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.Somehow, Firekeeper whispered to Blind Seer, I expected them to be red, like those of a rat seen at night.The wolf snuffled his agreement."At least her gown is green.More pink and I would think we had opened a door into the sunrise.""I am," the pink-faced woman announced haughtily, "Hasamemorri."She spoke Pellish with a formality that suggested that she had learned it much as Elise had learned New Kelvinese, frombooks and tutors rather than from daily use.Wendee said something in New Kelvinese, doubtless a request about the property they had been told Hasamemorri had torent.Hasamemorri raised a carnation-pink eyebrow, possibly, Firekeeper thought, considering their previous encounters, atWendee's archaic phrasing.Wendee, however, had learned it was better to show at least some knowledge of the locallanguage.The locals were either amused or flattered.They took not being told that one among them spoke New Kelvineseas the trio had learned at their first stop as an insult.Hasamemorri said something else.Though she didn't invite them inside, Firekeeper saw her relax slightly."Curious about us," Blind Speaker commented."And she has stabling for the horses.This time I checked."Firekeeper nodded thanks.They'd wasted a long hour negotiating with a promising landholder only to learn too late thatalthough he owned stable space it was currently leased out.She didn't pass the news on toWendee.Wendee had learnedenough to ask early on.Wendee continued to speak in New Kelvinese for another phrase or so; then she switched to Pellish."I'm sorry, ma'am," she said."I can't say what I need to in your fine language.""I doubt," Hasamemorri replied fairly amiably, "that the texts of the great playwrights contained the words you need fordiscussing a rental.Would you and your companions come within?"Doc nodded acceptance.Firekeeper spoke quickly before anyone could accept for her."Please, Wendee, Doc I want to stay out here and watch the people."Wendee gave a quick glance toward Hasamemorri, but the pink lady seemed pleased rather than offended."Let the child remain without," she said grandly."Come into my parlor."A cup of something hot and smelling lightly of mint was sent out to her.It wasn't tea, quite, but it wasn't alcoholic, soFirekeeper sipped it as she watched the New Kelvinese go by.She tried to think how she would paint herself if she were topass as a New Kelvinese.None of the designs she saw appealed to her, but the imagining amply amused her.Doc and Wendee emerged in good humor."We have a place and at a decent rent, too," Wendee said as they walked briskly back to the inn."It turns out thatHasamemorri has trouble with arthritis or something in her knees.""Nothing that losing a few hundred pounds wouldn't help," Doc muttered."And Doc made much of the pain recede," Wendee continued blandly."In return for his continued services, we're to havethe entire ground floor Hasamemorri prefers the upper apartments.There's a kitchen we can share and she'll even loan us amaid once a week and allow us to combine our laundry with hers for a small additional charge."Much of this information rushed through Firekeeper's mind as water would over a rock.Still she grasped the essentials."And the horses and mules?" she asked, just to be safe."There's a good stable out back," Wendee assured her."We have to supply our own feed and labor, but that's no trouble.""Good," Firekeeper said."Now we can find Lady Melina.People will hear of Doc and come to us with stories.""I doubt it will take long for us to get a line on her," Wendee agreed optimistically."Right, Doc?"Doc, perhaps contemplating an undefined period of time during which he must daily contemplate Hasamemorri and herabused knees, replied with unaccustomed fervor:"I sincerely hope so!"Arrival in dragons breath dispelled the last of the cloud that had clung to Elise since the bandit attack.They moved fromthe inn to Hasamemorri's house the very afternoon that Wendee and Derian rented the space.The landlady descended like apink cloud to supervise their arrival, although she seemed disappointed that they didn't have more baggage."Perhaps," Wendee said with a soft giggle as she hurried past Elise with a double armful of groceries, "she thought wewould be burdened down with exotic foreign trade goods salted fish, maybe."Elise grinned, her happiness continuing unabated when the next day dawned and the work of settling in began in earnest.Hasamemorri might be disappointed, but Elise was not. Everything about the house including their pink-painted landlady filled her with delight.Elise had always enjoyedreading about foreign lands.Bright Bay, cousin as it was to Hawk Haven, had proved to be something of a disappointment.New Kelvin most definitely was not, and now she had escaped the shelter of the inn and was actually living among the nativepeople.It was all she could do to keep from hugging herself with excitement.The large central hallway that split the ground floor of the house into two parts was transformed into their waiting area.The room to the left of the front door was to be Doc's consulting room.The chamber to the right would double as a short-term infirmary and dispensing area.At night Edlin would sleep in the consulting room; Derian and Doc would, share a chamber that backed onto the infirmary.Elise and Wendee would share the nice, well-lit side room that, owing to its glass skylight, would become a surgery when onewas needed.Firekeeper had made clear that she didn't want any special space in the house reserved for her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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