something. Just like Pa used to."
Forest finished his lunch and glanced in the direction of the cliff, far across the valley floor.
"I wonder where he is?"
"He’s all right," said Jelly. Ever since they could remember, the twins had had a sense of each other, as though they were still physically joined. Another heart that beat a second ahead of her own.
___
Marvellous helped Jones up the cliff face and walked him to the press house where he was enveloped in his father’s arms. He couldn’t breathe very well but he didn’t care. It was wonderful to see his father again. He smelled better than he remembered.
"The boy can’t breathe, Hap," said Marvellous. Hap started and jumped back holding onto Jones’ shoulders.
"I’m sorry, son! Are you okay?"
"I’m fine, Pa."
They hugged again, gentler this time.
When each had caught the other up and Jones had told his father that Jelly and Forest were waiting for him in the valley, Hap leapt from his seat.
"I’ll come back with you," he said. "It’ll be a surprise!"
"Hap," Marvellous said, "think about it. You wouldn’t be able to keep up with Jones! It’d be dawn before you reached the other side."
"You could come back with me, though," Jones said without thinking. He looked at Marvellous; he liked her. "You kept up with me."
"What do you mean?" Hap asked.
"Marvellous. She’s as fast as me!" Jones said.
"This is news to me," Hap said. "Since when?"
"Since always Hap. There’s a lot we still don’t know about each other."
"Okay, well, now that I know you have to go! Please, please! Find my children, Marvellous! Tell them I’m okay and that I’ll see them as soon as I can."
Hap started to cry. Jones stood up and hugged his father.
"It’s okay Pa."
Her brain raced forward. If the Landlord returned to the orchard and failed to find her there, found only Hap instead, there was no telling what he might do. Then again, the Constable hadn’t been gone that long. That probably meant that she had some time before the Landlord found out. Could she afford to chance it? The children meant everything to her brother and he had come to trust her completely. If he couldn’t see the children for himself, she was the next best thing. The thought of a longer journey was also appealing. Since being at the orchard Marvellous had raced around the property, slaloming through the pearl apple trees more than once, relishing the feel of the wind rushing by her. In the end, and for no other reason than the cat was out of the bag, she relented.
She packed a few things and thought about what Hap had told her about the children, their personalities and their defects. He’d called them talents. He hadn’t said if any of them were sensors — Jones certainly wasn't — but for their own protection Marvellous hid her thoughts from view. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment.
"I’ll be back by sunrise tomorrow," she promised her brother. Jones led her back.
___
PC Pierre was unloading the cart when the Landlord rode into the yard.
"Ah Pierre, good, you’re here," he said. He dismounted.
"Yes sir. How was your trip to New Key?"
"Oh you heard about that, did you? I suppose my aunt told you?"
"No sir. Your barman told me when I asked. Mrs. Baker only told me that you'd taken Jonathan on the ferry with you." The Constable nodded to the Landlord's large black horse that stood silently behind his rider.
"Did she? I’ll be staying the night. If you don’t mind."
"Not at all. I have something to discuss with you anyway."
The Landlord half expected the Constable to offer to tend his horse but he had turned and walked into the cabin carrying a crate. He was chopping onions when the Landlord returned from stabling Jonathan. The Landlord took a seat then removed a flask from his inside jacket pocket and sipped.
"So, what’s this you have to tell me?"
PC Pierre tossed the onions into a frying pan. They sizzled in a pond of hot fat. He added water, then some dried venison and vegetables and let it simmer.
"Hap is alive," he said.
"Hap? Orchard Hap? You told me he fell off the cliff."
"He did but somehow survived the fall. He’s back at the orchard. The woman you hired, Marvellous, found him. He seems to have lost his memory. When I questioned him he said that he had no memory from before the accident."
PC Pierre saw the Landlord narrow his eyes. He was getting impatient.
"As you know sir the duty to land laws are quite clear about productivity," he continued. "Hap already knows the orchard and Marvellous agreed to the arrangement. At least until I could inform you."
The Landlord relaxed his shoulders and leaned back in his chair. He should know better than to think the Constable would do anything against the law.
