The Inheritance and More by Robin Hobb

Author:Robin Hobb
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rip Off Press NL
Published: 2023-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

“Mirrifen! Are you here? Mirrifen!”

Jami sounded alarmed. Mirrifen leaped up and hurried to the kitchen. Absorbed in her charm making, she’d forgotten not only Jami but the simmering porridge. “I’m here, Jami!”

“Oh, Mirrifen! I worried when I couldn’t find you. You weren’t at the cow shed or the chicken house and—”

“There’s no need to be frightened. I’m right here.”

“That’s not it. Look. Just look at the milk bucket.”

“What?”

“Don’t you see those silvery smears on the edge? That’s pecksie dust! A pecksie has touched our milk bucket!”

When she touched it, her fingertip came away smudged silver-gray, like the pecksie’s skin. “Wash it off! Wash it off!” Jami wailed.

“Why?” she asked as wiped her hands on her apron. “Is it poisonous?”

“Who can know? They’re such dirty, wicked little things!” Jami’s arms clasped her belly to shield her unborn child. “I saw one by the chicken shed. It sneered at me, and vanished.”

Mirrifen took a breath. “Jami, sit down. I’ll get your breakfast.” As Jamie sank into her chair, Mirrifen asked, “How do you know so much about pecksies? I thought they were rare and kept to wild places.” She set a bowlful of steaming porridge in front of Jami.

Jami took up her spoon and stirred the boiled grain thoughtfully. “When I was little, there were lots of pecksies near our house. My father’s land was between a spur of the forest and a sunny little stream, so they had to cross our field to get to water. My mother knew how to use them, so we had them in the house, too. She never realized the danger.”

Mirrifen poured water from the kettle over the tea herbs in the pot. “How do you ‘use’ a pecksie?”

“Oh, it’s easy enough. She had to be tricky to snare them, because they know how it works. If a pecksie accepts a favor from you, the pecksie has to do what you ask it. They’re bound. Once you have one pecksie, the rest of its clan come around. And a clever woman can trick them into bondage as well.”

“I see,” Mirrifen said softly. The pecksie’s rueful words carried a deeper meaning now.

Jami was caught up in her telling. “There’s a lot they can’t do, because they’re small. They can’t sweep, and one almost drowned in our washing tub. But they can fetch eggs and dust, tend the fire, do the sewing, bring vegetables from the garden, weed, and keep rats away. And if you treat them well, they’re good natured about it—or so we thought.” Jami scowled, remembering. “Perhaps all that time they were hiding their resentment. Is there tea yet?”

Mirrifen poured for both of them. “What happened?”

“They killed my little brothers.” Jami’s calm voice thickened.

“How?” Mirrifen asked in horror when her silence stretched.

Jami took a breath. “Oh, smothered them, I suppose.” Tears clouded her voice. “They were only babies. My mother told the pecksies to watch the baby at night, not to rouse him and to rock him if he woke. So my mother could get some sleep.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.