Ojan stepped inside.

"Sorry to disturb you, Besh."

"Nonsense, my friend. This isn't my home. You don't need to knock on my account."

The big man merely shrugged. "I just wanted you to know that I'm headed home now. I've work to get done. I don't know who's coming on next, if anyone, now that it's day. But I can come back tonight, if you and Pyav need me to."

"Thank you, Ojan. I intend to speak with Pyav this morning. If we need you again, we'll let you know."

He raised a hand and nodded. "All right. I'm off then."

Besh watched him from the window. He thought about reading more, but then set the daybook down on the arm of the chair, stood, and stretched. Now that it was light, he was tired. Of course. He'd been a fool not to sleep, and no doubt he'd pay for his folly before the day was out. For now, though, he needed to get home, before Elica made herself sick with worry.

He returned the journal to the box in the back room and, after taking care to close Lici's door, hurried back to Elica's house. Everyone was awake when he got there and the children came running out of the house to greet him, shouting, "Grandfather! Grandfather!"

The young ones each took hold of one of his hands and practically dragged him toward the front stairs, while Mihas walked beside him. "Where were you, Grandfather?" the boy asked.

"Lici's house."

The boy stared at him briefly, but then looked away again. "Mother wanted Father to go out and look for you, but he said you'd be back when you were ready to come back."

Just as they reached the stairs, Elica emerged from the house, eyes blazing.

"Where have you been?" she demanded, leveling a wooden spoon at his heart as if it were a blade. "I've been worried sick about you! First Lici disappears and then you go off in the dark of night like a thief or _a… a… a who-knows-what! What were you thinking? Were you even thinking at all?"

While she was shouting at Besh, Sirj stepped out of the house. He remained behind her, but after only a few moments of listening to her harangue, he rolled his eyes and walked past her.

"He's back now, Elica. Have done."

"Have done?" she repeated, her voice rising, which Besh hadn't believed possible. "He's too old to be wandering about in the middle of the night!"

Sirj had placed a log on his stump and lifted his ax, but he stopped now, fixing her with a hard look. "He's not that old, and I can tell you now that when I'm his age, you won't be speaking to me in that tone."

For the second time in as many days, Besh found himself thinking that he'd misjudged the man all these years. He could almost hear Ema laughing at him.

Elica eyed her husband a moment longer. Then she faced Besh again, and in a somewhat gentler tone asked, "Where were you, Father?" "I went to Lici's house."

Sirj split the log with a single blow, and turned to look at him. "Why?"

Besh regarded him briefly. "We found a daybook there yesterday. It belonged to Sylpa, and during the night it occurred to me that it might have something in it that could tell us where Lici's gone."

"Sylpa's been dead for nearly a dozen fours," Elica said. "What could her daybook tell you about where Lici is now?"

"I don't know yet." He scratched the back of his head and glanced over at Sirj, who just stared back at him. "I suppose what I should have said was that it might tell us something more about Lici herself, something that might give us some idea of why she left." He nearly mentioned then his suspicion that she had departed on the anniversary of her arrival in Kirayde, but he didn't know this for certain, and even if it were true, he didn't know yet what it might mean. "Now, if I may," he said instead, climbing the stairs, "I'd like a small something to eat before I go and speak with the eldest."

He brushed past Elica as he entered the house. A half-eaten loaf of bread sat on a counter, and he cut off a slab and covered it with butter. Taking a bite, he turned. His daughter stood in the doorway, watching him.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"Of course. Don't I look all right?"

"That's not what I mean, and you know it. You may be able to convince Sirj that there's nothing unusual about you going off in the middle of the night to read Sy1pa's daybook, but I know you too well. Now, what's this about?"

He opened his mouth to put her off, but then remembered the promise he'd made to himself the night before. He hadn't lied to Ojan; it didn't seem right to tell his own daughter anything less than the truth.

"It's about Lici," he said.

She huffed impatiently and looked away. "I know that."

"No, you don't. All my life I've felt that Lici and I are… are linked in some way. She came to Kirayde the same year I was born. As a child I was fascinated by her, and even now, years later, I find myself being pulled into her life. Everyone in the village is so anxious to get at her riches, and for some reason, I'm the only person arguing on her behalf. The others on the council assumed that I should be the one to search her house. And while I was reluctant, I also know that I would have felt wronged if another had been chosen for the task." He broke off, shaking his head, knowing that he wasn't explaining this well.

Elica was looking at him with an expression that was equal parts puzzlement and disgust. "Do you love her?" she finally asked.

Besh actually laughed aloud. "Hardly."

"Then I don't understand."

The old man nodded wearily. He would need a nap before this day was through. What a fool he'd been. "Truth be told, neither do I. It's enough to say that her disappearance… troubles me. And until I know why, I won't be able to rest."

"Do you fear for her?"

"I fear everything having to do with her."

Elica nodded at that, appearing to shudder as she did. "Well, the next time you feel the need to leave the house in the dark of night, I hope you'll at least have the decency to wake me, so I know where you're going."

"Agreed. I'm sorry to have frightened you."

She gave another nod and then started to leave the house.

"Elica," he said, stopping her. When she turned to look at him, he grinned. "What would you have done if I'd said I did love her?"

She frowned so deeply that he had to laugh again. "I don't even care to think about it," she said.

Besh finished eating his buttered bread, took a small drink of water, and made his way to Pyav's home.

The eldest was at his forge, his face even ruddier than usual, his brow dripping with sweat. He saw Besh enter and acknowledged him with a raised chin, but he didn't pause in his work. After a few moments he pulled something out of the fire with a long pair of tongs, swung it around to the anvil, and began to hammer at it, the smithy ringing with the clear sound of metal pounding on metal. Besh could see now that he was making a horseshoe, the curved iron still glowing red. At last Pyav took hold of the shoe with his tongs once more and thrust it into a barrel of water, sending a burst of swirling steam up into the rafters.

Only then did he step away from the anvil and cross to where Besh stood waiting.

"Morning, Besh," he said, wiping his forehead with his sleeve. "What can I do for you?"

"Have you spoken to Ojan today?"

Pyav frowned. "Ojan? Did something happen at Lici's last night?" "In a manner of speaking, yes. I showed up, and I thought he might have mentioned it to you."

"I don't follow. What were you doing there?"

"I wanted to have a look at Sylpa's journal. I thought it would shed some light on how Lici first came here."

"It might at that." He looked at Besh a moment longer, as if expecting the old man to say more. "Is that all?" he finally asked.

"I thought you should know that I was reading the daybook. It's not mine, and I probably have no business looking at it at all."