After they were done eating, Ingrid showed Leena a room across from her own. It was a lovely little room with roses on the wallpaper and a mauve colored rug and thick, deep pink curtains draping all the way to the floor. It smelled old, like dust and salt and old bones.

“Make yourself right at home. Call if ya need anything,” Ingrid said brightly and added, “If you want, you can always go down into the basement to find some more things to wear. I found this night gown for bed, but I’m not sure it will work well.” She patted the article of clothing on the bed, neatly folded.

“Why, thank you,” Leena said, smiling warmly, pushing the strange dinner to the side of her mind, “I’ll be sure to look, if I have need.” Ingrid nodded at her.

“I’m older now, dear, so my bones are tired at the end of the day. I’ll be going to bed now. If you need anything, feel free to look around for it, though, after that big dinner, I don’t think you’ll be so hungry as to need anything anyway. Just don’t leave the house in the dark. It gets a little dicey around here what with some unscrupulous characters with dubious motives.” Ingrid looked a bit sad, and her gaze turned to the window of the room.

“It’s a good thing there’s Carl around. I don’t know what I would do without him.” Leena smiled gently at her, nodding.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Ingrid,” she said. Ingrid’s attention came back to Leena.

“Oh yes! And there will be a good breakfast for all of us!” Ingrid said, clapping her hands together, “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Ingrid tottered off, leaving Leena on her own.

Leena picked up the nightgown, holding it up to her frame. It fell just below her knees, and she wondered if it would be warm enough. The house was warmer than outside, but the floors chilled her feet and the blankets seemed thin, as if they were meant for summer.

“Do you need anything?” She turned to look at Bo, standing in the door frame. He was clean; he was wearing clean pants and a nice button up shirt that fit him snugly. He was wearing slippers, brown and worn from age, that Leena assumed used to be the real Carl’s.

“N-no,” she said, putting the night gown on the bed and feeling sheepish. They had not talked since he convinced her that they could make it to the town in the dark. She felt sad about it.

She knew, intuitively, that he hadn’t meant to leave her. She knew that he felt bad about having left her, if what Esire said was true. She knew that he probably did not mean her any harm.

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But she felt a coldness in her heart, a separation that fed from his unintentional betrayal. He was no longer a friend, someone she thought she could talk to. He was someone else, an acquaintance, someone to deal with politely.

“I’m sorry about the forest. We should have stayed one more night out beyond.”

“It’s okay…”

“No, I’m sorry,” Bo insisted, stepping into the room, “I’m glad you’re safe.”

She awkwardly shifted from one foot to the other, her knees rubbing together. He rubbed the back of his head.

“Do you want the talisman?” he asked, moving his hand to his pocket.

“No, thank you,” she replied, “I think I’ll be fine.”

Another pause.

“I’ll give it to you now,” he said, “For the night. And you can give it to me in the morning.” He took it from his pocket, placing it on the chest of drawers in the room, the blue talisman slightly glowing with its own light.

He stepped back into the hall.

“By the way, we are going to leave tomorrow by midday. Our boat is ready. We just need to make sure you have everything you need.”

“I don’t have anything.”

“Ingrid has things. She’ll let you take anything you want,” he replied.

“I don’t want to take things from people.”

“She won’t mind. It’s not taking if it is a gift.” Bo tapped his hand on the door frame.

“Good night,” he said, leaving.

“Good night,” she replied.

And he left her in the rose room by herself with the dusty smells, the cold air, and the dark night.

Esire came by a moment later.

“Leena! It was a great dinner, wasn’t it? I mashed those potatoes really well, I think. Maybe I needed more salt, next time we’ll do that. I was going to cook them with a bit more butter, but we seem to be running low on that sort of thing.”

“It was a really good meal.”

“I’m not too bad of a cook, if I do say so myself,” he said, puffing up his chest a bit.

“By the way,” he added, “I don’t know if you noticed, but Ingrid has a bit of a memory problem.”

“Yes, I noticed.”

“Now, it would behoove you to…go along with whatever she says and not to ask too many questions. I find that when she gets confused, sometimes she turns a bit…ornery? You saw a bit of it, but trust me, it is not something that we want to deal with. It’s best not to provoke her, if possible.” His face was serious, and he spoke softly, close to Leena.

“Oh, okay,” she replied, “I’ll be gentle with her.” Esire smiled.

“I know you will. I’m sorry I did not get a chance to explain it earlier. It’s a bit complicated, but I will tell you the story once we are on the boat. I have so many questions for you! But, not now. If you need anything, I’ll be in the room downstairs, and Bo will be upstairs, down the hall here, in that far room. One more warning: Don’t go outside at night. I’m sure you already understand why, but I want to make sure you understand that you should not go outside under any circumstances.”

“Of course,” she replied, “I don’t want to deal with those pixies again. Or the goblins. Or really…anything else.” He touched her shoulder gently, coming close up to her.

She froze, smelling a strong scent of smoke overtake the dust and potpourri.

He smiled gently, “I’m sorry all that happened to you. Just stick with me and Bo. We’ll get you out of this country and back h-hrugh-“ he coughed a bit, “Back to safety, which is across the ocean.”

He removed his hand, and Leena felt a chill on her shoulder and a slight sense of loss.

“Good night, Leena.”

“Good night.”

He pattered away down the stairs, and she closed the door.