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.Wise tough funny.She had it all.And I should add she hadlooks as well.Not one of those pale, pretty women some men moon over, but a woman withblood in her veins.And she saw things I wouldn t have noticed on my own in a million years aclump of flowers by the roadside, the face of a child.She was always pointing out somethingnew.In her company, the world became a larger, grander place.We Foresters sometimes thinkour lives are necessary for the well-being of the world; but she taught me that the opposite istrue.It s the world that makes it possible for us to live the way we do.Not that it s a bad life.No,I d never say that. Peter looked off into the distance. I ll never forget her, he said, as much to himself as to Jon. Not that I didn t love thewoman I married a few years later.But you can love more than one person, you know.Ourhearts aren t such feeble things that we can care about one woman only.Or one man. What happened to her? Peter looked down and spoke slowly. I ve never been able to figure it out although she gave me due warning.From the first,she told me that our time together wouldn t last forever.She said she d have to get back to herpeople.And when the day came, she bid me farewell and was gone. Was it difficult? You bet the most difficult thing in my whole life.She d made me promise I wouldn tlet it cause me pain as if you could decide whether or not to have feelings! Still, I did what shesaid and in time I met another woman, and I loved her, too.It s strange to think of loving twosuch different women, but that s the way we are.Still, she left me as well.She died when Helenwas only two, and that hurt as much as the first pain although it was easier to bear, because I dlearned how to do that. And you had your two daughters. Indeed I did and that made all the difference. But it must have been hard a man by himself raising two children. Oh, I wasn t alone.My own parents were still living then, and my brother and sister andmy sister s husband and their children the Forest House wasn t so empty those days.I had twoaunts my father s sisters and their husbands as well. What happened to them? My sister s children are still living.My nephew married a woman from one of the otherfamilies and went to live with them.I see him every winter.You ll meet him, too if you comewith us.His sister married a man from Hexam and lives there now.Everyone else is long dead.Iwas the youngest in the family; it stands to reason I ll be the last one to go although of courseyou never know about things like that. Jon wanted to ask Peter the name of the woman with whom he had journeyed to Kar, buthe sensed that Peter had deliberately omitted this detail and so might resent the inquiry.Instead,Jon pressed the old man for more details about the journey itself, and Peter was glad to providethem. Did you see the Emperor? Jon asked. Yes but only at a distance.He used to hold public audiences on a balcony overlookingthe palace square, and men and women would come to him with petitions.You couldn t speak tohim directly that goes without saying but officials passed through the crowd, gatheringmessages to take to the Emperor, and he d respond to some of them.You couldn t make outwhat he was saying, but word would come of his judgment. One of the officials recognized my clothing and pointed me out, because the Emperorturned toward me and spoke.He looked right at me.And later a messenger brought me a goldcoin. The Emperor thanks you and your people for their loyalty, he told me. Because ofyou, he has nothing to fear at his southern border. I ll never forget that moment. So that s what you do? Jon asked. You and your family protect the southern border? Peter ran his hand through his hair. Protect is a strong word.It would be more accurate to say that we watch.That was thecharge we were given to watch the South.We were seven families then, although now we vedwindled to five but we still report what we see to the Emperor s Prefect.Every summer, he comes to Bridgetown; and in return for our report, he gives us twenty-one gold ducats, three foreach of the original families. You re thinking we should have told him that there are only five of us now, and givenback six of the ducats.But we re doing the same job, aren t we? It stands to reason we deservethe same pay.If it was worth twenty-one ducats two hundred years ago, it must be worth twenty-one ducats today.We ve discussed the matter, you understand.No one would take the Emperor smoney if he hadn t performed the service the Emperor expected.Surely that goes without saying.Jon wasn t sure it went without saying, but he nodded in agreement. But last year, no Prefect appeared, and that s complicated the problem.We waited forhim, but he never arrived and no explanation came for his absence.My grandsons are inBridgetown again, ready to make their report, but we fear that the Prefect won t appear this yeareither.Something has happened I wish I knew what.Last year, the people of the firstsettlement on the road spoke of marauders
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