Page 48 of Geoffrey the Very Strange

They stopped at the blacksmith's first and paid for a new iron box for Ryu's brick oven to be made, then went to Ryu's to help with the cleanup and to hear Shrimpie's accounting of that night through Mari, which was meandering and strange. Ryu was still annoyed with him but no longer angry enough to bellow, especially once Shrimpie declared she liked Geoffrey.

Geoffrey offered the bones to the jewelers—not enough to replace what they had lost, but there were some very fine carving bones in the lot. They decided to call it even.

Drez the butcher waved off his offer to replace the bones.

"I get more things to cut up," she shrugged. "I get more bones. Always more."

Aunt Frida accepted coin for the limestone. She would order her own replacement stock, thank you. The shells he left at Talondon's, with the added benefit of a quick kiss from the handsomest shop clerk. On it went from there until every citizen who had contributed had received either payment or the promise of a replacement order.

He had wanted to offer compensation to Cormac's family as well. Blood money, for want of a better term. But they had already left by the time he reached Mrs. Pickle's.

"You want me to try to catch them?" Cecil offered.

"No, it's all right. I'll send a message later."

They ended up in the square with a push broom borrowed from The White Stag and a handcart for the debris. Between the two of them, since Cecil was skilled at picking up anything his shadow could get under, they had all the broken shells, stones, and bones cleared away in no time. Theo hauled the cart away to use the crushed bits in his garden behind the tavern.

The square, of course, still smelled so strongly of vinegar it made Geoffrey's eyes water if he breathed too deeply.Time to take care of that, too.

Geoffrey raised his arms to the sky and carefully tugged clouds over the square, squeezing them to encourage the droplets to condense. Since it was only water, and he only needed a gentle spring rain, he was able to stay grounded and not exhaust himself. It felt good, standing with his arms spread and his face upturned, letting a normal rain wash everything, including his poor coat, clean.

When he released control, the rain continued for a few minutes on its own, all as it should, until the fountain ran clear again.

He wasn't certain the townsfolk would ever trust him again. Not that they probably trusted him when he was a necromancer. How could they? Necromancers tended to be terrible people. But they'd seen him as a harmless crackpot and therefore tolerated him.

Not so harmless anymore.

He'd wanted to show that it was possible to conquer death without more death. While yes, technically he'd proven that, his biggest accomplishment was giving people a reason to fear him.

Though Shrimpie didn't. At least that.

"You did all the things you could today, boss." Cecil's shadow face managed to convey concern as they trudged back up the hill to the cave. "But you're still kinda glum."

"Just thinking." Geoffrey stopped and turned to his guardian. "I'm fine with people not liking me. I've never really… fit."

"Uh-huh."

"But I don't want people to be scared of me, Cecil."

"I kinda hate to bring this up, but you do know most necromancers become, you know,necromancers'cause theydowant people to be scared of them." Cecil patted the air with both hands when Geoffrey glared. "I know. I know. You weren't a usual necromancer."

Not that it had made any difference. He'd still endangered the town. Geoffrey sighed and kept trudging, so lost in thought that he didn't realize they weren't alone until they came around the last curve of the path up to the cave.

There werepeople. With blankets spread out. And a cart. And a picnic.

"Hello, love." Aspic gave him a cheerful wave from where he sat on the end of the cart, swinging his feet. "We thought you probably had a long day, and this might be a nice way to end it."

Flummoxed. Flustered. Fuddled. All Geoffrey managed was, "Oh. This is a surplus."

"I'm sorry about the surprise part." Aspic hopped off the cart and hurried over to give Geoffrey a bone-creaking hug. He took the parasol from Geoffrey and leaned it up against the cave entrance, then took his coat, folded it carefully, and placed it on the rock beside the parasol. "You've done so much today that our friends thought a picnic was the best idea."

"Our…?" Geoffrey couldn't help thinking,your friends, surely. But there they were, beaming at him expectantly—people he'd known all his life, like Heliotrope and Ayla. Some who had arrived in town when he was young, like Clover and Katya. Some who had come recently, like Timms and Ishi. His grandmother had made the climb as well, Thora riding on her shoulder in a contented ball of chicken.

"Our friends," Aspic insisted softly, taking both Geoffrey's hands and leading him to the blanket where his grandmother sat. "You don't have to talk if you don't want to. You don't have to play host. Just come sit. Be with us."

So Geoffrey plunked down before his legs gave way, and Aspic sank more gracefully to sit beside him, with Cecil on his other side and Sundrop in his hair. Clover handed him a flagon of ale—oh, there was a barrel on the cart—and everyone began to pass food around: cherries and strawberries, radishes and chard, lovely iced buns and filled steam buns, enough for everyone to gorge. Even Cecil got a thimble of ale.

Everyone talked and laughed around Geoffrey. Aspic's beautiful laugh pierced his heart with joy whenever he heard it, making him determined to be certain Aspic laughed more. As he ate his fill and leaned against Aspic, he relaxed and even answered some questions and didn't feel as… strange as he often did around other people.

"Thank you, sweetheart," he whispered, and tipped his head up to kiss Aspic's jaw. "This is wonderful."

Aspic threw an arm around him. "Good. I wasn't sure… but good." He put a claw under Geoffrey's chin to tip his head up for a proper kiss, one that warmed Geoffrey down to his toes. "I'm absurdly in love with you, and I'll do what I can to help you be happy."

"I love you, too." Geoffrey's face heated to say it in front of so many people, but he wasn't nervous at all that others would hear. He wanted them to hear. "And I want you happy, too. No more dangerous things."

"Thank the gods for that." Aspic chuckled and gave him a squeeze.

Here on his hilltop with his little family, his love, and, yes, friends, Geoffrey felt for the first time that happiness was possible, that he didn't have to achieve impossible things to be worth something, and that it was time to just… live.