"But how did he get there?"
"Marvellous told me that she found him by the edge of the cliff. He must have climbed back up."
"Well, well, this is interesting."
"Interesting sir?"
"That I find out that Hap is alive on the same day that I see his children," he said. "Yes, Pierre I found out where you put them. Well, one of them at least. But if there’s one, the others can’t be far away." Like rats, he thought. "I stopped by Honey Hill and got a good view of that farm. An old man used to live there if I remember."
When PC Pierre didn’t respond the Landlord said, "He’s the relative."
"Yes sir."
"Hap always was good with the apples," said the Landlord, stroking his chin. He needed a shave; his fingers made a rasping sound as they moved over his face. "It’s a pity you don’t drink, Pierre. Hap’s cider was the best I’ve ever tasted."
"I’ve had his fresh cider, sir, and I agree. Best around."
Hap, the Landlord thought, was the type of sap who would want his children back and that would mean more money; a man with children had to be paid the county family labour rate but Marvellous worked at a fraction of that. But the thought of going back to, potentially, subpar cider didn’t appeal to him either. He had always fetched a premium for Hap’s cider that more than made up for the extra labour costs and he had hated to lose it.
The Constable stirred the meat and vegetables. PC Pierre liked Hap. He was a good man but easily distracted and before his wife died she’d kept him focused on what he needed to do. From what he’d seen of their relationship at the orchard Marvellous had picked up where Mary had left off. Without her to look out for him and the children, the Landlord would take advantage of them wherever he could.
He had a pretty good idea of just how much money the Landlord had lost without Hap and was counting on the Landlord being greedy enough to take him and the children back. He wasn’t as sure that he would keep Marvellous. If all else failed, what he knew of the unpaid bonuses could help him broker a deal that helped everyone.
PC Pierre ladled the stew onto plates and set them on the table. The Landlord reached into his pocket, withdrew a small container of salt and sprinkled it liberally over the food. They ate in silence.
The Landlord thought about the man who owned the farm. He remembered him as being old all those years ago; he must be ancient by now. If the children were sent back to the orchard, it wouldn’t take much to dispatch the geezer and snatch the land. The farm would make a handy stopping point on the way to New Key and he could move Marvellous to it and let Hap and his brood tend his orchard.
"Very nice Pierre. Thank you."
As the Constable took the dishes and began to wash up, the Landlord picked a piece of meat from between his teeth, inspected it then popped it back in his mouth and swallowed.
"I’ve decided. Hap stays at the orchard. As you pointed out, it only makes sense for someone with know-how to be working the land."
"He’ll be happy to hear that. The children will be thrilled when I — "
"I’ll tell them. It is my
land after all," he said. "Besides, I’ve known them all their lives. I’m like an uncle to them."
"Yes sir."
___
Jones had raced ahead to the farm with the news then raced back to join Marvellous, Jelly and Forest for the return journey. In the late afternoon the four of them arrived at the farm, each carrying several bundles of plants.
They talked late into the night. Marvellous had been pleasantly surprised by how much Titania looked like her mother, the children's grandmother, but said nothing to them about it. Marvellous watched the children’s faces and listened closely to their stories about Ma, Pa and Pater, and all that they had done with the farm. They were so eager to tell her all they had accomplished. She was genuinely impressed by their work and praised them. Mixer watched Marvellous for a while but found little in her mind of use; she was harmless.
"When can we go back?" asked Santa.
Porkchop was happy to learn her father was alive but wasn’t sure she wanted to return to the orchard. They had survived the winter, settled in, the harvest looked good. If they went back now who would look after the farm? Their hard work and care would go to waste.
"It would make more sense," Porkchop said, "for Pa to come here."
"It probably would but it depends on a few things," said Marvellous. "Your grandfather for one." She told them of the Constable’s visit and what he had told her and their Pa.
At the mention of PC Pierre’s name, Porkchop flushed.
"You’ll have to be patient," Marvellous said, trying to hide a smile. She knew what was in Porkchop’s heart.
Even if Hap had told her nothing about the children she would have known their differences. As they