Page 145 of Moonless
“I was very brave.”
He keeps watching the path while I laugh into his shirt. It hurts, so I press a hand to my ribs, which only makes him glance down.
He takes the next few steps more slowly.
Where the ground levels out, he turns onto a narrow track between the trees. I can see his feet from up here, and he’s going around things he’d normally step over. When the track starts to climb, he stops at the bottom to breathe.
Told you.
“We can stop here.”
He eyes the slope, then me.
“Farther on. There’s somewhere to sit.”
I nod and rest my hand against his chest.
Fine. He can have this one.
He waits another breath before starting up. “Tell me about the children.”
“What do you want to know?”
“How Birdie got her name.”
I lift my head enough to see his face. Both ears are turned toward me.
“You’ve been wondering about that?”
“You told me Eskan and Colm. Then Birdie.”
“Mel names things. Keer should’ve taken that more seriously.”
His lip lifts a little, showing the end of a fang.
“Before there were any children, she named her rooster Keer Jr. After my brother. He’s big, he’s cross, he’s always underfoot, and he can’t stand anyone near his hens.”
“A rooster.”
I pat his chest. “Yes. Keep up, Princess Fluffykins.”
One ear goes flat. Still works.
I let him get us over a rut before I go on.
“So Keer had plenty of warning. Eskan and Colm got sensible names, and then he stood right there and let Mel name their sister Birdie.”
“Does he use it?” He looks down at me.
“Never. He calls her Deedee. Mel and I call her Birdie right in front of him, and he keeps saying Deedee.”
“Does the child answer?”
“When it suits her. The child’s very busy. Last time I had her out, she was trying to kill a root.”
He laughs, and I feel it under my hand more than I hear it.
I love that sound.
