"Dusk patrols circle wide. Don't walk the same path twice in one week; patterns make graves. Bell-ribbon at the gate tied with a knot a child can pull when a basket blocks her hands. Tie it high and low so tall men don't forget short people exist." She tied it on the air to show how and made the knot look like a small joke anyone could understand.
Tara dotted the ground near the shed. "Thyme, yarrow, tansy," she said, touching each place like a blessing. "Herb guild here for teaching. Aromatic windbreak there—rosemary, if we can coax it this far north. Smoke shelf on the shed's eave for damp days—keeps gnats lazy and keeps old bones warm."
