Rhiannon (42 page)

And the worst thing was, Clodaghcombe Forest was but one of a long
list
of things Rhia feared she'd never so much as
begin
to understand!

Well, but she was gloomed this afternoon, heartsick to say it true.

“I don't see why he could not wait to go for but a few days more,” she murmured, tapping her chin with Mam's small cross. “He should at
least
have let us walk him down the trail. And Thaddeus, don't you
dare
tell me not to cry!”

Thaddeus stood with his arms in his sleeves, watching Jonah and Beornia walk hand in hand past the hives. “He wanted privacy to tell Beornia good-bye,” he explained.

Rhia rolled her eyes. “Don't you think I
know
that?” She sat upon the cool grass and bounced her knees, squinting at the pair. Beornia herself would only get to go with Jonah to the edge of the orchard. He wanted to descend the bluff alone. “Will . . . we see him again, ever?”

Thaddeus thought that over. “Yes, I believe we will,” he answered, then he settled himself on the grass nearby Rhia. “Don't cry,” he pled softly.

She sniffed. “I can't help it,” she moaned, and wiped her eyes upon her apron just as Jonah took Beornia's face in his hands and leaned to kiss her lips.

Rhia sighed large. “I shall
never
be kissed!” she cried, then she feigned swatting at a hornet with her apron, as she'd not meant to utter that at
all
.

Now Jonah and Beornia had let go each other's hands, and Beornia wiped her own more justified tears as Jonah shifted his pilgrim pack and walked on.

“In a moment, he'll pass through the first apricot trees, then we won't have another glimpse of him!” Rhia's heart was breaking. “
Everyone
leaves us! You, too!”

Thaddeus shook back his hair. “I've told you, Rhia, I
must
take this sea ride that the pirates have graciously offered so's I may quickly reach the road leading to Glastonbury. It's a chance to bring back the workers that can help the lepers.”

“I know, I know,” she cut him off. “But I mean, you'll
leave
. Not upon this trip to bring back the workers your prior has promised, but ... soon you'll surely
leave
leave. Return to your brothers, to your work in the church, or in a monastery somewhere.”

She pulled up her knees, hugged them to her, and tried to ease the tightness in her chest by looking round the settlement. Whilst Sal watched smiling, the three little girls played at their patting games, though Mary played with but one hand. Still, it looked like someday she'd use her arm again, and now 'twas certain she would not die. Mam was proud of that. Though she rarely showed pride, this time she had.

Beornia was running toward her father and son, who waited with Granna upon a cloth spread by the brook. She reached them and hefted Jamesy toward the sky. Rhia could hear his chortles, that sweetest of all baby sounds, which meant it was likely the sweetest of
all
sounds. Beornia's tears would be eased by it, for certain.

Some few of the folk from the woods were hoeing at the garden. When Thaddeus got back from Glastonbury with his brother monks from the infirmary there, all the lepers could settle into the spacious nether cottage and be cared for properly by hands that knew well how to perform the tasks required.

There was Mam, humming as she spread her new washed bandage rags upon the willow tree to dry. Gramp watched her from the yew tree, or he slept—hard to tell.

Rhia's eyes had now reached round the circle to return to Thaddeus, who shredded a dandelion stem, his brows knit as he concentrated on the job.

“Rhiannon, do you ever think about what would have happened if Jonah had indeed killed Leonard that night? He might be hanged for it by now, as I'm certain he would not have revealed his true identity even to save his life. And the other squires would certainly have been outraged by Jonah killing Leonard, so they would probably have publicly denied the confessions we heard, which means Jim, too, would now be hanged. As Leonard lived on exactly long enough to leave them in the lurch, they were shaken and angry enough to blather the whole thing to Almund and Holt, so now Jim's saved.”

Rhia nodded. “I
do
think about it. I just wish Roderick and Frederique had been punished a little. But the earl's boat snatches them up and carries them to another castle. A new start, just like that—poof! Though, of course, Leonard . . .” She shivered, then smiled. “You saved things that night, Thaddeus. You always have just the right words.”

He frowned at her, puzzled. “Me? Rhia, you did that
thing
you do.”

“
What
thing?” She tapped the cross upon her chin, waiting for him to explain.

“
That
thing! Since your mother gave that neckpiece to you, when things get tense, you tap the cross upon your chin! You were doing it when Jonah looked over at us, and it was
that
got through to him. My words may have done a little, I'll grant. But no, Rhia. It was definitely that little thing you do with your mother's cross that broke the lock his anger had upon his mind. Maybe it was the cross. Maybe it was, well, the
Rhia
-ness of it, reminding him of friendship and its power to heal. Probably both.”

She sat there blinking. She had never been more stunned.

Thaddeus jumped to his feet. “I've got an idea. Let's follow him a little! C'mon, from the edge of the bluff we may be able to spot him as he makes that jagged turn on the trail where the trees are bent back!”

“Yes!” Rhia's heart leapt at the prospect of another glimpse of Jonah.

They raced along the path, and arrived at the rim winded and panting. They dropped upon their stomachs side by side and eased over the edge as far as they dared, holding with their fingertips so as not to slide too far.

“Do you see him?”

“Not yet, but . . . yes! Yes, yes!” Thaddeus raised one arm to wave it. “Jonah! Pilgrim, we spy you, we spy you! Hey, up here! Look, look! Up
here
! It's us!”

“Jonah! Jonah, Jonah, Jonah! We can seeeeee you! We can seeeeee you!”

The pilgrim turned and looked, then grinned so wide that Rhiannon knew for a fact the previous leave-taking had been as unsatisfactory for him as it had been for them. He pushed back his penitent's hood and let his wild hair salute them as he waved his staff in the air. “Godspeed, you both!” he called.

“And you as well! Godspeed, and we will hope to meet again!” Thaddeus yelled.

And then the pilgrim raised his hood and turned his back and was gone.

“We must never talk of him in town, or even with your family,” Thaddeus said. “To us, he's Sir Jonah ever, a pilgrim that's merely detoured through our lives as he took the road to Saint Winifred's shrine. He wants and needs to be incognito.”

“Still,” Rhia breathed, “to think the Prince of England helped my granna soothe her bunions with a barley water soak.”

They sat up, laughing, the wind from the sea blowing their hair.

“I will not leave you, Rhia. When I return from Glastonbury, I must decorate your church, and this time I promise not use my recipe for glow paint!” He grinned. “It may take some time to do that work, and to help my brothers settle into their nursing.”

She nodded. “And then you'll work at painting the church in Woethersly, yes? It's near enough to see you sometimes.”

He frowned a little and looked to the sea. “I'm still oblate, but as I said when I came up here, I'm not certain at all about the church, less so all the time. The world seems so large, and God's work may be done is so many different ways.”

She took a breath, so filled with hope and relief that she felt she'd burst with it. She'd longed all her life to believe the pagan enchants that Granna told of, and yet look at how the cross she had from Mam had been the mysterious agent of so much! And they
would
see Jonah again. Of
course
they would! And also, Mary's arm was almost healed!

She threw out her arms. “Mysteries! The world
swirls
with them, Thaddeus! Not just the ancient ones, but new ones as well. Everywhere we walk, we walk amongst mysteries and wonders!”

He was turned toward her, looking at her, she felt it.

“I fear I shall never be kissed, either,” he said quietly.

And somehow, mysteriously, she knew he waited to see what she'd say back.

So taking a cue from fearless Beornia, she turned to meet his eyes and let her own eyes say that he need have no fear of that.