The inside of the lodge was warm, lighted by a fireplace in the large room I entered. The whole place was hewn of wood, and decorated with rugs and soft pieces of furniture. The man was small of stature and well muscled, with brown hair and bright hazel eyes. He brought me close to the firelight, looking at my face, and touching my bruises.
"Ow!" I said.
"Yeah..." was his answer. "You have several bad bruises that I can see, and that is just on the right side. Your left side is one entire mud clod! And while you wear mud surprisingly well, my dear, I think you might really enjoy a good hot bath."
"Ahhh!" I groaned with pleasure at the mere thought of it.
"But here, drink this first." He placed a mug into my hand. I eyed the cup suscpiciously.
His amused face broke into laughter. "What? Do you think I am going to hurt you?" He composed himself a little more courteously. "No, I'm not going to harm you," he said softly. He took the cup from my hands and drank from it. Then he handed it back to me. The gesture was so intimate, a thrill ran through my body. "Drink up, dandelion," he said. "I"ll go run your bath." He padded down a hallway to the right. I sipped the warm drink and gazed into the firelight.
***
As Geo started to draw the bath for his guest, the obvious thought crossed his mind: She is going to fall asleep in the tub. He turned the water off, and went to the closet, pulling out a large blanket which was worn with age. He tiptoed back to the livingroom where, sure enough, his guest was fast asleep, having spilled the remainder of the contents of her drink onto the blanket wrapped around her. With caring hands he pulled the damp blanket off her, and covered her with the clean one he had brought from the closet. He brushed her hair back away from her face and said softly "Nighty-night, sweetheart." Then he turned to the fireplace, and banked the coals for the evening.
***
10:33:51 AM 
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