Read Online The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley - Free Book Online

didn’t mean anything by it. Honest. It’s just that I’ve been staring at silver day and night till I’m near to going blind.”
    â€œI understand,” he said, though he did not sound as if he meant it. “And you may go as soon as you’re finished with the bowl. I’ll be in conference with the steward for the rest of the afternoon. We’ll start again early tomorrow and finish the rest.”
    â€œThank you, Thomas.”
    I had scarcely touched the bowl again when the pattern began to dissolve, taking its new shape before my eyes. I was in the silversmith’s workshop again, and the square-faced man was there. Standing beside him was a young woman, probably his wife; she held the baby at her hip.
    These visions were confusing. They came all jumbled up and out of order. Of course this would have to be something that happened before the silversmith was killed.
    â€œYou should have refused him,” the woman said.
    â€œI couldn’t. I had no choice.”
    â€œOf course you did. You might have told him you have not the skill to do it, that you are nothing but a charlatan and your Loving Cups are a fraud.”
    â€œThey’re not.”
    â€œOh, you and your silly pride.”
    â€œListen to me: if I’d told him I couldn’t do what he asked, then he would have killed me on the spot, as I’d be of no use to him and he’d fear that I might talk. Once I was dead he’d have gone after you and the child—”
    â€œBut you cannot lay a death-curse on a newborn baby, no matter the cost. ’Tis wicked, William, truly.”
    â€œI know that, and I don’t intend to do it. But as long as he thinks I am willing, we will gain some much-needed time.”
    â€œTime for what?”
    â€œFor you and Greta to go somewhere safe. They’ll be watching us, but I have a plan. You visit the market every day. As soon as I have made all the arrangements, you will simply not come back. Meanwhile, I shall make them a marvel, and swear that it is cursed. When it’s done I’ll slip away and join you.”
    â€œOh, William—do you really think they’ll let you live once you’ve given them what they want?”
    â€œThey might. Who can tell? If I seem compliant, they might just keep a close watch on me in hopes of using me again.”
    The baby had been playing with her mother’s gown. Now she reached up and took hold of something with a pudgy little hand.
    â€œDon’t, Greta,” the woman said, carefully peeling away the fingers.
    I saw it then—the necklace. I would know it anywhere. It hung, even then, around my neck.

Chapter 10
    Ribbons
    I SAT IN THE SHADE of the blacksmith’s shed waiting for Tobias. He was helping to unload bales of hay from a cart that had just come in. But he knew I was there. He’d come as soon as he could.
    I didn’t mind the wait. Indeed, I was glad of it, for I was forming in my mind what I would say to him and was finding it hard to do.
    I ran through truths and half-truths, even considered outright lies. I was still thinking when Tobias came over, grinning as though he’d just heard a joke—or was about to tell one.
    â€œMolly!” he said, sitting beside me cross-legged. “Willem says you’ve been over at the stables asking after me. He thinks—”
    â€œI know what Willem thinks,” I said, “and Willem is a pig.”
    Tobias laughed.
    â€œI am glad you’re back,” I said. “Truly, I was worried. You were so late in coming.”
    â€œWe didn’t drive straight through. We stopped for the night.”
    â€œBecause of the wolves?”
    â€œThere was talk of wolves, yes, but we didn’t see any. And I never believed that story anyway. In a hard winter they grow hungry and roam in packs. But they’re no danger at harvesttime. The fields are full of mice, and rabbits—”
    â€œTobias, I must