Fenzig's Fortune_A Gnome's Tale by Jean Rabe

Author:Jean Rabe [Rabe, Jean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boone Street Press
Published: 2018-07-30T16:00:00+00:00

12

Together Again

The pale yellow shirt was made of expensive silk and felt good against his skin, but it was much too big. Someone had taken tucks here and there, shortened the sleeves, and turned up the hem so Fenzig could wear it without tripping over it. But it still didn’t fit the way a gnome shirt should. The black pants worked better, though the gnome was not pleased to learn they were a pair of Carmella’s leggings that she’d hacked off well above the knees. They came down to the gnome’s ankles and were a reasonably good fit, but he didn’t like wearing something intended for a woman. He looked at Carmella and scowled.

“Oh, it’s not so bad,” she offered. “And if it’s any consolation, they were my favorite pair. I ruined them just for you.”

Fenzig continued scowling as he bunched up the shirttail and tucked it into the pants. He suspected he looked rather silly, like a frilly bumblebee with curly brown hair. Still, Carmella was attired in her Carmen outfit, a dazzling display of purple, chartreuse, scarlet, saffron, navy, and orange, so he figured he complemented her nicely. Stripes went in all directions around her lithe frame and caused the duke and the gnome to wince. Her hair was long and auburn this time, her blond wig having been lost somewhere along the road between the village and K’Nosha.

“What do you think?” she asked, grinning widely and spinning around in front of her father and the gnome. “I made this outfit myself, and I was saving it for a special occasion.”

“I’ll try not to think about it,” Fenzig mumbled as he stared at the cooks, two of them gnomes, who were filling packs with hunks of cheese, loaves of bread, and an assortment of fruits and dried meats. He grinned as he saw them add a few dozen cookies.

“Let’s go!” she urged.

“The long way around,” Fenzig interjected. “We’re not going through K’Nosha, not with all the rashes you caused.” The gnome was pleased to note, however, that his rash was starting to fade.

They took the ‘Carmen the Magnificent’ wagon, which had two fresh horses hitched to the front and a pony tied to a rope behind it. The gnome indicated their route around K’Nosha, and Carmella didn’t argue. She seemed to sense exactly which way he wanted to go and followed it unerringly.

Of course she knows where I want to go, Fenzig thought as he looked around the corner of the wagon and watched the duke’s estate fade from view. The palace was just a white speck on the horizon. Then it disappeared with the passing of a few hundred more yards. She knows where I want to go because she’s wearing that magical medallion. I can’t even think to myself while she’s got that on. I’ve no privacy. You’re listening to me right now, aren’t you Carmella?

Carmella smiled weakly at him and took off the necklace, carefully placing it in a lavender pocket and patting it. “There,” she said.

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