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“Those cowards just stood there, and watched while we fed off people they knew?” He would never have let de Clermont feed on Vanderslice or Cuthbert or Dr Otto
“You take the little one,” de Cler a few coins by his soldier’s face “I’ll have the other”
—
BY THE TIME THEY REACHED the Connecticut River, Marcus had fed fro men, sick men and hale men, criminals and runaways and even a rotund innkeeper who never woke up from his fireside sluic accidents when hunger got the better of hi his way across New England and who even de Clerreed deserved to die
Marcus and Matthew boarded a ferry and crossed the water When they landed on the other side, Marcus realized that he was close to Hadley He looked at de Clerht him here
“You should see it again,” de Clerh new eyes”
But it was Marcus’s nose that first registered the familiarity of the place It was filled with the scents of fall in western Massachusetts—leaf mold and pumpkins, cider presses filled with apples, woods before the MacNeil farm came into view
The place was in much better condition than it had been on the day Marcus killed his father
A wohter—he would have known that silvery, infrequent sound in a heartbeat He stopped his horse to see who lived here now, and de Clermont stopped with him
A young woman of twenty or so ca, with a red-and-white apron over a blue dress that was sis in one ar over the other
“Ma!” the wos to make custard for Oliver!”
It was his sister This young woman—she was his sister
“Patience” Marcus kicked his horse and started forward
“It’s your decision whether or not you speak to your family,” de Clermont said “But remember: You can’t tell them what you’ve become They wouldn’t understand And you can’t remain here, Marcus Hadley is too small to harbor a wearh People will know you’re different”
Then his mother came from the back door of the house She was older, her hair white, and even at a distance Marcus could see the wrinkles that were etched into her skin Still, she didn’t look as tired as the last time he had seen her In her arms was a baby wrapped in a ho to it with the rapt adoration that new mothers lavished on their children
My nephew, Marcus realized Oliver
Catherine, Patience, and Oliver formed a small fa Marcus re over the house in a dark pall Somehow, joy had returned when Obadiah and Marcus departed
Marcus’s heart stopped in a spasain
This was no longer his fa in Hadley anymore
But he had made it possible for his mother and sister to find a new life for themselves Marcus hoped that Patience’s man—if she still had one and he had not been killed in the as good and kind
Marcus turned his horse’s head away from the farm
“Who is that?” Patience’s question floated through the air Had he not been a wearh, Marcus ht not have been able to hear her
“It looks like—” histo consider whether her eyes were playing tricks
Marcus faced resolutely forward, eyes on the horizon
“No I was ed with sadness
“He’s not co home, Ma,” Patience said “Not ever”
Catherine’s sigh was the last thing Marcus heard before he put all that he once was and ht have been behind him
22
Infant
NOVEMBER 1781
Ports to load and unload their cargo Though it ell past ht, the docks still bustled with activity
“See if you can find a ship called the Aréthuse,” de Cler him the horse’s reins “I’ll ask at the tavern to see if anyone’s spotted her”
“How big?” Marcus studied the sloops, schooners, brigantines, and whaleboats
“Big enough to make it across the Atlantic” De Clere of the harbor “There That’s her”
Marcus squinted into the dark, trying tooff the stern that convinced hiht
De Clermont jumped into a small skiff and pulled Marcus in after him The sailor on watch was horribly drunk and barely noticed that the vessel in his charge had been taken De Clerhtily on the oars so that the boat’s pointed bow rose up with every stroke
When they reached the ship, so a rope ladder over the side
“Cliainst the hull
Marcus eyed the ship’s steep side with concern
“I’ll fall off into the sea!” he protested
“It’s a long way, and the water is cold You’re better off taking your chances on the ladder” A disembodied voice floated down to them Then, a square-jawed, clean-shaven face appeared over the railing, wreathed in shoulder-length golden hair that had escaped from the cocked hat perched, backward, on his head “Hello, Uncle”
“Gallowglass” De Cler
“And who’s this with you?” Gallowglass asked, squinting at Marcus with suspicion
“Let’s get hi him” De Clermont took Marcus by the scruff of the neck and lifted his of the rope ladder while the skiff rocked underneath them
When he reached the top, Marcus fell onto the deck in a dizzy heap He was not, it turned out, very good with heights anymore He closed his eyes to let the sea and sky return to their proper positions When he opened the over him
“Jesus!” Marcus scraht be hard to kill now, but he was no match for this creature
“Christ and his apostles Don’t be daft, boy,” Gallowglass said with a snort “I’ to attack my own cousin”
“Cousin?” The fa to soothe Marcus’s fears In his experience, faer
An arm the size of a howitzer shot forward, palm open, bent at the elbow Marcus rereetings and taken their farewells Wearhs ht—or perhaps this was a French custom?
Marcus gingerly clasped the proffered arm, elbow to elboare that his cousin could break it like a twig Anxious at the prospect of further injury, Marcus’s fingers tightened on Gallowglass’s muscular arm
“Easy there, pup” Gallowglass’s eyes creased in warning as he lifted Marcus to his feet
“Sorry Don’t seeth these days,” Marcus mumbled, embarrassed by his inexperience
“Hrip
De Cler himself from the ladder to the deck with the lithe self-assurance of a tiger The lass turned and, in a blur of fists, landed two blows to de Clermont’s jaw
Cousin or no cousin, Marcus’s protective instincts howled to life and he launched hilass’s paw held him off with lazy ease
“You’ll be wanting to ripen a bit lass advised Marcus
“Stand down, Marcus,” de Clerned his jaw and worked it open and closed a few times
“What the hell were you thinking, Uncle, lass demanded of de Clermont o;Those cowards just stood there, and watched while we fed off people they knew?” He would never have let de Clermont feed on Vanderslice or Cuthbert or Dr Otto