Page 61 of The Ranger
Markhel arched an eyebrow. “Scallywag?”
Doc laughed. “It’s just an expression.” He ran into the front hall. “Sarah! Come quick.”
He heard someone run across the parlor. “Land sakes, Doc, what is it?” She gasped. “Markhel!” She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him through the door. “You, you… You!” She grabbed him into a fierce hug. “Where have you been?! None of us have seen you since Tillie and Andrew got hitched. How are they?”
“They are well.” He looked down at her, then hugged her back. “It is good to see you, wise one.”
“You have no idea how good it is to see you!” She backed up, wiping tears from her eyes. “Come inside and sit a spell.” She waved him into the parlor. “I just happened to have some fresh cookies. Your favorite too!” She shooed him the rest of the way into the room then hurried for the kitchen.
Doc laughed. “I haven’t seen her this excited since she beat Colin at arm wrestling!” He sobered as he turned to him. “So, you’re here because it’s time?”
Markhel sat on the sofa in front of the parlor windows. Out of habit, he peeked through the lace curtains to the street outside. “Yes.”
Doc sat next to him. “And… is it… Maida?”
He looked Doc Waller in the eyes. “It is.”
Doc shook his head, stood, and paced. “I don’t know how you’re going to pull this off. Call or no Call.” He stopped pacing to stand before him. “Hasshe Called?”
“She has.” His ribs were sore for hours afterward, and his gut still felt as if it were twisted up in knots. “I recovered.”
Doc looked him over. “Hmm, you sure about that?”
Grandma entered the parlor carrying a tray laden with cups, saucers, a plate of cookies and a coffee pot. “Here we are. Sugar cookies and coffee. The coffee’s fresh too. I just made it.”
“Don’t eat all the cookies, Markhel,” Doc teased. “She made them for me. You just happen to come by.”
He smiled and helped himself to a cookie. They looked and smelled as good as ever. He took a generous bite. He wasn’t hungry, but eating Grandma Waller’s cookies made him feel closer to her. “You are faring well?” he asked between bites.
“As well as we can,” Grandma said. “It’s been, interesting, having to adjust to…” She looked at the front hall, as if someone was about to burst through the door. “Well, you know, since the incident with Irene and Kwaku’s green stuff.”
Markhel smiled again. It was easy to smile when he was with the Wallers. They were comfortable. “I can imagine. You must concentrate on your movements, how fast you walk.”
Grandma rolled her eyes. “You said it. Lands sakes, the other day Irene and I lifted a big barrel of goods ourselves, and who should walk in on us but Fanny Fig! I dropped the barrel on Irene’s foot.”
He laughed along with Doc and Grandma. She grinned at him, her eyes shining. “Now that’s a sound I haven’t heard in a long time. I think we’re the only ones around here you laugh with.”
Markhel took a deep breath. “That is true.”
Doc took a cookie. “Young man, you’re going to have to relax and try to be yourself around Maida.” He glanced at Grandma. “You’ve been bringing healing medicines to us for years, up until our little trip to England. We’ve seen you laugh, we’ve seen you in pain, and well, Grandma and I, as attached as we are to you, feel kind of responsible too. Maida, she’s a sweet little gal, no doubt about it. But she knows nothing of the world, let alone where you’re from. This might be hard for her to take.”
Grandma poured Markhel more coffee. “What Doc is trying to say, is that we’re here for you, and we’ll help any way we can.”
“Thank you.” He spooned sugar into his coffee. “I have seen her twice now. She has called, yet… knows nothing. I do not know how to tell her… delicately. I am afraid I will run out of time.”
“I can understand that,” Grandma said. “And you can bet Harrison and Major will put up a fuss once they noticed there’s a spark between you two.”
“They already have.” He reached for another cookie. “I will need your help.” He looked Grandma in the eyes. “More than I care to admit.”
She waved dismissively. “Markhel, I’ll help however I can. But you’ll have to be careful of not drawing too much attention to yourself.”
“That might prove difficult.” Truth was, it had already. The way the Call hit him last night was bad and would only get worse. He didn’t know what he was going to do if her Call hit when he was in town. And what if it happened when he was at the Triple-C? How were the Cookes and the rest of Maida’s family going to interpret a Call in action? Not to mention watching Maida deal with it herself. She was so… small, delicate. He wasn’t sure he could stand watching her gripped by such pain.
With a sigh, he set his cup down. “Grandma?”
“Yes, child?” She left her rocking chair by the fireplace and sat beside him on the sofa.
He looked her in the eyes. “Can you teach me how to court Maida Comfort?”