Ravenwood by Nathan Lowell Read Free Book Online

struggled through the door and down the steps with the heavy pail. “Why not me, ma? You said I’m quick to learn!” His child-voice fairly squeaked in excitement.
    Amber seemed at a loss, so Tanyth turned to the boy. “This is serious work, young man. It will take a lot of time and a lot of effort to do well. You’ll need to use what you’ll learn responsibly. Do you think you can do that? If you don’t, people could be hurt or die, and that would be a terrible thing to carry around with you.”
    Amber started to interrupt. “You can’t be serious, mum.”
    Tanyth kept her gaze focused on the youngster as he settled his burden on the hearthstone before answering. “I don’t wanna hurt nobody, mum, but seems to me if I start young, then I’ll have more time to learn.”
    Tanyth nodded slowly. “Good thinkin’, young man. Are you prepared for it to be borin’ and messy?”
    He looked startled. “Borin’ and messy, mum?”
    She shrugged, still watching his face carefully. “Most things in life are borin’ and people–and their illnesses–are often messy.”
    Riley nodded in return. “Missus Hawthorne was kinda messy wif it runnin’ out of both ends like that. Zat what cha mean?”
    Tanyth’s lips twitched slightly but she nodded. “That and sometimes worse.”
    He shrugged. “It’s not that bad, I s’pose.” He got a calculating smile on his face. “And I’m too little to be ’round too much yucky stuff anyway.” He shot a sideways glance at his mother.
    Amber snorted a laugh and hid her mouth behind her hand.
    “Very well.” Tanyth looked to Amber. “Is it alright with you, my dear? Might be handy to have a strong young lad like this to do some of the work for us. Crawlin’ under logs and muckin’ out vats and such.”
    Riley’s eyes grew large but Amber saw the twinkle in Tanyth’s eye. “It’s alright with me, mum, but shouldn’t we have somebody not in our family? If something happens to us and we leave...” She left the thought unfinished.
    Riley caught the question. “Where would we go, ma? This is our home now.”
    She turned to her son. “Yes, Riley, but if something happens to either of your grampas then we may find that we have to go back to Kleesport to live.”
    “What could happen?” Riley seemed genuinely puzzled.
    “Oh, I don’t think anything will happen!” Amber grinned. “I’m just thinking that if we need somebody besides me to learn this, then we’d be better off if the other person wasn’t attached to me.”
    Riley nodded. “Well, Missus Hawthorne, she’s the bestest grower we have. She’d be good.”
    “What about Megan?”
    Amber shook her head with a glance at Riley. “Good with kids, and a decent cook, but not where I’d put my time.”
    Tanyth caught the look and stopped pressing. “Good enough, then. We’ll get some things ready here while we wait for Sadie.” She indicated the hanging material in the rafters. “Let’s get all of this down and into the hearth and then we can see what we have.”
    In a matter of an hour, they cleared the rafters of dried material, and Tanyth stacked it in the corner behind the woodbox. “I’ll burn it later tonight when it’s a little cooler.” She looked around once more, quite satisfied. “I’ll go through the stuff on the shelf over there tonight, too, but that’s going to be more delicate sorting than this lot.” She waved dismissively at the dried goods and then paused. “What time is it getting to be?”
    “Lunch time?” Riley’s piping voice sounded hopeful.
    The two women laughed. “Come along then, light of my life.” Amber swept a hand toward the door with a nod to Riley. “I’ll find you a bit of crust and some stale water to reward your efforts this morning.”
    He grinned happily. “Might we have a bit of cheese as well?”
    “Only if it’s moldy, my dear.”
    “Sounds yummy, ma.” He raced out the door pelting for the Mapleton cottage and shouting for his sister that it