Raised By Wolves 2 - Matelots Read Online Free Page A

stone had been the object of the afternoon’s labor. Within a few days, I would have to go with some of the others to cut and haul more wood for roof beams.
    I proudly told Theodore, “I will eventually manage an entire manor house.”
    “And here I never envisioned that you came here to build something… literally,” he said with a smile.
    “Neither did I, but I have found great satisfaction in it.”
    “You should apply for a grant of this land,” he said and looked about again. “All of it.”
    “As it is not arable, and therefore useless, I assume the Governor would grant it without a second thought.”
    “Aye,” Theodore sighed. “But… Will… be thankful it is useless in its beauty.”
    “I am, as I know if it had less esoteric value it would soon be overrun by greedy wolves. I am well-versed in those ways of the world.”
    “You should all apply for grants here,” Theodore added, indicating Pete and Striker.
    Striker nodded seriously. “I would not mind owning that bay to the north, the one with the good anchorage.”
    “I’llTake This’Ere Beach.” Pete pointed at the long strand running north.
    “And that great bog behind it?” I asked.
    He shrugged, but his eyes narrowed craftily. “Be’Ard Ta Roust AMan Out O’.”
    As I was sure Gaston was quite familiar with the place, I did not gainsay him.
    “Only you would think of owning land you could hide upon,” his matelot teased him.
    “Iffn’They Know Ya Own It, Then They Know Where Ta Find Ya Already.”
    “He has a point,” I said.
    “Aye, that he does,” Striker said and shrugged. “Still, I would own land. Perhaps I will tire of the sea someday.”
    Pete snorted.
    “And even if you do not,” Theodore said, “it will be a thing you can leave to your descendants.” He frowned and looked from Striker to Pete and back again. “Should you ever have any.”
    Striker frowned at that, and Pete sobered somewhat as he gazed upon his matelot’s now stiff shoulders. I thought of another conversation from their last visit, and sighed.
    Theodore distracted me from watching them further with a light touch on my arm. I turned to him expectantly and found his mouth partly open, as if he had been about to speak. His face said he had apparently thought better of his planned words, though.
    “I mailed your letters,” he said too quickly.
    “Aye, Pete said you had. And I read the note you sent before.” It had said little.
    I wished to ask him what he decided not to say, but thought better of it. He would tell me in good time, or perhaps it was best to let his unspoken words lie, as they might have been another ill-considered utterance among men with matelots, as his comment about descendents had been.
    “They should arrive in England soon,” he added. “The ship I sent them with was sailing there directly and not to the northern colonies.”
    “Lovely,” I replied. I thought of the joy I hoped their recipients, my sister Sarah, and my former tutor, Rucker, would find with the huge tomes I had started on the voyage from Île de la Tortue. I had finished both missives here, while recuperating from my wound and watching Gaston build the first part of the hut.
    Liam, Otter, and some of the others had joined us, and were greeting Pete and Striker boisterously. I led Theodore to the western edge of the promontory so we could continue to converse.
    “How do you find married life?” I asked.
    “I find it suits me.” His smile said much more than a thousand words could hope to convey.
    I laughed. “I am pleased to hear it. And how is Mistress Theodore?”
    He took a deep breath and glanced about to see if anyone was near.
    No one was, but he dropped his voice conspiratorially anyway. “She is with child.”
    “Well done, my good man.”
    He chuckled heartily. As it passed, he stared at the horizon with a satisfied smile. “When I first ventured here, I thought I would return to England as soon as I could. I did not intend to stay beyond