{"sf1_id":881363,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Rescue and Recovery","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":4832,"posted_at":"2015-06-30T21:35:00.000Z","tags":["Human","Ocean","Plot Development","Story Progression","Werewolf","rescue","wings"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/881363-rescue-and-recovery","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/881363","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=881363\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#104 of The Moonrise Chronicles\n\nOK, so I found time to add another selection to the growing behemoth that is The Moonrise Chronicles.","content":"There was a life boat bobbing in\nthe waves. On board were two people, huddled together for warmth and support.\nThe fog had rolled in and a light rain was coming down.\n\"Well Maggie, this is another fine mess I\ngot us into.\"\n\"Spare me the funny stuff. Use your\ntalent for figuring out if we're going to make it out of this alive.\"\n\"I've tried. All I can see for now\nis a face.\"\n\"Whose face?\"\nA voice from above could be heard.\n\"Mine most likely.\"\nEdward stood and nearly fell\noverboard. Maggie spread her wings and prepared to launch herself into the air.\nShe couldn't see a damn thing, but she would attack anyone who threatened them.\nEdward scanned his surroundings for\na few minutes. The voice was silent the whole time, but he heard something\nfamiliar. Maggie settled down and listened as well. There was a reason the\nvoice was above them.\n\"Who are you,\" he asked.\n\"A friend. A relative too, perhaps,\nthough that hardly matters.\"\n\"A friend? If so, then where are we\nand how can we get to shore?\"\n\"Shore? Which shore? This world is\nfilled with shorelines and beaches. You must be more specific.\"\nMaggie was losing her patience with\nthis apparent game of words. \"Any shore! He's injured and we're both hungry and\ncold and wet.\"\n\"Listen little daughter, I don't\ntake kindly to anger. It is a singularly useless emotion. All it does is blind\nyou to your surroundings. \"\nMaggie growled. \"My surroundings\nare fog and sea. We have been through hell and back, and all I want is to make\nit to dry land safely. If you have no intention of helping, then go away!\"\nLaughter echoed down. \"My, such\nspirit! Still, it will be better when tempered by time. Throw me the rope\nlittle daughter, and make it quick.\"\nThere was a rope tied to the bow,\nwhich she grabbed by the coil and tossed skyward. She had pulled the boat for\nsome distance, but gave up when she couldn't figure a proper direction to go.\nThe slack went out of it and the line went taut. The boat began to move with\nincreasing speed. Whoever this was, they had more power in their wings than did\nMaggie. Of course, hers were new to her, and so essentially untried and unused,\nbut it was apparent that the power behind those belonging to this voice wasn't\nto be trifled with.\nThe conversation lagged as the boat\ntopped the small swells. As they progressed, Edward's ears caught a new sound.\nIt was both familiar in a vague way, and yet slightly foreign to him. Then\nagain, he had never spent that much time on the water.\nMaggie knew what it was however.\n\"Those are breakers! We're near shore!\"\n\"Yes little daughter, you are near\nshore. From here on out, you will have to make your way on your own.\"\nEdward stood in the rocking boat.\n\"Who are you?\"\n\"That remains for you to find out\nmy son. For now, you and your wife will have to make your way to my residence\nunder your own power. I do not help those who cannot help themselves. \"\n\"Uh, we're not married yet.\"\nA snort echoed above the sound of\nwaves. \"A ring and a piece of paper do not make a marriage. Trust and love\ndoes. I should know. I've been married a few hundred times.\"\n\"Excuse me?\"\n\"You're excused. Now, before I go,\nI will give you this. It will help you to find you way. If you need to, ask\nthose you count among your friends. The wisest of them will know what it is and\nwhere to find me.\"\nA clang echoed as an object\nclattered into the boat.\n\"Goodbye for now and pleasant\njourney.\"\n\"Wait!\"\n\"What?\"\n\"Do you have a name?\"\n\"Yes I do. When you look for me,\nask for Lily.