Midnight Wonders

4.6.3. The Hen-Wife of By-The-Well

They made their way out of the inn and across the street, where there was a line of small houses squished together, with painted doors in all different colors.

"We won't be bothering her, right?" said Luc as they approached the yellow door.

"You were the one who wanted to see her, and now you're asking that?" said Annabel. "The worst thing that can happen is she'll reject us at the door."

Luc thought he could imagine much worse scenarios, but they had already made it to the door and it was a little late to turn back. And still, he wanted to see her.

Annabel knocked.

After a moment, the door opened a crack, and a small woman peered out. She had bright blue eyes, and they narrowed upon seeing Annabel and Luc standing there on the doorstep. "Who are you?" she snapped, her voice hoarse, as if it had not been used for a long time.

Now that Luc was facing the woman, he had no idea what to do or say to make him sound like a normal curious person. "Um, hello," he said. "I'm Luc." He glanced at Annabel.

"I'm Annabel," she said helpfully.

"I'm Fenella," said the Hen-Wife. "What do you want?"

Luc and Annabel looked at each other. "We just wanted to say hello," said Annabel. "We heard your story and hope you're doing all right."

Fenella looked them up and down. Well, she really only looked at Annabel. Her eyes caught on the bells around Annabel's waist. "You're the Collector," she said, voice tightening.

"I am now," said Annabel. "Would you mind...a conversation?"

The Hen-Wife let them in. She settled them in soft chairs in a sitting room, which was cozier than any of the rooms Luc had been in at Under-The-Green-Hill. The feeling reminded him of something he couldn't quite recall until Fenella went to stoke the fire in its place. The forest, he remembered, where he'd woken after falling asleep. Somehow the vast forestland had felt as intimate as this quiet sitting room, the only sound the crackling fire as he and Annabel waited for Fenella.

Finally, she turned back to them, going to her own seat. "So you heard the story? What, from Jean?"

"Yes," Luc said. He hesitated. "Do you like her telling your story?"

Fenella slouched in the chair, and it looked normal for a woman with a youngish appearance such as her to do so, but Luc remembered that she had to be at least fifty or sixty by now, and the sight became much stranger. "It's hardly my story anymore; it's been told so many times. And I can't ask her to stop."

"Why not?"

She gave him a blank look. "Why would I want to ask something of her?"

"Oh," he said, realizing. She must have wanted to keep to herself and avoid the possibility of any other debts. "That's terrible. If you don't like it, I can tell her and it'll be nothing on you, I promise."

"Luc," Annabel, reaching out to touch him gently on the arm. It was a warning gesture.

"If I don't want anything, then surely she'll not have to pay anything back, right?" said Luc. "If it works that way with knights like Kay, then why wouldn't it work for me?"

Annabel let out a long sigh. "Kay is going to hate me," she muttered.

"Don't mind it," said Fenella. "As I said, it's not even my story anymore. Jean can tell it as many times as she'd like. The whole well is named after me, anyway. It would be impossible for me to get people to stop talking about it, even if I wanted them to." She shrugged. "It's nice that they hear about it, though. Maybe it'll teach them some lessons." She gave Luc a pointed look.