My strikes were more forceful than normal as I put the head onto the latest nail. I put the hammer down with a sigh, though I wanted to keep pounding. I gripped the metal with my tongs and carried it over to the barrel to quench. When I turned to drop it into my rapidly filling bucket, I noticed a figure standing near the open doors in the back of the smithy.
I dropped the tongs and rushed over. “Mina!”
She stepped into the forge, and I reached out, pulling her to the side, where Powell wouldn’t see her if he looked out the kitchen window into the yard. I winced when I saw the smudge of soot I left on her arm, but she didn’t seem to notice.
She was trying to say something, but the words seemed to stick in her throat, so I spoke first. “I am so sorry about the past two nights. You didn’t wait too long, did you?”
For all I knew, she hadn’t even gone to the stream last night, after I failed to show the night before.
She shook her head, but I suddenly knew she had gone back last night. And she had waited long after it was clear I wasn’t coming.
“What happened?” she asked.
I glanced out the doors, but saw no sign of my stepfather.
“Powell is suspicious. I made the mistake of talking to Cole in front of him, and he’s been watching me ever since. He didn’t go to the tavern the past two nights, and I didn’t want to chance him following me to the stream. I don’t want him to start looking in your direction.”
“I can handle myself.”
I smiled. “I know you can, but I’d prefer if you didn’t have to. Which means you should leave before Powell comes out. I’ll try to come to the stream tonight; I can’t imagine he’ll skip going to the tavern again. I’ve been careful not to do anything else to arouse his suspicions.”
Her teeth sank into her lower lip, and it was an effort not to close the distance between us. This wasn’t the time. Or place.
With a reluctant nod, Mina stepped toward the open doors. “I’ll be at the stream, then.”
“Wait,” I hissed, noticing the smudge on her arm once more.
She froze. I grabbed a rag from a shelf and handed it to her, gesturing at her arm. “I got you dirty.”
She pressed her lips together, and I was fairly certain she was fighting back a grin. But she didn’t say anything as she wiped herself off and handed the rag back.
She walked back into the sunshine, but her steps faltered. Then she waved, “Master Powell, thank Affenala I caught you.”
I spun around, grabbing the nearest rod of iron, and walked back toward the forge as if I had been in the middle of working. My heartbeat in triple time, worrying over what Powell might do if he realized Mina had come to talk to me. The best way for me to protect her was to ignore her now, but it was hard. I wanted to step in and draw Powell’s attention away from her.
“Is my belt knife ready? I believe you said I could pick it up today.”
My shoulders relaxed. She had a legitimate excuse to visit the forge. And the way she was talking to Powell, he’d think she had dismissed me, only wanting to talk to him.
“There was a delay,” Powell said after a moment. “You can pick it up tomorrow.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow, then. Sorry for bothering you so early today. I should get to the general store before Gemma wonders where I am. Goodbye, Master Powell.”
Powell must have watched her leave, because he didn’t move for several moments. I wished I could have risked turning around to gauge his mood, but that would only worsen his suspicions.
Finally, I heard him step into the forge and walk closer to me. “You heard?”
I shoveled a scoop of coal onto the fire, and adjusted the bar I had already placed in the forge. Not that I knew what I would make from it. “I heard.”
“Make sure the knife is done in time.”
“It’s already done and waiting for you in the shop.” I had finished Mina’s belt knife yesterday morning.
“Good. What are you working on now?”
“I made some more nails this morning.” I glanced at the bar I had chosen at random. Too large for more nails. “Next, I’m going to replenish our horseshoe supply.”
“Make enough to get through the summer. I don’t like finding we are out of the correct size when an emergency happens.”
