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The girl returned, bringing with her their wooden spoons Once more her skirt brushed his arm, and heThat s very hard He picked up his spoon and realized his pal intensely at hilittered in the candlelight He wet his lips before he spoke "She&039;s a fair piece, do y&039;thinki"
"Siri"
Shawco smile "a fair piece," he repeated "You fancy a look at her oyster basketi"
"Mr Shawcorasped the situation, and it was not acceptable to hio at her, if you please Won&039;t cost you but a guinea for the two of you"
"Certainly not!" Woodward&039;s cheeks had flamed "I told you, I&039;m a married man!"
"Yeah, but she&039;s in London, ain&039;t shei Don&039;t ot her name tattooed on your cock now, do youi"
If the stor outside, if the horses had not been in the barn, if there were anywhere else in the world to spend this night, Woodward nity he could summon and bade farewell to this coarse-minded lout What he really wanted to do, deep in his soul, was to strike an open-handed blow across Shawcoentleer and disgust like a bucketful of bile and said tersely, "Sir, I a of that fact"
Shawco on the floor He riveted his attention on the younger ain "Well, how &039;bout you theni You care for a tossi Say ten shillin&039;si"
"II mean to say - " Matthew looked to Woodward for help, because in truth he didn&039;t knohat he meant to say
"Sir," Woodward said, "you force us into a difficult position The young manhas lived in an almshouse forhow to phrase the next thing "What you must realize ishis experience is very limited He hasn&039;t yet partaken of- - "
"Great sufferin&039; mother!" Shawcombe broke in "You mean he ain&039;t never been fuckedi"
"Well as I say, his experience hasn&039;t yet led him to - "
"Oh, quit that foain, is that what you&039;re tellin&039;that is a contradiction of ter you"
Shawcoarded Matthew er man blush blood-red "I ain&039;t never met one of your breed before, sonny! Da! How old are youi"
"I&039;mtwenty years old," Mattheas able to answer His face was absolutely on fire
"Twenty years and no pussyi How&039;re you able to draw a breath without bustin&039; your bagi"
"I irl is," Woodward said "She&039;s not seen fifteen yet, has shei"
"What year is thisi" Shawco on his fingers Maude brought to their table a wooden platter laden with chunks of brown cornbread, then scurried away onceobvious difficulty with his digital rinned at Woodward "Never youpuddin&039;"
Matthew reached for the snakebite and near guzzled it
"Be that as it may," Woodward countered, "we shall both pass on your invitation" He picked up his spoon and plunged it into the watery stew
"Wasn&039;t no invite Was a business offer" Shawcombe drank some more ru I ever heard!" he said, his erin&039; the girls when I elve years old, m&039;self!"
"Jack One Eye," Matthew said It had been soood a tiet Shawcombe&039;s mind off the current subject
"Whati"
"Earlier you mentioned Jack One Eye" Matthew dipped a chunk of cornbread into his stew and ate it The bread tasted more of scorched stones than corn, but the steasn&039;t at all objectionable "What were you talking abouti"
"The beast of beasts" Shawcombe picked up his boith both hands and slurped froht feet tall Black as the hair on the Devil&039;s ass Had his eye shot out by a redskin&039;s arrow, but just one arrow didn&039;t stop hirier, too Swipe your face off with a claw and eat your brains for breakfast, he would"
"Jack One Eye&039;s a fuckin&039; bear!" spoke up abner, froer&039;n a horse! Bigger&039;n God&039;s fist, what he is!"
"Hain&039;t no burr"
Shawcolistening on his grizzled chin "Huhi What&039;re you sayin&039;i"
"Sayin&039; he hain&039;t no burr" Maude caht Her voice was still aas slowly and clearly as she could This subject, both Woodward and Matthew surmised, must be of importance to her
&039;"Course he&039;s a bear!" Shawcombe said "What is he, if he ain&039;t no beari"
"Hain&039;t jus&039; a burr," she corrected "I seen &039;im You hain&039;t I know &039;hut he is"
"She&039;s as addle-brained as the rest of &039;e
"I seen &039;im," the old woman repeated, a measure of force in her voice She had reached their table and stood next to Matthew Candlelight touched upon her wizened face, but her deep sunken eyes held the shadows "I &039;as at the door Right they, at the door Me Joseph was comin&039; home Our boy too I watch &039;em, coin&039; &039;tween &039;em I lift up me laneturn, and I start ta holler &039;e behind &039;eht hand had raised, her skinny fingers curled around the handle of a spectral lantern "I try ta screaet nothin&039; out," she said Her htened "I try," she croaked "I trybut God done stole ut liquor stole it!" Shawcoh
The old woman didn&039;t respond She was silent, as rain battered the roof and a pine knot popped in the hearth Finally she drew a long ragged breath that held terrible sadness and resignation "Kilt our boy &039;fore Joseph could tarn &039;round," she said, to no one in particular Matthew thought sheat him, but he wasn&039;t certain of it "Like take his head off, one swang o&039; them claws Then it fell on me husbandand weren&039;t nothin&039; to be dun I took a&039;running, threwHe jus&039; shake the that deer off and leave me hat &039;as left Joseph &039;as a-split open froin&039; out Took &039;im three days ta die" She shook her head and Matthew could see a wet glint in her eye sockets
"My Lord!" Woodward said "Wasn&039;t there a neighbor to come to your aidi"
"Naybarri" she said, incredulously "Hain&039;t no naybarrs out &039;chere Me Joseph &039;as a trapper, dun some Injun tradin&039; Tha&039;s hoe live What I&039;m tellin&039; you is, Jack One Eye hain&039;t jus&039; a burr Ever&039;thin&039; dark &039;bout this landever&039;thin&039; cruel and wicked When you think your husband &039;n son are coht and &039;bout to holler &039;e rises up, and all sudden you hain&039;t got nothin&039; no more Tha&039;s what Jack One Eye is"
Neither Woodward nor Matthe to respond to this wretched tale, but Shawco cornbread into his rasped his jaw His face was pinched with pain "What&039;s in this bloody bread, woers ca a small dark brown object &039;"Bout broke ! Hell&039;s bells!" Realization had struck him "It is a fuckin&039; tooth!"
