A matched pair

Bree\'s Healing House - Front Yard

In front of the healing house is a narrow cobble stone walkway that wends its way to the double front doors of Bree\'s Healing House. On one side of the path is a yard filled with lush green grass and a rambling rose garden, while on the other side are neat rows of medical herbs, each one clearly labeled with a little sign. Along the cobble stone path are two benchs for guests to sit upon - one for human guests, and the other for hobbit guests. A small brass plaque on the front of the Healing House reads: \"HEALING HOUSE OF BREE - NO WEAPONS ALLOWED\"

Obvious exits:

Healing House and Out

================================== Bree Time ==================================

Real time: Tue Sep 02 14:50:41 2008

Bree time: Afternoon on Highday of Autumn - November 5,1444

Moon Phase: Waning Crescent Moon

Breelands Weather

The autumn air is cool but pleasant around you.

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[Cordelia(#1394)] It\'s past the lunch hour on this clear November day, the sun up, the breeze brisk but not cold. In fact, it\'s a perfect day to do a wash, and that, it seems is what has been done: In the front yard before the healing houses, Cordelia stands with a wicker basket at her feet, and she is pulling wet sheets out of the basket and hanging them on a clothesline to dry. She has her sleeves rolled up--arms red from doing the wash--and her hair is tied back in a kerchief. She\'s alone in the yard at the moment.

Who should come strolling up the road on this fine November day but Torebras Bywater, cheeks reddened by the breeze. There is a feather in his hat and a spring in his step, and as he catches sight of Cordelia he beams benevolently. \"Ah, there you are, Miss Wood. Just the person I\'d been thinking of. I decided it was high time I came to see how you\'re getting on.\" High time? He\'s hardly been in a hurry - it\'s been weeks since he sent the poor girl here.

[Cordelia(#1394)] Wooden clothespin in her mouth, Cordelia looks over at the sound of her name. She pauses, one hand reaching to hold the sheet to the clothesline, then she takes the pin out of her mouth and fixes it to the sheet and the rope. \"I\'m fine, Mayor. One more month to go, by my calculations?\"

Torebras, who has reached the gate, leans on it for a moment as he watches the laundress at her work. At her query he clears his throat, and murmurs, \"Ah ... yes. That is correct. Mrs Applecheeks informs me that your work has been quite satisfactory. Assuming that continues,\" here comes an ominous pause, as though Torebras had some doubt on the matter, \"I can see no reason to detain you further.\"

The gate starts to creak, and he hastily straightens up.

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"Assuming?\" Cordelia frowns a little at that, then bends over and picks up another sheet. \"I don\'t see why anything would change. I\'ve done this for three months now.\" She shrugs, picks up another pin, then hesitates. \"Have you spoken to Arabella lately? Or the healers? Supposedly there is some sort of ghost in the graveyard that attack Arabella. She was in the other day, looking sickly.\"

\"Hmm?\" Torebras blinks at the question - but then Cordelia continues, and the Mayor gives a little bark of stifled laughter. \"Really, my dear, I know better than to believe in such things. Tales of ghosties and ghoulies are for the suggstible - like that young brother of mine.\" Here he snorts. \"Come to think of it, I did hear some such nonsense of late. Brandebras was talking of camping out in the graveyard to watch for ghosts - not that I believe for a moment he will, mind you. That Methven girl\'s the source of the stories, you say?\"

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"Aye,\" Cordelia nods rapidly. \"Came into the healers the other day with her beau. All pale she was, but the healers said she didn\'t have a fever. Gave her something to make her sleep. Bells...she said a spirit in the graveyard wants her dead--something about payment for disturbing the dead by bringing flowers.\" Despite herself, Cordelia shudders. She quickly works to hang another sheet.

\"Deary me.\" Torebras looks quite unperturbed by this information. \"Sounds as though that young lady is prone to fancies. More likely the poor girl\'s just not been eating right.\" He glances down proudly his own ample stomach. \"Or too much excitement, perhaps.\" As Cordelia hangs the next sheet, he reaches into his pocket for his pipe, seemingly in no hurry to leave her in peace.

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"She _is_ kind of scrawny,\" Cordelia admits witha frown. She reaches out to start smoothing the sheet she just hung, idly playing with it and ignoring the rest of the sheets piled in the basket. \"But I was thinking...what if this ghost was real? I found an old earring in the fields this summer. Something not made in Bree, that\'s certain. What if it belonged to the ghosts in the graveyard? And that\'s why they\'re not settled...\"

Torebras now busies himself in lighting his pipe, or trying to. The small flint he carries provides a spark readily enough, but the brisk westerly breeze keeps snuffing it out. \"Really, my dear girl!\" he exclaims without looking up. \"As I\'ve already said, there are no such things as ghosts. And if there were someone living in the graveyard, don\'t you think Bree\'s Mayor would know about it?\" He puts on his most superior expression, then frowns and for some reason pats at his breast pocket. \"An earring, you said?\" Once again he attempts to strike a light, and this time the spark catches.

