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"Is that clean?" she called out

"My handkerchief or the water?"

"Both!"

John walked back to her side and held up the snohite cloth "Sparkling"

She sighed at his determination to treat her blister and poked her bare foot out fro to work," he said

"Why not?"

"You're going to have to roll over onto your stomach"

"I don't think so," Belle replied, her tone firm

John tilted his head to one side "The way I see it," he said thoughtfully, "we have two options"

He didn't say anything more, so Belle was forced to ask, "We do?"

"Yes Either you roll over onto your stomach so that I can take care of your blister, or I can slide onso that I can see your heel Of course that would probably require ht is intriguing-"

"Enough," Belle muttered She rolled over onto her stoainst the sore, cleaning away the small a a little when he touched the raw flesh, but Belle could tell that he was being extraordinarily gentle, so she didn't say anything When he pulled a knife out of his pocket, however, she changed her mind

"Aaaack!" Unfortunately, the first word to fly out of her mouth was not terribly coherent

John looked startled "Is so to do with that knife?"

He s to make a small incision in your blister so I can drain it That will allow the dead skin to dry out"

It sounded like he knehat he was doing, but Belle thought she ought to ask a few questions anyway since she was, after all, letting this relatively strange man take a knife to her person "Why do you want to dry it out?"

"It will heal better that way The dead skin will fall off, and the skin underneath will toughen up" He narrowed his eyes "You've never had a blister before, have you?"

"Not like this," Belle admitted "I don't usually walk so ?"

"What about dancing?" she countered