Chapter 27
So it Begins
Ender’s Ridge prepared for war.
Decker called a meeting, questions rolled out in theGooselike the darkness gathering above town.
What will we do? How in the devil is he back? Can the plan work? Laurie is one of us now?
Lee was particularly enchanted to hear that, and they smiled for the first time since the sickness. “We’ve always liked you more than your uncle,” they said softly.
Ammunition and dynamite were splayed across the table in preparation for taking a stand against Ridgewater. For hours a crowd gathered across the river; Elias’s curse strengthened, and with it, the memories of who their neighbors were. Another witch hunt, this time coming for them all if they couldn’t restore the Blessing their town provided them.
“I’ll take it as a compliment, Lee, but I think it’s easy to be liked more than my uncle,” Laurie murmured, fastening the wick on the dynamite before handing it to the washerwoman’s daughter to take outside. Nora took careful, painstaking steps after he said, not unkindly, “Walk slowly, please.”
McKinney’s Mercantile stood empty, stripped of food and weapons by Miss McKinney herself. She’d arrived before the meeting, rattling a mud-soaked, river-forged wagon into the west end of town, and brusquely threw herself into helping like she’d always been here.
Last he’d seen her, she’d been loading a wagon of supplies. The Lakota fought their own war, and guns and supplies for the upcoming winter were a small, unasked, price to pay if their knowledge could help save Ender’s Ridge.
Safine barricaded herself in the quiet upstairs with Sister Inez, poring over Laurie’s notes, and the scent of bitter herbs mixed with earth wafted down the steps every time a door opened.
She’d been optimistic but exhausted when she returned; tiredness didn’t stop her from throwing herself at Laurie, crushing him in a hug and saying he looked much less sickly.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
When Safine came to him, arms wrapped around squared shoulders and face pressed into his collar bone with soft apologies from both of them, Decker thought maybe they could win this.
The front door of theGoosebanged open and a gust of frigid air accompanied Willa. She blew on her cupped fingers and swiped away tangled strands of mousey brown hair before she accepted a steaming cup of cider from Decker.
“The river’s freezing.” Solemn grey eyes met Decker’s across the rim of her cup. “Ridgewater can cross in a few hours.”
He slid the last bullet in place on the leather belt ringed with ammunition and laid it with the pile. “Safine will have it ready. Lee, have you heard anything?”
They shook their head. Lee’s herd was on the move as soon as the plan charged into motion; they stationed themselves around Ender’s Ridge and ringed the town with Lee’s eyes and ears, ready to sound the alarm the moment anything went amiss. The full extent of the reverend’s power could only be guessed from the journal entries Laurie decoded. They prepared for the worst.
“I got the girls on the roof of the dance hall with dynamite and the blacksmith has been teaching anyone who’s fast enough how to set off the bombs we planted on the riverbank and west of town.” Willa took a sip. “No telling when that bastard will show.”
“Be careful,” Decker said.
“Spite got me this far.” Willa buckled her bandoliers around her hips.
Lee suddenly straightened, a curious, faraway look on their face. “They’ve seen something west of town.”
And so it begins.
“Let’s go, boys.” Willa gave them a grim smile and knocked back the rest of her drink. Decker stood with Laurie, and Lee headed upstairs to join the rest of the town who couldn’t fight.
“We’ll do what we can,” they tossed over their shoulder.
“Do you think Safine’s close?” Laurie’s voice tightened with apprehension, and Decker lightly squeezed his hand where it rested on the back of the chair. They decided the curse breaker had to be Laurie. The plagues began with his uncle, and he had the best chance of success in the ritual. Responsibility weighed on him.
“She’ll have to be.”
Laurie’s face softened with a smile. “Neighbors until the end?”
Decker made a small sound. “Maybe more.”
“You tease me.”
