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Chapter Seven
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"Well," Amos said, "we should probably go and talk with the Weatherbys about the house.
Sarah slumped. "I don't wanna talk to them about it."
Amos said, "Neither do I, but we still should, and they are kind people. This is the first time I've thought about visiting them and not wanted to do it."
"What'll we say?" said Sarah.
"I don't know," said Ellamae, "but that is not reason not to go."
"Let's go," said Jaben.
They slowly got into the van.
The drive to the Weatherbys' dilapidated mansion seemed unusually long and slow, and Jaben carefully parked the van in the driveway. The friends got up, and walked up the gnarled path to the front door. Ellamae rang the doorbell, and listened to its echo.
"Well, at least the fire didn't get their home."
"Some of the plants are starting to bloom. The water was invigorating to them."
Silence.
Ellamae rang the doorbell again.
Silence.
"Maybe they're not home," Sarah said.
"That may be," said Ellamae. "We should probably leave them a note, and stop back. She fished in her purse for a pen and a notepad.
They talked a bit about what to say, and then wrote down:
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Weatherby;
As you know, there has been a fire; it was started by a riflery accident with Thaddeus. None of us were hurt (we do not yet know if others were hurt), but the house you allowed us to use is in ashes.
We do not know what to say. We are very grateful to you for the use of that house, and we know it was a special place to others -- children most of all. It was a place of memories for us, and we are the richer for it. We regret both to inform you that that wonderful house of yours is gone, and that you were out when we came, and so have to leave a note.
Thank you for the use of your house. We hope to be able to connect with you in person to speak about this.
The Kythers
Amos, Désirée, Jaben, Thaddeus, Sarah, Ellamae, Lilianne
The friends walked back, and got back into the van. "Where do we go now?" said Sarah.
"There's the cave where we used to meet before the Weatherbys let us use the house," said Lilianne. "Why don't we go over there?"
"I want to give a gift to the Weatherbys," Sarah said.
"What do you have in mind?" said Jaben.
"I don't know, something special. Maybe something we could make."
Jaben turned the keys, and they drove off.
The cavern was refreshingly cool, with air slowly passing through, sounding like a faint breathing. Amos's flashlight swept over a few small crates that served as chairs and larger ones that functioned as tables, candles, matches, some flashlights, papers, some blankets, some sweaters, a sleeping bag, a pillow, a few other odds and ends, and a toolbox. Jaben struck a match, and lit the three wicks of a large candle. Amos turned the flashlight off.
Sarah picked up a moist flashlight, and pressed the switch.
Nothing happened.
She opened it, and dumped out two corroded D cells.
"Why do we store all of our bad batteries in our flashlights?"
Ellamae, shivering slightly, put on a sweater. It was loose around her elfin frame.
Sarah snuggled up against Thaddeus, and put an arm over Lilianne's shoulder. "You know, it's been a long time since we've role played."
"Where were we?" Thaddeus said, interested.
"You were in the village, outside the castle. Looking for something -- I don't remember what."
"And something happened when we drank from the spring," said Lilianne. "It was a cold spring, like the one running through this cave."
Sarah said, "Remember the time we went deep into this cavern, and found that pool this stream empties into, and petted the blind, eyeless fish?"
Lilianne nodded. Sarah had enjoyed that a great deal, and would have waded in had the others not stopped her.
Jaben closed his eyes, and appeared to be concentrating. "You are under a tree outside a chicken coop in the Urvanovestilli city Candlomita. There are children running around. About a hundred feet away, you see a troupe of performing Janra. One is juggling daggers and singing, one is playing a flute, three are doing acrobatics, and two are talking."
Lilianne said, "'Janra always make a day more interesting. Let's go over.'"
Sarah said, "'Yes, let's.'"
Amos said, "'Janra always make a day a little too interesting, if you ask me.'"
Sarah said, "'Spoilsport!' I take Rhoz by the hand and start walking over."
Jaben said, "A little Janra girl comes running, with brightly colored ribbons streaming from her wrists and ankles, and says, 'Spin me! Spin me!'"
Sarah said, "I take her to a clear spot and spin her."
Jaben said, "The path is narrow, and there are people passing through. There aren't any good places to spin her."
Sarah said, "I pick her up, give her a hug and a kiss, and say, 'What's your name?'"
Jaben said, "She says, 'Ank. What's yours?' and, before giving you time to answer, grabs your nose and says, 'Honk!'"
Sarah said, "I'm going to set her down."
Jaben said, "She runs over to Rhoz and says, 'Hey, Mr. Tuz-man! Throw me!'"
Amos said, "I'm going to pick her up and toss her about, while walking to the other Janra."
Jaben said, "A young Janra in a shimmering midnight blue robe approaches you, holding a small knife and a thick, sculpted white candle. He says, 'Greetings, fellow adventurers. May I introduce myself? My name is Nimbus, and I would like to offer you a greeting-gift. This is a candle which I carved. Perhaps, when you light it, it will remind you of the hour of our meeting."