\"\nWith that, the voice and the person\nit belonged to were gone. The boat rocked in the waves as Maggie grabbed the\nrope and flew towards the shoreline. She nearly exhausted herself before she\ngot the boat close enough for Edward to jump out and finish the job. They sat\non the rocky beach and stared at the object that was dropped.\nIt was very old looking, very\nornate, and seemed to be of the same metal as their rings.  He pulled his off and compared them to each\nother. The color and sheen were nearly the same.  He pulled off the little vial from around his\nneck and made as if to throw it into the sea. Maggie stopped him.\n\"I'm not saying that we will ever\nneed that, but I don't think throwing it away will do anyone any good now.\" \nHe laid it on the sand next to the\nkey, for that was what had been dropped. The difference between them was stark.\n\"You know, I don't feel so good. I sort of wish I was back to being myself,\nbefore all this happened.\"\n\"Not again,\" sighed Maggie. \"Look\nyou stupid jerk, you're stuck with me and I'm stuck with you. Let's try to get\nourselves on a good footing so that we don't have to feel put out all the\ntime.\"\nHe sat up straighter. \"You're right.\nBut for some reason I feel very confused right now. My head is full of things I\ncan't explain.\"\n\"Well, first things first. Let's\nget up on the land and see about finding out where we are. After that we need\nto find clothing and some decent food. Raw fish has killed my appetite for\nsushi for a very long time.\"\nEdward found that standing on solid\nground again was more enjoyable than he had ever experienced before in his\nlife. He might be a werewolf, but he knew that he wasn't a mere-wolf. He flexed\nhis good arm and looked behind him to the fog enshrouded rise. \n\"So, where do you think we're at?\"\nshe asked.\nThe rocks gave way to sand; an\nincredibly large expanse of it. While the wind was blowing in from the sea, the\nsmells of civilization were not far away. There was gasoline, pollution and\nfood.\n\"Can't say for certain, but does it\nmatter? I say we head up and see what there is to see.\"\nMaggie chuckled. \"Oh sure. Two\nnudists coming up from wading in the wonderful water. I've got wings dumbass!\"\nShe said it with less anger and more resignation, knowing that she was stuck as\nan oddity for the moment. She longed to return to her normal self, and abruptly\nremembered his words were nearly the same. One took for granted what one had\nuntil one lost it.\nAs they plodded along, a lone\nfigure came out of the gloom. Whoever it was, he or she was going to get one\nhell of a shock. The person stepped along carefully, looking down at the sand\nas if they were looking for seashells. The person stopped just shy of bumping\ninto the duo and looked up.\n\"Welcome my friends. Milady has bid\nyou be taken to a halfway house, there to stay until you settle matters of\nclothing, food and finding your friends and family. Once that is accomplished,\nyou will be set out on your way.\"\n\"And you are?\" Maggie asked warily.\n\n\"You may call me Brother Carcharoth.\"\nMaggie's ears perked up. \"I know\nwho you are!\"\n\"Good. Then that will make the rest\nof this easier. Follow me please.\"\nThey stepped up their pace as the\nsand rose to meet the salt grass, and from there to a pull-off along a road.\nCars were moving slowly through the dense fog, their drivers concentrating on\nthe road and not on the side show freaks currently entering the vehicle sitting\njust out of their line of sight.\nThe three of them got into the back\nof an old automobile which was not immediately recognizable and the chauffeur\ndrove off. The old man in the robe seemed nonplused by the situation.  Maggie wondered if it was her wings or their\ncombined nudity. She wasn't afraid to ask.\n\"Brother Carcharoth, does our\npresent situation bother you?\"\n\"Situation?\"\n\"Yes - our nudity?\"\nHe turned to stare at her. \"No.\nNudity is natural.\"\n\"But you seem disturbed.\"\n\"I am disturbed. The lady has\nforced me out of my library to come and fetch you. I have work to do.\"\n\"Work? I though you already had a\nbook that you wrote. Didn't you put together the Taburnum?\"\n\"That old thing? I didn't even know\nit was still floating about until it was recently ask for. It's got some nice\nold pages in it, but we have moved up to using modern technology. I don't\napprove of course, but we are under orders to keep up with all new developments.