The Poison Season(95)

To Leelo’s relief, Tate came back with her to Jaren’s house that night. Leelo and Tate were given Jaren’s loft to sleep in, while he slept on the sofa downstairs. Nigel was spending the night at the Rebanes, and they had all agreed to meet up at the market in the morning.

Leelo and Tate were curled up together just like they had in his little room under the stairs. She could almost convince herself they were back there if she closed her eyes tight enough. But this house didn’t smell the same, and she knew Mama was not here with them. Every time Leelo thought of her, guilt and sorrow threatened to drag her under.

“Tate? Are you awake?” she whispered in the dark.

“Mmm-hmm.”

“How are you feeling about everything?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It’s a lot.”

“It is. You’ve been very brave, little brother. I’m proud of you. Mama would be proud of you, too.”

“Is she all right?” he asked. “Really?”

“She’s ill,” Leelo said. “But I think she’s getting better.”

He nodded. “When will we go back for her?”

“When the ice freezes. I promise.”

“That’s a long time from now.”

“I know. I wish we could go sooner.” She chewed her lip for a moment. “Tate, when did you find out about Nigel?”

“Mama told me, not long before I left Endla.”

“That must have been difficult for both of you.”

He shrugged, and Leelo had to remind herself that Tate didn’t remember Kellan. He had never known any father, really. “She said that there was someone here who wanted me. And that if I was with him, she wouldn’t have to worry about me. I didn’t really know what to think. Especially when I was such a burden to Aunt Ketty, and she’s known me my entire life.”

Even free of Endla, Leelo felt bitter resentment toward her aunt for what she’d done to their family. “Ketty was wrestling with her own demons,” she said. “It didn’t give her any right to treat you the way she did. But it was never about you. It was never about any of us.”

“I feel sorry for her,” he whispered, and before Leelo could reply, he fell asleep.

In the morning, Tate seemed nervous as they dressed and headed out to meet the Rebanes and Nigel. Leelo wasn’t sure when she and Jaren would be able to talk about everything they’d been through, although for now, maybe that was better. They hadn’t had time to process anything yet.

Nigel Thorn hadn’t been back in Bricklebury for a few years, but he still had plenty of friends, judging by all the people who came over to talk to him as they passed through town. Percy trotted next to him, a gentle giant, they had come to realize.

“Why did you leave Bricklebury?” Leelo asked him.

He glanced down at her with dark, kind eyes. “I raise wolfhounds now, in the countryside. There’s more room for the hounds to run. Besides, the hunting here wasn’t good anymore. The forest was changing.”

She raised her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“It wasn’t like Endla,” he said quickly. “I don’t mean that. It just...it didn’t feel safe anymore.”

“Do you have a family?” It was probably none of her business, but she wanted to know if he still cared for her mother the way Fiona clearly did for him. If maybe her mother still had the chance for a happy ending after all these years.

“No,” he said. “I never married.” Leelo had the sense he wanted to say something about Fiona, but he must have been feeling shy as well, because he didn’t speak anymore.

At the market, Leelo walked with Jaren, one eye on all the goods for sale and the other on Nigel. She knew her mother had trusted him, but she’d only known him for a few months, and that had been years ago. She would let Tate make his own decisions, but not before she’d had a chance to study him.

After he’d finished catching up with the townspeople, Nigel bought three sandwiches and invited Tate and Leelo to have lunch with him while the Rebanes and Kasks did their shopping.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Jaren asked, his arm still wound tightly through Leelo’s.

“It’s okay,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. “I think this is something we need to do alone.”

They walked to the bank of a small creek and settled on the grass, where Nigel passed out the sandwiches. “So tell me, Tate, how are you liking life on the mainland?”

“It’s all right,” Tate mumbled around his food. Leelo was tempted to tell him to be more polite, but Nigel wasn’t her father, and they would have to find their own footing together.

“Are you enjoying beekeeping?”

“I didn’t like the bees at first. But I’m used to them now. I got stung a few times at the beginning, but once I learned how to be still around them, they stopped.”

Nigel nodded. “That’s a little like me with the dogs. At first, they were big and intimidating. But once you get used to them, you realize they would never hurt you on purpose.”

Leelo glanced at Nigel. She suspected he was talking about more than just wolfhounds.

“It must have been difficult,” Nigel continued. “Leaving the only home you’ve ever known. And it must have broken your mother’s heart to let you go.”