You bin out fer two days, says Emmi.

Two days! I says. I sit up like a shot an go to shove my blanket away, but Jack stops me. Presses me back gently so’s I lie down agin. My shoulder throbs. It cain’t be, I says. That means we only got … when’s midsummer eve?

Him an Emmi look at each other. It’s tonight, she says.

No! What time is it now? I try to sit up agin an this time Emmi stops me. I got a git there!

It’s okay, says Emmi, we got time.

We’re here, says Jack.

What …? I says. Whaddya mean … we’re here?

Freedom Fields, she says. Saba, we’re at Freedom Fields.

It’s jest th’other side of this hil , says Jack. He gits up an goes over to the re. Starts doin somethin, takin pots o a the re an movin things around, but I cain’t see what.

I don’t unnerstand, I says. How’d I git here?

You passed out while you was stil on the lake, says Emmi. Jack found you. He carried you al the way til he caught up with us. You would of bin dead if it warn’t fer him. Ain’t that right, Jack?

He grunts.

He wouldn’t let nobody else touch you, she says. Then he loaded you onto Hermes an we jest kept goin til we got here.

Hermes? I says. But we set the horses loose. They should of bin long gone.

Not Hermes, says Emmi. He waited fer us. Fer you.

Remind me to thank him, I says. I lie back. We made it in time, I whisper. We made it.

By the skin of our teeth, says Jack.

Where’s everybody else? I says.

Outside, he says. They’re git in a few things together that might be useful.

They’re makin arrows, says Emmi.

I need to help, I says.

You can help in a minute, says Jack. Soon’s I stitch that wound.

There ain’t time, I says.

You ain’t got a choice in the mat er, he says. He starts to thread fine catgut through a thin bone needle.

Emmi says, You should of seen ’em al run when Jack asked who was good at stitchin.

Cowards, says Jack. Every one of ’em.

Ike said only a fool ’ud dare touch a prickly pear like you, says Emmi.

Ike said only a fool ’ud dare touch a prickly pear like you, says Emmi.

Is that what you are, Jack? I says. A fool?

Seems that way, he says. Now, let’s take a look. He pushes my shirt o a my shoulder an unwinds the bandage. I peer at it. The oak bark poultice done its work. The wound’s ugly but clean.

Yer gonna have a big scar, says Emmi.

You ain’t seen me sew yet, says Jack. I do real neat work. He holds out a bot le of Ike’s vodka. It’s half ful . Here you go, he says, drink it down. It’l help dul the pain.

No, I says. I’m gonna need a clear head later on.

He lifts one eyebrow. You sure? he says. Go on.

No, I says. I don’t wanna drink.

Wel I sure as hel do, he says an he takes a long swig.

Jest git on with it, Jack, I says.

He hands me a cloth. I shove it into my mouth. Then he gives me a rock fer each hand.

Emmi sits on my legs to stop me kickin. She’s got a flamin torch in her hand. Don’t throw me of , she says.

I’l work as fast as I can, says Jack, but this is gonna hurt like the devil. You ready?

My heart’s thumpin. I bite down on the cloth. I squeeze the stones hard. I nod.

Gimme a good light, Emmi, he says. Al right, here we go.

Then he commences to stitch me up.

Lucky fer me, I faint right away.

FREEDOM FIELDS

I STEP OUTSIDE INTO THE MIDDAY SUN. I BLINK AFTER THE arkness of the cave an take in a deep breath to clear my foggy head. The air’s cooler’n I’m used to. It smel s dif erent. This air smel s of fir, sharp an sweet at the same time.

The longest day of the year. Midsummer. This is it.

Yer awake, says Jack. He’s sit in on a big rock. It’s on the edge of a lit le clearin to the side of the cave. He nishes tyin the head onto a arrow an tosses it onto a growin pile. How’s the shoulder?

I rol it around. A bit sti , no surprise there, an a bit sore where the stitches are, but no pain. I guess I got Jack’s disgustin wil ow bark brew to thank fer that.

Feels good, I says. Thanks. I look up at the sky. Any sign of Nero?

He shakes his head. No. My stummick tightens. I look up at the sky agin, like he might of appeared in the last two seconds. I had to tel everybody where he is, says Jack. They kept askin.

He’l find Maev, I says. I know he wil . They should be here by now. C’mon, Nero.

I scan the sky.

It’s out a our hands. Let’s jest git on with it. Saba.

Yeah … yeah. Where is everybody?

If you look around the corner, you’l see, he says.

I step around him, into the clearin, an there they al are.

Ash an Epona sit side by side, strippin an smoothin down sticks into arrow shafts. They work fast. Ike an Tommo’s makin slate chips into arrowheads an Emmi bobs around, fetchin an carryin an general y makin herself useful.

It looks like they ain’t none of ’em had no sleep fer a while. They look up when they see me, throw a nod or a lit le smile, but don’t stop what they’re doin. Even Emmi keeps at it instead of rushin over to me like always.

It’s so heavy in the air you can smel it, almost taste it. The tightness. The urgency. I feel the heat rise in my cheeks. Everybody must think I’m a real shirker, snorin away while they work.

You al right? says Epona.

Yeah, I says. I’l be okay to shoot.

Good, Ike says. I especk we might be seein a lit le action later on.

Gimme somethin to do, I says.

You can help me tie on arrowheads, says Jack. He shifts to make room fer me on his rock an I sit beside him. Right away, the heartstone starts to heat up. I shake my head.

What? he says.

Nuthin, I says. I take a length of net lecord, a head an a shaft an git to work. My ngers feel clumsy to start with, slow, but after I done a couple I git into the swing of it.

Jack holds up a nished arrow. Sights along it. Whenever I make a arrow, he says, I see it in my mind’s eye … yin out a the bow … singin through th’air, headin fer the target straight an true.

Me too, I says.

Our eyes meet fer a second. We smile. Then we bend our heads to our work an real y set to.

Did you know, he says, that every time you make somethin, any time you make anythin, a lit le bit of yer spirit goes into it?

No, I says. I didn’t know that.

Wel , it’s a fact. So … you wanna make sure it’s a good bit of you, not a bad bit.

I think I used up my last good bit a while back, I says.

Me too, he says. He gives me his lopsided grin an my heart turns over.

I’m sorry, I says.

Fer what? he says.

Fer always bein … you know … so—

Ungrateful? he says.

Yeah, I says.

Ornery?

I guess so.

Rude? Pig-headed? Violent?

I ain’t violent!

Oh yes, you are. Very. But I like that in a woman.

I laugh. Yer crazy, I says.

I was fine til I met you, he says.

When the sun’s high in the midafternoon sky, we break camp an start to gather up our weapons. I remember what Emmi said about Hermes waitin fer me an not fol owin th’other horses when we set ’em loose back at the lake.

Where’s Hermes? I says.

There, Tommo says with a jerk of his head. We’re al used to him by now an pret y much know what he means. Emmi stil seems to git more out a his one or two words than anybody else though.