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Rubbing her neck, the Chicken Lady said, “I always said Demon would be the death of me.”
“We were eating a chicken named Demon?” one of the villagers asked.
“No. I ate a rooster named Demon a few days ago. I guess I know why my throat was scratchy all that time.” She turned to Elwyn and said, “I didn’t need your herbs, after all.”
“You’ve had a chicken bone stuck in your throat for days?” Elwyn said.
“I must have been able to breathe around it before, but it moved to a bad place.” She picked up the piece of bone that had fallen to the ground. It was much tinier than it had felt in Elwyn’s magical probing. “I’ll have to grind this up and add it to the feed so I’ll get better eggs.”
Elwyn called for someone to bring a cup of the cold tea and made sure the Chicken Lady wasn’t coughing up blood before she helped her up and onto a bench. Then she needed something to drink, herself. She sat down heavily on a bench and let out a sigh. Someone put a mug of ale in her hand before she had the chance to ask for it, and then Bryn joined her on the bench. “Thank you for your help,” she said to him.
He nodded without speaking. He looked rather stunned. Was he squeamish about medical things? He’d shown no sign of that when she was treating his wound. He’d even watched while she removed the stitches. “Are you alright?” she asked.
“What?” He blinked, as though coming out of a daze. Then he shook his head. “I’m fine. But that was incredible, what you did.”
“I didn’t really do anything. All that moving her around must have jostled it loose.”
“But you knew exactly what the problem was.” He lowered his voice to a level at which no one nearby was likely to overhear him, with all the noise of the festival around them. “You have a talent, don’t you? You read her somehow.”
“Let’s discuss this at home,” she said, equally softly.
“I don’t think anyone here noticed, in case you were worried. I’m not sure they’d care.”
“That’s not my worry.”
He nodded, then grinned, looking more like his usual self once more. “Well, this festival has certainly been memorable. We should get some eggs out of this, I should hope.”
“She’s been giving me eggs all along. I think I’ve finally paid her back adequately.” She shook her head in dazed disbelief. “I’m still not sure how she managed to inhale a chicken bone and keep it in her throat all this time.”
“I’m not sure I want to know. It’s probably best not to ask that question.” He glanced toward where the dancing had resumed. “Another dance?”
“I’m not sure I’m up to it. You go, though, if you like.” She’d barely spoken the words when Mair danced by, grabbed him by the hand, and dragged him away. Elwyn waved to him and smiled as she watched him attempting to dance. He looked even more awkward from afar than he’d looked up close when she was dancing with him. No, he was more awkward now, like he’d become self-conscious. Had he been more comfortable while dancing with her? Now he was downright clumsy. He tripped, barely caught himself, stepped on Mair’s foot, jumped back away from her, bumped into someone else, then bumped into Mair when he jumped away from the other person. All the while, he had a growing look of panic on his face. When the song ended, he gave Mair a rueful bow and rushed back to Elwyn. No other ladies tried to claim him as a dance partner, which was a sign of how bad he was when there were so few men.
He looked humiliated enough that she didn’t dare tease him. Instead, she yawned and said, “I’m not sure how much more excitement I can take. I may call it a night soon. If you’d like to stay, I’m sure Mair would be glad to let you walk home with her so I can take the lantern, or you could walk me home and come back with the lantern.”
“No, I think I’m ready to turn in, as well,” he said. “We got such an early start this morning.”
“Have you had a chance to talk with the musicians about leaving with them?”
“I may wait for a peddler. They don’t have room on their wagon, so I’d have to walk. There wouldn’t be much advantage to traveling with them.”
She had to admit that she was a little bit glad that his departure was delayed. “A few more days won’t make much difference, and you might even reach your destination more quickly if you wait for someone who travels faster.”
“That was my thought. Should we take the urn or leave it?”
“See if any tea is left.”
He went to the drink table, checked the urn, and brought it back. “It was empty,” he said. She picked up her lantern, used a rush lit from one of the torches to light it, and went to find Mair to say her farewells.
“Leaving so soon?” Mair asked. “The fun has only just begun.”
“After that excitement, I don’t feel much up for fun.”
“Well, thank you for saving the day.”
“I didn’t do that much. It took care of itself.”
“I’m not sure it would have if you hadn’t been there.”
