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"And this 01' chatterbox is Mickey."

Lizberh scratched Mickey's ears and was reminded of Flash
Jones. She looked around, but the cat, typical of cats, had vanished.
Smirking, Lizbeth made a mental note to tease him for being antisocial.
"Where are you heading, Mr. Edgewater?"

"To Ignas. 1hear that city is an absolute whirlwind of activity."

"I couldn't tell you;' said the girl, scratching at the ground
with her foot. "I've never left my own village."

"Poh!" puffed Rogers, swatting at a By running circles round
his head. "You ought! The world is, well, big. And certain points in it
are quite neat. For example, 1just came from a pie festival in Teer, and
do you know what was there?"

"What?" asked the girl, clapping her hands together, excited
to hear of anything that Boated from the routine she'd followed these
past couple years.

"Pies!" Edgewater leaned back and crossed his arms, confident
that he had just blown the girl's mind.

"Well, 1might have guessed that, actually."

Rogers sputtered, nearly falling from Mickey. "Not just any
pies! Giant pies! Pies large enough to swim in! And men (and one
woman) large enough to eat them!"

"Oh! That is neat, then! And what are you going to see in
Ignas?"

"Of that 1am not certain. All 1know is, it is going to be a
long, long ride there, with this jackal stomping on my beard like he likes
to do."

Lizbeth tapped her lip with her pointer finger. "Why not just
snip it?"

Edgewater Rogers looked at her as if she'd just suggested he
steal a bear's honey. "Why, because 1like it."

"I do too;' she giggled. "I have another idea, then."

"Do tell;' said Edgewater, curious, petting the hair currently
being discussed with one hand and patting the Mickey on whom he
rode with the other.

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