Home From The Sea: The Elemental Masters, Book Seven by Mercedes Lackey Read Free Book Online

was.
    But it didn’t speak again, and when she was finished pinning the wash to the line, and turned, it was to see that there was nothing there but a damp spot and a strand of weed on the cat’s favorite sunning rock. She marched back inside, her fear now slowly turning to annoyance.
    Just as she was taking the dried clothing in, she saw Daffyd’s river-coracle out at sea. Although the boats could actually be carried on the back, he often took the little thing out in the surf, trusting to his skills to get it home. She waited while he pulled in to shore, and pulled the round, single-masted boat up on the shingle above the high-water mark beside the bigger sea-going vessel.
    She saw he had a salmon over his back, just as he had promised. He looked up to the cottage and spotted her, and waved.
    “Took the long way home,” he said by way of explanation, once he reached the bit of grass that extended out to the shingle. “Stopped in the village, sold the rest of my catch, made sure I had witnesses to my fishing to say I was in the proper waters. And did a fair lot of talking with the others.” He shook his head. “Never heard of a man making himself enemies faster than Constable Ewynnog.”
    She nodded, and as he stood at the cleaning table outside and expertly dealt with the salmon, she told him what she had heard.
    He pursed his lips. “Not sure what to be making of this, no, I am not. It might be that he is a pitiful stupid man, and this is all his stupidity. It might be that constables are being sent out everywhere, on account of the striking. It might be that he’s
so
stupid, so
very
stupid, that he got himself in trouble, and this is his punishment—to be sent to our little village that’s got no need of him, to live in contempt and discomfort. It might be he was sent here to be rid of him put him where the only harm he can do is to himself. And if there just happened to be mischief here, well one pair of stupid eyes isbetter than no eyes at all, in the way of the thinking of our lords and masters.”
    Mari thought about that as she gathered the innards of the salmon for the cat. She put it all down on the stone the cat preferred to use as his dish, and brought her da water to wash with and a platter for the newly cleaned fish.
    She began to feel that—whether or not the thing that had spoken to her had been real or some disturbance of her mind, it had made sense. Constable Ewynnog was only one man. Why was she afraid of him? Neither she nor her father had ever done anything wrong. The village thought well of them. Unconsciously, she stood a little straighter, as resentment overcame her fretting.
    “If he’s so stupid,” she said slowly, “what would he do, given how things are in Clogwyn? Will he let well enough alone and just try to lord it over everyone? Wouldn’t he try and make trouble, if there’s none to be found?” She could imagine him doing so, actually, and more resentment built within her.
    “He might. So that leads me to other thoughts. It might be he was sent here, knowing he’d make trouble, so there would be an excuse to meddle. Maybe send more constables. Maybe more meddling than that.” Daffyd’s eyes narrowed in thought as they both walked back into the cottage. “See now, I don’t rightly know, and I expect no one rightly knows, but there is a lot of anger about the striking. The high and mighties have got their hackles up; there’s talk even of having the army in.” He shook his head. “Before this is over, there’ll be blood on the rocks and blood on the coal. Probably killings.”
    Mari shivered. Something about his words… they felt prophetic. They stood like a cold shadow between her and the bright day. But it wasn’t fear that made her shiver, it was that shadow. Resentment began to blossom into defiance. If that was how they wanted it…
    “Here now…” He patted her shoulder, making her jump a little. “It won’t be coming here. Mostly, if the worst comes,