[Primrose Bolger]

‘Of course it was an accident!’ Ginger looked as kindly at Wren as she could. ‘Now it’s true I haven’t know you or your brother for long, but from what I’ve seen, neither of you have a mean bone in your body. Things just got out of hand a bit. I’ll bet if we took a look out the front window, we’d see they’d already been put to right. No one’s going to make you and your brother go away. And we certainly aren’t going to let anyone take you from here.’

There was a commotion in the common room, and Ginger got up to peek through the kitchen door to see what was going on. The room was all abuzz with the news of the party. ‘What party?’ she asked, stopping Ruby as she took a pitcher of ale to some waiting customers. Ruby stopped for a moment and told her the details of the mug stacking contest and what had been offered by the beerseller, Fordogrim Chubb. And how the players who come to the Inn last night, or rather the Hobbit lass with them, had announced they would be putting on a show this very evening . . . in the Inn’s front yard. ‘To be joined by Gil and his friends, too,’ she said winking at Ginger. ‘Ferdy, I’m sure, will be there.’

Ginger hurried back to the kitchen, her cheeks red, her eyes sparkling. ‘Oh, Wren! I’ve just heard the best news! The mugs and such have all been set in order and there’s to be a party this evening. No time for gloomy faces and worrying . . .’ She looked about the kitchen. The mutton stew was simmering on the hob, the rolls were rising nicely – almost ready for the oven. ‘We’ve got us some time before we have to start serving lunch. What say we run up to the attic and look through the old trunks that travelers left and never came back for? We’ll find us some pretty things to wear to the party.’

She grabbed Wren’s hand and hurried her up the back kitchen stairs to her room. There was a long corridor that connected to the attic on the other side of the Inn where the forgotten trunks and mathoms were stored. The sun poured in weakly through the dusty window. ‘You look through that one over there,’ she said, pointing to a battered basswood trunk. ‘I’ll give a look through this one.’