Page 24 of Earth-Bound

“A few weeks.”

That didn’t sound very long to me. To an earth spirit, it was barely a blink of an eye. We thought in terms of seasons and years and decades, not days and weeks. Joe wouldn’t leave any time soon. He’d only just arrived.

We reached the café and Randall showed me inside. It was beautifully quaint.

“This is lovely. I remember it was empty before. You’ve turned it into something worthwhile.”

He puffed up with pride as he said, “It wasn’t me – it was my sister, Marcia. Take a seat.”

He began to potter round the café again and I smiled to myself. I liked that Randall had begun to talk to me again. It must be strange for him to find that he’d shared all his secrets with a tree. But it wasn’t as though I could have told him and it wasn’t as though I’d ever share those secrets with anyone. Besides, the biggest secret he’d shared was that he was in love with Broadmire and Broadmire already knew that. He had been strutting round the village for a week after Randall had finally plucked up the courage to say it to him. I’d felt the pride in those steps, even inside my tree. There had been a sureness to them, a confidence, and I’d known what had happened before Randall had confided in me that he’d shared his secret with his mate.

I walked over to the nearest table and sat.

“These chairs are very finely made,” I said, brushing my hand along the carvings on one arm. They were intricate and beautifully carved, and I admired the craftsmanship.

Randall beamed at me and came out from behind the counter.

“Yes, they are, aren’t they? Do you know who made them? Broadmire, he made them. He carved them all by hand. Have you been in his shop yet?”

“Not yet.”

“You’ll like it, he’s got some beautiful pieces in there. Although… maybe you won’t like it. It’s all made out of wood. He likes, um, wood. For carving. Wood-carving. I’ve saidwoodtoo much now.”

I couldn’t help but smirk at how adorable Randall was. And it was always a pleasure to see a man so well suited to his mate. Having got extremely lucky with my own mate, it was something of a delight to see others equally as happy with theirs. In fact, arguably I was soon going to get even happier than I was, since I would soon be able to actually claim my mate.

I felt my palms grow warm at the thought of finally taking my mate. His strong body was perfectly sculpted and I longed to explore it with my tongue and my fingertips.

“Um, do you… need a moment?”

I looked up at Randall, who was blushing and looking up at the ceiling.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I’ll just go and… make some coffee.”

“Very well,” I said, and watched him leave. He’d been behaving rather oddly.

I went back to thinking about Joe. I couldn’t wait to see him again, up close. To speak to him. To have him really look atme and not just look past me, not just see me as one of a group but to give me his whole attention. I wanted to smell him and feel the way he walked upon the earth.

From out in the kitchen, I heard Randall whisper fiercely, “No, don’t go out there!”

The low rumbling voice that replied could only come from Broadmire. It was gravelly, scratching out like rocks. Not a beautiful voice but one filled with earth, so I didn’t mind it.

“Why not?” he asked.

“Because,” hissed Randall.

“Because what?”

“I, um, don’t want you to?”

“Going out,” said Broadmire and I felt him take a couple of steps. Randall’s feet pattered after him.

“No, wait, you can’t.”

“Why not?”

“It’s, um, Terrund.”

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