Making New Friends

The twilight has just fallen on a sunny autumn day, so that evening is just starting to creep into the village. The common room of the Pony is not yet its usual crowded, smokey state, as most folk are still home taking care of evening chores. But at one of the long tables in the center of the room sits a young woman, nursing a bowl of stew. The sleeves of her plain dress are wet, as are a few strands of her dark black hair, some of which sticks to her forehead. She\'s alone at the table.

[Ferny(#14469)]

In the cool early evening air of Bree, the waxing moon rests overhead, beginning to become very visible overhead. A owl hoots somewhere up on the hill....

A moment later, below where the sound of the owl sounded, rustling in the brush preceded the appearance of a man. Slightly hunched, the scoundrel of the Breelands emerges from the brush. His head wreathed in a puff of bitter-smelling smoke, the man shifts around the corner of Barliman\'s Prancing Pony, clunking up the steps of the Inn, through the foyer and into the Common Room. His footsteps fall heavily on the wooden plank floor.

Coming to a stop at the end of the long table furthest from Cordelia, he exhales another huge puff of smoke, the last wisps of which are forced from his lungs by an extreme fit of coughing.

Spoon in hand, Cordelia looks up, watching the coughing man for several long minutes, eyes noting particularly the state of his clothing. Then the spoon once again digs into the bowl of stew, and the young woman begins to eat again, methodically. \"That\'s what you get for smoking the cheap stuff,\" she notes. She\'s not looking up, but the place is relatively empty--who else woudl she be addressing but the coughing man.

[Ferny(#14469)]

\"Take what I kin git,\" Ferny replies, scowling slightly at the woman eating stew nearby. \"Not all of us are accomplished linen peddlers,\" he adds after giving her a quick once-over. He inhales deeply through his pipe again, and blows the exhaust out again, a pungent cloud forming once again around his head.

\"Got anything better?\" he asks her quickly and quietly, almost begging.

The young woman laughs, then blows on a spoonful of stew to cool it off. \"I\'m a linen peddler, as you say,\" she answers in a low voice--there\'s a touch of sarcasm in it. \"Why would I smoke or have pipeweed?\" Slowly, very slowly, she eats that spoonful of stew, then looks up at this stranger. \"Seems to me those rangers always have the finest pipeweed. Coming in here and smoking. You don\'t see -them- coughing now, do you?\"

[Ferny(#14469)]

These last words elicit a more serious scowl from Ferny, and he shuffles nearer the woman. \"Rangers aren\'t likely to share \'round here, woman. Neither to sell. They don\'t like the folk of Bree, not a bit. Maybe we\'re a touch too sophisticated for them?\" He chuckles to himself, shaking his head. Finally, he adds, \"Never you mind -- I\'ve better at the house. Just trying to finish off the last of the trash I bought away east.\"

Ferny, without invitation, sits across from Cordelia at the same table. \"Not a linen peddler then?\" he asks, eyeing her warily. \"What is it you do then? You\'re not from Bree, that\'s to be sure.\"

\"The east?\" The girl looks up briefly, then frowns and pushes away her half finished bowl of stew. \"Not many Breefolk will venture beyond the city gates, much less to the east. Whatever kind of profession might draw you that way?\" As she speaks, Cordelia reaches into the pocket of her skirt, drawing out a small purse. She opens it, and carefully counts out enough change to pay for the stew--but there are more shiny coins in there, certainly.

The coin purse is closed shut, but still held in her hand, and Cordelia looks up again and smiles now. \"I\'m here to live with my aunt and uncle--I\'m related to the Appledores. And at the moment I am....helping at the healers\' houses. Doing laundry, mostly,\" she makes a face. \"As for the rangers, I\'ve no love for them. Snooping around, putting their nose into business where they don\'t belong. What gives them the right anyhow?\"

[Ferny(#14469)]

Yes, of course,\" Ferny answers. He is silent for a moment, observant of the woman, then offers her, \"As for what takes me east, I help a gentleman who runs a small inn away on the road east. Have you already been out to Staddle to the Appledores? The orchards had a fabulous crops last year -- best in years, they say\"

