The river that had been so swollen in the spring that the trees' bark bore marks where the ice floes had struck them was now so narrow that many strides of bare river bed spread, loose pebbles or fine sand with tracks of water, but not so much as puddles.
Autumn looked away. "Or you can go back to reading your books, secure in the knowledge that having swollen your head with dreams of adventure and heiresses and magic, you will never, ever, ever be able to act like a heroine. No matter how much your beloved needs you to."
"Another one! A new arrival! She's here, she's here!" The number of people coming out of the cottages and shops to stare and to whisper among themselves was enough to give me a swollen head. The only ones seeming indifferent were the chickens scratching at the dirt. No one approached me. I wondered if they had a notion where I should go.
The dough had swollen up in the kitchen table. She went to punch it down. Hope wondered about kitchen counters. That looked awkward. Then, did they had wood enough to build them? This was less easy than books made it seem. She wished they had been able to bring books.
And gotten, everyone insisted, a swollen head over having done so. Unable to move, she stared at the water. She had just done the work and not giggled and whispered like the other students. The chief healer had said she had done well and even assigned her the hardest cases.
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“Worms; spread by mosquitos.”
Danny eyed the burning mosquito coil. He hated the smell of their smoke.
“Can we cure her?”
“It’ll take a year or so, and careful leg tending.”
“She hopes we’re magical.”
“If she goes back to the zo she’ll die.”
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"Or you can go back to reading your books, secure in the knowledge that having swollen your head with dreams of adventure and heiresses and magic, you will never, ever, ever be able to act like a heroine. No matter how much your beloved needs you to."
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The number of people coming out of the cottages and shops to stare and to whisper among themselves was enough to give me a swollen head. The only ones seeming indifferent were the chickens scratching at the dirt.
No one approached me. I wondered if they had a notion where I should go.
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She wished they had been able to bring books.
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Unable to move, she stared at the water. She had just done the work and not giggled and whispered like the other students. The chief healer had said she had done well and even assigned her the hardest cases.