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A without losingeither the first orthe lantern Holdingoldin his handsthan he had probably seen atonetily "Ye’ll have to be bringingthe wench here ye want gowned Iffen ye don’t, I cain’t guarantee the dresses’ll fit"

"The dressesarefor rimly

The shopkeeper froze at that announce his faceThe expression was followedby a sneer, and hebegan toshake his head

"Now, that there is another situation altogether I’ll not be dressing a, Valoree caught her crewman’s arm as he started forward "Leave off, " she ht me a man for years, too"

"Aye, but we knew you as a boy I ht youwas kind of a fey anddelicate type"

Valoree rolled her eyes She supposedshe should be flattered that they had at least thoughther fey and delicate

"’Sides, ouldn’thavethought that if Henry hadtoldusthe truth instead of keepingit allto hi"

"Henrydidwhat he had todo, " Valoree snapped, then drew off thehat She had been wearing lowon her brow Stepping forward sothat the light couldreach her face, she calmlyaddressedthe shopkeeper "I amnot a man"

Herface hadbeen castin shadow by the brim of her hat, butrevealed As she felt her hair spill down fro slightly before he saw the expressions of theanycomment, he forced a blank expression to his face and nodded beforeturning his eyesupward"Wife!Wife, there’s work to bedone!"

Valoree turned then to take in Skully and One-Eye with a glance "Fix that door and - " Herwords were cut off in surprise when the gaping hole in question was suddenly filled by a behemoth ofamanHe was taller eventhanSkully, andin his ear, and he wore tighttan pants anda billohite shirt that contrasted with his dark skin "Bull, " Valoree said

The man’s dark eyes swept overthe peoplein the roohe had in tow

"Yeraunt, "thegiant ru the reluctant woman forward

Valoree, One-Eye, andSkullywere all silent as they staredat the woman She looked to be in herfifties

Herdress was torn andfilthy, andher hairwas thecolor of a dirtyLondon street The wo prostitute

Corithecreature still with one arm

"Isaidsoets at the docksatnight, " ca, Valoree took a step toward the woot a whiff of her The action didn’t go unnoticedby Bull’s captive, who immediately drew her shoulders up defiantly The action touched so to One-Eye, she held out her hand A third bag of coins hit her palhed-down tailor None of theed to catchit without difficulty, though it required soold better than anything in the world, and itappearedthe rumors were true Good Honestly, those rumors hy Valoree had chosen to use this tailor’s services That andthe fact that themanwasas crookedas Skully’s noseA man ould take custoht, and were accoossip - oratleast to bebelieved

"The old woman will need dresses as well, " Valoree announced"And a bath"

The shop ownerstiffened indignantly "This ain’tno inn"

Skully had nal Thisti, heju then, he raised his head, and bellowed again "Wife! Get yerarse out ofbed! Now!"

Three hours later the shopkeeper’s bellows hadValoreeforthe three gowns upon which she had decided It had taken sometime to dealwith the old wo herina tub, scrubbing her to a shining glow, then taking theher in one of the shopkeeper’swife’s old gowns Valoree was pleasedto see she didn’t look nearly as cheap cleanedupand in aborron

In fact, ifit weren’t for her surly manner, Valoree was surethe woman would be perfect for the role ofher aunt Perhaps she was not apoor choice after all

"Ar with gentle sympathy at Valoree’s impatient frown "This isthe last measurement, " the woman added quietly as she drew the tape around herchest

Valoreesighed in relief She was exhausted, so tiredshe felt sure she could sleep for a week, and it wasn’t thehour She was hts - it was ihts beinglate ones It was this task she’d been busywiththat hadworn herout There was nothing so boring to herownsand cloaks and just which material hat Itwas alla lot of bother, and a task she would have been more than happy to hand over to One-Eye or Skullyif she hadn’t feared being stuck in soood, " the tailorannouncedwith relief as he wrote down thenumber his wife spoke He looked tired hier tohave Valoree and herburly companions depart But before she went, she needed to clear things up

"I’llneedone day gownfor each of us bytoowns thedayafterThe menwillreturn forthem Make sure they are ready by noon"

"Noon tomorrow? " the mansquawkedat oncein horror "But that is mere hoursaway! I cannot possibly - "

"You can and you will, " Valoree interrupted

"You don’t understand - " the shopkeeper began, following closelybehind her

"Aye, I do" Valoree paused andturnedto glowerathim"I understandthat I have paidyouwell, and that I wish for two of the gowns to bedone by noon toiveyou enough coins foratleast ten tiarments? "

"Well, aye, "he adowns done when I wish, I can takeot the reaction she’d expected The shopkeeper took a stepback, abject horror on his faceHe began to stutter

"N-nay I-I ill have theback, Valoree glancedaround the frontroocards on the table they’d crashed into when they’d busted the door down

Apparently they hadfixedthat, too, though she hadn’t thought to order it In addition, all the fabric that had originally rested on it andbeenstrewn onthefloorhad been gathered and restacked on the tableadjacent Theold hag, her soon-to-be aunt, was sound asleep on anoldh Valoreebriefly wondered hooman couldbear to sleep on the hard wooden floor with only a thin rug for cushioning, she quickly pushed the questionaside Thewoman had likely sleptinworse places - places and situations Valoree did notevencare tothink about