"Glad to see you in good health," I said, as we stood in the cold and sipped, watching the daily activity of the camp go on around us.
"It's been decent this year. Tight, but not so bad as some."
"So Gwen said," I replied, looking around at the people building low walls from the snow, stirring pots over other fires, taking advantage of the spaciousness of the field to do a little cleaning in their campers.
"You seem well too, though Gwen tells me you've been sick," Pete said. I shook my head.
"I do just fine, Pete."
"Gwen tells me also that you're the guardian of the man up the hill," he added, nodding towards the cottage. "Saw him last night, watching us."
"Did you? I wouldn't credit Lucas with spying from behind the curtains."
"No, nor he did," Pete agreed. "Slunk out late at night and did a little circle – reminded me of an animal looking for handouts but not willing to come close-to. Gwen gave him a chance to make himself known, didn't take it."
"No, he wouldn't."
"Does he need your defending?" Pete asked. "You should know by now that Gwen's a kind woman. Grown woman too," he added, with a sidelong grin.
"Yes, I know."
"It's a shame you're a land-owner. She thinks very highly of you."
I laughed. "Was that a proposition of marriage from a near male relative?"
"You could do worse. Are you really happy here? The same faces, the same trees, the same buildings year after year?"
"One doesn't think about it much, as a land-owner," I said. "Though everyone else apparently thinks of it for me."
"Saint Christopher!" another voice called, and Gwen came running across the camp, hauling the boy after her. "Good morning!"
"Yes, it is," I answered, allowing her to tackle me in a hug and give me a kiss on the cheek. "And how are you?"
"Very good. Looking forward to meeting your mysterious Lucas."
"Ah, that was a hint," I said, amused. "I'm ready to run up to the cottage when you are."
"Just have to summon father. FATHER!" she called, and Tommy put his head out of one of the campers.
"Just coming now," he said, climbing down into the snow. "Good morning, Saint."
"Morning, Tommy. Pete, you coming along?" I asked.
"Fraid not – some chores to mind," Pete said. "Run along with you."
"Running along," I said. Gwen took my hand in hers, Tommy eyeing us suspiciously as we made our way towards the cottage on the hill.
"You have to be nice to Lucas," the boy said.
"I am nice to everyone," Gwen replied loftily.
"But really nice. He's shy."
"I'd never have guessed," Tommy said drily.
"He knows a lot. Like everything about history," the boy continued.
Gwen looked amused. "Whose history?"
The boy opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again with a snap, surprised. I shot Gwen a smile, leaned forward, and knocked on the kitchen door.
There was the scrape of a chair on the floor – Lucas must have been waiting in the kitchen. I could easily picture him vacillating between wanting to sit quietly and wait, or wanting to work to take his mind off things. I heard his slow footsteps before he opened the door.
"Christopher," he said, relieved. "I thought – "
His gaze flicked past my shoulder then, and I could see the barest rush of fear behind his eyes.
"Good morning, Lucas," I said. "I've brought some friends who wanted to meet you."
He recovered well. "Please, come in."
"This is Tommy and his daughter Gweniveve – "
"Call me Gwen," she said easily.
"And you know the kid," I added with a grin.
"H'lo," Lucas mumbled, ducking his head.
"Pleasure," Tommy said, and Gwen held out her hand. Lucas wiped his palms on the tail of his shirt, then looked horrified at his own actions and shook her hand hastily.
"I don't suppose, being new, you'll have heard about us," Gwen said, as Lucas withdrew far enough to let us in and close the door.
"No – no," Lucas confessed. "Are you, uh, staying long?"
"A bit," Tommy said. "Not through the winter."
"Being the local land-owner and all, we thought we'd come say hello, ask permission to stay," Gwen announced. Tommy frowned at her.
"It's, uh, it's not my land," Lucas stammered. "I just pay rent. I don't even pay rent on the field."
"Well, better to ask," Gwen replied. "We're in sight of your windows, after all."
"It isn't my place to say," Lucas murmured.
"Do you have visitors often?" Tommy asked.
"Not to speak of. Christopher and the boy, of course," Lucas said, and then blurted, "I don't care, honestly, I don't think you'll rob me and I haven't got anything worth stealing anyway."
Tommy and Gwen glanced at each other before bursting out laughing. The boy elbowed Lucas in the ribs.
"It's all right, Lucas. They know," I said gently.
"Just...so that you do," Lucas continued, flushing red.
"There's no reason to be scared of us," Gwen said. "Or worry overmuch about our opinion. That's something land-owners do."
Lucas looked at her, shy still but no longer paralyzed by it. "I suppose it doesn't matter as much when you don't have the same neighbors from one day to the next."
"Was on the tip of my tongue to say," Tommy agreed. "You could learn from him, Christopher."
"I already have," I agreed.
"We're told you're an artist," Gwen continued. "Do you barter at all? Or are you wealthy already?"
"I...never have but I could, I guess. Would you....would you like to see?" Lucas asked, gesturing to the doorway into his workshop. Tommy, already standing near the door, leaned through with interest, Gwen bending around his shoulder.