Ellany returned down the stairs to the kitchen after helping Muirenn up to her room. As the day came to an end, Miss Charlotte had taken up one of the guard's shirts to mend. She squinted down at the small tear and let the firelight guide her needle. When Ellany sat down opposite Miss Charlotte, the elder woman glanced up from her sewing.
"Well now, isn't she a sweet dearie. It's unfortunate she's hurt her leg so awfully in that burnt barn." Of course, Miss Charlotte had heard about the raid on the Fenflower farm from some of her well-informed friends in town even before Ellany had explained. "We'll find a healer to come take a look first thing in the morning. Now, let her stay here as long as she likes. I can help her about and keep her company." Miss Charlotte's grey eyes twinkled, looking forward to having another woman in the large house.
Ellany narrowed her eyes slightly. "Really, Miss Charlotte, please try not to ask her so many questions and make her uncomfortable."
The housekeeper lifted her needle and thread to give a dismissive wave of her hand. "Oh, don't be silly. She seemed such a shy and quiet thing anyway."
Ellany leaned back, stretching her slippers out towards the fire. Autumn was settling in and turning the evenings colder. "I mean that you can't use her to supply you with information for gossip. She is my guest." She said this last word with great emphasis.
Miss Charlotte turned her gaze away and back towards her sewing in an attempt to hide the guilty expression on her face. "Oh, you do worry too much, Ellany. I'll just sit here and brew her nice teas, prop up her leg, and interest her in some social knitting and sewing."
A sigh of relief passed between Ellany's lips as her housekeeper reassured her. She turned to the fire, rubbing her lower lip thoughtfully. She had hoped for adventure in her new life within Bree. However, there had been too many disconcerting incidents as of late. First, Muirenn's cousin, Hutwig, had gone missing, and when he was found, he had sustained a good deal of injury. Then, there was Mister Bill, who had been attacked brutally and was still recovering in the jail under the care of the Watchers...
Ellany's thoughts trailed off for a moment here. After a pause in which her green eyes smiled and grew dreamy, she shook her head, causing her golden hair to rustle around her shoulders.
...And now, Muirenn had injured her leg, trying to help at the Fenflower farm. The recent raid had partly destroyed the barn and many of the fields.
Father had left her behind in town for the first time in her life, saying that the roads were too perilous now with rumors of bandits and even orcs. Yet, did he realize how much danger there was, even in town? Perhaps he had, since he left Mister Thatcher and Kent behind to guard their property. Still, Ellany wondered how much safer she really was in town rather than on the roads beside her father.
