Felicitas_Ivey_ _Back_to_the

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

me a rough pair of sandals. I wondered what Keno was going
to do, since he was smaller than I.
"You're looking good," Mason told me with a grin.
"Please," I almost snarled at him.
I had gotten cleaned up a little and had managed to braid
my hair back. I'd had to borrow Logan's comb to do so, and it
had taken about an hour. I felt dirty, though, and longed for a
soak in my onsen. Washing up in a cold-water tub does not
get you either clean or relaxed. I knew I should be polite and
charming to the one who was my protector; however, I had a
feeling that such things would be wasted on Mason.
"Hell, it's still black," Mason told me with a grin, not put
out by my temper. I suddenly thought that if I had been
charming, that would have disturbed him more. "Not like we
stuck you in a Hello Kitty T-shirt or something."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said. I liked
the color black, and I had decided centuries ago that it would
be the only color I would be seen in, since I didn't have to
dress as a woman of the pleasure class anymore. However, it
seemed I was doomed to play that role again. Not that I
thought Mason would press his claim on me, since the man
127
Back to the Dream
by Felicitas Ivey
had a rough sort of honor. I didn't know about the one called
Logan, though.
"I think that she'd look good in " Logan started, and then
he must have decided being here wasn't a good idea, because
he stopped speaking and quickly left the area.
Mason just shook his head. "Shit, he's worse than Wolf at
times."
Something in me eased when he said that. Logan would be
no threat to me. But Keno knew our predicament now. I was
proud of the control he had shown when I told him, but I also
knew he, too, feared for Aboshi's sanity. I thought I was
going to have to have someone watch him closely so that
Keno didn't try to swim back to Nippon. But I really couldn't
ask someone to do so without telling them the reason why,
which I would never do.
Helga stomped up to us again and glared at me. "You will
help."
I opened my mouth to protest and then saw that McGann
had also been "invited" to help this woman, since she was
following her. It would be a good time to get to know the
other woman and find out why these real world people were
here again. McGann looked almost as thrilled to be doing this
as I was. It wasn't like I didn't know what went on in my
kitchens, but I left those arrangements to Aboshi to deal with.
And I had never worked in one!
What we were to help with was plucking chickens for
dinner, a dirty and demeaning job. That didn't bother me too
much; it was the fact that we were supposed to wring their
necks before we cleaned them. I didn't have a problem with
128
Back to the Dream
by Felicitas Ivey
killing them; it's just that I had no idea how to do so. In my
entire existence, I had never had to do something like this.
But while I was simply was ignorant, McGann got almost
physically ill at the snap of the bird's neck that Helga
cheerfully slaughtered it in front of us. I saw the color drain
from McGann's face and hurried her out of the cooking area
before she disgraced herself. I got her outside and made her
sit down before she collapsed. She leaned against the side of
the hut, struggling not to vomit, her complexion a most
interesting shade of green.
"I don't suppose there's a reason for your reaction?" I
asked her after a few minutes.
She looked at me and swallowed heavily. "Chicken is
supposed to be wrapped in plastic and bought in the
supermarket. Not...."
"They're not going to understand that," I said, wondering
what a supermarket or plastic was. I'd have to ask Keno
about that later.
"She... I felt...." McGann stuttered to a stop before she
turned her chin and started retching. I held her head while
she did so, wondering exactly what her problem was. She was
reacting worse than Keno did about such things, and he never
touched flesh to eat.
Helga eventually came out to check on us, looking
annoyed that she had to. McGann was shaking and washed
out. I had managed to clean up the mess she had made by
kicking loose dirt over it. That had worked because she had
mostly bile in her stomach.
"You breeding?" Helga demanded.
129
Back to the Dream
by Felicitas Ivey
I swear that McGann stared at her in shock for a full
minute, before blushing bright red. Keno used to do that
when the samurai had embarrassed him somehow. It didn't
happen as often now as it had in the beginning.
"Your first?" Helga persisted.
I was surprised she didn't start examining McGann to
confirm her guess. I doubted that was the real reason for
McGann's squeamishness, but neither was the explanation
she had given me, that she was unused to seeing an animal
butchered. I wondered what her real reason was, and then I
decided I didn't care. I had to get back to my kuni and my
power. When I was safe, then I could worry about what the
Trust was doing here again. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Pokrewne