Tin Swift(128)

Cedar crossed his arms carefully over his chest. “Why didn’t you tell me about the others who were fighting the Strange, like Miss Dupuis, Mr. Theobald, and Miss Wright?”

Alun puffed on his pipe for a bit. The sun was nearly down, just a slight glow of deep red smudging the clouds at the horizon.

“Didn’t think you’d believe me,” Alun said. “Or my brothers. Didn’t think you would join us. It’s a select group, Mr. Hunt. Vowed to keep the land safe from the kinds of things you hunt. Strange things. All good people who would stand beside you, fight beside you.”

“Die beside me.”

“That too,” Alun agreed.

“I’ve seen enough dying to last my years,” Cedar said. “I’m not the man you need. Once this curse is off me, I won’t feel the hunger to hunt any Strange thing. And I’ll be glad for it.”

Alun grunted in agreement. Then, “You recall that town we rode into a few weeks back? Vicinity, up Idaho way?”

“Yes.”

“All those people dead. Unalives. Men and women and children. Dead because just one piece of the Holder landed on their town. There’s still six pieces of it out there. Stirring up six different hells.”

Alun pushed off the porch rail and turned toward him as he started up the stairs. He walked past Cedar to the door, where he paused.

“People are going to die in great numbers while we track down the pieces of the Holder,” he said. “That’s just the facts of it. And not all of the people out looking for the Holder together can find those pieces as quickly as you and your brother can.

“The curse laid upon you, Mr. Hunt, might be seen as a blessing. Especially from the perspective of the people in the path of the Holder’s destruction. People you could save.”

Cedar heard the approach of footsteps from inside the building.

“Mr. Hunt? Oh, Mr. Madder,” the elder sister, Miss Adaline, called out as she opened the door. “I didn’t expect you on the threshold. Come in, please.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Alun said.

“Are you coming, Mr. Hunt?” she asked. “The sisters have gathered and the sun’s gone down. If you’d like to be present for Miss Small, now’s the time. We’ll be sealing the doors and windows shortly.”

Cedar took a breath and looked over at Miss Adaline. She was old enough to be his mother, he supposed, and still held some beauty to her features. But there was something about her that sat wrong with him. A cunning to her eye he could not ignore.

She was the kind of woman he would not turn his back on for long.

Mae had said she and the sisters had agreed to try to break his curse. Could try to break Wil’s curse too. It was what he had wanted. It was a part of why he had accompanied Mae to the coven.

Only a part of the reason, but still, he’d thought of nothing but being free of the curse since the day he’d woken up fevered, near dead, and covered in blood he thought was his brother’s.

But Alun’s words hung heavy on his mind.

If what he had said was true, then breaking the curse would be dooming hundreds, maybe thousands to suffer from the Holder.

“Mr. Hunt,” Miss Adaline said, “are you well?”

“No,” he said honestly, before he remembered his manners. He swallowed, and took his hat off his head, running his fingers along the brim as he pulled himself together. “Thank you, though,” he said, “for your concern.”

She gave him a tight smile. “Of course. Now come in from the cold. We’ll all have something joyous to celebrate soon.”

Wil stood, and pressed his head under Cedar’s hand. He knew what Cedar was thinking, had heard and understood every word Alun had said.

And he knew what Cedar had decided.

“We deserve a little joy,” Cedar said.

“Always, Mr. Hunt,” she said. “And I’ve found there’s not any dark circumstance that doesn’t hold a glimmer of happiness.”

He nodded, then he and Wil, together, walked into the gathering.





CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR


One thing Rose had not expected was for magic to make her sneeze. But the sisters had set all sorts of herbs burning and sprinkled more in water, and even rubbed oil and herbs gently on her wrists, forehead and over her heart. All together the smoke and greenness made her eyes water and her nose tickle.

She tried not to sneeze, as she supposed it took away from what appeared to be a very serious ceremony. But holding her breath would go only so far, after all.

So when she thought no one was looking, she rubbed at her nose and wiped her eyes.

A muffled chuckle made her glance at Captain Hink. He, of course, had been staring at her the whole time.