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274 lines
14 KiB
HTML
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<title>The Shadowmaster - Chapter 5</title>
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<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="imperaWeb.css"/>
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<h1>
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5
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</h1>
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<p>
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The old woman flipped back her hood, letting tangled grey hair spill over her shoulders. Jack's eyes were fixed on the scarlet stains on her hands. Her
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nails were blood red. He still gripped the branch in both hands, wondering where she'd come from, who she was, and mostly about those red fingers.
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</p>
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<p>
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She raised both eyebrows.
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</p>
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<p>
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"And you, young man. Go put that log in the pile. Can't be wasting good firewood."
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</p>
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<p>
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With that she released Kerry and swept fingers through her hair, pulled it back and quickly knotted it in a bun, which made her less dishevelled.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Oh, where are my manners?" When she straightened up, she was tall and lean, with sharp features and lines around eyes that were so green they seemed to
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glare in the firelight. "Come in, come in. Sit down."
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</p>
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<p>
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She gestured to some stools around the table. "Bring them closer to the fire and warm yourselves. You children look ready to drop."
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</p>
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<p>
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Kerry picked up two stools, while keeping his eyes fixed warily on the woman. Jack took a third. As he carried it closer to the fireplace, he saw the
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little door ajar on its hinges. He hadn't heard it open, hadn't heard the woman's approach. She caught his glance and nodded slightly. The door slowly
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swung shut with a muffled thud, making Jack start.
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</p>
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<p>
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Kerry and Corriwen exchanged glances. She had put the sharp knife down, but kept her hand close.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Oh, it's so nice to have visitors," the woman said smiling at them. "Young visitors!"
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</p>
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<p>
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Jack saw Kerry's look of apprehension. He felt just the same.
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</p>
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<p>
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"It's been such a long time since anybody bothered to come visit old Megrin and now here's three of you, all alone in the darkwood."
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</p>
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<p>
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When she smiled, wrinkles made big creases on her skin, deepened by the shadows.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Not a good place to go stumbling when the sun's down. Yet here you all are."
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</p>
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<p>
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She shooed them forward. "Go on, sit down and take the weight off your feet. You've come a long way."
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</p>
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<p>
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<em>Further than she could imagine,</em>
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Jack thought. <em>But how could she know they'd been travelling?</em>
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</p>
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<p>
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Tentatively they sat while she bustled about on the other side of the room. A tall broom was angled against a wall, the kind you would find in a
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fairy-tale. An ancient rocking chair swung back and forth as if she'd just got up from it, even though she hadn't been sitting.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Simple fare is all I have," she said, her back to them. "But good food and sure to fatten you up." She turned quickly and beamed at them.
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</p>
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<p>
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Kerry looked at Jack nervously. <em>Fatten us!</em> He mouthed it silently. Jack got the message.
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</p>
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<p>
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Maybe she was just an old woman, but there was something in the way she moved that made her seem somehow <em>powerful, </em>and maybe dangerous too. As she
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poured a thick liquid into three stone beakers, a faint scratching noise came from outside.
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</p>
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<p>
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She opened a small shutter and two lithe white animals scurried in. They ran down the wall, landed on her hand and disappeared up her sleeve, fast as rats.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Slink and Slither," she said. "Always up to mischief. You two been a-wandering, have you? Guide our new friends to our hideaway, did you?"
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</p>
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<p>
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Now Jack looked wide-eyed at Kerry. Whatever had howled and snarled in the forest might have been pale, but they were hardly little polecats. They'd been
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big and fierce and they had hemmed them in on either side, forcing them to hear in one direction…straight towards the old woman's home.
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</p>
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<p>
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Megrin deftly sliced a loaf of bread that smelt as if it was fresh from the oven. Despite his misgivings, Jack felt his mouth water and his stomach
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grumble.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Go on, go on. Don't stand on ceremony," she urged.
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</p>
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<p>
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The three of them looked suspiciously at the food, each not sure quite what to do.
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</p>
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<p>
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Before any of them moved, the old woman was suddenly behind them, faster than anyone her age should have been able to move. It took them all by surprise.
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</p>
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<p>
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She bent over Corriwen and her long fingers stroked her cheek.
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</p>
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<p>
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"All out of breath you are, my dear." Corriwen tried to turn around, but the gnarled fingers of the other hand had latched on to her shoulder. Jack gauged
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the distance to the knives hanging on hooks, ready to move. He and Kerry were already on their feet.
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</p>
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<p>
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"And you're all bent out of shape, are you not?"
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</p>
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<p>
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The red-stained fingers trailed down Corriwen's cheek, on to her neck, then both hands were on her shoulders. They gripped tight, nails digging in hard.
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Corriwen yelped.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Leave her alone…!" The words were out of Kerry's mouth before he could stop himself.
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</p>
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<p>
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The fingers twisted and the blood drained out of Corriwen's face. Jack heard a loud, <em>click </em>and then the old woman's hands moved back to cup <em> </em>Corriwen's cheeks again.
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</p>
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<p>
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Corriwen let out a long shuddery sigh and Megrin beamed at her.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Painful, I know, but better cruel to be kind to fix a wrenched socket." The colour slowly crept back to Corriwen's face.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Back together again, good as new," Megrin said. "Now, first things first. And you might as well sit down and eat, for no harm will come to you under my
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roof."
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</p>
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<p>
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Corriwen gingerly rubbed the shoulder, then grinned. She nodded and sat back down. Jack breathed a sigh of relief.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Brave girl," the old woman said softly. "Now, to introductions. I'm Megrin Willow of Foresthaven. I'm good with potions and simples and a few other
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things, and this is my place, my wildwood."
