Page 17 (1/2)

"You speak English beautifully, Lesya," Jack said "What is your native language?"

She offered hiht have blushed, just a bit "I have always had ues The words of travelers Other languages, too"

Jack thought of the books on her shelf and wondered who had taught her all those languages At her age, which ive or take a couple of years, her fluency would have amazed him were it not for the way these past few days had redefined words like amaze and astonish

Lesya rested one hand on the back of a chair as though she needed it to keep frolanced away

"You haven’t told me your name," she said

"Jack," he told her "Jack London"

"London!" she said, eyes alight with exciteht his breath Sihts He wanted to build so, to defeat another man to win her affections The instinct filled hih there were no other men about to test his mettle

"It’s only a name, sorry to say But I hope to travel to London someday"

A trace of regret crossed her face "That would be wonderful" And then she fixed hi "You were about to leave Why did you want to go?"

"I…," Jack began, but he did not kno to continue Here she stood, this is, and yet she behaved as if her home must be perfectly ordinary A witch? Perhaps But he looked into her eyes and he did not see a witch

"Could I leave?" he asked

"Of course!" she laughed "This place is still the Yukon, although arden is a…unique part of it"

"Unique how?"

Lesya shrugged, glanced aside, as if she wasn’t sure how to explain

"You savedan aard silence "But how did you get me here?"

"I carried you," she said, as if this were the stupidest question she had ever heard

A slip of a girl, thirty pounds lighter than Jack hi winter and the slavers’ march had ed fro odd about it

"This place, your cabin…you know the trees are alive?"

Lesya s hienerally the ones used to build houses"

The girl frowned, not quite petulant but certainly dismissive "Well, that’s a pity, don’t you think? This way is much better"

Hard as he tried, Jack could not think of any way to argue the point Could it be that Lesya did not understand the extraordinary nature of her ho coy, and far less innocent than she seelanced at the door

Crestfallen, she stepped aside "If you are so determined to leave…if my hospitality and ht you here Go, if you htened"