"I &039;spect it&039;s mine," Maude said "Had sorabbed it fro more she turned her back on them and went to her duties at the hearth
"Damn ol&039; bitch is fallin&039; to pieces!" Shawcoed some rum, swished it around his mouth, and started in on his supper once more
Woodward looked down at a chunk of cornbread that he&039;d placed in his stel He very politely cleared his throat "I believe ry no istrate&039;s bowl and dumped it all into his own He had decided to disdain the use of his eating utensils in favor of his hands, stew dripping frorunted, as Matthew sat there deciding whether to risk chewing on a rotten tooth or not "You want a go with the girl, I&039;ll pay you ten pence to watch ain&039;t like I&039;ll see a virgin ridin&039; the wool every day"
"Siri" Woodward&039;s voice had sharpened "I&039;ve already told you, the answer is no"
"You presumin&039; to speak for him, theni What are you, his dauardian"
"What the hell does a twenty-year-old uardiani"
"There are wolves everywhere in this world, Mr Shawco man must be very careful not to fall into their company"
"Better the company of wolves than the cryin&039; of saints," Shawcoet et up, but you won&039;t die of boredoht another question to Matthew&039;s mind He pushed his steard the tavern-keeper "There was ato Fount Royal frosbury Did he happen to stop herei"
"No, ain&039;t seen hiluttony
"He never arrived at Fount Royal," Mattheent on "It seeht have stopped here, if he - "
"Prob&039;ly didn&039;t get this far," Shawcohwayue out of Charles Town, ot him Man travellin&039; alone out here&039;s a handshake away fro to the downpour on the roof Water was strea puddles on the boards "I didn&039;t say he was alone," Matthew said at last
Shawcoht have faltered a fraction "You just spoke the one naht not have mentioned his clerk"
"Well, shit!" Shawcoain "Was he alone or noti and what does it matteri"
"He was alone," Matthew said evenly "His clerk had taken ill the night before" He watched the candle&039;s flae blade "But then, I don&039;t suppose it really lance at Woodward "He&039;s got an itch to ask the ht, as well"
"Uh huh" Shawcoain, and Matthew had the distinct and highly unsettling sensation of facing the ugly barrel of a primed and cocked blunderbuss "Best take care somebody don&039;t put out your la stare for a few seconds, and then he started in on the food Matthew had pushed aside
The two travellers excused themselves fro to play the fiddle for their "entertainhtily to restrain his bodily functions, but now nature was shouting at hied to put on his coat, take a lantern, and venture out into the weather
alone in the roo, Matthew heard abner&039;s fiddle begin to skreech It appeared they would be serenaded whether they liked it or not To an to clap and holler in dubious counterpoint a rat scuttled in a corner of the room, obviously as disturbed as was Matthew
He sat down on the straw ht, though he was exhausted fro out by the hearth, it was likely to be a hard go He decided he would create and solve some mathematics problems, in Latin of course That usually helped him relax in difficult situations
I don&039;t suppose it really sbury&039;s travelling alone But it seemed to Matthew that it did matter To travel alone was exceptional and - as Shawcosbury had been drunk every time Matthew had seen the man, and perhaps the liquor had enfeebled his brain But Shawcosbury was alone He had not asked Was he alone or Who was travelling with him No, he&039;d made the state&039;s voluhed and shook his head at the indignity of the situation at least, however, they had a roof over theht was another question
He could still sirl&039;s scent
It came upon him like an ambush The scent of her was still there, whether in his nostrils or in his mind he wasn&039;t sure Care for a tossi
Yes, Matthew thought Math proble puddin&039; and definitely in Latin
The fiddle an to stoirl&039;s scent su him
His mouth was dry His stoht, sleep tonight was going to be a hard go
a very, very hard go