Maren Goldweaver's Arc

Chapter 33 of 42

Gisela let go and sat back on her heels. She wiped her face with the flat of her hand. She looked at Miller's split knuckles, then at Maren's face, and she understood without being told. She stood up. "I'll be with Kato," she said. "Come find me after." She slipped out. The flap fell shut. Across the yard the low voices in the big tent went on, Vera's and Delia's, neither one raised. Whatever they said, they were saying it without the camp hearing. That meant Vera had not decided yet what to do with Maren. Maren turned back to Miller's hand. She wet the rag again and worked the dirt out of the deepest split. He did not flinch. "She'll set a price," Maren said. "I need to know what's in that file before she does. Whatever it is, it's what Delia was willing to walk two days for. It's leverage. If Vera reads it first, she names the terms and I take them." "Then we get to it first." "How. It's in the tent with them." "It's in Delia's arms," Miller said. "Not Vera's." She looked up. He was right. Delia had not let the file go on the walk. She had not let it go stepping into the tent. A daughter meeting a mother after years would not hand a stranger her only card. Maren tied off the rag. She stood. The flap moved. Delia stepped in without asking. Her eyes were red. The file was still against her chest. She looked at Maren a long moment. "She wants it," Delia said. "She hasn't asked yet. She will." "Yes." "You dragged me here for it." "I did." Delia set the file down on the cot between them. She did not open it. "Read it," Delia said. "Before I go back in. I want someone in this camp to know what she's buying." Maren opened the cover. Miller stood at her shoulder. The top page was a transfer manifest. Under it were names, dates, holding orders. Halfway down the third page Maren stopped. Her family’s name was there “Goldweaver”. A date and a place. She noted them. She closed the file. Her hands were steady. "Thank you," she said. Delia took it back. "I owe you nothing. Remember that." She walked out. Maren sat down on the cot. Miller stayed standing. "We're safe here for now," he said. "That was a big win." She breathed out for what felt like the first time in a week. She reached for his hand to finish the dressing. She did not notice how close he was standing. His other hand went to her hair and pushed it behind her ear, then ran down her braid. She looked up at him. He looked down at her mouth. Neither of them decided. They brought their lips together.