Chapter 62

Mara's POV

Martha's granddaughter would not give back the spare mitten.

It was much too large for her. The thumb hung past her fingers, and every few steps she stopped to push it up again. No one at Redwater had the heart to take it away. I certainly did not.

The morning after the mill attack, we carried Martha to the little burial ground above the river. The ground was thawing only at the surface. Caleb Orr's betrayal had left two more people wounded and a relay damaged beyond anything Soren could mend that day. Martha had died in the one place she ought to have been safe: among neighbors she trusted.

I kept thinking of her last question. Does she have both mittens?

Her granddaughter stood between her parents while the minister spoke. She never cried. When everyone turned to leave, she stay