[Ealasaide]

Sigrid

"Well, that was bizarre," murmured Sigrid to herself as the stranger, Jarlyn, disappeared back into the inn. “I guess he must be fond of washing. It wasn‘t even his shirt.”

She shook her head and returned to her work. She had just gotten back into a rhythm with the washboard and the piles of laundry, when her friend of the day before, Faran, appeared around the corner of the building. He sauntered over to her and propped his elbows against the rim of the wooden tub.

“The building of the stable is going well, and I was wondering if you would like to learn how to chop and lop branches off the fresh logs, but I see you’re employed otherwise.” He sighed and gave her a small, cute smile.

Sigrid laughed and splashed him with water from the washtub. “Well, I do have a job to do!”

Faran jumped back, laughing. “Yeah, well, I thought you might like to do mine, too, if you get a break.”

“Oh, thanks!” Sigrid let her blue eyes twinkle at him. “After all, you did promise to teach me a bit of carpentry, didn’t you? Maybe when I get the washing done, I’ll come over and see what the carpenters are up to.” On an afterthought, she added, “I just had the strangest thing happen.”

“What’s that?” asked Faran, coming back into range of the washtub.

“That new fellow - I don’t know if you’ve seen him yet - the one with all the jewelry,” answered Sigrid. “Anyway, I was out here with the washing and suddenly he comes out the back door, says hello and starts washing this shirt for me. I made him stop, and he did, but then he asked me to tell him about the town and the inn. When I said I didn’t know anything, he beat a kind of hasty retreat. Off to see Miss Bêthberry, I guess.”

“I guess,” answered Faran, not seeming terribly concerned. He walked over to where Kajsa lay in the grass and, taking hold off one end of the stick she chewed, began a lively game of tug-of-war. The black and white dog growled, but her plumy tail wagged wildly. Playfully, Faran growled back .

Seeing that Faran didn’t seem to find anything strange in the behavior of the newcomer, Sigrid shrugged. Maybe it wasn’t such an odd thing for a new guest to want to know something about the area. She should probably get used to it. But to help with the washing? That was the part that she just couldn’t quite fathom. “It was kind of strange, though, wasn’t it?” she repeated.

“Maybe he was just trying to be helpful.” Faran managed to win the tug-of-war game with the dog and gave the stick a mighty throw across the open field. Kajsa took off after it like an arrow.

Sigrid smiled and, deciding to change the subject, nodded in the direction of the dog. “I think you have a friend for life.”

Faran grinned. “Well, they always say that animals are the best judges of character.”

“She doesn’t care for Ragnar at all. Yesterday, when I was feeling sick, he tried to help me but she wouldn’t let him touch me.” Remembering the subsequent chaos, she laughed. “But then the cat showed up...”

Faran’s grin widened. “I bet that was fun. Goldwine loves to taunt dogs. I think he’s either a daredevil or he’s got something of a death wish.”

“Well,” answered Sigrid. “You needed worry about Kajsa hurting him. She just likes to run. I don’t think she’d know what to do if she actually caught him.” She giggled at the mental picture. “Getting back to Ragnar for a second,” she added a moment later. “You haven’t seen him around the inn this morning, have you? He stood me up for dinner last night.”