Violet Blackstone's Arc

Chapter 11 of 14

By midmorning Violet stood at the north gate with Colton and Willow. The crossbeam Colton had cut lay across the posts. It would stop a lamb. It would not stop a man with a knife who smiled and said Violet's name. Willow had walked in on a rumor and a wooden token. The next arrival might do worse. "We need a way to know them before they cross," Violet said. "A word. A sign. Something a stranger can't guess." Colton leaned on the beam. "Willow guessed one of your three." "I know." "So questions aren't enough." Willow tucked her hair back. "Then give them something to carry. Like the cord. But smaller. Something you hand out yourself, at the stones, so only the ones you meet have it." Violet thought of the gathering stone where she had left food and a glowing fern. The cast-outs came to the stones. She could meet them there and mark them there. "Tokens," she said. "Chips of the same wood as the cord. I cut them. I notch each one different. I keep the match here in a box. No notch, no gate." Colton's jaw eased. "And if they lose it?" "Then they wait outside and send word by someone who has one." A dog barked down by the road. All three turned. A man was climbing the track on foot, hands out from his sides, empty. Tall. Gray in his beard. A ranger's coat, worn thin at the cuffs. He stopped ten paces from the gate and waited to be seen. "Name yourself," Colton called. "Marcus Thornwood. I taught fighting for a pack that threw me out for it." His voice was flat and steady. "I heard at a trading post that a woman was taking in cast-outs. I came to offer my hands." Violet felt Willow stiffen beside her. No token. No stone. Just a rumor and a face. "Who told you where to find us?" Violet asked. "A trapper, drunk. He thought I was one of his. I let him think it." Marcus opened his coat slow. A knife at his belt. Nothing else. "I can teach your people to hold a gate. That's what I have." Violet looked at Colton. Colton looked at the axe by the post. Then at her. "He stays outside tonight," Violet said. "Under the oak, in sight of the porch. No fire. In the morning, if he's still there, I'll talk to him." Marcus nodded once and walked to the oak without argument. He sat with his back to the trunk, hands on his knees. Violet turned to Colton. "Get the drawknife. We start cutting tokens tonight. Every one different. Every one mine." Colton went for the shed. Willow bent to gather kindling. Violet watched Marcus under the oak, and knew the gate had a rule now, even if the first man to test it was already at the door.