Participles and Portents (17)

Odds and Ends

She absolutely hated being cornered.  It made her feel caged.  She was so tired of being trapped by circumstance.  Yet she had to admit that the only logical choice was Roary.  He at least knew the bird was there.  It would be far too hard to explain how she had found the bird, let alone why she felt it necessary to care for it on her own to any other of the locals.  It certainly did not help that the boys were so set on asking the man.  How he could possibly have made such an impression on them in the time they had spent at the book shop she could not even begin to fathom.  Despite her uncertainties where Roary James was concerned, her normally clearheaded young men were absolutely certain he could practically walk on water.  Just how it had been decided that she would be the one to ask was also something she could not quite figure out.  At least she had won the slight victory of being able to do so in private.  She would not have to deal with what she presumed would be his rejection of the request in front of the boys.  Glumly, she reflected that, if he did turn the request down, the boys would probably assume she had asked the question wrong.  It did not appear that "Mr. James" could do anything wrong. 

There was no use just pacing around the village working up her courage, she might as well just get the ordeal over with.  She made her way to the shop on tentative feet,  her steps far more measured than her usual confident stride.  She could feel her muscles tense as the bells tinkled to announce her arrival.  "Lovely," she thought,"I am so on edge, that I will be grinding out this request.  He is going to think I am inviting him to be beaten."  Doing her best to pull it together and let her misgivings go, she turned to face him. Finding the shop desk empty, she felt the tension flow from her.  With a deep breath, she let herself smile. Iif he wasn't here, then her problem was solved. Turning to leave, she hit a solid wall of muscle and sinew. Slowly tilting her head up, she caught the merry glint in those blue eyes, "Can I be of service to ye, Miss?" he practically laughed as he asked.  Too stunned to do anything else, she broke out into a laugh herself.  "Yes, I am thinking that you most certainly can."

It took a few moments for either of them to realize that it might be a good idea to step back.  They just stood there in their shared humor.  Finally, Lin placed a hand on his chest and gave a little push.  "So this is how you keep the patrons in the shop on slow days?"

"No, usually I just lock the door.  But now it seems I've found a new and quite successful method.  I might just have a few more goes at it, to see which works best.  What do ye think?"

"I think you have enough in the shop to keep their interest and you might well end up with the guarda here if you try too much of that," she replied with a smirk.

He gave her a measured glance.  The humor was fast losing its edge, best to see what she had come about, he thought.  "So, what can I do for ye, then?"

She turned and paced away from him, buying some time.  Without looking at him, she said, "I've come about the swan.  I need some help tending him. Will you do it?"

"I can't hear ye when ye talk to ye'self," he said.

"What?" she said as she turned to him, surprised at this rebuke.

"I don't mean to offend, but when ye talk so low and down to the floor, I really can't hear what ye are saying," he offered with a softer edge.

"Its just that we need to take a family trip, and I don't want to leave the bird alone, its not being healed and all, and I don't know where else to go, and the boys," she rattled on.

"Whoa, I think I have the idea, and ye might need a breath or two before ye turn blue from talkin a streak," he chided with a smile.

"Hmm?"

"I said, I will take care of the bird.  But I think ye may have to introduce us and show me how it's done.  How long will ye be gone?"

"What?" she asked in total surprise.

"I said," he replied quite slowly and deliberately this time, " I will do it, but ye will have to give me proper instructions and an introduction."

"Oh, well, then I guess that is settled.  We can go this afternoon to tend him," she replied.  Then she turned and walked out the door rather bemused by the whole encounter.

Roary looked after her.  Women, he thought, are a very odd lot, and this one was decidedly odder than most.  Smiling, he returned to the stacks where he had been selecting volumes for repair. "Yes, very odd, indeed," he smiled to himself.