“I had to be careful,” she pointed out. She reached for her bag, smiling. “Thank you for taking care of my clothes, Poggwydd.”
To her surprise, he put both arms around the bag and hugged it possessively. “Not so fast. I have a few questions first.”
She fought down a sudden surge of irritation. “What do you mean? What sort of questions?”
“The kind that require explanations. For instance, why do you need a compass, a map ring, a fairy stone, and a book of wizard spells to deliver a bunch of old clothes?”
Her jaw dropped. “Did you look through my things?”
“Answer my question.”
She was fuming now. “Precautions against trouble. I have to travel some distance to make the delivery. Will you give them to me please?”
He ignored her. “Traveling is required because whoever you are taking these clothes to cannot come to the castle to get them?”
“That’s partly it. Give me the bag, Poggwydd.”
If anything, his grip grew tighter. “Hmmm. You know, Princess, it’s dangerous traveling alone at night. I think I had better go with you.”
“I can do this by myself, thank you. Besides, I have Haltwhistle.”
“That’s right. You have the assistance of your weird little dog. Clearly, he is a better friend to you than I am.”
“What are you talking about?” she snapped.
“Well, you trust him enough to take him along, but not me. He probably knows the truth about what you’re doing, doesn’t he?”
Her mind was racing. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Then allow me to enlighten you. Maybe it slipped your mind, but you are running away.”
“I am not!” She tried to sound indignant. “If you don’t give me my bag right now, I really will stop being your friend!”
“Sneaking out of the castle at night, having me meet you with clothes and travel stuff you could have carried out by yourself, and then telling me you intend to go somewhere mysterious alone? Sounds like someone running away to me.”
She regretted ever thinking it a good idea to give her bag to this ferret-faced idiot. But it was too late for regrets. She had thought herself so clever, letting Poggwydd do the hauling. That way, she had reasoned, she wouldn’t be burdened with the extra weight and if caught could argue that she was just going for a walk.
“You better tell me the truth about this right now!” he insisted. “If you don’t, I’m going to start yelling.”
“All right, don’t do that!” She sighed, resigned to the inevitable. “My parents and I have had a disagreement. I am going to visit my grandfather for a while, and I don’t want them to know where I am. Okay?”
Poggwydd looked horrified. He leaped to his feet, arms waving. “You really are running away?”
“Not exactly. Just … taking a vacation.”
“Vacation? You’re running away! And I’m helping you! And after you’re gone, they’re going to find out about me, and they’re going to say that it is all my fault!”
She held up her hands in an attempt to calm him. “No, they’re not. Why would they blame you?”
“Because G’home Gnomes get blamed for everything, that’s why! And I’ll get blamed for this! Someone will remember that I was the last one to visit you. Someone will remember that I left carrying a bag of clothing. Someone will tell that kobold, and he will come after me and hang me from the tree again!”
“No, he won’t. Bunion promised—”
“It doesn’t matter what he promised!” Poggwydd snapped, cutting her short. He was beside himself, hopping up and down in agitation and dismay. “This is all your fault! You’re leaving me behind to pay for your bad behavior! You used me to help you, and now you are leaving me! Well, I won’t stand for it! I shall alert the watch immediately and then they can’t blame me!”
