The First Day - Outtake
‘If only Grandfather were here to see us!’ Anna said with a laugh. ‘I wonder what he would think of all this?’
Anna had spoken half in jest, but at her words Jarred’s stomach lurched. He knew perfectly well what Crian would have thought. Crian had always held Anna’s safety and well-being as being of the utmost importance. He would not have been happy at seeing his beloved granddaughter be put at risk living in a forest of nightmares. He would have called Jarred a fool for wanting to help the royal family who abandoned Deltora when they were needed the most, and a bad husband for dragging Anna and their unborn babe into danger alongside him.
He did not tell Anna all of this, but instead smiled back at her. ‘I think that he would have wondered why we are staring like fools at a stream instead of doing somewhat practical with our time,’ Jarred remarked. ‘I do not think that he care overmuch for such sights.’
Anna laughed. ‘I know! It may be silly but it was what I loved most about him. When I was a child and my father was never home, Grandfather would let me play in the forge, if I promised to stay quietly in a corner and not touch anything. I… Even now, I cannot believe he is gone.’
Jarred felt the same. The old blacksmith had been so large and full of life that it was hard to believe that, even six months after the fact, he was now lying six feet under the ground.
‘Crian would be happy for us, Anna,’ he said to her. ‘I am sure of it. Perhaps even now he is watching us, wishing us well.’
Anna shivered. ‘Perhaps,’ she agreed. ‘But I do not like the thought of being watched in such a way. I would not be comfortable knowing that we may not be alone even in our most private moments. But I would be happy knowing that he is at peace now in the spirit world.’