Amos said, "I'm going to take it and look at it."
Jaben said, "Wrapped around the candle is a bas-relief sculpture of a maiden touching a unicorn, next to a pool and a forest grove. The detail is exquisite."
Amos said, "I'm going to hand it to Cilana for safe keeping and say, 'Thank you, Nimbus. I hope to be able to get to know you.
"'Do you know anything about the crystalline chalice?'"
Jaben said, "'The crystalline chalice? Yes, have heard of it. I used to own it, actually. The last I heard of it, were rumors that it was either in the towers of the castle, or possibly in the depths of Mistrelli's labyrinth. But those are only rumors, and they are old rumors at that.'"
Sarah said, "What time is it?"
Jaben looked at his watch, and said, "7:58."
Sarah gave him a dirty look, and said, "You know what I mean."
Jaben grinned and slowly said, "Oooh! In the game!"
Sarah continued to give him a dirty look, and said, "Yeeees."
Jaben said, "It is now dusk; you have been on your feet all day, and feel tired, dirty, hungry, and thirsty."
Sarah said, "'Nimbus, would you like to join us for dinner?'"
Jaben said, "'I would love to, but I told a group of friends that I'd meet them for some strategy games and discussion. If you're looking for a good bite to eat, I would recommend The Boar's Head;' and here he turns to Rhoz, 'it's the one place in this whole area where you can get a good beer. You know the saying, "Never drink Tuz wine or Urvanovestilli beer!" Well, they don't serve any Urvanovestilli beers. Plenty of Urvanovestilli wines -- they even have Mistrelli green."
Ellamae's eyes widened.
"'But for beers, they have a couple of Yedidia and Jec lagers, and then a Tuz stout, and then a Tuz extra stout, and then a Tuz smoked!'"
Amos looked up. "'Thank you, Nimbus.'"
Jaben said, "Nimbus bows deeply, and then walks away at a pace that manages to somehow be both slow and relaxed, and move faster than you could run. After he leaves, a small, multicolored ball rolls between your feet."
Amos, Désirée, Ellamae, Thaddeus, Sarah, and Lilianne said, in unison, "We run, post haste!"
Jaben said, "You move along, and manage to clear the game, although you hear its sounds behind you. When you slow down, you come to an intersection of three streets; there is a beggar here."
Ellamae said, "I'm going to give him a silver crown, and say, 'Hi, there! Could you tell us where The Boar's Head is?'"
Jaben said, "The beggar points along one of the streets, and says, 'Two streets down, on the corner.' You reach the inn without event, and a pretty waitress leads you to a table. She recommends boar in wine sauce, and the chicken broth soup."
Amos said, "'If there are no objections, I think we'll go with that. I'd like a double of the Tuz smoked.'"
Ellamae said, "I'm going to set the candle Nimbus gave us in the middle of the table, and light it."
Jaben said, "The wick does not burn like most wicks; it sparkles brightly."
Ellamae said, "Interesting. I'm going to watch it."
Jaben said, "The wick burns down to the bottom, and then appears to go out. A thin column of white smoke rises."
Ellamae said, "That's odd."
Thaddeus said, "'I'd like a glass of mild cider.'"
Jaben said, "She turns to you and nods, and then something odd happens. The candle begins to shoot brightly colored balls of fire. One of them lands in a nearby patron's drink, and another in some mashed potatoes. Most of them bounce down and roll around on the tablecloth, which catches fire. The waitress pours a pitcher of cider from a nearby table over the burning tablecloth, and turns to you, puts her hands on her hips, and says, 'Guests will kindly refrain from the use of pyrotechnic devices while inside the restaurant!'"
Amos buried his face in his hands, and then said, "'He gave us a Roman candle!'"
Jaben said, "'Well of course it's a Roman candle! What did you think it was?'"
Amos said, "'No, you don't understand. A Janra named Nimbus met us and gave us what looked like a perfectly ordinarily candle.'"
Jaben said, "She rolls her eyes, and says, 'Oooh, Nimbus! Please excuse me one moment.' She walks away, and in a moment returns with something in her hand. 'Please give this to Nimbus for me.' She heavily places a large lump of coal on the table."
Amos said, "I'm going to take it, and say, 'Thank you. And who should I say that this lump of coal is from?'"
Jaben said, "'Oh, he knows perfectly well who I am. We're good friends, even if he is always trying to tickle me.'"
Thaddeus and Lilianne both poked Sarah in the side.
Amos waited until the others had finished ordering, and said, "'Well, Nimbus was right about at least one thing.'"
"'Ooh?'" Lilianne said.
"'When we lit the candle, we remembered the hour of our meeting with him.'"
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A Cord of Seven Strands >
Chapter Seven
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