talked she looked inside their minds and their hearts. She hadn’t seen much goodness in the world and it was a relief to experience such innocence.
But then she’d come to Mixer. He didn’t look like any of his brothers or sisters on the outside, she thought; they tended to be long faced and thin like their father and Mixer had much larger features. But it was the inside that disturbed her the most. She could feel his cold greed and hatred. She knew of only one other who had both in such abundance.
When it was her turn to talk, Marvellous told them how she’d met their Pa and how she’d worked out that he was her brother. She told them about her travels and a few stories of their grandmother. She left out many details.
Mixer struggled to stay awake but fell asleep in Santa’s arms. Marvellous monitored Mixer’s dreams. She almost swore out loud when she discovered he’d been able to contact the Landlord. She was both amazed and worried by what he’d been able to do at such a young age.
Soon they were all yawning and nodding and Marvellous suggested it was time to go to bed. They trooped up to the loft without argument; Titania took the sleeping Mixer from Santa and left for the house.
Marvellous cleaned up the dishes then sat down at the table, her mind trained on the boy.
___
Mixer woke up beside Titania. He had no memory of coming back to the house. He rolled over and flinched when he saw her face. She would have to change for tomorrow; he got to work.
When he was done and pleased with the result he cast about for the Landlord. He connected almost immediately. His loud, boastful voice was unmistakeable.
Mixer had a blurry view through the Landlord’s eyes; like looking through one of Jelly’s plastic bags. He saw traces of things, outlines. Then he made out a familiar human shape standing in front of trails of reds and oranges that wavered just below his waist. It was PC Pierre standing in front of the fireplace in his cabin.
"I was about your age, Pierre," Mixer heard the Landlord say. "Young, full of dreams. The bear came out of nowhere, charged me. I didn’t think twice. I shouldered my rifle and I shot her dead. Shot her cubs, too. It was the only humane thing to do."
Mixer admired the real image that was inside the Landlord’s mind: the dead black bear caught and dying in a bear trap, two cubs crying beside it.
"Well, early start tomorrow. Don’t want to wait another minute to give the children the good news, eh?"
Mixer waited until the Landlord fell asleep then implanted a vision of his sister in his dreaming brain.
___
Marvellous didn’t have time to be horrified by what Mixer had planned. She woke up Porkchop and Santa.
"Be quick but quiet," she whispered to them from the ladder. "Meet me out back."
The girls found their aunt in Jelly's herb garden. She drew them away from the barn and the open loft doors and out onto the edge of the field.
"There is a chance," she said to them, "that the Landlord will show up soon. Tomorrow."
Santa rubbed her eyes. "The Landlord?" she asked sleepily.
"How do you know?" asked Porkchop.
Marvellous paused then said quietly, "Mixer."
From her peripheral vision Porkchop saw Santa quickly turn and look at her.
"Mixer? That’s silly!" she said to Marvellous.
Marvellous took Santa’s hands in her.
"Santa, you know, you both know what I’m talking about. There’s something just not right about Mixer, is there? He’s not slow. He's defective, but not like the rest of us." Santa winced at the word. "He means to do you harm."
Porkchop looked down at her boots. She had never admitted to anyone in her family that she disliked her brother. But it sounded right to her, what Marvellous was saying. He was different from the rest of them. She hadn't wanted to admit that to herself until now.
"No. I won’t believe it," whispered Santa.
"He’s already contacted the Landlord. He’s bringing him here. I know what he’s capable of. What they’re both capable of. But I’m going to need your help."
"What do we have to do?" said Porkchop.
Marvellous took charge. She handed Santa a packet of oval shaped reddish-brown seeds and told her how to prepare them. She told Porkchop to send the other children off to their chores as early as possible in the morning.
"You’ll have to be ready for him. Santa, you stay in the barn and don’t let Mixer out of your sight. Give the Landlord the tea; that should knock him out for hours. If all else fails hit him with something. I’ll take care of things from there."
"What about Titania?" Santa asked. "The Landlord, well, he likes Titania."
"You leave that to me," said Marvellous. "That reminds me, Porkchop, it’s very likely that PC Pierre will show up with him."
