Page 6 (1/2)

Wrong on both counts

I under her paltry parasol in front of Mr Murdoch’s wagon, frowning into the rain, and she hurried off toward her own car, although she had no idea what she would do there Abilene was a nice girl, to be sure, but a si to e of out-of-date fashion books And I she had hollowed out all of her books to house the butterflies Perhaps so car?

But no That door was locked The cooksscraps betweenher boot lace and gave a screech She danced back and found her first adorably bewhiskered speciuinis, or the common European bludbunny

"Oh, hello, speci It was the tan of caramel and would surely have been fluffy and soft if not for the fact that it was soaked to the bone, muddy, and a bit blood-spattered about the ed for her boot again She kicked it lightly, but it just rolled over and came for her with a hiss

"Allow me to remove that inconvenience for you, Madam Morpho"

She looked up from under her parasol to find Cri in the rain Here,through If the wild eyes and pointy sh to convince her, the way he picked up the bunny by the ears and twisted its neck with a pop told her all she needed to know about the difference between their species

He fished a bit of string out of his waistcoat and tied it around the rabbit’s back feet before hooking the string over the dining car’s doorknob

"Don’t look so horrified," he said with a chuckle "My oife nearly yarked, first time she saw me do that Now she knows better It’s one more bite of stew for everyone and a little less work for Cook Besides"--he stepped close, cocking his head at her, and she watched the water droplets roll off the sharp planes of his face--"I think you’re too intelligent and practical a wo sorry for bloodsuckers"

"I have not had the privilege of observing the bludbunny in its native environ over to pull back the rabbit’s lips and reveal the cunningly hidden fangs within "And yet, even in the university’s labs, they couldn’t be tauinis mutations, even went so far as to remove all of a bludbunny’s teeth The vicious little uh to cause a bruise"

"Are you finding life outside of the city frightening, then?" he asked politely, and it was her turn to chuckle ruefully

"The only thing that frightensrinned "There aren’t irl Most of those who stick around are running away fro or other We’re a band of misfits, but we protect our own"

"I don’t want to cause any problems for you"

"Piffle Problems are strictly forbidden in my caravan How did you find our Mr Murdoch?"

"The man is peculiar, indeed" She fiddled with the bludbunny’s claws "But his in of my butterfly circus are rather brilliant Tell on besides you and Vil?"

With a knowing sently placed the fingertips of her glove in the appropriate place and allowed him to lead her Her parasol didn’t quite cover hih she had been raised to fear Bludmen and had never actually touched one before, she found his co

"As far as I know it, that’s correct," he said, "but Mr Murdoch keeps his deepest mysteries hidden even from me He’s the only carnivallero on wholanced, mainly because I’ve never met a finer hand with clockworks and can’t bear to lose hioes in They arrived onthem I’m surprised he hasn’t turned blind like a cavefish by now"

"No, he’s actually rather sunny," she said without thinking, and he threw back his head and laughed