Free Sample
Preview from chapter one
The cart’s wheels caught in the last muddy ruts of the mountain track and stopped. Elias set the brake and sat for a moment, listening to the quiet. No dogs. No children. Just the wind in the pines and the distant sound of water.
The village of Blackwater sat in a shallow bowl of the mountains, a dozen timber houses and a communal barn clustered around a stone well. Smoke rose from two chimneys. A woman stood at the well, drawing a bucket. She was tall, broad through the shoulders, maybe thirty-five, with dark hair pinned up and a simple wool dress. When she turned and saw him she didn’t startle. She just watched him approach, one hand resting on the well’s edge.
“Tradesman?” she asked.
“Blacksmith, mostly. Some carpentry. Name’s Elias.” He nodded at the cart. “Got tools, nails, a few finished pieces if anyone’s buying.”
“No one’s buying,” she said. “But we could use the work. I’m Mara. The others will want to speak with you.” She hauled the bucket the rest of the way up and set it on the stone. Water sloshed. “We’ve been without men since the fever took the last of them two winters ago. You’ll sleep in the loft of the barn if you stay. And if you stay, there are… arrangements.”
He raised a brow. She didn’t look away.
“Come inside,” she said. “I’ll explain.”
The common room of the largest house held four women when he entered. Mara. A younger one with freckles and a wary mouth—Lena, twenty-two or so. An older woman, silver-streaked hair, strong hands, late forties, introduced as Hester. And a quiet blonde in her early thirties named Sera who kept her eyes on the table. They fed him bread and stew without ceremony. While he ate, Mara spoke plainly.
“We need the work done. Roofs, fences, the well winch is failing. In return you eat with us and sleep dry. And if you want more—if you want any of us—you ask. Most will say yes. We’ve been without for a long time and none of us are interested in pretending otherwise. You don’t take what isn’t offered. You leave when the work’s finished or when we tell you. Clear?”
Elias swallowed. “Clear.”
Hester studied him over her cup. “You’re not the first to come through. The last one stayed three days and ran when Lena climbed into his bed. We’d rather you know the terms up front.”