Silvermay by James Moloney Page B

the end of it, surely. A man like him didn’t let others decide. If a girl refused him, he could simply scoop her onto his horse and ride off. But this didn’t happen, either. Instead, Tamlyn risked speaking again.
    â€˜The wagons are loaded, my lord. They are waiting for you. Shall I help you onto your horse?’
    The man’s chestnut mare appeared behind him, as though it had been summoned by magic. Tamlyn cupped his hands and, accepting the Wyrdborn’s muddy boot onto his palms, boosted him into the saddle. He bowed submissively and was repaid with a savage kick that left him sprawled in the mud. Then the grey-vested Wyrdborn rode away to join Religo Norbett, leaving Tamlyn no more than bruised and muddy on the ground and my dear friend Hespa free to help him up.

6
A Hawk Among the Trees
    O nce Religo Norbett and his wagons had disappeared along the road, Hespa had little memory of her encounter with the Wyrdborn. All that remained was a deep sense of dread that left her weeping and barely able to stand. Birdie and I helped her home, and I stayed to comfort my friend. By evening, her fear had lifted and, better still, our argument was behind us. No one was happier about that than me.
    Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened back there in the lane. It was as though Tamlyn had simply talked the vile man out of stealing Hespa away. How had he done it? Whatever skill he’d used, it had taken great courage to approach a Wyrdborn the way he did. Part of me wished the entire village hadbeen there to see it, but, for Hespa’s sake, Birdie and I would never say a word.
    That didn’t mean the name ‘Piet’ stayed long from our lips when Hespa and I met the next day. As ever, I was nursing my little Smiler after his morning feed.
    â€˜You were right,’ I admitted with a sheepish grin. ‘I had all sorts of silly dreams about him.’
    â€˜Me, too,’ she said. ‘But now that he’s been here nearly three weeks, I don’t feel the same. He never looks at anyone but Nerigold and you, so there’s not much point.’
    â€˜And he only looks at me when I have this one in my arms,’ I said, holding up the baby. ‘My heart is behaving itself, too,’ I added. ‘It was just his good looks that attracted me and I’m past that now, same as you. He’ll take Nerigold away down the road sooner or later, and in a week, or a month, I’ll have forgotten all about him. The sooner the better, really.’
    How much of that was true? I didn’t want to examine it too deeply, preferring to laugh about the infatuation that had driven Hespa and me apart.
    I played with the bundle in my arms. ‘When are you going to smile for me?’ I asked him. ‘My cheeks are aching from showing you how.’
    No baby can really understand what is said to him,everyone knows that. But this didn’t stop Hespa’s cry of delight when Lucien’s round face immediately broke into the most wonderful smile.
    â€˜He heard you, he heard you,’ she laughed.
    I was too astonished to correct her. We hurried inside and gave Lucien to his mother, hoping he would melt her heart with the same gorgeous bow of his lips.
    â€˜You said I was wasting my time, that it would be months,’ I reminded Birdie.
    She humphed loudly. ‘It was wind. You’re not the first to mistake a burp for a smile.’
    But Smiler seemed to enjoy his new skill. With his mother there to see, he produced another beautiful grin. Nerigold burst into tears. If I hadn’t felt so triumphant over my mother, I would have done the same.
    Birdie made a face that combined surprise with a rare concession that she’d been wrong. She inspected Lucien for a few moments then walked away saying, ‘He’s a big lump for only four weeks.’
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    I’d told Hespa that Tamlyn meant nothing to me. Early the next morning I had a chance to prove it to