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</p>
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<p>
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Taking encouragement from Corriwen's nod, Jack took the lead and they all introduced themselves.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Now eat. And don't worry, there's no potions and you won't turn into frogs overnight, as some people fear. I'm used to that nonsense. Sit a while and fill
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yourselves. It's a long time until the dawn, and we have all sorts of matters to discuss and discover."
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</p>
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<p>
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She watched with satisfaction as they fell on the food until there was nothing left but crumbs, then hauled the big pot off the coals, ladled out a broth
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as thick as stew and sat on her rocker as they devoured that too.
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</p>
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<p>
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"I was expecting you any moment," she finally said when they'd eaten their fill. "You're far, far from home…and you have lost what you had, am I
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right?"
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</p>
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<p>
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"How do you know?" Jack began.
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</p>
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<p>
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She laughed, a high and tinkly giggle that made her sound much younger than she looked.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Oh, some of us have a knack for knowing," she said. She leaned forward and jutted a red finger at Jack. "I saw you come through the gateway, of course.
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You first, and then your friends soon after. And I knew you'd come visiting, sure as day."
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</p>
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<p>
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"We were hunted," Kerry said. "There's <em>things</em> out there. Horrible things chasing us. And then we hid in a village, but they found us and tied us
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up. Out in the open."
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</p>
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<p>
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"And that's how this young darling hurt herself," Megrin said. "Quite the heroine, I think."
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</p>
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<p>
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"She sure is," Kerry agreed, with feeling. "Once, when we were in Eirinn, she…"
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</p>
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<p>
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Jack kicked his ankle. Once Kerry got talking it was hard to rein him in, and Jack needed to know more about this old woman before he told her anything
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about themselves or the other worlds they'd visited. Kerry shut up. Megrin seemed not to notice.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Ah well, you've met the <em>Malahain</em>, and not for the first time, I imagine. The people here call them Nightshades. Foul little imps they are. And
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you can see that all's not well in Uaine, not when the sun goes down."
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</p>
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<p>
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"The moon turns red and foul," Corriwen said. "like…" she pointed at Megrin's fingers. "Like blood."
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</p>
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<p>
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Megrin raised both hands, saw the stains and burst into a peal of laughter.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Blood? That's what you thought? No wonder you were all backward about coming forward! What did you think, that I'd butcher you in your boots?"
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</p>
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<p>
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"Something like that," Kerry said, still not quite sure she couldn't. Or wouldn't.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Oh, don't be daft. I've never eaten a boy who didn't deserve it. Not for <em>weeks</em> anyway."
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</p>
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<p>
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Kerry's jaw dropped. Megrin's hand reached out and he cringed back. All she did was ruffle his hair.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Oh, I'm just having my bit of fun, young man. No, my dear, you were a bit earlier than I expected. I was mixing a potion for a wife who's due tomorrow.
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She's afraid she might be imp-touched and her baby born a changeling. But that mixture does stain like stink, I can tell you."
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</p>
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<p>
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She rocked back again, still chuckling.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Best laugh I've had in a long time," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. "And you," she pointed at Kerry. "<em>Don't eat me!</em>"
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</p>
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<p>
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Megrin was off again, giggling so helplessly she began to cough and splutter until Jack found the nerve to stand and clap her on the back.
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</p>
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<p>
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Kerry glared. "It's all right for you, in here with the light. But we got chased by ghoullies, caught by nutcases and then hunted by ghoullies all over
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again. And then you come sneaking up with your hands all red."
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</p>
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<p>
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She howled with laughter again until tears streamed down both her cheeks.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Oh, I needed that. A good laugh clears the cobwebs. And now, what was I saying?"
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</p>
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<p>
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"When the sun goes down?" Corriwen prompted.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Ah yes, so I was. Well, you've seen for yourselves. Things have come to a pretty pass and that's why I was waiting for you."
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</p>
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<p>
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"For us?" Jack leant forward. He didn't understand what she meant or why she might have been waiting for them.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Of course. I've expected you for some time." She stood up and beckoned them towards a narrow window. Outside, silver beams lanced down. Here in the
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clearing, the moon was no longer red and angry.
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</p>
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<p>
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Megrin took a candle from the table, snuffed it out, and let the smoke drift up the clear window pane. Almost immediately their reflections fogged out and
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the window became opaque.
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</p>
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<p>
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As if began to clear, despite the dark outside, they could see daylight. Sunlight. And the tall standing stones of the Farward Gate of Uaine.
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</p>
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<p>
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"My window on the world," Megrin said. "I don't often leave Foresthaven. This allows me to see what's happening in the world. And what has happened
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before."
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</p>
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<p>
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She breathed on the glass, then drew some curved lines on the condensation before using the heat of the candle to evaporate it.
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</p>
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<p>
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This time the light was different. They watched fascinated as Jack hurtled out from the stones and stumbled to his knees on green grass. Seconds later, the
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air between the pillars twisted and spangled and Kerry and Corriwen came tumbling through and bowled him flat.
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</p>
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<p>
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"It's been a while since a traveller came through that gate, and now here you are. Three of you. That means it's time to put on my own travelling cloak."
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</p>
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<p>
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At the mention of a traveller, Jack's heart thumped hard and a multitude of questions leapt into his mind. His father had been a traveller between the
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worlds. A <em>Journeyman.</em> Had she seen him? Did she know him?
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</p>
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<p>
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Megrin held a finger to his lips before he could ask.
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</p>
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<p>
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She clasped Jack's arm and drew him closer to the fire. "It's a long story," she said. "But we have the night ahead."
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</p>
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