[piosenniel]

Derufin refolded the paper and put it away once again.

Cook drummed her fingers on the table, and narrowed her eyes at Ruby and Buttercup. ‘We’ve got five days, ladies! Round up the staff after supper’s done. We’ll need to be done in four days – I want no hurry up, last minute preparations going on when they arrive. Ruby – you’ll see to the rooms in the attic. Hire who you need to help you. Buttercup, you fetch Mistress Aman and tell her we know exactly when they’ll arrive. And how many there will be with them. Fetch Beren – I’ll need him to run to the mill for flour, and get some lads to go fishing – we’ll be needing trout and freshwater eels for the day. And strawberries – I’m going to need a several quarts of them. He’ll need to see if Sam and Rose can give us some from the garden.’ She strode into the pantry and took a critical look at all the shelves, making a mental list of all she still needed to get.

Ruby and Buttercup returned to their dishing and serving of suppers. Derufin cleared away his own and went out to the Common Room to enjoy a pipe and a last pint.

‘Now don’t you find it interesting,’ said Ruby to Buttercup as they picked up the plates from the tables and walked back to the kitchen with their stack. ‘What’s that?’ said Buttercup, putting her back to the kitchen door to open it for the both of them. Ruby had stopped, and nodded her chin at the stable-master. ‘Her casual mention at the end of the letter. That friend of hers – Zim something. I wonder if she’s an Elf, too. And why would she say so definitely, “You will like her”, I wonder.’

Cook’s voice called them into the kitchen, and they hastened toward her summons, still whispering about the meanings of this and that.