\"\nEdward had a different question.\n\"Where are we?\"\n\"The Netherlands. Amsterdam. \"\n\"How did this lady - what is her\nname; Lily? How did she know where to find us?\"\n\"I am not privy to the mistress's\nmethods.  Be thankful that she took pity\non you and came to your rescue. She is not prone to going out of her way to\nlend assistance to just any ilk.\"\nMaggie felt a little ire rising\ninside her. \"Ilk?\"\n\"My apologies. I know nothing about\nyou. Might I have your names?\"\n\"I'm Maggie and this is Edward.\"\n\"That means nothing to me. What are\nyour lineages?\"\n\"Well, I'm a descendant of the\nLeeds line on my father's side, and my grandmother was a daughter of the last\ntsar.\"\nHe raised his eyebrows. \"Is that\nso? I have been remiss on following those lines. And you?\"\nEdward sighed. \"I am from the line\nof the Beast.\"\nBrother Carcharoth leaned away from\nthem. \"Tell me this isn't true.\"\n\"Why? What's the big deal?\"\n\"Nothing. The lady must have her\nreasons for summoning you. It is not up to me to say anything for or against\nher will.\"\nEdward decided to press the matter.\nHe was getting tired of all the secrecy, especially when people tended to know\nmore than they let on. But it took him a moment to get his thoughts in order. \n\"Who is this Lady Lily?\"\n\"She is who she is. She defines who\nwe are. She is the Alpha and the Omega.\"\nMaggie managed to giggle. \"She\nsounds important.\"\nThe old man looked quite solemn.\n\"She is the most important of all of us.\"\nShe went to ask something else, but\nEdward put his hand on her arm. She jumped a little at the jumble of images\ncoming through. His head was ablaze with strange images. She could hear him\nthrough the connection, but it was like listening to a person at a noisy party.\n\n\"Let it go. She saved us, so we owe\nher that.\"\n\"What's wrong with you? It's like\nyour head has gone all crazy again.\"\n\"Yeah, I noticed that too. I'll get\nin under wraps before we meet up with her.\"\n\"Get what under wraps?\" she asked\nworriedly.\n\"My head. I have a lot on my mind\nright now.\"\nShe stared at him. \"Are you having\ntroubles?\"\n\"Nothing I can't handle.\"\nBrother Carcharoth was back to\nstaring at them. \"Having a private conversation is all well and good, but I\nthink that it you have something to say, you may do so with complete confidence\nhere.\"\nEdward waved him off. \"It's\nnothing. Might I ask where we are heading?\"\n\"You may, but I'll not say. The\nhouse we are heading for is not to be taken lightly. You will have the time to\nrecover, get organized and from there find your way to the lady.\"\n\"Can't you take us to her yourself?\"\n\"No. I do not know where she is at\npresent. As the keeper of knowledge, there is some information that is deemed\ntoo valuable for preservation.\"\n\"That doesn't make any sense.\"\n\"And yet it is the way it is.\"\nThe rest of the drive was in\nsilence. The car pulled into side streets until it arrived in front of an old\nstone house. There were no numbers on the side, and in the deep fog, there was\nno way of determining any of the façade's features. They were ushered inside\nwhere the door was slammed closed. The interior was simply appointed, and yet\nhad the feel of old luxury. It wasn't filled with an overload of furniture and\ngoods, but those present were of the highest order.\nThey were shown into a room that\nhad a sterile feel to it, and the old man rang a bell. A woman dressed in a\nsevere uniform came in, clicked her tongue and went to a cabinet.  She came back with a vial.\n\"I can only assume that you've been\nusing your power recklessly as of late.\"\n\"Uh, I guess so. Why?\"\n\"You're missing a limb. The Kind does\nnot abuse their regenerative power. This is what happens when you do.\"\nHe held up his hand. \"But I have\nthis!\"\n\"Pah! A ring. I know the stories.\nThere is no substitute for common sense. \nA battle avoided is an extra decade to your life. \"\n\"I don't get what you mean.\"\n\"I'm sure you don't. You are new at\nthis, are you not?\"\n\"Yes.\"\n\"Very odd. You should have several\ndecades behind you. Losing an arm is no small matter.\"\nMaggie was getting irked again. She\ndidn't know these people, and she found their manners to be lacking. \n\"Look lady, you have no idea what\nwe've been through. We have been adrift at sea for days after dealing with a\nmadman.