PREVIOUS: 023: Man who just got stabbed: what are you gonna do, stab me?
Though it's a fair walk away, Jagal refuses to let fatigue get the better of him, and the two travelers trundle on over to Granny's estate. When Jagal slows, it's less an issue of injury than it is transfixion at the rows and rows of orchard trees trying to bloom.
JAGAL: ".........."
Lucya's still in some sort of mood, but he gets a smile out of her.
LUCYA: "They are lovely, aye? Ye will nae find a finer apple than those a Granny's orchard!"
LUCYA: "As a wee lass, I'd climb the branches tae pick 'em..."
Jagal jolts, hurrying to make sure he doesn't look too interested. But then the last statement strikes him as a challenge.
JAGAL: "What, like this?"
Jagal darts for the nearest trunk before Lucya has any hope of stopping him and proceeds to launch himself up the branches at an entirely unreasonable speed for his current condition. Within moments, he's perched strategically across a few branches thin enough to bob with every movement.
JAGAL: (stretching carefully) "Shame there's nothing to pick yet. I'd have this thing cleaned out in no time flat."
LUCYA: "I didnae move that quickly! Now get back down here, ye'll aggervate that wound..."
JAGAL: "Oh, I bet you didn't~"
Lucya carefully plucks a 5'6" blue-and-green apple out of the tree. She's fussing, but she is mildly impressed. Jagal is at least in a good enough mood to cooperate with the retrieval.
There isn't far to go after that. Granny's house doesn't take up much space, but it has two tidy-looking stories painted a crisp white. The swing and rocking chairs may be vacant at the moment, but the front porch is open and welcoming.
Lucya doesn't hesitate to knock on the door. She quickly smooths out her skirt and fixes her hair-- they're visiting Granny, after all. Jagal makes no effort to tidy anything.
There's a small sound from inside, then a creak, then footfalls. After a few clicks, the door pulls open.
GRANNY: "Oh, Lucya, dearie! It's so nice of ye tae drop by..."
Granny's look falls quickly as she takes in the non-Lucya entity and his blood-soaked clothes.
GRANNY: "Good heavens, this isnae a social visit, is it? Come in, come in!"
Lucya curtsies quickly.
LUCYA: "Me apologies, Granny, but me friend, aye, he is in a sorry state!"
The travelers step into a sunny living room where small fragile things abound and every piece of furniture is covered with some form of doily. Once Jagal is laid out on a couch and Lucya anywhere out of the way, Granny sets out to work.
JAGAL: "I—Wait. What are we doing?"
Jagal pulls back in dull alarm.
GRANNY: (with a flat look) "Healing, dear."
JAGAL: "But it's already—What?"
LUCYA: "Granny is a fine healer! Aye, when Mrs. Sabine broke her arm last harvest, she set her right as rain!"
Lucya stands in a corner, watching the walls carefully to ensure she doesn't bump anything.
JAGAL: "But I don't need anything set? It's already been patched up?"
Granny plucks a few fresh leaves from a potted plant by the window.
GRANNY: "But not magically, aye?"
Jagal takes a moment for processing.
JAGAL: (flatly) "Oh, that kinda healer."
GRANNY: "Is that a problem, dear?"
Her smile is tight.
JAGAL: "I mean, if you're gonna scam people, at least charge 'em something. Or did I overlook the bill somewhere?"
LUCYA: (gasps) "Rude!! Auh! I've seen her work meself!"
GRANNY: "Now, now, let's nae get up in arms about all this. Just hold still, would ye, dear? It willnae take long—that's the whole point of it, wouldn't ye say? Hohoh."
Jagal still looks entirely unconvinced, but he does as instructed. Putting up a fight now'd just waste more time, he's pretty sure.
GRANNY: "Thank ye."
Granny grips the leaves in one hand and presses her other glove to Jagal's side. She concentrates, and the leaves rapidly begin to wither.
JAGAL: (watching that display) "Okay, great, are we..."
JAGAL: "........."
Lucya's huffiness dissipates quickly when he goes quiet.
LUCYA: "...A-are ye alright? Did it work??"
JAGAL: (slowly sitting up) "I think?"
JAGAL: "But s-something feels kinda..."
Just as he manages to sit up on the couch, he jerks, and his eyes roll back in his head. In a split second he falls completely limp, like a puppet with its strings all mercilessly severed in one blow.
