Tobias granted her a smile, a dimple marking his cheek. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ll be fine.”
Attie already had their articles packed in a folder, ready for transport. She slid it across the table; Tobias seamlessly picked it up.
“When will you be back?” she asked.
“Tomorrow evening,” he replied. “I need to have the roadster serviced in Oath, which will delay me. You both remember our agreement?”
Iris was quiet, but she recalled Tobias’s request from the other night. It was hard for her to think about something happening to him on the road when their surroundings felt so normal and familiar, as if the three of them had been here before. Indeed, Lonnie Fielding was whistling as he cooked in the adjacent kitchen. Bacon was sizzling in a pan and a kettle was hissing. The dining room was a cluttered space with a timber-beamed ceiling and books piled up in the corners. Iris felt safe here, but she knew Tobias was right. Things could escalate quickly, just like they had in the Bluff. Their group needed to be prepared for the worst.
She shuddered, pulling the sleeves of her jumpsuit over her hands as she crossed her arms.
“Don’t worry, Bexley.” Attie finally broke the silence. “We won’t wait on you if people begin evacuating.”
Tobias held her stare for a moment before nodding. Then he turned and was out the door before Iris could so much as blink. She realized her typed myth was still on the table, and in that split second, she decided she wanted to send it.
She followed Tobias out the door, running along the stone path through the garden to the road. He was just about to drive away, his hand on the gearstick, when Iris caught his attention.
“Wait! I have one more article,” she panted, holding up the papers.
Tobias didn’t seem shocked. He only snorted as he handed the folder to Iris.
“You’ll be careful?” she said as she hurried to tuck her papers inside.
“Of course,” he replied. “I’ll see you and Attie tomorrow night.”
Iris nodded and stepped back. The mist swirled as Tobias drove away, but Iris remained standing on the cobbled street, soaking in the morning.
She had never been to Bitteryne before, but it felt like Avalon Bluff and River Down. Cottages, winding streets, idyllic pasture views. When the war is over, she thought, I’d like to live in a place like this one.
The peace was broken when Iris felt a rumble beneath her feet. She stared at the cobblestones in disbelief before glancing up the road, wondering if a line of lorries was driving into town. But there were no signs of life on the streets.
The rumbling faded, although Iris could still feel an echo of it in her bones.
She remembered the night before—the clinking beneath the floor. Like axes hitting stone, deep in the earth. Swallowing, Iris turned and hurried back inside.
Lonnie was setting breakfast down on the table. He looked up expectantly and said, “Oh, there you are, Miss Winnow. Glad to see you look well rested. Is Mr. Bexley with you?”
“Did you feel that?” Iris breathed. “That rumbling in the ground?”
Both Lonnie and Attie froze. The seconds stretched on, tense and silent, but there was nothing odd about them. The floor did not shake again, nor did the pattern of clinks return.
“I’m sorry,” Iris said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I must have imagined it. I stayed up late last night writing, and—”
“No,” Attie gently interrupted her. “I sensed something peculiar last night too. It was faint, but the floor was shuddering.”
The girls looked at Lonnie. He was an older farmer, one who had lived his entire life in Bitteryne. His wife had died years before, and his two grown sons and their three daughters were all fighting in the war for Enva’s cause. Iris and Attie were currently staying in his granddaughters’ rooms because Lonnie had decided the best thing to do with a suddenly empty house was to rent the rooms and help the cause as much as he could.
“You didn’t imagine it,” he said. “For the past week now, we’ve felt the rumblings throughout the town.”
“What could be causing them?” Iris asked.
Lonnie sighed. “None of us know. This is a peaceful valley. We’ve never encountered anything like ground shakes before. Honestly, it’s very noticeable some days, and others not so much. But don’t you two worry about it! I’m sure it’s nothing to fret about. Here, help yourself to the bacon and scones. I’m sorry to say I don’t have any eggs today. I sent them west to Hawk Shire, for the army.”