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“Don’t you want Marsh to be safe? If that human keeps going, he’ll find him eventually.”
“Of course, I want him to be safe but you’re forgetting something. He loves me too. If I leave, he’ll come after me.”
He’d also never said the words, but she knew it was true.
“You could convince him you wanted to leave,” Thorn insisted stubbornly.
“No I couldn’t. Have you ever really loved someone?” she demanded. “We know each other too well. Even if I could bring myself to lie to him, he’d never believe it.”
A flash of what might have been pain crossed his face at her question, but at least he stopped trying to insist she leave.
“Do you have a better idea?” he demanded.
“Not since you just sprang this one me five minutes ago. But I’ll talk to Marsh.” She hesitated, then reluctantly added, “You could stay and join in - although I wouldn’t advise mentioning your original plan again.”
He gave an equally reluctant nod, then sighed.
“All right. Do you want a hand with those tomatoes while we wait?”
CHAPTER 12
Marsh found himself humming as he poled his pirogue back home. The trading network had come through and he had an assortment of female clothing in the bag at his feet. Hopefully some of it would suit Aurora, but if not, he’d try again.
He’d also had an unexpected encounter with Jimmy, but it had not gone badly. He’d been picking up the clothes, more focused on Aurora’s pleasure than his surroundings, and his usual awareness had slipped. It wasn’t until the scent of tobacco reached him that he realized he was not alone. He whirled around, already trying to gather resources to protect himself, and came face to face with an older human in a checked shirt and a ball cap. He had faded blue eyes and a short fringe of white hair peeking out from under his cap.
He froze. He was standing in full sunlight, completely exposed. Even his hair was pulled back from his face because Aurora preferred it that way. There wasn’t even enough cool air to summon a mist to cloak him form. He was completely exposed,
The man studied him thoughtfully for a moment, then spit a stream to tobacco juice at the ground.
“Well, now. You must be that swamp monster that people whisper about,” he said cheerfully. “I always wondered if them stories were true.”
Marsh was too stunned by the casual words to respond at first.
“You’re not afraid of me?” he asked cautiously.
“Are you planning on hurting me?”
“Not unless I have to.”
“Then why should I be afraid?” Another stream of juice hit the ground before man shrugged. “Besides, my cousin up in Whiteville is married to an Other. He treats her real good. Better than the first bastard she married.”
He couldn’t think of anything to say, and the man grinned again.
“I’m Jimmy.”
“My name is Marsh.”
“You don’t say. Seems appropriate. I wondered, you know,” Jimmy added. “Those requests appearing in the middle of the night like that. Plus your writing’s ten times better than most of the folks round here.”
“You didn’t care?”
“No skin off my nose.” The other man shrugged, but his eyes were nowhere near as causal as his posture. “Got yourself a wife now? Less you got a fancy for women’s clothing yourself.”
“A wife?” He’d never thought of Aurora in that human term, but he found it surprisingly satisfying. “You could say so.”
Jimmy picked at a ragged fingernail, his voice still casual.
“She didn’t happen to turn up the same time Harold Belleview’s stepdaughter went missing, did she? Man’s on an almighty tear to get her back.”
