She gave the owner, who eyed her hostilely, asmall smile before moving away. Never letting her attention focustoo long on any one thing, Shea noted that she seemed to be thecenter of attention.
Was it just her or were the others from hergroup experiencing the same thing?
She wound her way through the market, endingup on the opposite side of the square. She found a bench seatoverlooking a small grassy area that was surrounded by narrowgarden beds filled with the first buds of spring
Maybe if the townspeople stopped focusing onher, they would forget some of their fear, and Shea could hearsomething interesting.
After a while, Shea grew tired of justsitting there and leaned back, laying down on the bench to look upat the sky. The clouds today couldn’t hold her attention, andbefore long, she grew drowsy.
She drifted in that odd in between place ofsleep and consciousness.
“The elders have a plan, I tell you.”
“They’d better. No one wants to go the way ofEdgecomb.”
Shea kept her eyes closed, though she stoppeddrifting.
The first speaker’s reply was muted.
“They do, and I’d bet anything thosestrangers are factor into their schemes.”
Another response that Shea couldn’t makeout.
“Let them pay the tribute….” The secondspeaker’s voice faded as he moved out of hearing range.
Well, wasn’t that interesting? It wasn’tmuch, and Shea hadn’t understood most of it, but she was surer thanever that something was very wrong in this town.
She opened one eye and grunted. The sun hadbegun to set, scattering stripes of reds, oranges and blues in widearcs. It was probably best to head back to the lodging before fullsunset.
She rolled off the bench, grimacing at thetight knots in her back, and stretched. Perhaps a bench wasn’t thebest place to sleep.
The walk back to her temporary home wentquickly. She passed few people, and the ones she met refused tomeet her eyes, keeping their heads tilted down or turned away.
She entered the two story house that servedas a part time inn. It was part time because the town didn’t havemany visitors. As a result, there wasn’t enough room for the ten inShea’s party. The men slept three to a room while Shea got her ownchamber.
Some of the men had had a few snide remarksto say about that, but Shea mostly ignored them.
She’d have been just as happy in the stable,but the innkeeper had been aghast that a woman would even considersuch a thing. No, a lady must have her own room.
Shea wasn’t a lady. She was a pathfinder.
Still. That bed was something else. Soft.Comfortable. And the sheets felt amazing against her skin. It waslike sleeping on a cloud. A great, feathery cloud.
Yeah, Shea wasn’t too put out ataccommodating the Lowlander’s sensibilities.
“Where have you been?” Burke said from hisseat at the table.
Shea suddenly found herself the center ofattention from those filling their plates full of food. Shea’sstomach rumbled, reminding her that the only thing she’d had sincebreakfast was a peach.
“Thought I’d check out the market. See if Icould pick up any information.”
Shea grabbed a plate and frowned at the food.The meat looked stringy and the vegetables wilted. She tapped aroll against the table. It was hard.
Unsurprised, she placed it back on its plateand dished out small portions of the meat and vegetables.
She should have grabbed a meat pie while atthe market.
“Oh? Learn anything?” Dane asked.
