“It still seems unlikely. He had the same eye color? Jawline? Complexion? Ear shape?”
“Ecossia is an island. Most of us are related. Before a couple starts courting, they have to consult a special chart to make sure they aren’t each other’s grandparents.”
“Is that possible?”
“It’s not even unlikely. My second cousin made a mistake with the chart and ended up accidentally marrying himself.”
“I see.” I tried to nod, and my head drooped until my chin touched my chest. I wrenched my head back up, my eyes snapping open.
“Are you sure you’re not too tired for this?”
“I’m fine.”
The man in the tree was holding one nostril shut and blowing through the other. Bewildered, the three travelers asked what he was doing.
“Two miles away, there are seven windmills,” the man explained, “and I’m blowing on them so they spin around.”
Jack remained perplexed. “Your breath is so mighty you can turn seven windmills at once, and you are only using it to…turn seven windmills at once?”
The man shrugged. “Everybody needs a hobby.”
The man introduced himself as Kit.
“Jack, Sam, Clem, and Kit? I’m having trouble telling you apart. Do any of you have a two-syllable name?”
“That’s why we took them. Makes it even trickier to tell who’s who. Just remember that I’m the handsome one.”
“The handsome identical duplicate?”
“I have a very handsome bearing. My posture is unmatched.”
“It was the first thing I noticed about you.What excellent posture,I thought as the spider wolf was attempting to bite your head off.”
When Jack and Sam and Clem let the windmill blower know what they were about—
“Wait…. If those are all assumed names, then what’s your real one?”
“Sam,” said Sam.
When Jack and Sam and Clem let him know what they were about, Kit agreed to join them.
The search continued without luck for several days. While they ran into many travelers, all of them were too burly, too delicate, too dark haired, too blond, or otherwise unsuitable. But then they came across a man in a field standing on one leg. He had taken his other leg off and set it on the ground. Except for that single small oddity, he was identical to Jack, Sam, Clem, and Kit in face, figure, and size—or at least, as close enough in face for it to make no difference.
Jack glanced from the attached leg to the unattached one and back again. “I suppose that’s convenient for scratching your foot.”
“This is the only way I can stand still,” the man elucidated.“When I use both legs, I run so quickly that the fastest bird cannot keep up.”
As soon as the others explained their plan, this man, named Harry, agreed to join their ranks.
“Two syllables! At last.”
“The rest of us thought it was too fancy, but he couldn’t be dissuaded.”
“I will also note you still have not explained this mysterious plan to me.”
“Oh, haven’t I?” His expression was a picture of blameless innocence.
The five of them resumed the quest. They had traveled together for perhaps a week when the weather turned. Although summer had not yet ended, an unseasonable chill pervaded the air, and snow started to whirl down from the sky. It fell thicker and faster and soon became a blizzard. They began to worry for their very lives, for none of them were dressed for winter, and they were out on the road and far from shelter.