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"Yes, it\'s..uh...filigreed. Beautiful work. I thought it was elven. Found it in a meadow here--I\'ve never seen anything like it....but...\" Cordelia frowns, looking frustrated. \"But if Bells _said_ she heard a ghost...and she came into the healers...she wouldn\'t make something like that up...\" Again, the young woman reaches into the basket for another sheet. \"But...I guess you\'re right. Maybe she\'s just going slowly mad...\"

Torebras\' nurses the flame until he\'s satisfied it will stay lit, at which point he sticks the pipe in his mouth. His left hand finds its way back to his breast pocket. \"That\'s really .. ahem ... most interesting,\" he mumbles. Does he mean the \'madwoman\'? But then he presses on, \"Do you by any chance have it here? The earring, that is?\"

[Cordelia(#1394)] Cordelia shakes her head to answer. \"I...I can check my things, but I think I gave it to one of the elves...\" She frowns at that particular memory. \"Do...do elves come through here a lot? Or dwarves?\" Her hand quickly goes to cover her right wrist.

\"Oh.\" Torebras\' hand stops his groping, and he sighs, blowing out a little puff of smoke, hardly formed enough to be called a ring. \"That\'s a pity,\" he murmurs. \"A matched pair would have been more valuable.\" Colouring up, he hastily moves on to answer the other question.

\"There /have/ been a lot of elves lately,\" he remarks. \"Funny thing, that,\" and he frowns, pondering this. \"And dwarves come through every year or so. Brings good business,\" that thought seems to cheer him up, for the frown fades.

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"Matched pair? You mean another like it was found? Where?\" Cordelia hastily dispatches with the rest of the sheets in the basket, hanging them and then picking up the empty basket. \"I\'d like to see the one you have...\" She blushes a little at that. \"If you\'d show it to me. I\'m not a thief!\" she adds hastily, coloring more. \"I just...got scared. And I\'ve paid my debt now, nearly, like you just said!\"

\"I ... ah .. ahem ...\" Cordelia\'s blushes seem to leave Torebras quite discomfited. \"There now, Miss Wood, there\'s no need to go over old ground again, is there?\" he says kindly - though he does seem rather reluctant to comply with her request.

Eventually though, after a pull on his pipe and a passable smoke-ring, he sticks his hand into his waistcoat pocket and holds something out, balanced on his palm. There it sits, marred only by pieces of fluff (looks like it\'s been in there some time - could the Mayor possibly have forgotten about it?). A small golden earring that sparkles in the sunlight, the design and craftmanship quite unlike anything normally seen in Bree. \"One of the Dwarves found it near Staddle,\" he remarks absently.

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"Thank you, Mayor,\" Cordelia replies, her eyes droppign modestly, lashes fluttering as if the girl is having trouble not crying. \"I\'m really trying to...to find my place here and not be a problem. Truly, I am sorry for all the trouble I\'ve caused.\" She sighs a little, then leans into look at the earring. \"That! It looks like the one I found! I think I might have it at home, too! That _has_ to be worth lots, no? I mean, it\'s old and beautiful...\" She stares at the earring, then up at the mayor. \"I can go to Combe and look for my earring.\" She\'s hardly waiting for his answer.

\"Hmm?\" Torebras frowns thoughtfully at Cordelia, and there is a glitter in his eye that might just be cupidity. \"I suppose these earrings really should go on the market, given I\'ve had no success in locating an owner ... and a matched pair really would be better. Perhaps we could agree a deal, Miss Wood, and arrange to split the profits? /If/ you can find the other earring, that is.\" For a moment scepticism creeps into his voice.

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"Oh, I\'ll find it...\" Cordelia says in a low voice. \"I\'ll find you tomorrow in the Pony, and then we\'ll have a matched pair to sell. You can count on it.\" She smiles at the mayor briefly, her eyes narrowing in that instant. Then taking the basket with her, she turns and heads into the healers\' house again.

Torebras has a smile on his own face, a rather self-satisfied one, and it\'s unlikely he notices the narrowing of Cordelia\'s eyes. As the woman disappears, he tucks the earring back into his breast-pocket and then simply stands there, puffing on his pipe and apparently admiring the view. It is quite a while before he goes on his way, puffing up the hill toward the Smials.