Blood Moon by Goldie McBride

dug in with enthusiasm and then returned to the fire where the
boy’s mother waited. “You said he’s the youngest, the weakest.
Perhaps he’s simply having trouble fending for himself?”
    The woman looked taken aback. “I dole
out the food meself.”
    “Then make sure you give him a bit
more, especially meat.”
    She nodded, but looked a little
doubtful. “There’s not much meat to be had now, with it winter and
all. And the soldiers are camped out here now. They’re bound to
hunt the woods around here out if they stay the winter.”
    A frisson of uneasiness went through
Aslyn. “They’ll not be here long, surely?”
    The woman shrugged. “From what I’ve
heard, they’ve no plans to move any time soon. They’re tracking
wolves, and the last several attacks were near here.”
    The blood rushed from Aslyn’s face so
rapidly that a wave of nausea followed it.
    The woman gripped her arms. “Ye best
sit down if yer thinkin’ about faintin’.”
    Aslyn stared at her uncomprehendingly
for several moments. “No. I just felt a little dizzy for a moment.
I should probably eat.”
    The woman’s eyes narrowed. “It had
nothing to do with what I just told you?”
    Aslyn forced a half-hearted chuckle.
“Whatever made you think that? No. I’ll admit it’s a scary thought
… the possibility of the wolves being near here. But, it’s just
that I didn’t take the time to eat before I left this morning. I
expect it was the smell of the food more than anything
else.”
    The woman didn’t look convinced. “Not
that I’d blame ye, mind ye. The wolves aside, I’m more than a bit
uneasy about having soldiers camped on our doorstep meself. There’s
almost always trouble when the soldiers have too much time on their
hands.”
    “Too true. But mayhap they’ll kill off
the wolves fairly quickly and be on their way.”
    The woman glanced over at her son and
lowered her voice. “There’s somethin’ right queer about these
wolves, from what I hear tell of it. Ye’d think they was starvin’
or they wouldn’t be preyin’ on folks, but they’re real cautious for
all that, and wily. The soldiers’ve been trackin’ ‘em for months
now, an’ still ain’t managed to catch up with them. Now, don’t that
sound more’n a little strange to you?”
    Aslyn felt her uneasiness return. “How
so?”
    The woman shrugged. “Don’t it seem to
you that they’d not be at all cautious if they was hungry enough to
be huntin’ us?”
    “Maybe they’ve just been lucky--so far.
Or the soldiers unlucky.”
    “Maybe. But folks’r sayin’
it’s like they know the king’s sent men to track them down. They ain’t sprung none
of the traps set for them. An’ once it’s daylight, they just up and
vanish.”
    Aslyn shivered. “Perhaps their leader
is a wily old fellow?”
    “And maybe he ain’t no wolf
a’tall.”

Chapter Five
     
    Aslyn had no desire to be drawn any
deeper into this particular conversation. Instead of prompting the
woman to elaborate, therefore, she changed the subject
abruptly.
    “I am starving. Could I interest you in
sharing my stew?”
    The woman looked a little taken aback
but shook her head. “I’d best be gettin’ back. If you’re agreeable,
I’ll have me man bring you one of our geese for your
trouble.”
    Aslyn held up her hand. “No food,” she
said firmly.
    The woman’s lips tightened. “We don’t
take no charity.”
    That settled that. Aslyn had been on
the point of explaining that she was a penitent and usually took
nothing at all, but she could see the woman would take that badly.
“Certainly not! I do need a bit of patch work done on the roof,
though. Or he could bring some wood for the fire.”
    The woman glanced up then
nodded.
    John, having drained the bowl, had
fallen asleep with his head propped on his hands. The woman shook
him awake and carefully bundled him up.
    “Keep him inside at least a few
days—preferably a week. I’m sure you’ve chores inside the house