[Arestevana]

Elsa glared angrily around the quarreling group. She fumed silently, trying to catch her breath after a furious tirade at Sarah Chubb. She tired to remember what she had said. Perhaps it had something to do with people who exploit others? It did not particularly bother Elsa that she could not recall her arguments clearly. She hardly knew whom the arguments were intended to clout anyway.

It had begun as a simple disagreement. Kalimac had made a financial decision without her consent and she’d politely asked for an explanation. Perhaps politely wasn’t exactly the term to use, but she hadn’t yelled. Well, she hadn’t intended to yell. Now Mr. and Mrs. Chubb were in the argument too, as well as Mr. Chubb’s father. For the sake of pride Elsa turned her anger on them, rather than on ‘the family’. She had, by this time, thoroughly convinced herself that the Chubbs were to blame; Harold Chubb had been trying to exploit Kalimac’s generosity.

Having found her voice again, Elsa jumped right bask into the verbal free-for-all with a shot at Fordogrim. She tried to keep her voice at a reasonable volume, not wanting to be the first of the group to start shouting. “This never would have happened if your son hadn’t asked for pay! We give him sufficient wages already! Why should we pay our employees twice? Do your grandchildren need to be bribed in order to maintain a passable level of responsibility? How on earth were those children brought up?”

By this time Elsa realized that she was going to sincerely regret this whole argument. However, she felt as if she was too far in to back out, and she was certainly too proud to walk of in a huff. So instead she turned her rage on her husband, whom, she reasoned, hat gotten her into this fight by blaming Mr. Chubb. “Kalimac, this is madness! What are we doing, arguing with these folk? It doesn’t matter if we are being manipulated, just stop being a fool! We shouldn’t grudge them the money!” If she recognized self-contradiction when it came from her own mouth, Elsa gave no sign of it. Nor did she stop being unreasonable, stating haughtily, “If we cannot trust these folk with our money, why do we trust them with our children? Surely our children are of infinitely more value than any coin!”

Elsa set her jaw and crossed her arms irately. People are such fools! She felt a sudden wish that these were only naughty children to be chased out of the garden with a broom. However, voices were vying for dominance, and Elsa soon heard an argument being leveled in her direction. Elsa glowered defiantly at her accuser, wondering what pathetic complaint they had to offer.