finished, Sugar heard someone walk on the floor above her. Alarm shot through her. They weren’t ready with the cubby. Then she heard River singing the fisherman’s lullaby, the all-clear signal, and relaxed.
But Sugar did not join River above. It was safer down here in the dark and they needed to finish what they’d begun. After some time, someone came to the cellar door and stopped. She heard them grab the hook and then the door opened, spilling in the dim light of early morning.
River looked down at her. “Did you not hear me?”
“Yes,” Sugar said. “We did.”
“I see,” said River. “Well, come on up; eat while you can. The boys are all out in the yard doing chores.”
“Do you have a chamber pot?” asked Legs.
River smiled. “Somewhere,” she said. “We refused to carry out each other’s stink years ago. And who wants to carry their own when you can trot out to the privy? But I don’t think we threw it away. Besides, I know someone who would benefit from playing the good host. Come up. You can eat and take care of your business like people instead of grubs.”
Sugar and Legs climbed out of the cellar. A hard loaf of bread sat on the table. Fat slices of dark sausage sizzled in a pan over the fire. And a thick broth, for softening the bread, bubbled in a pot.
River led Legs to the back room. When she returned, she sawed off a sizeable piece of bread and gave Sugar a bowl of the broth.
The three boys came in shortly after that, taking off their muddy boots and setting them alongside the wall next to the door. When Talen saw Sugar, he stopped short.
“What is she doing up here?” he asked.
“It looks like she’s eating,” said Ke and shoved Talen along.
Talen gave her an angry glance, then he handed Nettle the fish.
Nettle walked over to River, eyeing Sugar the whole way, opened the creel he was carrying and pulled out an enormous catfish that had been cleaned, gutted, and skinned. “Here’s our afternoon soup.”
“Put it in there,” River said, motioning with her chin toward an empty pot on the floor.
Nettle slid the fish in the pot.
Talen still stood on the other side of the room, brooding.
“What are you doing?” River asked him. “Go sit down.”
“I’m not getting anywhere close to that,” Talen said and pointed at Sugar.
Just then Legs appeared in the doorway of the back room holding the covered chamber pot.
“Sugar,” River corrected. “And you are going to be the gracious host. In fact, it appears you have a little business in the back room that needs to be dealt with.”
“A little business?” asked Talen in amazement. He turned and saw Legs standing there. “No.” He shook his head. “I will not.”
“You will empty the chamber pot for him, and then you will empty it for Sugar.”
“No,” said Sugar. “Please.” They’d already put this family in grave danger. She didn’t want them to do one thing more.
“You can’t go outside,” said River. “That would be foolhardy. Besides, we wouldn’t have this problem except for Talen. So he can take responsibility for the messes he makes.”
“I’m not doing it,” said Talen. He looked at Nettle.
Nettle held up both hands. “This is your house, not mine.”
Ke shifted his enormous frame in his seat to face Talen squarely. “You’re going to be the little chamber pot man,” said Ke. “And you’re going to be happy about it.”
The threat was obvious, but Talen didn’t move. The tension built for a moment, but then Ke stood and took a step toward Talen.
“Fine,” said Talen. “Tell him to put it down and step out of the doorway.”
“Legs,” said Sugar. “Come. We’ll go back down.”
Legs set the pot on the floor, then felt his way to Sugar’s position. Only then did Talen brush past. He picked up the pot with great distaste and went outside.
“Please stay here,” River said to Sugar. “Talen will be all right. You just sit down and enjoy your meal.”
It felt so good to stand straight and see sunlight. Perhaps she could stay up here for just a little while.
“I can understand his reluctance,” said Sugar.
“He’s not the only one that’s reluctant,” said Nettle.
They ate in relative silence, River asking Sugar questions that would make any normal guest feel comfortable. But these were not normal circumstances, and they only made the meal more strained.
Toward the end, River turned to Talen and said, “Because of last night, Ke and I now must