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"That's right I had a wife here and children, four boys and three girls Our house over on Silver burned too, but they got away Went outside to one of the round whorls"

"You had a son named Horn, didn't you?" It was harder than ever to speak

"That's right, my oldest You knew hiood boy, a hard worker and brave as Pas's bull" The bald man held out his hand "If you were a friend of his back then, I'm pleased to meet you Smoothbone's my name"

They clasped hands "I am your son Horn, father"

Smoothbone stared and blinked "No, you're not!"

"My appearance has changed I know that"

Smoothbone shook his head and took a step backward

"There was a loose floorboard, right over there After we closed, you'd pull it up and put our cashbox under it; and put a box of ledgers on top of it"

Smoothbone's mouth had fallen open

"You didn't want ry when you found out I had spied on you; but you continued to put it there I kno you did it to show you trusted me, but at the ti more

When they separated, Smoothbone said, "You're really Horn? You're my son Horn, come back?"

He nodded, and they went down the street to a tavern in a tent, where the bar consisted of a plank laid across two barrels, and there were three tables, three chairs (one broken) and an assort," Sback "You said I was brave, but I was afraid of you So was Mother We all were"

The barman asked, "Wine or beer?" and looked surprised when Smoothbone asked for wine

"How is she, Horn?"

"Mother? She ell the last ti care of her"

"I've ht to tell you"

For a uess you wondered why I didn't coht you'd been killed"

"Not ood" He was sick with eh It was difficult, but then it was difficult here too Difficult for you, I mean; and it would have been difficult for Nettle and me, if we had stayed here It was no worse there, just different Our donkey died" He laughed "I don't knohy I said that, but it did That was the bottoot better, but only slowly Years of hard work Nothing to eat, sometimes"

Smoothbone nodded "I kno that is"

"People say there's always fish I mean on Lizard they say that We live on Lizard now"

"I never heard of it Just Blue or Green is what they say"

"It's on Blue-a little island We have a house there, a house we built ourselves, and a paper randsons No, more, but the others aren't mine Mine are Sinew, Hoof, and Hide"

Smoothbone sht We married We'd always planned to, and old Patera Remora married us there a few days after the lander put down Do you reed an earlobe reflectively "It was Pike Patera Pike Then Silk, that was calde after"

He nodded

"We went to sacrifice with him, I suppose it must have been three or four times"

"More than that"

"You and your lass "More wine, son?"

"No, thank you" His glass was half full

"I'll have another" Sht to have written all that down I wish I had"

"On Blue, I wrote a history of Silk Nettle and I did, I ought to say"

"Did you now!"

"Yes, Father Nearly a thousand pages"

"I'd like to see it My eyes aren't what they hen I was shooting Trivigauntis, but I can still read with a lens Were you wanting to get paper and pens at our old shop, son?"

He shook his head "I simply wanted to see it To stand there for a little while and re "Now that I know just where it was, I'o back there and do it It may be the only chance I'll ever have"

"Will you now?" The barht the wine; S, I could take you to the new place I'll give you just about anything you want there"

"No, thank you"

"Box of pencils? Pen case, maybe, with a little paper to put in it?"

"That would be nice You're very kind to me, Father You were always very kind to h for all that you did to teach me our trade-but no, I couldn't impose upon you like that"

"Sure now?"

"Yes I don't need those things, and I wouldn't feel right if I accepted thee your ot to-you know Excuse o away? I want to ask you about randchildren and tell you about your brothers Half brothers, anyway Antler's ten and Stag's eight You wait right there"

"I will," he said

Afterward they had talked for over an hour; and later, when he returned to the place where their shop had stood, he found a pen case, used but still serviceable, on the steps in front of it It was of thin metal covered with thin black leather, and very like the pen cases that had been sold in that shop twenty years before It was like the pen cases used by students in the schola, for that oing to offer a funeral sacrifice for myself, nevertheless-for my body on Green, which lies there unburied as far as I know I couldn't do this in a manteion In fact I couldn't sacrifice in a ur There has been an exchange of parts You, I think, will understand that better than a bio would"