In a Quandary

"That's right," Astra replied. "So you'd better not be any trouble, or I'll cut your throat." Of course she had no intention of really doing that.

"You and your accomplice can't get away," the smith said. "Why don't the pair of you give yourselves up?"

"Thank you for your suggestion, but I have no intention of letting myself be chained up naked again."

"But the dragon wouldn't do that unless you deserved it."

"If I might interrupt," Fred said, getting impatient. "Astra, we need to come up with a new plan. I don't know how long those straps will hold him, and in any case somebody is likely to come looking for him if he doesn't return home at the end of the day. And a customer might come to the smithy at any time. So we can't afford to hide out till after dark."

"But what alternative is there? Even if we were lucky and nobody saw us, I can't escape over the mountains without any clothes. And trying to steal some in broad daylight would be very risky. I suppose that we could go back into the caves, but they are swarming with the dragon's men."

1. "We can carry the smith into the barn, where we can keep an eye on him and where no one is likely to come looking for him. If someone discovers that he's not in his smithy, they are likely to assume that he's gone to the inn or something like that."
2. "What I think we should do is..."
3. "I'm afraid I haven't the faintest idea what we should do."
4. Before Fred could reply, the smith said...

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