LUCYA: "AUHHHHHH!!!"
Absolutely horrified, she wheels on Granny in a rage.
LUCYA: "What did ye DO to him?!"
Granny just looks on at the spectacle with blank shock until Lucya jolts her out of it. She holds her hands up.
GRANNY: "Nothing! Nothing unusual! It felt exactly the same as always—please calm down, dear, he'll be fine."
Frowning, she reaches to undo the bandages. One sure way to tell if her healing did work, at least.
LUCYA: "B-but he's-- and ye're--!!!"
She's hyperventilating now.
Granny quickly undoes the bandaging—there's still a wound, and the packing seems to have been pushed out of it, but there's no more bleeding even when she removes that. It could probably do with a few stitches, but it doesn't look like anything serious now.
GRANNY: "Ye see? Mm..."
She starts to check his pulse, but frankly Lucya's condition concerns her more than his right now.
GRANNY: "This looks frightening, but ye mustnae panic, dear. Deep breaths—can ye do that fer me?"
Lucya tries to calm down, following Granny's orders. It's been a long day, okay? But he's still not moving...
GRANNY: "Good, good."
Granny's voice is a bit absent as she counts out Jagal's pulse for a few moments. She pulls back, falling silent to think. So it's especially easy to tell when Jagal starts laughing.
Despite not having so much as twitched in the past minute, he rights himself quickly enough to get his head spinning as he cackles.
JAGAL: (between laughs and gasps) "Oh, wow. You really will fall for anything, huh?"
LUCYA: "Auhh!!!"
Lucya yelps again, stammering as her face flushes and tears well in her eyes. It's been a really long day.
LUCYA: "Th-that... that's nae funny..."
She sniffles and flicks him on the forehead.
JAGAL: "Is too—Ow."
Jagal at least winds down a little bit on his own before Granny yanks him by the ear.
GRANNY: "That was absolutely unacceptable and ye will apologize to her this instant, young man!"
JAGAL: "Ow, geez—" (still laughing a little) "All right, I'm sorry... that you've got no sense of humor. Pff."
Granny gives him a sharp look and an even sharper tug before opening her free arm to Lucya if she could use a hug.
Lucya weakly accepts the hug.
LUCYA: "But-- ye're really okay?"
JAGAL: (eyebrow raised) "Yeah? Or, I would be if somebody stopped trying to rip my ear off."
Granny is preoccupied patting Lucya's back gently and can't spit out more admonitions at the moment, but she does still glare at him.
Lucya puts her face in her hands and sighs.
LUCYA: "Thank ye, Granny... Sorry tae trouble ye, after all that has happened today. A ghostie and everything! Auh!"
GRANNY: (sighs) "It's nae trouble, dearie. That was quite a fright this morning, aye, but nae just fer me. Near about a stampede, it was. And here I thought we knew better than tae push and shove..."
Granny shakes her head.
GRANNY: "But at least I havenae heard of anyone getting hurt." (squints down at Jagal's injury) "Unless this came about then?"
JAGAL: "Nah, unrelated stabbing. So, people usually come to you for healing around here?"
Granny does not look receptive to the question, nor does she loosen her grip on his ear.
GRANNY: "Ye still havenae apologized fer yer own behavior, young man."
JAGAL: "Name's Jagal, actually—"
GRANNY: "Oh, ye've said as much."
She doesn't relent.
LUCYA: "Bah, 'twill be a sunny day in Helheim afore that happens... None a Ma's pierogis fer thee tonight!"
Lucya seems to be bouncing back pretty quickly, though she is indeed inflicting one of the direst punishments she can imagine.
JAGAL: "Rrright."
Jagal definitely has no idea what a pierogi is, and the context clues aren't falling into place for him, either.
LUCYA: "How is poor Pendry? She seemed quite a-frightened, aye, and Delkaph..."
Possibly satisfied that a punishment has been levied or possibly for purely arthritic reasons, Granny finally lets go of Jagal's ear. He swiftly ducks out of pinching range to rub it.
GRANNY: "Auh, she's nae been feelin' well afore all this, even, so she's been resting upstairs. I'll go an' check in on her soon, aye..."
GRANNY: (less gloomily) "Oh, but he's fine by now, I'm sure. Bein' pointed at by a ghostie cannae be good fer the nerves, but he's always lending things a wee bit more drama than he really means tae."
