They waited. He seemed to be consulting a bird who lived inside him. Finally he nodded. “When it’s just snow, not a blizzard.”
“Madam, we still have not resolved the matter of my fee for finding your Replica.”
“Masteress!” Saving lives should be free!
“Lodie, do not interfere.” ITs smoke reddened. “His Lordship will warn your brunka and will not accept payment. I lack his kind nature. I suppose you would like me to identify the thief as well.”
“Masteress . . .” High Brunka Marya tilted her head to look at IT. The worry lines smoothed out, and her face wore the usual calm brunka expression. She smiled the contented brunka smile.
IT coughed at the back of ITs throat. Coming from anyone else, Elodie would have thought the cough an uneasy sound. Folks usually felt uncomfortable under the scrutiny of that serene brunka gaze. But did IT?
“You suspect us,” IT said, “as well you may. You should trust no one. People are a perfidious lot. But especially do not trust now.”
IT was babbling! The high brunka had unnerved IT!
“Still, if my assistant and—”
“Your assistant? His Lordship?”
“Lodie is my assistant.”
She felt a burst of satisfaction.
“I see.” But the high brunka sounded as if she didn’t.
“If we put ourselves out, we will expect more than a mere fifteen tin coins.”
Elodie bit her cheek. How could IT haggle over this?
His Lordship took one step to the door, opened it, and looked out, his broad back to the others. “I’ll watch the snow. When the blizzard subsides, I’ll shape-shift.”
Talk of money was beneath a count.
“Masteress,” High Brunka Marya said, “you’re as clever as a ratcatcher. If you tell me now where the Replica is and who took it, I’ll give you three gold coins, and you, His Lordship, and Elodie won’t be imprisoned.”
Oh no! Elodie struggled to think of something that would prove their innocence.
“Madam, your suspicions are absurd.”
High Brunka Marya raised her eyebrows, still smiling.
“As soon as the blizzard retreats, nothing can stop a shape-shifting ogre from entering your Oase.”
The High Brunka’s smile faded.
“Mice find their way in when the weather turns cold, do they not? He can become a creature much smaller than a mouse. He can gain admission on your person as a louse.” Enh enh enh.
His Lordship turned his head. “Meenore—”
“Permit me to conduct this conversation, Your Lordship. Once inside, he becomes himself again, crouching if he must. You can imagine the rest: the thief fetches the Replica. No one dares interfere because of an ogre’s hulking presence.”
Count Jonty Um nodded. “I could do all that. Hypothetically.”
Elodie smiled at him for understanding. He winked, a slow, effortful wink.
Masteress Meenore went on. “His Lordship tears the door off its hinges and enlarges your entry. We fly away with Lodie and the thief on my back and His Lordship as the Lepai yellow-feathered swift. Lodie holds the Replica in her lap.”
The high brunka’s eyes went to Elodie, who mansioned her face to show nothing.
“High Brunka, if we are in league with the thief, you cannot stop us. In the event that we are not, you may as well engage us. If we find the Replica, a mountain will be saved. If we fail, then the villain is smarter than I . . .”
. . . Smarter than both of us, Elodie thought.
“. . . which I doubt.”
The high brunka bent over so her head was in her lap, a pathetic pose. A tiny rainbow flickered from her right hand.
Was she ill?
“The snow is dwindling,” His Lordship reported.
A minute passed in silence. Elodie wanted to pat the high brunka’s shoulder.
ITs smoke tinted faintly gray, meaning IT was faintly sad. Sympathy for the high brunka? Elodie wondered. Or for the people on the mountain that might explode?
High Brunka Marya sat up, serenity in place again. “We’ll pay whatever you believe reasonable. I trust your fairness.”
The corners of ITs mouth turned up.
Greedy dragon! Elodie thought.
Sometimes IT deduced her thoughts. “Self-interest is not precisely greed, Lodie. Self-interest is reasonable. Greed exceeds the bounds of reason.”
“I can leave now.” His Lordship knelt by Nesspa and rubbed his neck. “Be good, Nesspie. I’ll be back soon.” He stood and began to raise his arms.
“Wait!”
Masteress Meenore had stopped His Lordship in time. He lowered his arms.
“Upon your arrival, ask the brunka and his bees if they know of anyone who might be angry at them, exceedingly angry, or angry at anyone else on the mountain, or angry at the mountain itself, although they may consider that question odd. Ask also if anyone has recently left Zertrum.”
“Ask . . .” Elodie paused, not liking to offend the high brunka, but this wasn’t a time to worry about that. “Ask if the brunkas refused aid to anyone recently.”
“We never deny help lightly, lamb.”
“Excellent, Elodie. Your Lordship, make them answer you.”