Chapter 20

“Hello to you too.” Francis’ voice sounded highly amused. “I wanted to call you and give you an update on Ardala.”

“Francis, I’m sorry. I thought you were my editor.” Vajra went back inside and shut out the freezing wind. “Is she ok?”

“I took her to the tiny village; in fact I just got her settled.” There was some rustling from the other end. It sounded like paper shuffling. “She asked me to tell you that she understands what you meant by giving her her present back.” There was more shuffling and then silence as Vajra tried to figure out what Francis meant. “Apparently she gave you something?”

“Yeah, I sent it back, so she’d know the flowers were from me.” He tried to understand what message that would have sent to her. “I was worried that if I put my name on them that they wouldn’t get to her.”