Yory was busy getting lunch put together. Then came the knock at the door. She put down the sandwich she was assembling and went to the door, wiping her hands on her apron. At the door was one of the last people she expected to see.
Yory just stood there looking for a moment. Janace was road dirty, but otherwise virtually unchanged by the ten years it had been. Finally Yory’s mind got back into gear, sort of.
“Come in.”
Yory turned and walked away leaving the door open.
Janace took her shawl off and gave it a shake, then stepped in and closed the door. She sat down on the bench and removed her boots. Leaving her things in the front hall, she followed her nose to the kitchen. She knew she was unexpected, and had not parted on the best of terms, but had not expected so cool a reception.
Yory kept a clean house, and Janace was too much the good guest to wantonly dirty a place. But she still felt that she was trailing road grime. Janace sat in the chair at the table closest to where Yory was working.
“Hello Yory. How have you been?”
Yory was busy assembling a new sandwich. At that moment a boy came blustering through the side door. Stopping only long enough in the mudroom to remove his muddy boots, then bee lined for the food. Yory stopped him with a look.
“Go back out and tell your father that we have company.”
“I want something to eat.”
“Fine. After you tell your father that we have company.”
The boy looked ready to argue, but instead grabbed a piece of fruit and all but ran back out the door, stepping into his boots almost without breaking stride.
Yory continued to make lunch. In silence.
Janace tried to start the conversation again.
“I’m fine, Yory. Thanks for asking. Sure, lunch will be fine. Let me wash up and I will give you a hand.”
At that Janace stood, went to the sink and washed her hands. She then pulled a bag from her belt and dumped the fruit from it into the sink and washed them. Yory set a bowl by the sink, and Janace put the fruit into it and set it on the table with the other stuff.
Yory then handed her the other bowl of fruit and a plate with a brick of cheese and a knife. Last was a container of fruit juice. Yory brought the plate of sandwiches and bowls of soup. All the place settings were already there.
They sat, and Yory selected some fruit and cheese, said grace for herself. She then just started in, paying little heed to Janace.
For her part, Janace was getting a bit flustered at this behavior. But a quick glance at Yory psionically brought a sharp rebuff. But it did finally provoke a reaction.
“You could have picked a better time, and let us know that you were coming to visit, Janace.”
As if on cue, a baby in another room began crying and fussing, having just woke up. Yory put down her half eaten sandwich and left after the baby.
Janace was sitting politely when the boy came back in, grabbed a sandwich and a hand full of fruit and left again. She was watching his progress toward the orchard through the window, when a little girl and a toddler of unknown sex came into the room. Both were carrying toys, which were dropped when the food was spotted. They got half way to the table when they spotted Janace.
They were about to turn and flee when a heavy set of boots tramped on the porch outside. The sound of much mud being kicked off continued for a short time, then the door opened and Carl came into the mudroom.
“Whose horse is out…”
He stopped upon seeing Janace sitting at the table. He took a moment, and then turned to removing his boots and overalls.
His daughters, as soon as the overalls were hung, both ran onto his outstretched arms as he greeted them. They told him they loved him as he carried them to wash their hands in the sink, and then set them on the bench against the wall. They scrambled to their places and sat down. Carl sat in his chair at the head of the table and helped his older daughter say grace.
Janace bowed her head for this.
Once the prayer was done, the kids attacked the fruit and sandwich on their plates.
Carl helped himself to one of the larger sandwiches, and alternated between it and his stew. Janace followed his lead.
After finishing half a sandwich, he felt fortified enough to deal with Janace.
“So, what brings you to our home, Janace?”
“So solicitous. I’m fine, thank you. (Bad guy) is back. Or someone using the same methods.”
Carl was unmoved by this. Janace continued.
“I was attacked by one of his beasts a few days ago. If he can find me, he can find you and the others. I thought you should be warned.” She took a bite and after swallowing, “This is a good sandwich.”
Yory entered the room, a sated infant on her shoulder clutching at a burp rag. She sat down to her food, around the corner from Carl, and began again at her own lunch.
Carl reached across the table and briefly took her hand.