\"A gentleman...at a small inn on the road east.\" Cordelia repeats those words, staring at the coins on the table. \"I can\'t imagine that\'s very profitable these days? What with travel being so difficult and dangerous? I undertook a journey east not so long ago myself, but...well, circumstances arranged it that I had to come back here. And here I am, working for the Healers at least until the turn of the year.\"

\"As for Staddle...\" Cordelia continues, \"I go to my uncle\'s once a week. It\'s a long walk.\"

[Ferny(#14469)]

Ferny grins. \"Fair enough. I suppose we both know a bit more about each other than what we\'ve said then.\"

A member of Barli\'s serving staff shows up just then, and though she begins to move past once she realizes who is sitting there, Ferny urges her to serve him by standing up and blocking her way momentarily. \"Yes, lass, thanks for asking. I\'d LOVE a pint of Barli\'s best. Kind of you to take the time.\"

He sits back down, then asks the young woman, \"Once a week? I thought you were living with them? Which is it?\"

\"I suppose so yes,\" Cordelia answers, grimacing briefly at the man\'s grin. She watches as he orders--the serving girl also giving Cordelia a wary look before taking off in a bit of a huff to fill the order.

\"Once a week. Too far to walk back every day, what with my having to be at the healers\' from sunup til sundown every day of the week except one. You go to Staddle at all?\" she then asks.

[Ferny(#14469)]

\"Shhhhh,\" Ferny offers, making a gesture with palms down to suggest that she keep her voice down.

\"Might want to ask around a bit before you tell yer story too many times.\" Ferny shakes his head. \"I\'ll admit I \'aven\'t been around for a bit -- you been in Bree a while? The Appledore\'s live in -COMBE- lass. Hope you haven\'t gone off to visit them in Staddle too often. Only the short folk \'round there, you hear?\"

Ferny looks around the room impatiently apparently his idea of service in the Pony is slightly less than realistic.

Cordelia\'s face reddens, but she drops her voice to a whisper, harsh with anger. \"Holly Appledore -is- related to me,\" she hisses. \"On my mother\'s side. And I -know- they live in Combe--my sister\'s there with them now. I\'m just....\" she rubs at the right sleeve of her dress, \"I\'m tired and out of sorts of late. Nothing\'s gone my way and I\'m in deep trouble.\"

What a time for the serving girl to return. Ferny\'s mug of ale is set down with a harsh thud, suds sloshing up the sides. \"Finding new friends, Cordelia?\" the girl snorts, glaring at Ferny. \"Personally, I think you make trouble for yourself--trouble doesn\'t find you. The mayor should\'ve let you rot in jail!\" She turns on her heels.

[Ferny(#14469)]

\"Indeed!\" Ferny agrees, growling then toward the server as she hurries away from the table, less interested in payment, perhaps, than in simply getting away from this pair. Ferny then turns back toward Cordelia and raises an eyebrow. \"I HAVE been away too long, lass. It\'s obvious.\" He stands up.

He drains the mug of ale in one long, slow pull. Finally, with a wet upper lip, he looks down at the still-seated young lady. \"Life\'s tough, lass. You know that I\'m sure. But here, the Appledores of Combe will take good care of you. I have business down the road. I\'m interested in some fo that linen you\'re sellin\'. If you\'re lacking for business, I\'m certain you already know how to find me.\"

He stands over her, brows raised seeking her acknowledgment.

Cordelia looks up briefly to that gaze from Ferny, but she snorts and turns away as if she wants nothing to do with the man. Then, under her breath, in a voice meant only for him, she says, \"Oh, I\'ll find you.\" Still turned partially away from him, she opens the purse she still holds, setting out coins to pay for Ferny\'s beer. \"I\'ve got some linen to sell, after all.\"

[Ferny(#14469)]

\"Good then,\" Ferny replies. \"I\'ll look out for you.\" Then, as quick as his words are spoken, the town\'s scoundrel takes his leave, disappearing back out into the foyer in a puff of snoke.