Faran arched his back and stretched, listening with unconcealed pleasure to the resounding pops of his back. Looking around to see if he could find someone in charge, he saw that Sigrid was crouched over her dog -- it looked as if she was trying not to breathe. Making his way over to her, he squatted beside her, scuffed the dogs ears, and said, “You alright, Sigrid?”
“I’m just remembering something that happened years ago,” she said. “My uncle’s place burned down…” her voice trailed off and, after a pause, said, “And the stench --”
She didn’t go farther and he knew what she was going to say. It was awful and overpowering. Instead, he breathed deeply, gagged, and said, “It’s not so bad, once you get used to it.” It actually did seem to be diminishing, but a breath of wind redoubled its force.
Sigrid smiled with amusement at Faran and said, “You get used to it?”
“Well, some people get used to it and others don’t,” Faran replied knowingly. “Fortunately, I am one of those people,” he added, somewhat loftily.
She raised an eyebrow and said, “Really?”
“Really. Do you know who the innkeeper is?”
“That woman over there,” Sigrid said, pointing Aylwen, “she seems to have some authority here.”
“Thanks. Uh, Sigrid, I’m sorry,” he said, somewhat uncomfortably. Then, turning swiftly, he found the woman, who was standing beside the charred remains of the stable. Approaching her, Faran said, “I have skill as a carpenter and I would like to offer my services to help the Inn build a new barn.”
[ November 20, 2003: Message edited by: Imladris ]
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I'm sorry it wasn't a unicorn. It would have been nice to have unicorns.
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