“By the way, getting that cauldron and all the wood out, then preparing and cooking everything already… She couldn’t have done it all herself. How did she get those bastards to work?”
Gene himself had once been a new recruit in the patrol. It had taken him nearly two months to push aside the old leader, bring the men entirely under his control, and turn this place into the House of the ShadowHawk. Even that had been called an astonishingly rapid change. Rosa had not made the men her subordinates, of course, but in two or three hours she had made them do exactly as much work as she needed. The time alone was remarkable. Yet Gene found it harder still to believe that these fierce fellows had obeyed a woman they did not even know.
Tahyang replied.
“The world has all kinds of talents, doesn’t it? There is certainly such a talent as moving people’s hearts. On the Great Plains, women like that usually become shamans.”
Near dawn, the four had left Loben’s house and parted at the market. Rosa and Nana went on to the House of the Hawk. Gene and Tahyang visited a subordinate who lived near the market and knocked on his door. It was not yet time for the market to open, but they had enough influence to make it open an hour early. Ashabel, who had gone as usual to the gambling den behind the Milky Way, received the note Gene had left with the bartender. He hurried to the subordinate’s house, took the list of provisions, and went shopping. Meanwhile, Gene and Tahyang made a few inquiries about Rosa.
After daybreak, the two had lightly debated what scene they would find at the House of the Hawk, without reaching any conclusion. They both knew exactly what state its kitchen was in. Neither had the imagination or deductive powers to picture some fine dish being made there. Gene had grown up somewhere he had never had occasion to take an interest in cooking. Tahyang ate anything after the simplest preparation, or, in truth, scarcely any preparation at all. In the end, they had merely agreed that anyone who could cook something there and serve it to others would be remarkable, whatever it was like.
Gene muttered, “We should have come a little earlier.”
Then someone tapped his scabbard. Looking down, he saw Nana. She held two potatoes, one of which she gave to Gene and the other to Tahyang. Unlike those that had gone into the pans, these had been roasted in their skins. When they looked toward Rosa, she came over, waving away the men still holding their revival meeting as though shooing flies.
“They were cooked over the embers, but I picked out good ones beforehand, so they should be all right.”
With doubtful expressions, the two peeled their potatoes and took a bite. The flesh clung richly to their tongues, almost chewy, and the faintly smoky aroma was excellent. They looked at one another over the hot potatoes, then both smiled. Turning to Rosa, Gene declared frankly, “Ah, I really have lost. This is delicious.”
Rosa shrugged coolly.
“When did we make a bet?”
Gene shook his head.
“We didn’t. But I almost wanted to give your gold back. Of course, you wouldn’t accept it.”
“Then we’re square now, aren’t we?”
From her manner, she seemed ready to leave at once, as she had at Loben’s house. Gene answered, “We are. But where are you going now?”
“I don’t think I need to report that to you.”
“Wherever you go, you have to eat and sleep, don’t you?”
“That’s for me to take care of.”
“You arrived in Delphinad yesterday. You don’t mean to leave again, and you said you had no relatives or acquaintances here. And you’re almost out of money now.”
“You needn’t worry about that either.”
During the conversation, something had felt strange, but Gene did not recognize it at first. He went on.
“I’m not worrying. I’m making a suggestion. I was thinking I could rent you a room. One pion a night. A private room, of course. No cleaning or changing the sheets. If you cook your own meals, those are free. What do you say?”
A pion was a copper coin worth so little that even a pomegranate bought from a handcart cost ten. But a subtle proposal was hidden in the words “if you cook your own meals.” Rosa noticed it too. Their eyes met briefly. Then she looked toward Mast Street, running east. The shadow that had lingered there was gone.
Practically speaking, every point Gene had made was correct. Rosa had no money and no relatives she could turn to. But what had that to do with an inexplicable kindness? Nothing changed its nature more readily than an ambiguous favor. It could become anything. So Rosa considered the next part: why was Gene making this offer? She was not the sort to accept any proposal without an answer to that.
This time, however, the answer seemed clear. Rosa spoke.
“Shall I look at the room first?”
Before Gene could lead the way, Rosa headed into the House of the Hawk. Gene glared at the subordinates standing three paces away, trying to overhear their conversation, then called several over.
“Onil, Reddinus. Run ahead and dust out the bedding.”
After his men ran past Rosa, Gene followed slowly. Then he suddenly realized what had felt strange. Rosa had begun speaking informally to him a little earlier, precisely from the moment Gene acknowledged that their account was settled.
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