Fairs' Point by Melissa Scott Page B

answered.
     
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    At least he was not the only person carrying a noisy basket, Eslingen thought as he made his way to the New Fair. There were any number of otherwise entirely respectable people heading in the same direction with baskets tucked under their arms, and the air was filled with the sounds of canine excitement. Children wielded rakes along the edge of every path, collecting scattered straw and refuse for the jakesmen and their cart, but the air still smelled strongly of dog and stable.
    To his surprise, however, there were three people waiting at the tavern door, a young woman and a young man, both in the sturdy leather aprons that seemed to mark the trainers, and the third in a threadbare astrologer’s robe. The woman trainer stepped forward, seeing him.
    “Lieutenant vaan Esling? I’m Besetje Naimi.”
    Eslingen shifted the basket to his other hip and accepted her e xtended hand. “A pleasure, dame.”
    “ Felis Tibeë,” Naimi said, with a nod to the other trainer, “and Dame Herridey. She’s our astrologer.”
    “ A pleasure to meet you,” Eslingen said, clasping hands with each of them in turn. “I appreciate your willingness to consider taking on my dog.”
    “ Why don’t you come round the back, and we can have a look at him and his horoscope?” Naimi said. The words had a rote quality, a formula learned but not fully understood, and Eslingen nodded.
    “ Lead on.”
    The tavern’s yard was even louder, with temporary kennels stacked along three of the four walls, and a good dozen w oven-withy pens set up on the bare ground. The smell of dog was even stronger. Naimi led them to one of the pens, and Tibeë slipped inside, carefully securing the gate behind him.
    “ If you’ll hand me the dog, Lieutenant?”
    Eslingen handed him the basket, and Tibe ë set it carefully on the ground, bracing it between his feet as he worked the cords loose. Sunflower sprang out before the lid was fully undone, knocking it askew, and Naimi grinned.
    “ Well, he’s got spirit.”
    Sunflower raced in circles, barking, and Tibe ë gave a judicious nod. “No obvious faults there. Though the barking wastes energy.”
    “ It doesn’t matter so much,” Naimi said. “Did you bring all his papers, Lieutenant?”
    Eslingen produced them from the cuff of his coat. “I did.”
    Naimi took them, handing the horoscope off to Herridey, and u nfolded the pedigree herself. Tibeë came to look over her shoulder, while Herridey studied the horoscope. After a moment, the astrologer refolded the paper, then fumbled in the pocket beneath her skirts to come up with a small, well-worn astrolabe. She adjusted it, checked the settings against the horoscope, and made several more adjustments before she finally nodded.
    “ I don’t see any obvious flaws in his stars, dame, sieur. I’d warrant him sound to run.”
    Eslingen took back the horoscope, and Tibe ë caught the dog, turned him squirming onto his back. Sunflower barked and twisted, but made no attempt to bite, and Tibeë set him down again.
    “ Good boy.” He straightened. “He’s a nice one, Besetje. If you don’t want him—”
    “ But I do,” Naimi answered. “I like the look of him. These black brindles generally do well for me.”
    Tibe ë sighed. “All right, then. But if he doesn’t suit—or if Besetje doesn’t suit you, Lieutenant—I’d like a chance at him.”
    “ Thank you,” Eslingen said. Tibeë let himself out of the pen, expertly keeping the dog back when he would have followed, and Eslingen held out two seillings. “At least let me buy you dinner for your trouble. And you, too, Mistress Herridey.”
    They both accepted the coins—Eslingen suppressed a wince, suspecting that dog ownership might become as e xpensive as Rathe had warned—and Eslingen looked over the fence at the dog now sprawled panting in the dust. “I’m interested in your training him, dame, but I haven’t a lot of coin to spare.”
    “ Call me