“Don’t move so much, sir,” said the girl, helping him back up. “You nearly met Death just now.”

“W-wh….”

“Shhh. Wait, sir. After you’ve eaten something, we can talk.”

The man seemed mostly satisfied by this, but as she fed him, he stared at the girl with an expression she could not fully discern. Wonder? Fear? Curiosity? Sorrow? These and others seemed alive in the man’s gaze, and it made the girl uncomfortable and sad, though she could not know why.

Once the soup was gone, the girl said, “I wish I had medicine for you.”

“Good lady,” said the man, and her heart ached for some reason at his formality, “you’ve already saved me. Besides, I have a doctor friend who will visit today or tomorrow. He’ll have medicine. You see I… I haven’t been well recently.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “You’ve been this sick yet your friend left you alone?”

The man replied, “He did make me stay with him. I was barely eating or drinking anything, and so, when I finally fainted, my friend and his wife forced me to live with them. I don’t remember much from that time, but when I got strong enough to walk again, I came back home. I… I can’t remember why, but I told my friend I had to, and I did. So, my friend and his wife started coming by to check on me. It’s my bad luck I got sick again and that it got bad much faster than I thought it would.”

“But why? Why did you let yourself get so sick?” the girl asked, inexplicably comfortable with asking a stranger such questions.

His eyes glistened with forming tears, and the hole in the girl’s heart stung. The man replied, “I… I don’t know. I don’t know! I think… I think it’s the same reason why I wanted to be here, but I don’t know. Something, I lost something precious, drove it away. Something important to me, so very important to me, but I don’t remember what! I don’t know! I don’t… I don’t….”

And the man broke down sobbing. The girl let him cry, and when he stopped, she could not help thinking he had not cried enough, but if she said such a thing, she, too, would be unable to hold back her tears.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to cry.”

She only shook her head.

“I haven’t cried since… well, I’ve been crying a lot more recently, but before then, I don’t remember crying since my… since my wife… anyway, things have been so strange this past month or two. I’ve never really felt alone. All these years by myself, and I never felt alone, but then just recently… I don’t know. Now I’m waiting. Always waiting, but I don’t know why. It’s all so strange. And what about you? Who are you? And where did you come from?”

The girl hesitated. “I… I am… my name is Eibhlin.”

At her name, the man’s eyes suddenly brightened, but that light soon went out again, leaving whatever remained of the girl’s heart cracking. Those eyes, those lively eyes, how just that glimpse pained her! She stopped a moment more to gather herself together before continuing. “I’m a traveling minstrel. I came here to look for someone, though… though the person’s name and face escape me. All I know is I need to find that person. But you, sir, you asked my name, but I don’t believe you told me yours.”

The man said, “You’re right. I’m sorry about that. My name is Lochlann, and I’m the blacksmith for a nearby town.”

The girl jumped to her feet. “Loch-You—!” Fumbling with her bag and words, she dragged out the hammer. She held it out where he could see it, and Lochlann gasped.

“That hammer! When… how… that’s my wife’s hammer! I thought I’d lost it! Where….”

“I found it,” the girl said, trying to decide how much and what to say about her journey. “I found it in… in a fairy’s possession. She sent me here to find the owner and return it. And that’s you! As soon as I heard your name, I knew. No, I suppose I knew before that. I was looking for you, but I didn’t know it was you. But now I can return this!”

Yes. She could return it… and then what? And why? Why did she feel the urge to give this item away? Surely there was a reason. Surely. Surely.