That evening Iona stayed for supper.
It was a deliberate choice. Her witnesses helped Eli carry wood and Mara set the table. Vale had wanted the packs separated by suspicion. Iona made herself a guest under Rowan's roof where anyone could see it.
Ash ate two bites of stew and pushed the bowl away.
"He'll do something," he said.
"Probably," Micah agreed. "Which is why patrols are doubled."
"He doesn't care what Iona says."
"He cares what the timber buyer says," you replied. "The road is what he's after. He needs it tomorrow."
Rowan checked the radio on his belt. "No truck crosses our boundary. I sent the buyer the slope measurements this afternoon."
"Did they answer?"
"They asked for a second opinion. I sent June's photographs of the washout."
"That's not a second opinion."
"The photograph of a truck-sized hole tends to be persuasive."
You smiled, but Ash did not.
Later you found him by the side door, staring at the darkness beyond the glass.
"You don't have to prove you deserve to stay," you told him.
He kept looking outside. "He used to say the pack was a family. Then he'd tell us what we'd cost him. Food, medicine, time. Like he was tallying every breath."
"I know."
"I want to stop feeling grateful just because nobody here is doing that."
"You can be grateful. You can also expect better."
Ash rested his forehead against the cool glass. "I don't know how."
"Neither did I, for a while."
He turned toward you, surprised. You did not explain everything. You didn't need to. He had seen you ask for help and return to work. That was enough truth for tonight.
"Go to bed," you said. "I'll wake you if the trees start charging rent."
That earned a brief laugh.
At first light, he was gone.
His bed had not been slept in. His boots were missing, and the side door had been opened after midnight. A folded scrap of paper lay beneath his empty mug.
It read: I can testify. Quarry shelter. Before dawn. Come alone or Vale will find me. - N
Nessa was the woman who had accompanied Vale to the hearing. Ash had watched her the whole afternoon.
The note was written in block letters anyone could imitate.
You brought it to Rowan, who read it once and closed his eyes.
"He thought he was protecting her," you said.
"He thought he was protecting all of us."
Iona came into the kitchen with her coat half-fastened. "My scouts saw vehicle tracks at the north ridge before dawn. One truck. Heavy."
The delivery convoy. Vale was going to use the disputed road whether anyone permitted it or not.
You unfolded the map.
"The quarry shelter is here. The truck can't reach it from Vale's side without crossing the unstable shelf. If he has Ash with him, he'll use Ash to force Rowan to open the bridge."
"And if we refuse?" Iona asked.
You looked at the slope you had been measuring for weeks. "The truck goes through anyway, and the shelf gives way under it."
Rowan keyed the radio. "Micah, seal the bridge. Mara, call the buyer and tell them their truck is on a restricted route. June, prepare the infirmary."
He turned to you.
"Tell me the line we can hold."
Not can you stay safe. Not will you sit this out. A question shaped around your knowledge.
You touched the contour where the ridge bent toward the granite marker.
"We stop them before the shelf. Here. There's room to turn a truck, but only if someone clears the old stone barrier. I can lead the west team through the firebreak. You and Iona approach from the north. We keep everyone off the shale."
"How much time?"
"Less than an hour."
The room moved around the answer.