Porkchop blushed in the dark.
"Remember, he may be your friend but he’s still an officer of the law. He won’t look kindly on the Landlord being drugged, or worse, so it’s probably best if you take him off the farm."
"Where?"
"Up the road, I don’t know. Just get him away from the farm when they arrive. Maybe," she lowered her voice so that Santa couldn’t hear, "find out if he feels the same way you do."
___
Marvellous disappeared into the night; she didn’t tell the girls where she was going but said she’d be back soon.
She walked to the farthest end of the field and lay down between the corn stalks. She closed her eyes and called up the image of her mother in the photograph she'd given Hap back in Andrastyne. How slender her mother was in that checked dress; how the sun made one side of her flat brown hair glow auburn. She took a breath and cut her tie to Mixer. She'd need all of her concentration for this.
She had only changed that one time, when she was a girl and had changed a few minor details about herself, but she felt certain that she would be able to project the image of her mother. Not for long but she didn't think she would need much time; the Landlord only had to see her once. He would remember. And then she would kill him.
___
Dawn was breaking when Santa set about brewing the tea as Marvellous had instructed. Porkchop let her brothers and sisters sleep in a bit before setting them to their chores. They were disappointed not to have had a chance to say goodbye to Marvellous but Porkchop told them she had promised Pa to be back by morning.
When the rest had gone, Santa brought out a wooden crate filled with two jars of tea and tubs of pigweed porridge for Titania’s and Pater’s breakfast.
"Where’s the other one?" Porkchop asked. Santa knew she was talking about the other jar.
"Out of harm’s way. Don’t forget to bring Mixer back with you."
"I won’t."
She left the barn and crossed the yard to the house.
Inside the house, Titania opened her eyes and immediately felt different. Mixer lay asleep beside her. She looked at her hands. The skin was smooth, the fingers long and the nails cleaned and shaped but she could still see the scars on her hands below the surface. She drew a strand of hair in front of her eyes. It was blonde. She didn’t need to look in the mirror to know that it was the disguise she wore whenever the Landlord had visited. She looked at her brother asleep beside her. As soon as she looked at him she knew. She was about to get up when she heard the door open and close.
When Porkchop crossed the threshold she was bombarded by the smell of maple whiskey and the sound of Pater’s snoring. He had returned sometime in the night.
"Titania?" she called, setting down the crate.
"I’m in here but don’t get too close," Titania called from her cubbyhole. She grabbed at her shawl and pulled it over her head. "I think I’m getting a summer cold."
Porkchop swallowed hard. She was about to put her trust in Marvellous to the test. But she did trust her; just as she’d trusted Ma. What was the worst that could happen? Titania would sleep all day. She’d done that before.
"Then you should have your tea at least, and eat something."
Porkchop unpacked the box and set the things on the table.
"Don’t go to any trouble."
"The trouble’s been and gone."
"All right. Thank you."
"Pater’s back by the smell of things. He should have something to eat and drink when he wakes up. Can you make sure he does? Oh, and is Mixer with you?"
"Yes. Here."
Mixer emerged from the curtain and dropped to the floor. He crawled to the door and looked back over his shoulder at Porkchop expectantly.
She picked up her brother at the waist and carried him under her arm back across the yard to the barn. There was a smell to the air — a metallic tang that settled on her tongue — that she associated with thunderstorms. But that couldn’t be right; Forest would have known about a storm and said something. She looked up. The sun was brilliant and the day already had the feeling that it would be hot. Only one thin band of white cloud marred an otherwise clear sky.
Titania waited till she heard the barn door slam then got up and looked into the mirror above the stove. Even though she knew what she'd see it was still a shock. She sat down heavily at the table and reached for one of the two jars of tea.
___
Bull and Jones walked into the woods along the now well-trodden path. Jones loped easily, thinking of Pa and the orchard. Bull felt uneasy; Porkchop had told them that Marvellous had left but he could still smell her, or at least he thought it was her, not far off. His sense of smell was always a little bit worse in late summer when some of the grasses began to go to seed; at the orchard it hadn't been much of a problem because they'd kept the grasses and