty said. "That wall is just plaster. He could have knocked it down and got at you in minutes if he'd wanted to. If you don't want to have a ride in a nice comfortable basket, fine. We can walk through the woods all day and probably into the night. Just make sure you listen to Spiller if he spots any foxes, owls, weasels, hawks, buzzards…"
Oh, Arrietty, stop!" Lupy wailed. "I don't even want to think about all of that vermin."
"Then get in the basket, old girl," Hendreary said, "and do let's be off." He looked rather red in the face and Arrietty wondered if he remembered tormenting poor Homily with the facts of the outdoors when they'd been faced with famine the time Tom and his grandfather had gone away.
Lupy quieted then. Arrietty helped Spiller draw in the cloth. "Now we wait," Spiller said. They did not have to wait long. Tom was soon lifting the basket up to put it in the wagon. Lupy dropped onto her back, dramatically shading her eyes with her hand under the cloth.
"I can't bear it," Lupy whispered, but Tom must have heard her anyway.
"You'll be all right," he said firmly, setting the basket down. "Spiller, you let me know if anything goes wrong back there."
"Will do," Spiller said as Tom climbed onto the bench and shook the horse's reins. As the wagon started to move, Lupy collapsed inside the basket and did nothing but moan every time they hit a rock or a rut for two hours. Arrietty lightened the mood a bit by chatting with her uncle about this or that, but they were all glad when the wagon finally reached the correct destination. When Tom had finished hitching up the horse and lifted the basket out, the swooping sensation made them all slightly queasy, but they were down on solid ground in a moment.
"Everyone all right?" Tom whispered. When Spiller said that they were, Tom continued. "I'll find an excuse to come back in a few days. I promise. Watch for the wagon every day about this time until you see it with the basket on the ground next to it. When you see it come and get in."
With the plan agreed upon Tom walked up to the door of the house calling hallo in his usual tone of voice. Spiller, with his sharp ears, soon heard Tom being greeted by the two old humans who lived in Daubery's house. They seemed glad to see Tom, exclaiming over how much he had grown and inviting him in for tea and asking him to tell them all the news of his grandfather.
When the door shut, Spiller turned to Lupy. "Told you this would work. Come on, now. We've got to get out and get to the side of the house. We can walk along the hedge." Happy to be at their destination at last, they all gathered themselves up and prepared to follow him, trusting Spiller to lead the way, anxious to see what would happen next.
Spiller climbed out first and Hendreary dropped the luggage down. Then he helped Lupy out. When they were all on solid ground Spiller shooed them along to the hedge. He was used to coming up to the house from the back, from the river side, but he knew which way to go and they were soon all at the entrance to the passage that led to Daubery's home. When they were inside, Lupy made them all stop so she could straighten her hat and shawl, not wanted to meet Halberd's future in-laws looking disheveled.
As usual, Actina heard them first and peeked out. "Spiller! Arrietty! Mum, they're here! They're all here!" She ran out to Spiller, who set down his bag to give her a hug.
"You're getting so big! Can't pick you up anymore!" He exclaimed. He looked at Lupy and Hendreary and explained, "This is Actina. She's a bit younger than Timmis, I think."
Hendreary smiled at the child. "Pleased to meet you. If your sister is as pretty as you are, then our Halberd is a lucky man."
Halberd poked his head out and laughed. "That I am! So you made it!" He hugged his parents and helped carry their things in. Daubery was coming to greet them, and the other girls followed him, so excited that they were practically dancing in the parlor.
Halberd introduced Daubery first, and then said, "This is my Hemiola," before introducing the other girls. By then Sateen was coming out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron, ready to hug Lupy and admire her dress.
Arrietty stood back with Spiller, watching the happy throng. It reminded Arrietty of the day Spiller had rescued her family from the gypsies and had Tom bring them to the groundskeeper's cottage. So many voices, so many people…she wondered if this had been how it had been at the big house with lots of borrower families there, getting together for parties. She knew this wasn't Spiller's style, and she was grateful to him for putting up with it just to make her cousin happy. Spiller was responsible for all of it. Arrietty, while everyone else was being introduced, going from hand to hand, chattering and hugging, stepped quickly into his arms and kissed him.
"What was that for?" He asked, startled but pleased.
"For everything you've done and are doing. You're still my hero. I love you so much!"
He rolled his eyes."Just do what I have to do."
"You don't always have to," Arrietty countered, "but whatever you do it's always best."