Just as Redwar had finished speaking, Mr. Lotcin strode in, and following him were many of the miners.

"There ya are!" He crowed out. "Why you all cramped up there? Now's a time to celebrate, and ya gotta be a part of it!"

The miners behind him let out a shout of agreement.

"We're havin' a picnic n' dance over on the green by the well, and we insist that ya join us as guests a' honor!"

Redwar stood and let his half smile grow just a bit. "We're honored, Mr. Lotcin, thank you."

I shoved back my chair and stood along with the others. Mr. Lotcin came forward and his grin disappeared behind a solemn face.

"Ya helped save our wives and children," Mr. Lotcin replied seriously. "And perhaps even the right to work in the mines as we please. Tis' the least we can do."

He turned to me. "You, I especially have to thank, Ms. Ravine. You defended my sister and her daughter from the cowardly swine that was tryin' to grab 'em."

I blushed and lowered my eyes. I hadn't known that the woman and girl were related to him so closely. "Thank you, sir. I didn't know they were of your family, but I'm glad I was able to prevent their kidnapping."

He nodded and turned to face all of us. "We're all grateful for what you've done for us. The first Feast of the Life Giver, the Feast of the Harvest, is the day after tomorrow, and we'd like you to stay with us to celebrate it. It is a Feast of Thanksgiving, and we're thankful to the Life Giver for you."

My eyes widened, not from surprise at the invitation but at the fact that I'd completely forgotten how close that Feast was.

"We will gladly stay and celebrate with you," Redwar replied for us.

Mr. Lotcin's wide grin then returned in full force. "Good! Now come on, the women have nearly got all the food stuffs a'ready for the picnic dinner, and I don't know about ya, but I'm starved from dealin' with bandits and mayors!"

I laughed then, not at Mr. Lotcin's statement, but at the accent that had come back into his voice. His habit of switching from fine speech and then to accented speech was amusing.

The miners boistorously escorted us out to where the well was. The wide expanse between it and the forest provided the perfect spot for an afternoon picnic. And it truly was an afternoon picnic, for the sun had passed the point of noon a while ago.

When I smelled the food, my stomach, who's complaints had been smothered by the events of the day up to that point, came alive. Suddenly, I felt like I might faint if I didn't eat something soon.

Mr. Lotcin took all of us over to his brothers' families. His brothers' wives had whipped up a feast of sandwiches made of pork, veal, and beef, two different types of salad, mashed potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and several different types of fruit including Pearlots.

The two wives welcomed us and began dishing up all the food. I knew that if my mother were here, she'd be helping with the serving, and so I tried to volunteer my own services despite my hunger. Valeria also volunteered. But the two ladies, and the daughters who was also helping, would not have it. They insisted I take up a plate and glass, and sit myself down on the blanket spread over the greenery. To be honest, I didn't resist all that hard.

As soon as I sat down, a daughter came over and asked me what I'd like to drink. I felt like I could serve myself, but they weren't having any of it. So I told her that I'd like some lemon and honeyed water. While she was gone with my glass getting that, one of the wives came over and took my plate.

When the girl came back with the glass, it was slick from condensation, but I didn't see any ice in it. I took the glass with a thank you. As I lifted it up to my mouth, the smells of lemon and honey hit me and caused a pang in my chest. This was my favorite drink that my mother had made from me.

This version of it was delicious, but it didn't taste like mother's.

I pushed aside these unhappy thoughts. The Lotcins' had me here because they wanted me to have a good time. It would be a disservice to them to linger on my grief.

The wife brought back my plate with what I'd asked her to give me on it. A roast beef sandwich was piled high, and on the side were mashed potatoes with butter.

"Are you sure you don't want anything else?" Asked the wife.

My mouth watered as I took the plate from her. "This is fine for now, thank you." I was trying to save room for those delicious looking cookies.

I set the plate on my crossed legs and grabbed the sandwich with both hands. I barely paused to murmur a prayer of thanks to the Life Giver before taking the biggest bite my mouth could handle.

After devouring my sandwich, potatoes, those little fruits, and amazing cookies, I was quite full. The sun, which was on its way to setting, was still pleasantly warm. I was content to stay flopped down right there, except for the fact that the wives and daughters began to pick up all the eating things.

I got up to help them, thinking they were taking it all back to the houses, but they told me that they were only gathering things up out of the way for the dancing later on.   I flopped back down on the grass and wondered what we were going to do in between the eating and the dancing.

For awhile there was just general, pleasant chatting.  The children squealed and laughed as they played with each other.  I was content to lay on the grass in the sun with a full stomach and watch them.

This went on for roughly another hour until the sun was closer to the horizon.  Then, suddenly, the bells from town let out long peals.  They went on and on, longer than I'd ever heard them do before. 

A shout went up from the miners and their families, a shout of joy.  One of the woman told me when I asked that the bells ringing meant all was well and as it should be, and also that it was time for dancing.

Some men drew out pipes and harmonicas, or picked up instruments they'd brought along.  A wide area was cleared and men went around picking out their partners.  

It was to my surprise that Mr. Lotcin came over to me and said, "Ms. Ravine, would you allow me the honor of having the first dance?"

I laughed and pushed myself up.  "If you insist, Mr. Lotcin,  though I must warn you that I haven't danced with anyone very much in my life, so I'm very rusty at it." 

"I was just fixin' to say the same," he said with a hearty laugh as he took my head and lead me out to the green area. 

The first dance was never a slow, romantic one, but always something lively.  Redwar had also invited Valeria to dance, and Valeria took her place beside me.

The women lined up on one side and the men on the other.  Then the music began.  It was a dance tune I was very familiar with, and it made my muscles tense in anticipation.

I hopped forward, then back, then forward again with the other ladies.  Then we stood still as the men did the same to us.  I joined hands with Valeria and the other young girl beside me as Valeria reached for Redwar and the young girl reached for her partner.  The three men had also clasped hands, and so together we formed a circle which whirled around in a series of hops that made us all a little dizzy. 

Then we separated to each grasp the hands of our partners.  I let Mr. Lotcin swing me around so fast I felt like my feet might leave the ground.  Then we separated, and the sequence began again. 

It felt so good to dance for fun again.  I was giggling with joy so badly that it added to my breathlessness and I could hardly finish the dance. 

"Thank you very much, Mr. Lotcin, that was great fun," I gasped out when it ended.  

He grinned, his merry face red with exertion.  "My pleasure, Ms. Ravine, my pleasure!" He boomed out.  Then he turned to Valeria to ask if she'd like to take a spin on the dance floor with him.  Redwar in turn offered me the same, and so I went another round of dancing.

It was all good fun for everyone that evening, except for Daxton, who stayed in the shadows.  Despite the fact that he was considered a hero as well, no one approached him.  The rest of us enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, even my brother lost that stoic look on his face and laughed in the dances with us.  It felt almost like old times, except for one thing.

My family wasn't here.