The Belladonna

Chapter 53

The next two days passed in much the same routine for Sky. Each morning she went out and greeted the people in the market getting fresh food and water for the gardens. She had spent a long day in the sun clearing away the weeds that had taken governance. She'd planted some vegetables, under the careful instruction of Elise and had even crafted her own garden bed out of old wood. Her evenings were spent talking with Elise as they knitted, Sky was slowing getting better; it was a bit like tying knots.

On the third day Sky was determined to make Elise's home one the woman could be proud of. She stood out the front of the small house, a navy blue cap on her head and a loose dress on. Her hair was tucked up and her checks flushed. Elise had insisted that she wash her other clothes and had gave Sky no other option than the light brown dress. Despite her complaints Sky didn't mind. The dress was a little too big making it light and in the hot sun it helped to cool her down.

She looked up from her work, the sanding stone warm in her hands, and wiped sweat from her brow. She had been sanding for hours to remove the chipped paint from the house's frame. Most of the front of the house was done and Sky could see the old wood peeking through the layers of paint. It was good hard work.

For the most part of her time Sky had tried not to let her mind wander. It was nights that were harder, without something to do or Elise to talk with, Sky wondered about her friends. She would think of Dustin and was slowing coming to grips with his choice. When she began to feel angry she would repeat Admiral Balthid's words over and over in her head. She would never see her dear Captain again and so she was trying to think of him with love and push down the anger that threatened to bubble up in her.

"It's coming along quite well." Elise stood in the door way holding a glass of water out to the sweating Sky.

"Thank you." She drank gratefully; the midday sun was beginning to burn her shoulders. "Going to need to get some paint soon." Sky handed the glass back and threw she sanding stone up in the air catching it easily.

"That might be a little difficult to come by." Elise said with a smile.

She had told Sky as they knitted one of the nights that she sold her blankets as a livelihood but as the weather warmed there was be less need. Sky had suggested that she turn to knitting caps to keep the sun of people's faces. The cap Sky wore now was a trial one. But money wasn't the problem Sky realised. Paint was not something that Rendes supplied; it was the kind of thing the mainland was most able to produce. But with no trading occurring between the ports it looked like Sky might had to improvise. As she started up her work again Sky wondered if she'd be able to find any clay that could be watered down and dyed.

Dye would be hard to come by too. A shout of alarm snapped Sky out of her thoughts. After so much time of being always ready, always expecting a fight, Sky's body reacted fast. Jumping to her feet from under the window sill, Sky's head flicked around searching for any sign of danger.

However, she could see nothing out of the ordinary. The Market was busy welcoming merchants and townspeople to their stalls. The manor on the hill behind Elise's house stood imposing and empty. Sky's eyes turned to where the cells were. Standing outside it were six of Admiral Balthid's officers. They had volunteered to remain behind to watch over the kings men who refused to side with the pirates. They would wait there unit news came of the final battle. After that Sky suspected even they weren't sure.

But they didn't seem uneasy either. Sky frowned thinking perhaps she had imagined the noise. As she turned back to her sanding, however, she heard it again. It was coming from her right outwards the river. There were cliffs in that direction. Sky hadn't been there since her last night with Dustin. Sky jumped when three little heads appeared over the cliff yelling something down at the market area.