Chapter fourteen
“Caspian!” a plump, middle-aged woman cried, running across the dirt path to meet her son.
Caspian hopped off his horse and ran to meet her. They embraced, the woman with happy tears and her son with a joyful smile. I dismounted my horse, took the reins of both horses, and hobbled over to meet them. Saddle sores were not fun.
“Oh! And you’ve brought back a young lady!” she said. “What’s your name, darlin’?”
She took my hand, wearing a big smile on her face.
“Merry,” I answered.
Before I could say anything else she said, “Oh, I’m so glad Caspian has found somebody—”
“Mother, we’re not gettin’ married. We’re friends and she needs a place to stay,” Caspian explained quickly.
“Oh! That’s fine too,” she said with a mischievous smile. “How long will you staying with us?”
“Um…indefinitely, so far. If that’s a problem—”
“Oh, no! Not at all! You seem like a decent , though I haven’t the faintest idea why a pretty girl like you would be wearing men’s clothes…”
She gave me no chance to answer, and continued on happily. “Caspian, you’re gonna have to tell me all about everything that happened. I was so worried about you, with all the bad things that happen sea. Your sisters will be so happy to see you!”
She turned to lead us into the house, chattering away. Four girls sat in the one small parlor playing with marbles and drawing. Upon seeing Caspian, they leaped up and ran to hug him, shouting out everything that happened during his absence.
The second one noticed me first. “Caspian, you’re gettin’ married?!” she demanded loudly.
This got everyone else’s attention.
“No, I’m not,” Caspian said exasperatedly. “This is Merry.”
“Oh,” the little girl said, relieved. “Why is she wearin’ boy’s clothes?”
Caspian’s father and older brother were away on business. After the girls were all in bed, Caspian and I sat down with Mal, Caspian’s mother to explain what all had happened. We started with the problem of my fits. She said it did not matter to her; she was not going to turn me out of her house because of it.
Then, Caspian told her about life on the ship. Mal knew that Henry, Caspian’s older brother, had gotten into debt with a lord, though not who this lord was. Caspian did not mention Lord Fitch. He told her nothing about our immortality, or about the fact that he now knew his father. When he told her about my curse, he said only that I had gotten on someone’s bad side.
The next evening Caspian’s father and brother returned. Certain parts of our story had to be repeated to Mr. James Good, Caspian’s father, including my fits. Mr. Good was intimidating. Even Caspian held a respectful deference when speaking to him. However, Mal regarded him with careless affection, so I decided he could not be all that bad. Henry, Caspian’s older brother, was downright scary. His face was turned down in a permanent scowl, and he glared at everyone from underneath his heavy brows. Caspian even warned me to stay out of his way. They clearly were not friends, but Caspian did not test his brother’s temper. Despite the scary dispositions of the men, the girls and Mal were the complete opposite. Mal was like the mother I never had, and an angel, as Mabel had said. The younger girls insisted on doing my short hair and making me look feminine; after I told them that I had masqueraded as a man for six years, they thought it was necessary to make me pretty.
…
One evening, after living a few weeks with Caspian’s family, Mal and I heard an unfriendly pounding at the door. We looked at each other. The girls were playing down by the river, and the men were away from home. We were alone.
“What do we do?” I asked.
“Go out back, and stay with the girls until I call you back,” Mal said.
“No way,” I said. “I’m staying with you.”
The noise at the door became louder, shaking the house. Mal stopped in front of the door. “Please, Merry, go.”
I shook my head. Mal hesitated and then unbolted the door, opening it to four enormous men who stood with anger chiseled into their faces.
“Where’s the son of Lord Gregory Fitch?” the lead one demanded. He had a purple scar across his forehead.
Mal paled. “What?”
“You heard what I said.”
“He—he’s not here,” she stammered.
“Then we’ll wait,” he said.
Two of the men grabbed us, and the other two pushed past us into the house. We did not even have the chance to fight before they roughly bound us and put us together in a corner. The others emerged from the back rooms.
“He’s not here,” one said. “But others may be comin’. There are several rooms back there.”
I closed my eyes and hoped that the girls would stay away.
“Keep watch. We’ll wait for the devil’s spawn.”
“What do you mean to do with him?” Mal raised her shaky voice.
The scarred one frowned at her. “Are you his mama?”
She nodded.
“We should kill you, too, just for associating with Fitch,” another one with a tattoo on his hand spat.
“Shut it,” the scarred man said. “Leave her alone.”
The tattooed one glared at him, and paid no mind to his warning. “Fitch killed our sister,” he said. “Said he would take care of her, and when we found out about his ways, he’d already killed her. We’re doin’ the world a favor by gettin’ rid of his kid.”
“He’s not like his father!” Mal argued.
“Not that you’ve seen,” he sneered.
“Jack! I said that’s enough!” the scarred man . “Go check the back door.”
