Jenny: An Unpleasant Discovery

The Guttersnipe listened as the girl worked herself up, angry and vengeful, no less than she was herself - though she kept that locked away safe where no one would see. Mostly she kept to her work, dutiful and quiet, like Wulf. Master Lucius made a good master, and even if her slavery were not a type of pretense, she thought she would not mind it too much, not because of Master Lucius, anyway. There were those moments in which she had nothing to do, when no one needed her, and she found herself looking into the magical heart of a fire, or standing in the sun-warmed garden, and the pain of homesickness clawed at her throat. The poppies in the bluestone pots blurred with the tears, jewelled red as the breasts of hummingbirds, and she would be very lonely.

Quite suddenly the girl broke off, hiccuping startlingly, and she grabbed at Firefly's halter. "I say - " the Guttersnipe started as the mare took a jolt. But the girl seemed entirely unaware of everything else. She fell to the ground, fighting all the way, and began to kick like a rabbit long in a snare. For a few horrible moments the Guttersnipe could do no more than stare in surprise, then she put herself in motion, crying for Wulf. The man came at a run, but already the girl was beginning to stop, gasping for breath. The Guttersnipe tried to move her to a sitting position, but the arms seemed stiff like branches; the eyes were beginning to unglaze.

"Ho!" the Guttersnipe gasped, shoving the heel of her hand across her forehead. She slapped the girl's cheeks a few times, lightly, to get the colour back. Glancing up at Wulf's face bent over, dark with concern and bewilderment, she said, "It's the heat. Pull Firefly to make some shade and let's carry some of the load. She can ride. I think."