JAGAL: (pouncing) "We can always check on her for you, since we're here. Something in exchange for your efforts, yeah?"
Jagal gestures at the shriveled leaves.
LUCYA: "I s'pose I havenae greeted her yet..."
Lucya's gaze lingers on the dead leaves for a moment, but she smiles and curtsies at Granny.
LUCYA: "Aye, with yer permission, we'd like tae see her!"
Granny bunches the leaves into one gloved hand with a crunch. Just tidying up.
GRANNY: (to Lucya and Lucya only) "Of course ye can see her, dear. Just not too much excitement, aye?"
JAGAL: (standing) "No excitement, got it."
GRANNY: "Certainly no excitement from thee, since ye willnae be going. Unless ye'd like tae apologize now?"
Jagal opens his mouth, closes it, thinks for a second, and then just puts his hands up in surrender.
JAGAL: "All right, I'm out. Have fun, princess."
Jagal just turns and walks right out the front door. Goodbye.
LUCYA: "Good gracious..."
Lucya watches in bafflement as he leaves, then turns to head up the stairs.
Upstairs, Granny’s cottage is similarly but a bit more sparsely furnished. Most of the flooring creaks underfoot, and a residual smell of cinnamon and baked goods forever permeates the air. Among a number of rooms that all feel like guest rooms, a young woman in ponytails is half-seated, swaddled on a bed.
Lucya ducks under the doorframe to Pendry's room, curtsying before she even parses what she's looking at.
LUCYA: "Pendry? Is that ye-- Auh! What's happened?"
Despite staring out the window, Pendry doesn't startle at Lucya's appearance, though she doesn't quite swing her head around in time to catch the curtsy. She scans Lucya up and down briefly before settling again.
PENDRY: "Oh—Lucya." (sighs) "Aye, 's me. Just scraped up against a few things I oughtn't'a. Mostly better, but."
Pendry stretches and flops back down with a pout.
PENDRY: "Restin's so borin'. Granny sayin' I pushed myself enough runnin' 'round the square..." (trails off into vague grumbling)
LUCYA: "Well, I hope ye feel better soon!"
Lucya's brow furrows a little, but she can't quite put her finger on what's bothering her.
LUCYA: "If it's nae trouble, though, I'd like tae ask ye a bit about the trial..."
🎲 Lucya tries to use her heart stat to Compel Pendry to talk. It's a weak hit. Using the +1 to Gather Information, she gets another weak hit. More complications!
PENDRY: (sighing) "I'd rather nae think about it, tae be honest."
Pendry toys with one of her necklaces and pouts.
PENDRY: "But there's nothin' tae do but sit here an' think if Granny's not ginnae lemme go out!" (whines) "I had some cute stuff tae pick up from Miss Freida, too..."
LUCYA: "Auh, poor lass! I could pick it up fer ye if ye like?"
LUCYA: "'Tis scary, I know, but! Two men, they are dead! If there's anything ye know, or Granny may know..."
Pendry perks up pretty quickly at the offer.
PENDRY: "Oh, would ye? Lovely!"
PENDRY: (settling down again) "Why would Granny..." (shakes her head) "Well, I... I dinnae anythin', either..."
Pendry nibbles at her pendant absently.
JAGAL: "Wow, you really need to work on your lying skills."
Jagal is currently leaning against the wall. The others are squarely between him and the only door into the room.
Lucya barely stifles a yelp.
LUCYA: "Wee man! What are ye doing-- auh!"
LUCYA: (to Pendry, with a sigh) "Forgive me friend, please, fer he is wont tae sneek about and say ridiculous things."
Pendry doesn't seem quite as startled, but she pulls back and clutches the blankets tight, as if prepared to yank them up defensively.
JAGAL: "Aww, since when do you manage to keep it down? Woulda been hilarious if you got the old lady running up here..."
Pendry looks between the two uncomfortably.
PENDRY: "A-aye. Ridiculous."
JAGAL: "Oh, come on, now." (to Lucya) "Would you really be up here right now if you believed she didn't know anything?"
Put on the spot, she stammers a bit, but an idea comes to her.
LUCYA: "W-well, certainly I've nae reason tae think she's hurt anyone! But with the haint and all... and something else strange I saw..."
She chews her lip, watching Pendry's reaction.
