Stained Glass Monsters Read Free

frowning at the blameless blue sky.
    Rennyn paused. "Tell me," she said,
"Were you here when this...apparition arrived?"
    "At this very spot," the girl replied
readily, probably having fielded such questions all day.
    "What was the weather like?"
    "The weather? It wasn't raining, if
that's what you mean. Smelled like it was going to storm, but it
was clear like it is now." The girl sniffed again, looking
puzzled.
    Rennyn stole a hurried glance back
toward the crowd. "Ah – I think that's my sister calling me. Thank
you again."
    "Good luck to you, Miss," the girl said,
tucking the note away inside her skirt pocket.
    Rennyn nodded, and took herself off. An
unnecessary thing, but the idea of the girl sleeping the night in
that shed would have haunted her. Mage-blood, too. It would have
been a waste.

Chapter Three
    Romantic ninnies were profitable. A
whole sennith, just for a couple of hours' walk. Even with the
crowds come for the White Lady, Kendall wouldn't earn a quarter
that in a week, which made it worth risking leaving her garden
unguarded. And the hosteller hadn't charged her nearly five
petthine to spend the night, either.
    The only bad thing about the sudden trip
to Morebly had been the arrival of a coach complete with outriders,
which had passed Kendall just as she joined the drift of gawkers
heading out of Falk. It had taken all her will to press on without
waiting to see the new arrivals, or at least try and get a better
look at the crest embossed on the door. But interesting strangers
weren't worth the chance of not making Morebly before the sun set,
and being outside a circle after dark.
    She'd set out as early as she dared on
the return trip, hoping the coach would still be around, but of
course the sun was well up before the familiar roofs of home came
into view. The crowds were already building, even so early. Kendall
was just thinking about how the Mayor had said the White Lady was
the best thing to happen to Falk when she realised something was
wrong.
    No chatter. Instead a low murmur tinged
with shock, with the air of carnival totally gone. People weren't
queued at the stalls, or waiting in line to enter the Green. They
were crowded five-deep around the rope circle, staring at something
to their right.
    Wriggling through, Kendall caught her
breath. The Back Green had sunk! And the trees on the far side had
been knocked down. The White Lady was still there, not looking at
all different except for being about a foot lower than she'd been
yesterday. Kendall could see a line marking the circle where the
heaviness above her had ended. But now – Kendall copied the person
next to her and held out a hand. The weird force which pinned the
White Lady to the Green had moved all the way out...here.
    Kendall finally looked right, to the
line of flattened plants, smashed fences, and splintered wood.
    "No–!"
    Forcing her way wildly through the
crowd, she ran past strangers standing in familiar yards, and
slammed straight into that invisible weight. She fell forward and
lay there, a crushed, panting bug, staring at the trampled gardens,
and flattened remains of a small garden shed which was everything
she had in this world.
    "Kendall!"
    Harry Lippon. He pulled her backward out
of heaviness and clutched at her, face all eyes. "You weren't –
you're – you're... Where have you been , Kendall?"
    But Kendall had no time for Harry
Lippon. Jerking away, she surveyed the remains of her home. It was
only a few feet in, the wreckage fanned out in a spray toward the
outside of the circle. There were people standing in her gardens,
but she didn't see that she'd be able to get them out.
    "I've got to get my stuff," she said,
determinedly.
    "Stubborn brat," said a hoarse voice. Ma
Lippon, arms folded across her massive chest. "Should have known
you'd turn up in one piece."
    Kendall lifted her chin mutinously. She
wasn't going to let Ma Lippon get her claws in her, just because –
just because...
    "Ay-eh, and here I was thinking