Jack slunk away. I took a deep breath to address the scarred one. “Your sister—did Lord Fitch marry her?” I asked him. He and Mal looked at me. “He tried to marry me, but I ran away. Caspian, the one you’re trying to kill, helped me get out. I’ve met both of them, and he’s nothing like his father, I swear.”
The scarred man looked away.
“Please!” I said. “You’ve got to believe me!”
He rose abruptly. “Do you think this is easy?” he roared. He paced a moment, and then sat down. Not another word passed from his lips.
The light began to wane, and still there was no sign of the girls or Caspian.
“You were to marry Lord Fitch?” Mal whispered. I nodded, and after a moment she spoke again. “Did you know he was Caspian’s father?”
“We both do,” I said.
“What?” she exclaimed, drawing our guards’ attention.
“No more talkin’,” Jack ordered, brandishing his knife at us.
The evening grew darker, and the brothers lit the lamps so as to not arouse the suspicion of anyone approaching the house. Anxiety filled me; I knew that they could not kill Caspian, but there were no doubt many who would love to get revenge on Lord Fitch’s son. If they found out he was immortal…
“He’s comin’,” one of the brothers said.
They rose to put gags in our mouths and then hid around the corner, waiting for Caspian to enter. The door opened. Caspian’s face had barely registered our bonds before the brothers attacked. When they moved away, he lay on the floor, bleeding. Jack severed the bonds that held my hands, slicing into my wrists in the process, and gave me the knife to free Mal. They left. After I cut my ankles free, I moved to Mal. She did not look away from her son her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. I cut her loose, and she crawled to Caspian’s body in silence. My hands shook, and my voice would not work enough to assure Mal that her son would be okay. I heard the back door open; the girls had returned.
“No!” I shouted, stumbling to my feet. “Stay outside!”
The eldest daughter Rose stood in the doorway, staring at me. “What’s hap
pened?” she said.
“Nothing.” I managed. “It’ll be alight in a minute, just…keep your sisters outside until we call you, okay? Please.”
To my relief, she obeyed, and I returned to the parlor. Caspian still had not risen, and I started to wonder if I was wrong. Maybe he really was dead for good. I knelt next to Mal, my breathing coming faster. Suddenly Caspian gasped and shot up.
“Where are they?” he demanded.
Mal fell back in shock. I threw myself into his arms and quickly wiped my eyes. “They’re gone,” I said.
“But—But—” Mal stammered. “How’re you—Caspian…”
“Where’re the girls? Are you all okay?” Caspian asked.
I sat back to let Mal embrace him. I tried to slow my breathing. “The girls are out back, waiting for us to tell them to come in. I didn’t think they needed to see…this.”
“You two need to tell me what’s going on!” Mal said.
I looked at Caspian, then back to Mal. “He--We--were forced to drink from the Fountain of Youth,” I said. “We can’t die.”
Her jaw dropped. “And you didn’t think tell me this?” she shrieked.
“Mother, I’m sorry, I—”
I heard Rose shout from the door. “Is everythin’ okay?”
I met her at the door.
“Is that blood?” she asked, looking at my skirt, which was fairly drenched in it.
“There was an accident,” I told her. “Everyone’s okay, but there’s a lot of blood. Can you keep the girls out here a little longer?”
Rose swallowed hard and nodded.
“Thank you.”
I went back to the parlor. “Hey,” I said gently. “Let’s get this cleaned up so the girls can come back in.”
Mal, still crying, got to her feet. She found some clean clothes for me to give to Caspian.
“Who were those people?” Caspian asked as I pushed him out of the house.
“Some people who wanted revenge on Lord Fitch,” I answered. I handed him the clothes and a bar of soap. I stood on my toes and hugged him. He seemed surprised, but hugged me back.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” I said.
He gave a short, mirthless chuckle as I let go.
“Your wrists are bleedin’,” Caspian said. “Did they—”
“Caspian, there’s blood everywhere. It’s probably yours. I need to get the floor clean so the girls can come in. You go and get cleaned up.”
After cleaning up the blood, I let the girls come back in. The same question came out of all of them: “What happened?”
“Some robbers broke in,” I said vaguely. “I’m gonna go find your mother.”
I knocked on Mal’s bedroom door. “Mal? You okay?”
She opened the door, her eyes red. “Yeah. You need to go clean yourself up. Put that gown in to soak.”
I nodded, and she closed the door.
When I came back from my bath at the river, Caspian and Mal were talking. Mal was crying again, and Caspian held her hand.
I rose early the next morning to prepare breakfast. Mal was already up.
“So you and him…you’re both living forever,” she said.
I nodded.
“How do you like that?”
“I don’t,” I said. “It wasn’t my choice.”
“Why didn’t you and Caspian tell me about…everythin’? Lord Fitch, the Fountain of Youth, the fact that you were to marry the monster?” she inquired.
“We didn’t want to worry you,” I said. “This stuff wasn’t supposed to come back to bite us.”