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time you're in trouble, tell me. Don't try to shoulder every burden yourself."
"Don't worry. I'm never going to get into that kind of trouble again. I'm staying far
away from lenders."
Julie leaned back in her chair and sipped her tea. "At least that particular lender will
never hurt anyone again. Doesn't surprise me that someone wanted her dead." She
paused. "You really didn't see any of it?"
Wendy shook her head. "Like I said, I barely remember what happened. It's all a
blur. The healer said that's not uncommon. When the mind is under a lot of stress, it can't
absorb things properly."
"The timing is pretty remarkable. I mean, the assassin arriving on the scene just as
Drizell was about to hand you to that psycho."
Wendy tensed.
"It's one of those things that makes you believe in God, you know?" said Julie.
Wendy swallowed, her mouth dry. "Yeah," she said. Of course, she knew divine
intervention had nothing to do with it, but she couldn't exactly tell Julie that Zander had
killed Drizell. Or that Wendy herself had been directly involved. "I'm just glad I managed
to grab Eloria's Tear before I ran out of there," she said. "I'm sure Drizell could have
thought up some nasty purpose for even a holy artifact."
"What are you going to do with it?"
"I'm going to hang onto it for awhile. Eventually, I'll probably donate it to St. Eloria's
Hospital. Pretty appropriate, don't you think?"
Julie's eyes widened. "Are you kidding?"
"What's wrong with that? Why shouldn't I donate it? Since Drizell's dead, my debts
have pretty much been cancelled."
"It's just not like you. I mean, imagine how much you could get if you auctioned it
off. Do you know how many rich collectors would love to get their hands on that thing?
They'd pay you anything, absolutely anything."
"Well, that was my original plan. But since I got home, I've been reconsidering. I've
seen personally what Eloria's Tear can do, what it's capable of in the wrong hands.
Selling it to the highest bidder is too risky. At least this way I know it'll be used to help
people, and not just for some power-hungry bastard's agenda. Makes sense, right?"
"Sure. I'm just surprised, I guess."
Wendy rolled her eyes. "Am I really so greedy and heartless that you have to be
astonished whenever I do something nice?"
"No, of course not. But after all the trouble you went through for that rock, I'd think
you would want something in return. You were gone for a long time."
Wendy winced. "Don't remind me. All that trudging through the forest, getting filthy
and sweaty. Not to mention the lack of indoor privies. Ugh. I appreciate modern
plumbing a lot more now, let me tell you."
Julie laughed. "Just don't tell Mom about your adventures. I'm afraid she'll have a
heart attack."
"Don't worry, I've got it all figured out. I'm going to tell her I found Eloria's Tear in
an antique store." She raised her tea mug to her lips.
"Hey, whatever happened to that guy?"
Wendy froze. "Who?"
"You know. The one with the cloak and hood. The one who was with you when you
rescued me."
Her throat tightened. "He's gone."
"Gone where?"
"I don't know," she said. She looked away to hide the tears welling in her eyes. "But
I don't think he's coming back."
"Are you okay?" Julie sounded puzzled. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, I'm fine. It's for the best, really." She forced a bright smile. Judging by the look
on Julie's face, it wasn't remotely convincing, but she really wasn't in the mood to talk
about Zander. "Hey, what do you want for dinner? I was thinking we could stop by Mrs.
Muggen's and pick up a lamb steak. Maybe some plum wine and lemon cake to go with
it. My treat."
"You should hold onto your money. You don't want to get into trouble again."
"I know. Believe me, I know. But I feel like celebrating tonight. I think I can afford
to splurge a little."
"Well, okay." Julie smiled. "What are we celebrating?"
"We're alive," said Wendy. "That's cause enough for celebration."
* * * *
Later that night, after Julie had gone home, Wendy retreated to her room and buried
her face against a pillow. Sobs shook her shoulders.
Pathetic, she thought. Crying in bed like a thirteen-year-old.
He'll come back, she thought. He promised. But a voice in her mind whispered, he's
never coming back. And could she blame him? The police were still looking for Drizell's
killer. They were questioning anyone remotely suspicious, forcing people to swallow
truth potion before the interrogation. Wendy had mixed up a special brew to neutralize
the effects and guzzled it on the morning before her own interrogation. She was pretty
sure they'd bought her story, but she knew from newspaper reports that they had the
Jackal in custody, knew they were planning to question him, too. He had seen Zander,
and there weren't many other people who fit his description. At the very least, the police
would know Zander had been there that night.
Unless& [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]