Carl finished his second sandwich before speaking more.
“If (bad guy) is back, what is that to us? We retired 12 years ago.”
“He’s going to want revenge on those who stopped him 15 years ago.” Janace was finishing her stew, and ready to go after the fruit she had brought with her.
Yory and Carl glanced at each other, dubious.
Janace snapped at this. “Why don’t you want to believe me, or take me seriously?”
Carl looked again at Yory, who just shrugged and kept eating. He grunted a sigh.
“Walk with me, Janace.”
He got up and got his boots from the mudroom, and took them to the front entry, and put them on. Janace put hers on, and they went out. He then untied her horse from the hitching post, and led it around the house to the trough in front of the barn, and tied it there while Janace loosened the saddle. Carl then led Janace to the orchard.
They were several trees into it when Carl finished the second fruit, and spoke again.
“Janace, we saw him dead. Jochquin pulled his sword out of him. Magic users are hard to kill, and I know you don’t lie. But I do find it hard to believe he’s back. Especially with his amulet broken up.”
“I don’t think it is him. But somebody is following his pattern.”
“Yory and I can handle anything that comes. But we aren’t going looking for trouble anymore.”
“I didn’t expect you would.”
They walked for a while before Janace spoke again. “Is your thinking that I would try to drag you off on some crusade why the two of you are treating me so coldly?”
“No. The truth there is that you are a chaos maker. Always causing trouble and never solving it. Yory and I decided a long time ago that while we value you as a friend, we are not going to allow you to cause anymore trouble for us, or our children.”
Janace thought about this, and liked it as much at having a drink thrown in her face, thought it hurt worse than any drink ever did.
The fruit trees were in bud, but not yet blossoms. They walked out of the orchard, and started along the fence line between the stockyard and the garden. The garden was sectioned with a few bits still fallow, most of it showing small buds. The stockyard was populated by several horses and a small population of cattle, and other interspersed stock animals.
As she looked over the farm, Janace found little to fault.
“You have done well here. Looks like a good place to raise children. How would you defend it from a Monster?”
Carl smiled, and whistled loud.
Within a few moments five large hounds were bounding over the fields toward them, with several smaller ones in pursuit. To Janace’s initial surprise, they seamed to run down the row, or across them, and never hit a plant in their travel. They even jumped the irrigation ditch as they came. The pack stopped short at seeing Janace with Carl, and was unsure what to do.
Carl knelt and called the leader. He came and buried his head in Carl's hands, then carefully padded over and sniffed Janace.
Janace had never felt very intimidated by animals, but was ever cautious about them, especially in obvious packs. After the hound was content, he wondered back to Carl, putting his head under Carl’s hand. The rest of the pack alternately sniffed and ignored Janace and began to disperse. One of the puppies started back across the garden, when one of the adults started after it, and chased it off the field.
“I taught the older ones to respect the furrows, and they are slowly teaching the pups to do the same.”
He dismissed the hounds, and they went bounding into the stockyard, and began chasing around.
Janace watched them. “Impressive hounds.”
“They are enough to trouble anyone that tries to trespass. Anything they can’t handle, they can slow down enough to allow a weapon to be brought to bear.”
She had noticed weapons of some sort on virtually every wall, above toddler reach. “I figured them to be at least partially decoration, as well as functional.”
They finished the circuit, and were back at the hedge separating the farm from the back yard.
Janace looked at her watch and the sun. Then stopped and looked at Carl.
“You can and will do as you want. I just came by to warn you. Something is brewing. I don’t know what or how, but it is. Watch yourself. I would hate to think something happened to you because of my inaction.”
“I will consider that. Please don’t be a stranger. Just leave your troubles at the road.”
They walked around to the barn and Janace’s horse. It had cleared the grass it could reach and was trying to get at more.
Janace watched for a moment. Then turned to Carl and asked about lodging in town. Carl told her the best places to go. And where the best watering holes were.
Janace gathered her horse, and walked it to the front gate where she tightened the saddle again.
Carl went with, and watched her ride down the road.
Yory joined him there, the girls chasing around the yard with puppies as big as they were.
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