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It seemed he did. But meanwhile there was a sound from the next chamber. Jenny went to the door, and
it opened as she reached it. Gwenny Goblin stood there, blinking in the way Jenny had. She was just
Jenny's height. "Hello?" she said uncertainly.
"Hello, Gwenny," Jenny said. "I am Jenny Elf. We met last night."
"Oh, I thought I had dreamed it!" Gwenny said. "I was just going to the-"
"It's being used right now."
Gwenny tried to look across the room, but it seemed that her vision did not reach that far. "There's
another girl?"
"No, Che Centaur. He-your mother brought us here last night."
"She did? Why?"
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"She would like Che to be your companion."
"She would? Why?"
"You mean you don't know?"
Gwenny shook her head. "I don't know anything much. I get lonely, sometimes."
Surely she did! Jenny had thought that Che was coming here to be a prisoner, but she realized that
Gwenny always had been a prisoner. Godiva didn't want anyone to know of her infirmities, so she would
have had little company. How awful!
Che came out. "Hello, Gwenny," he said politely.
Gwenny peered intently in his direction. "Are you really a centaur?" she asked, seeming doubtful.
"Yes, albeit a small one. Didn't your mother-"
"No," Jenny said quickly. Then, to Gwenny: "It's empty now. Let me walk across with you."
"Oh, I can find it," Gwenny said. "I know where everything is, here, if it isn't moved." She walked
across the room confidently enough. But she limped, for one leg seemed not to function perfectly. It
looked all right; in fact it was a well proportioned leg, but it seemed not to bend the way it should.
Then Jenny saw Sammy, who was lying in his bump-on-the-ground mode in the middle of the room.
"Wait!" she cried, diving for the cat.
Gwenny stopped. "Is something there?"
"Sammy, my cat. He doesn't realize you can't see him." She picked Sammy up.
Gwenny peered at Sammy, now at close range. "Oh, orange!" she exclaimed. "How pretty!"
Jenny could tell that these two would get along. "Sammy, she can't see you well from a distance," she
told him. "So you will have to find a place where she won't step." She set him down. She hoped that
would work. He could find anything, but she hadn't tried this before.
There was a sound from the outer door. "Oh, that will be breakfast," Jenny said. She was feeling quite
organized, now. She crossed to it.
Moron was there, with the box of dirt and a yellowish chunk of cheese in the form of a rat. Evidently
they had found rat cheese instead of a rat. "Maybe that would do. "Oh, thank you, Moron!" Jenny
exclaimed, taking the box. She carried it to a corner near the curtained alcove and set it down. "There
you are, Sammy; you know what it's for. The rat's yours, too." She hoped he would like the cheese; she
really preferred it to a real rat.
Sammy headed for the box. Meanwhile, Jenny returned to the door, where Moron had three piles of
cookies. They were big cookies and tall piles; they filled Jenny's arms. She brought them into the center
of the room, then wondered where to set them down.
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"I believe I saw a table in the other room," Che said.
"Oh, good." Jenny lumbered through the door and dumped the cookies on the table.
Gwenny emerged from the curtains and walked toward the sound. "I smell cookies," she said.
"Yes, I got them for us," Jenny said. "Is it all right? Do you like cookies?"
"Oh, yes! But Mother never gave them to me for breakfast."
"Oh? What does she give you?"
Gwenny scowled. "Pease porridge hot."
"Oh, is that good?"
"No. It's awful. But it's supposed to be good for me."
"The Adult Conspiracy!" Jenny exclaimed, laughing.
"Did you ever doubt?" Che inquired innocently.
"Maybe Moron didn't realize," Jenny said.
"Oh, you asked Moron!" Gwenny said. "He's not bright."
"Why, who do you ask?" Jenny asked.
"Mother usually brings it in."
"That explains it. She's smart."
"I think I wasn't smart, not to do what you did."
"I just didn't know any better."
"You see, Jenny is from another land," Che said. "She does not know local customs."
"Oh, that must be fun!" Gwenny exclaimed. "I've never been out of the mountain."
Jenny considered and decided not to argue the case. She missed her holt, but it would be awful to be
confined to it all the time. So she ate her cookies, which were very good, and the others ate theirs. She
hoped Sammy liked his cheese, but didn't care to call attention to it, lest he change his mind.
"What is it like in your land?" Gwenny asked.
Where should she begin? "It's a little like Xanth, but there aren't goblins or dragons, and most folk don't
have magic talents. All the folk I know are like me, I mean with pointed ears and four-fingered hands,
except for the human beings."
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"You have pointed ears?" Gwenny asked, peering at her closely. "Why so you do! I didn't realize! And
you say your hands-are you sure?"
Jenny held up a hand. Gwenny held up her own. They touched. Sure enough, they were of similar size,
but the goblin girl had one extra finger.
"Unlike the Xanth elves," Che said. "I think Jenny is unique in Xanth."
"Unique?" Gwenny asked.
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