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“It is pleasant here. I like this café and the library. As to whether this is home…well, that depends on one’s definition.”
“What’s yours?” Ben asked, curious.
Ruth was a bit of an enigma to him. On the one hand, she seemed like a sweet old lady whom he could easily picture as someone’s grandmother. But as far as he knew, she didn’t have family, certainly not around here.
And she kept to herself. Sometimes, he saw her sit and chat with Mama Bear when she was here for baking days. She chatted easily with the waitresses too, and Maddie, the owner. But he’d never seen her around town with her own friends or relatives.
It wasn’t necessarily unusual, however. While there were plenty of people with deep roots here, and knew everyone in the village for generations, there were also strangers who wandered into the territories and settled for a while or even permanently. Typically, they were people who liked the untamed ruggedness of these remote lands, far away from civilization and the hustle and bustle of big cities. They came here to be anonymous and alone.
Perhaps Ruth was the same. Perhaps she simply wanted to get away from it all.
“Somewhere one belongs,” she answered his earlier question. “I suppose that’s one definition of it. I don’t know if I belong here, but thus far, I have no complaints.”
“Where are you from, Ruth?” Ben queried further. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”
She didn’t bother to look up from her knitting as she replied, “Oh, here and there. There are many more luxuries where I used to dwell, but the sprawling vastness of nature is similar. The air is crisper here.”
She paused as if debating whether she should say more.
And then: “I find it easier to breathe freely here.”
Ben nodded, hearing what she didn’t say. He was right. She was here to get away. He decided not to pry further for today.
Ruth licked her lips and darted her eyes briefly at his face before looking down at her knitting again.
“I noticed that there are new residents in town lately. I wonder if they plan to stay long.”
“There have been a lot of new arrivals over the past few years,” Ben said casually. “Which particular strangers caught your attention?”
“Oh, I suppose the family of tall, dark-haired men with those rare citrine-colored eyes certainly draw a lot of attention wherever they go,” she said just as casually.
“They must be related, hmm? Brothers, I guess?”
Ben knew exactly whom she meant. The Pendragons—Merlin, Arthur and Wolfe. Though Arthur’s eyes weren’t the same color, they looked very similar from a distance. Deep set with an exotic, wolf-like slant, surrounded by thick, spiky lashes that provided the perfect setting for gem-colored eyes.
He couldn’t very well correct Ruth about their relationship though. Merlin was actually Arthur and Wolfe’s sire. But because at least two of them were immortal dragon shifters, Merlin looked only five to ten years older than his sons.
“I believe so,” he answered. “At least, I’d like to think they are planning to stay.”
“Haven’t seen them around lately,” she mentioned, clicking her needles.
“They’re on an extended family trip to the UK,” Ben shared. “It’s where they’re from originally. I think they’re nostalgic for a taste of their previous homeland.”
Ruth nodded and hummed.
“Wonder what they might discover there,” she murmured. “There must be a lot to look forward to. History and heritage. Retracing past footprints. Hope they have…an illuminating visit.”
She looked up briefly and crinkled her eyes in a mysterious smile.
Ben could not be certain, but it seemed that the indiscernible colors in her irises swirled like stars in the cosmos.
A splitting headache squeezed Ben’s temples, making him wince, but was just as quickly gone—
The moment she lowered her eyes again.
He knew, right then, that his friends would indeed have an elucidating journey traveling across Britain. Perhaps it was even a quest, no matter that the Jade Emperor had not sent them. No matter that Ben didn’t feel compelled to join them. There was no doubt in his mind, however, that there was something to be gained at the end of this trip.
The only question was whether they would return defeated or triumphant.
