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"Did Beorn Fisherman fill that pot for you?" |
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Ian laughed but shook his head as he fixed the triangle and set the pot over the flames. "No, although he was patiently waiting with his prize to see if you would change your mind if we came back empty-handed. You have Lord Llewelyn to thank for our supper." |
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"Nay, Lord Llewelyn," Ian said, turning toward the silent young man, "it was no gibe. If we had not been twenty to your one we never would have taken you." Then to Simon he said, ''He knows these woods, I think he knows every stick and stone in them. But in pursuing him, Odo the Dane stumbled upon a hut hidden in a glade, and there were chickens and rabbits and vegetables in the garden" |
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Llewelyn's great familiarity with the area and a single hut hidden "Can Odo find that place again?" Simon asked quickly. |
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"There is nothing there now," Ian said. |
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"You did not burn it!" Siman burst out. |
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"Nay, what for? We only took what we needed, but that was everything." |
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"It is only some old beldame's hut. What matter where it is?" Llewelyn sneered. |
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Ian was stirring the contents of the pot with the blade of his dagger, and Simon saw the movement hesitate almost imperceptibly. Ian was clever. He had caught Llewelyn's mistake. Had the hut been nothing, he would have said nothing. Had he been a little older, he would have said nothing in any case. |
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"I do not know," Ian replied to Simon's original question, but his steady gaze was more reassuring than his words. |
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"Well, if there is nothing there, it is not important," Simon said. "Lord Llewelyn, this is Ian de Vipont, my squire. He is well born and well bred. I hope you will accept him as your companion. Ian, Lord Llewelyn is to be your guest. He must be bound when at large, |
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