Birdie woke with a start to find halfling and tray gone from her room. She smiled to herself, thinking of the not-so-unusual interest the young groom had taken in her friend. But this one seemed to be a little more worthy of Holly's attention. A bright lad, perky but not overly exuberent, with a good head on his shoulders. And he certainly was a good listener!
Bird stretched and rose, and tried to shake the cobwebs of herbs and wine from her head. Skin-changers may not have the recovery powers of hobbits, but most could take a beating and spring back fairly quickly. She decided to get up and go outside. The morning sun might do her aching bones some good.
After a quick wash-up from the pitcher of water on the nightstand, she reached for her clothes and shook her head ruefully. They were the worse for wear after her "adventure", and hadn't been in that great a shape before. She searched her pockets for the few silver coins she had left and wondered if there was a rag-and-bone man in the area who might sell her some second-hand finery.
"Perhaps Olo could tell me of someone," she thought, as she futilely brushed off her garments and hung them by the fire for a moment. Giving it up as a lost cause, she slowly dressed and made her way down the stairs.
Going into the yard, she found a sunny bench and sat down to watch the action of guests preparing for their departures, and the antics of a kitchen-lad stalking a chicken for tonight's special. There was no sign of Bethberry, Holly, or Gandalf, which was a relief. She supposed they were still at this "meeting", and while normally Bird was ready for any gossip or information that Holly might bring back to her, she worried whether the subject of hungry insects had come up on the agenda.
Then she spied Olo sitting under a tree across the yard, having his morning pipe, and got up to speak to him about the chance of a bedraggled traveler purchasing some good, cheap used clothes. Or perhaps a darning needle and thread?
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