“I’ve had some dealings with her mother,” Cappie said.
“Yes. Urah. She—”
Cappie held up his hand. “That’s more than enough for me to understand. Qip is my friend.” He handed Bree a sewing kit, watched her thread a needle, then she began to sew the fertility doll closed. “If you want to stay here on Abicis, I need a Book.”
She smiled at him. “You’re very kind, but I’m here with others and we have something to do. We must—” She broke off at the sound of a familiar voice on the other side of the curtain. It was Aradella—and of course she sounded angry.
“Where is she? I know she hasn’t the brains to find her way around, so why did she wander away?”
Cappie looked at Bree. “Does the owner of that voice meanyou?”
“Yes.”
His eyes twinkled. “We can mix something that’ll change her attitude. I’ll ignite it for you.”
Bree laughed. “How kind you are! But I promised someone that I’d be nice to Aradella. It wasn’t added, ‘Unless she’s such a bitch that you want to tear her head off.’”
Cappie didn’t laugh.
“This is my fault,” said a man’s voice from outside. “I should have been watching.”
“Your lover?” Cappie asked.
“Oh no! That’s Tam. He has a wife and child.”
“And who do you have?”
“I—”
Aradella’s voice came to them. “How can we accomplish anything if she gets lost every few minutes? We’ll never find this man Qip if we have to deal withher.”
“I better go.” Bree sighed. “I wish my cousin could see that my life isn’t the perfection that she believes it is.”
“I might be able to arrange that.”
Bree smiled. “Not even Urah’s magic can defeat Aradella. She is an unstoppable force.”
As she went toward the curtain, she turned back and kissed his forehead. “I hope I get to see you again.”
“So do I,” he said. “If it gets too bad, you know where I live.”
Bree took a breath and opened the curtain. She saw Tam first. He was standing apart from Aradella and Mekos and seemed to be looking for her.
Aradella was talking. “If we don’t find her, we’ll have to—”
Bree moved away from Cappie’s curtained doorway, then said loudly, “I’m here.”
Aradella gave her cousin her usual look of anger. “We’ve had to backtrack to find you. We should be going ahead. If we move too quickly for you, just tell us.” By the end, Aradella’s teeth were clenched.
“I didn’t mean to—” Bree began.
Tam stepped forward, slightly in front of Bree in a protective way. “This is my fault. I should have stayed with her. Why don’t you two go that way and Bree and I go this way? This town is small. If we spread it around that we’re looking for Qip, maybe he’ll be told.”
Mekos looked over Aradella’s head and gave Tam a nod of thanks. Neither man wanted to deal with the animosity between the women. “Excellent idea.” Mekos put a firm grip on Aradella’s arm. He took out the little bag of endless coins and handed several to Tam.
The men looked at each other in understanding and the couples went in opposite directions.
“Thank you,” Bree said when she and Tam were alone.
