The victory procession moved though the streets of Haton with greater fanfare than had ever been seen by the residents before. The returning soldiers marched proudly though the streets in perfect formation, led by diplomats and high ranking officials, and followed by dancers and musicians, all celebrating victory, and the long-awaited end of the war.

There had been so little to celebrate in so long it seemed everyone wanted to take part in the festivities. As dances and musicians passed, they were followed by crowds of merry onlookers who had joined the parade.

Bellamoon watched all of this from the attic window of her family's inn. All their guests had emptied into the streets, but when night fell the inn would have more business than it had seen in years. Haton was one of the last stops on the victory tour, many soldiers were still far from home, and Harbor Inn was the only inn for miles.

As the last of the parade passed by, Bellamoon could hear her mother calling from downstairs. Climbing down the ladder to the second floor or the inn, where most of the rooms were, she went downstairs to the common room. Harbor Inn's common room was a modest size, with a low ceiling and a fireplace opposite the main door. They had ten round tables and the walls were lined with long benches, but it had been a long time since the place had filled.

Her mother called again from the kitchen, hidden behind a narrow door beside the fireplace. Everything took place in the kitchen, not just the cooking, but the family's laundry, housekeeping and the bookkeeping for the inn.

Bellamoon slipped through the door, immediately leaping aside as one of her little sisters rushed past, carrying an armful of firewood. She was tending to the fire over which a lamb roasted on the spit. Dumping all the wood over the flames, she went back to slowly turning the wheel.

"I need you to go to the Baker's, I have an order for them, and we're going to have more business than we can handle tonight." Her mother stood before the other fireplace, over which their largest pot was full of boiling stew. She was chopping meat into cubes and dropping them in. Her youngest sister, Teila, was chopping carrots right next to her, standing on a stool so she could reach the counter.

Taking the largest basket from beside the hearth, Bellamoon stepped though the back door into the now-deserted street. The procession had moved on and the celebration had followed. Paper and banners littered the street in both directions and businesses stood empty.

Following the street around the corner she found the Baker's still occupied, Mrs. Baker was just pulling a great pan of sticky buns out of the oven as Bellamoon approached. Before the war the inn had been entirely self-sufficient, but when travel had subsided and business began to fail for everyone, the village had become co-dependent.

"Good morning, Mrs. Baker." Bellamoon said as she stepped inside. "How are you faring?"

"Oh, Miss Keeper!" Mrs. Baker exclaimed, dropping the tray on the counter and throwing her arms around a surprised Bellamoon. "I'm better than I've been in seven years! Harlan has come home! He's all right! He came with the parade!"

"That's wonderful!" Bellamoon said. Harlan was the Baker's only son. He had been drafted into the army and taken from Haton seven years earlier. He had been young, but Mr. Baker had trouble walking due to bad knees, so his son had been taken in his place.

"I never thought—oh, but you're here on business, aren't you?" She pulled away as she spotted the basket Bellamoon carried; she was still beaming. "What is it you need?"

"I have it all written down here." Bellamoon replied, handing her the slip of paper. "We're expecting quite a crowd tonight, by the looks of that parade. You should come visit if you have time."

"Oh I don't know, but I'll certainly encourage Harlan to stop by. He's likely to have some friends there after all," Mrs. Baker said cheerfully, pulling various breads of the racks and laying them on a large cloth. "His whole regiment is in Haton tonight. A few live in the next village, but most live farther out, more inland."

"Some of the Fisher families had their men drafted, didn't they?" Bellamoon asked. She had heard a dozen stories after the drafters had passed through, but she had been too young to ask.

"I'm afraid so. One boy didn't come back, may the gods be with him. His family was devastated." Mrs. Baker's face fell. "I feel horrible for their loss, of course, but I can't help but be happy that Harlan is home!"

Bellamoon just smiled, unable to think of anything to say. It was going to be a confusing time for everyone. She stood by, nodding, as Mrs. Baker continued on about how happy she was, and how sorry she was for the Fishers, but more importantly how relieved she was it hadn't been Harlan who'd been taken in battle. Looking around the empty corners of the room, Bellamoon began to wonder exactly where Harlan was.

"Oh, but I'm keeping you from your errands," she exclaimed finally, pushing the over-large package into Bellamoon's basket. "I should let you go, but you must come back sometime and see Harlan!"

"I'll be sure to visit," Bellamoon replied, "though I don't know when I'll be able to, the inn will be busy for a week or more."

"Anytime," Mrs. Baker said, beaming. "It will do him good to see a friend from before."

"Thank you Mrs. Baker, good day!" Bellamoon backed to the door and hurried down the street back to the inn. There was a slow trickle of people returning from the parade, many of them soldiers. Haton was becoming more populated that it had been in over a year. Bellamoon quickened her pace; the inn was filling as well. Their common room was already buzzing with activity. Someone had brought a fiddle and pipe; the tables had been pushed to the walls to make room for dancing. There were women to dance with as well, though Bellamoon didn't recognize any of them from Haton, and their skirts were cut so that just a fingers' width of stocking was visible above the tops of their boots. Mother was going to be terribly upset; she didn't like that sort of thing going on in her inn.

Bellamoon skirted around the outside of the room and into the kitchen to deliver her purchase. The room was mostly empty now, she expected her mother had her younger sisters upstairs readying the rooms for guests and pulling out cots. If the common room was already that full and it wasn't even nightfall yet, they would need them…

The cellar door swung open as Bellamoon unwrapped the bread and her mother climbed up, hauling a keg under each arm.

"Take this," she requested, pushing one of the kegs towards Bellamoon. "Get out there and start serving, we want them opening their purses."

Nodding, Bellamoon took a keg under each arm and pushed her way back though the door. Her father was already taking orders from behind the bar, his money box open. He smiled when he saw her.

"Perfect timing," he said, taking one of the kegs from her and mounting it behind the counter, placing the spicket. "I don't remember us ever having a crowd so early in the day!"

Smiling, Bellamoon mounted the other keg. Immediately someone tapped her shoulder.

"Good afternoon, pretty lady." A man was leaning casually against the bar. "I'll take one of those if you don't mind."

"Yes, sir," she said, blushing. She poured him a drink and took several more orders. People continued to come in throughout the night. Around midnight some of the painted ladies tried going upstairs with the men, but Mrs. Keeper, who could smell immoral behavior leagues away, came storming out of the kitchen and threw them out. The men seemed noticeably less festive after that, but the celebration continued regardless.

It was nearly dawn when the last of them stumbled upstairs and fell into bed, and the Keeper family could finally get some sleep themselves. The night had been so busy that it wasn't until she fell into bed that Bellamoon realized; she hadn't seen Harlan.