🎲 Jagal Compels with his shadow stat, and gets a strong hit!
Jagal snickers until Lucya recovers.
Pendry's grip tightens again.
PENDRY: "W-well, I probably got nothin' tae do with that, either."
JAGAL: (sliding over) "Really, now? Because Little Lucya might be too nice to say it, but we have reason to believe you've got everything to do with it."
PENDRY: (shrinking) "N-nay, ye don't!"
Jagal leans closer to maintain the distance.
JAGAL: "Then what are you so afraid of?" (shaking his head) "No, you already know you've been caught."
Jagal continues to stare her down another moment before leaning back again with a shrug.
JAGAL: "Just thought we'd give you a chance to explain. 'd be a little mean-hearted to spread that kinda info before we've even talked to the girl herself, right?"
PENDRY: (panicked) "Nae, nae, ye can't tell anybody! Not afore or after talkin' tae me! What if they chase me out, or, or... I..." (deflating) "I-I havenae hurt anyone..."
Pendry winces.
PENDRY: (to Lucya) "E'cept thee, but..." (pleading) "Yer fine, aye?"
LUCYA: "Eh? Me? I-I'm fine..."
The gambit seems to have worked, but what on earth does Pendry mean? Lucya's barely seen this girl except at the inn, and the last time she got hurt was... As she realizes where she's seen those watery blue eyes before, her own eyes go wide.
PENDRY: "AUH! Nay, nay, we shallnae tell! Nae as long as-- did ye see anything? Tae prove who it really was? Anything at all?"
Jagal nods, as if he has also figured it out. He has not.
PENDRY: "I..."
Thoroughly intimidated, Pendry pulls the covers around her tight and sniffles.
PENDRY: "I havenae been tae the store of late, an' I didnae really know that, er, other fella. The only thing—auh, but I'm nae s'posed tae tell anyone..."
Pendry catches herself, then shakes her head.
PENDRY: "But that's definitely got nothin' tae do with anybody killin' anybody."
LUCYA: "Maybe nae directly, but-- prithee, any information, it will help!"
Lucya's not deliberately taking the intimidation route, but her size and persistence lend it that quality.
JAGAL: "Yeah, we're the investigators here, remember? We'll decide if it's related or not."
PENDRY: "Huuuu..."
Pendry fiddles with her necklace, less frantically this time. She'd rather look at it than at the scary people in here.
PENDRY: "Somebody borrowed somethin' from me, but that was another day afore everythin' with Mr. Pearce."
PENDRY: (frowning) "Left a note sayin' not tae tell anybody 'bout it, but I guess if ye know me secret already, they can't well spill it tae ye..."
LUCYA: "The day afore...? Auh, but tae threaten so o'er a mere borrowin', 'tis strange! Have ye a thought a who it could be?"
Pendry shakes her head.
PENDRY: "Dinnae. Handwritin' seemed a wee bit familiar, but only such..."
PENDRY: (glumly) "Maybe if somebody's been' about makin' good pastries a' late? They still havenae given it back..."
JAGAL: "Yyyeah, sounds like they might be using my definition of 'borrow' here." (squinting) "The heck did they take, your oven?"
PENDRY: "Nay, me good rollin' pin."
LUCYA: "Hummm... We shall look fer it, then! And I shall fetch yer clothes from Ms. Freida."
Lucya backs away a little and bobs her head politely.
LUCYA: "Thank ye fer yer help... Yer secret is safe with me, I swear it!"
JAGAL: (nodding solemnly) "I also swear your secret's safe with her."
Pendry doesn't seem to pick up on the implication, if she's listening to him at all.
PENDRY: "Oh good, thank ye..."
PENDRY: (sighs) "I'm sure I'll still be right here whene'er ye've found them."
JAGAL: Jagal gives a little lazy salute and heads back to the window.
Lucya scowls at him, but since Pendry didn't say anything, she doesn't say anything either as she starts to curtsy her way out of the room...
Jagal shoots Lucya an impish grin before promptly swoocing out of the window. Uh, okay, bye then.
LUCYA: "Auh! Ye see what I have tae put up with?"
Lucya closes and bolts the window for a befuddled Pendry, then trots back down the stairs. With a parting thanks to Granny, she leaves the building and immediately starts searching for her rascally companion.
NEXT: 025: Pierogi Punishment