Chapter 24: Tilda's Name

I cut Tilda's name into the base of the new pillar myself.

It took me three days with a hammer and a chisel borrowed from the Redfern stonemason.

*Tilda Hargrave.* Then, under it, smaller, *My daughter, who told the truth.*

My hands were raw when I finished, and I was glad of it.

The new pillar was only knee-high so far, a column of pale stone set into the ring of the old one.

It would take years to grow.

I sat back on my heels to look at the letters.

Footsteps came up the slope behind me.

I turned, and the woman in the green shawl stopped three paces away, holding a bunch of wild lavender.

The thin gray woman stood behind her, and the third woman behind her, who had struck the cup out of Rowan's hand.

None of them spoke.

The woman in the green shawl came forward and laid the lavender at the foot of the stone.

The thin gray woman laid down a loaf wrapped in a clean cloth.

The third woman put down nothing.

She dropped to her knees on the grass, and she put her forehead to the cold stone, under Tilda's name.

She stayed there a long time.

I did not forgive her, and I did not tell her to go.

I let her stay.

By midsummer the house at the border stones had a roof and two doors.

Rowan's wolves had raised it in a month, and the Redfern women had come with curtains and a table.

The Great Elder came up the hill once a week with a basket.

He sat on the step and said nothing, and I let him.

Rowan's shoulder had healed into a thick pink scar.

That night he came in through the east door, the Ashmoor side.

I was waiting by the west one.

"You're late," I said.

"I was arguing with a Beta about a fence."

"Did you win?"

"I'm here, aren't I?"

Keep reading free with an account. Start My Pack Killed My Daughter While I Served the Moon Goddess from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.