Mary's View

Mary put down the stick, and looked sternly at Checkers. "Give me a chance not to understand, Checkers. I have not travelled more than three leagues from here since I was married. My days pass in cleaning, washing, repairing, and cooking, in an endless cycle. I am not complaining - Bennie is a good man, and we have been able to get through the lean years. If I had to trade my life for anyone else's, I probably would not do it. But doing the same things year after year is a trail of its own - one of the few breaks that I get from the monotony is hearing news from the rare traveller that comes through here."

"I had a number of reasons for asking Bennie to spare you. You looked sad when we found you, and almost human. I would hate to have someone try to kill me if I were hungry and sick, without so much as trying to talk. But I am also curious. Nobody around here has ever seen a Glider, and we do not know what goes on in the Dolomite Range. Your people are very secretive. All we know is that your people have killed settlers attempting to enter the eastern valleys, and that dragon does not pass through your homelands. We also have never seen you send anyone in an organized resistance to the dragon - we only see one of you go at a time, and you that go are all very badly provisioned, unprepared, and ignorant of the country, and yet would rather be sick and die than talk to us. So yes, I guess we will never understand."

Checkers looked at Mary from across the kettle, but Mary thought that Checkers was staring past her, as if her mind was far away. It appeared to Mary as if Checkers was trying to solve a hard problem. She brought her right hand to her chin, and said little. After an interval of silence, Checkers dropped her wing, the faraway look vanished, and it appeared to her that whatever her problem was, that she had found a solution.

1. Checkers answered Mary's questions.

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