Chapter 6
“Passed out?” Erindil’s voice cut through the chaos, high and tight. “What do you mean, passed out? Is he injured? Is he ill? What—”
Poppin held up both hands in a placating gesture. “He’s fine! Perfectly fine, just sleeping soundly.”
“Very, very soundly,” Toobi added, unwinding her brown-and-orange striped scarf. “And snoring. I didn’t know ostriches could snore, but apparently they can.”
“And he wasn’t led there by an elf?” Erindil asked, arching a brow. “An elf that looks like a slightly younger version of me?”
Both halflings shook their heads in obvious confusion.
Lira cleared her throat. “Start from the beginning. When did you first see the ostrich?”
The two halflings exchanged another glance, and Poppin cleared his throat. “Well, it was earlier this evening. We were finishing up our own solstice preparations—Elmshire does a lovely midnight candle ceremony, you know—when we noticed an enormous ostrich running down the main lane.”
“He was hard to miss with those lavender feathers,” Toobi added. “We thought perhaps he belonged to some traveling performers.”
“At first, everyone gave him a wide berth.” Poppin gestured with his hands as he spoke. “He’d been running flat out when he entered Elmshire, but soon enough he slowed down and seemed a bit unsteady on his feet.”
“But then he got more wobbly,” Toobi said, her eyes wide. “He’d take a few steps, then list to one side. Then he’d shake his head as if he were trying to clear it and take a few more steps.”
That sounded like the effects of Rosie’s brandy.
“We were following at a distance, mind you, trying to figure out what to do about him,” Poppin said, “when he spotted my mother’s halfling hole. It’s got a nice, sloped grass roof, which is currently covered with a layer of fluffy snow.”
“So he climbed on top of it,” Toobi added. “Took him three tries because he kept sliding back down, but he was determined. And once he got up there, he sprawled out on his back and immediately started snoring.”
“Oh, dear.” Erindil’s usually alabaster cheeks mottled pink.
“How drunk would an ostrich have to be,” Korl wondered aloud, his dark brows drawn together in concentration, “to wander all the way to Elmshire?”
“Elmshire is at least an hour’s walk,” said Vaskel, who knew the roads better than almost anyone in the group.
Erindil held up a finger. “But ostriches can run exceedingly fast.”
“That he was,” Poppin said. “We tried to wake him up. Gently, of course. But he just made this sort of warbling snore and didn’t budge.”
Toobi bobbed her head, and her curls jiggled. “We didn’t know where he’d come from or who he belonged to, but we could smell apple brandy wafting from him. One of our friends remembered the gnomes who’d passed through Elmshire a fortnight ago and the apple brandy they’d been selling.”
“We figured if we could find the source of the brandy, we might find the source of the bird.” Poppin gratefully accepted the mug of chai Sass pressed into his hand.
“That and he left tracks.” Toobi grinned when Sass handed her some warm chai. “We saw they were from the direction of Wayside, so we volunteered to retrace his steps. We hitched up the wagon and set out, thinking that if nothing else, we could say hello to our cousins.”
“Which we’re very glad you did!” Fenni said warmly, as he and Pip walked into the tavern. “We thought we recognized your pony and cart out front.”
Pip bustled forward to embrace first Poppin and then Toobi, holding paper bags in both hands. “So good to see you, cousins. Did you get my latest letter about the festival? If so, you just missed all the festivities.”
The tension that had gripped the tavern seemed to break all at once, like ice cracking on the stream. Someone laughed and then someone else joined in, and within moments the entire great room hummed with the sound of relieved laughter.
Pip swiveled his head around, his brows pinched. “What’s so funny? What did we miss?”
“A drunk ostrich asleep on a halfling hole,” Sass told them.
Fenni’s look of confusion told Lira that Sass had not made things clearer. He tugged at the points of his tweed waistcoat. “Is that part of a riddle?”
“I wish,” Erindil said under his breath and with a weary sigh.
Poppin hooked his arm through Pip’s.“I got your latest letter, cousin, along with that incredible recipe for your pumpkin sweet rolls, but I’m afraid we hadn’t planned to join you for the festival.”
“Our trip was quite unplanned,” Toobi added.
Lira beckoned to the baker and cheesemonger. “Come on in and we’ll explain everything, especially if those bags hold what I think they do.”
“Sweet buns with cherries,” Pip said with a grin as he held up the bags.
A cheer rose from everyone in the tavern as all four halflings were led to seats near the fire, and the visitors were prompted to tell their story again.
Korl appeared at Lira’s side, his massive presence comforting. “I’m glad Glen’s disappearance was nothing more than too much drink and a loose harness.”
Lira peered at him. “I have to admit, this isn’t how I expected tonight to end.”
“Better than him being lost or hurt.”
“Much better,” Lira agreed. She looked around the crowded tavern, at Sass laughing with Val, at Iris and Cali in deep conversation at the bar with Vaskel, at Erindil being comforted by Poppin and Toobi while Pip plied him with bread. “Actually, you know what? This is perfect.”
Korl raised an eyebrow. “A drunk ostrich is perfect?”
“The village coming together is perfect. The way everyone helped search. The way we’re all here now, sharing food and stories and making the best of an unusual situation. This is what I wanted when I came back to Wayside. This sense of belonging, of family.”
Korl’s hand found hers, warm and solid. “Then you got what you wanted.”
“I did,” Lira said softly, squeezing his fingers. “And so much more.”