\"\n\"A madman? Many men are mad. This\none must have been quite disturbed and quite powerful for this one not to be\nable to deal with him.\" She was referring to Edward of course.\nMaggie stood up. \"Does the name\nRobert Louis Stevenson mean anything to you?\"\n\"Dah. We have met in the past\nthough he knew it not. Our lady had orders for many of The Kind to be\nmonitored.\"\n\"So you know who his alter ego\nwas?\"\n\"Oh I see.  It was expected that there would be a\nconfrontation at some point. I take it you were involved with him?\"\n\"Involved?\" Edward snorted. \"Yes,\nyou could say we were involved. Ouch!\"\nThe nurse, which is what she was,\nhad stabbed his empty shoulder socket with a tiny stiletto that she had pulled\nfrom somewhere on her person and then bathed the fresh wound with the liquid\nshe had gotten from the cabinet. Edward found the pain to be almost equal to\nthat he had suffered while losing the limb. But he held still as the feeling of\nfire traveled down his side.\nMaggie was indignant, but she\nremained seated. \"What did you do?\"\n\"I have stimulated his body to\nrecognize that he is missing an important part of his system. Sometimes, when\nit has been stretched to its limits, it forgets what all it has to deal with. It\nis clear evidence that you have been running through your life force with less\nthan proper concern for yourself.\"\nEdward sighed as the pain altered.\nHe suddenly felt angry with himself. \"I have been thrown into a variety of\npositions that I never counted on. I haven't only been injured; I was dead for\na while.\"\nThe nurse stepped back. \"Dead?  No one returned from the dead. Therefore, you\nweren't actually dead. But such a condition must surely have sapped you of your\nlife force.\"\n\"How would I know? I wasn't aware I\nwas anything more than a typical human until I had the silver dime pulled out\nof my leg.\"\nThe nurse paled. \"You survived\nsilver?\"\n\"Yes.\"\nShe backed up. \"Who are you?\"\n\"Why does that question keep coming\nup? I told the old man that I was a descendant of the Beast.\"\n\"Of Gevaudan?\"\n\"That's the one.\"\n\"I see. Then there is more to you\nand to this present duty than I was lead to believe.\" She turned to Maggie.\n\"You have a story too. I am not\ninterested in it at the moment. I take it you can't return your wings to their\nnormal position?\"\nMaggie choked. \"You say that like\nit's a common problem.\"\n\"Not so uncommon, though normally\nthe ability to use them comes naturally. I will have to assume that you brought\nyours forth under stress?\"\n\"Uh. Yes.\"\n\"You tore them loose before they\nwere ready. And now I suppose you want help in getting them back in place?\"\nEven as she asked this of her, she stabbed her in the back and poured her vial\nover the wound. It was now Maggie's turn to writhe a little as the potion\nsnapped her body back into shape. She screamed unwillingly as the nerve endings\ncaught fire.\nIt was apparent that the lady\npresently treating them didn't have a lot of sympathy for them. It was evidence\nthat she had dealt with others who had suffered injuries. The rings might not\nbe as much of a wonder-cure as had first been their thought.  The nurse spoke what they were thinking.\n\"You use those rings like they are\nyour saviors. They can take what you have to offer and speed up matters such as\nthe healing process, but even your great size and strength all comes from\nsomething. When you alter your normal physiology, something has to give. We are\nnot like our mistress. We have limits. When you try to exceed them, you will\npay the price.\"\n\"But no one told us about them.\"\n\"Bah! Their creator thought they\nwere all the rage.\"\n\"You mean Master Leonardo?\"\n\"Ah, so you know who created them.\nNot many know about that. Who told you?\"\nEdward was grimacing from the pain.\nAt least it took his mind off of his mind. \"He did.\"\nThe woman looked down at him with a\nsevere look on her face. \"Tell me you didn't let that idiot out of his\nconfinement!\"\n\"Uh, I can't tell you that because\nwe did.\"\n\"This is just great. The man may\nhave been a genius, but he was terribly wonton in his methods. Yes, yes, I know\nwhat the history books say about him. The best thing he ever did was submitting\nto the deep freeze machine he created. What did you do with him, if I might\nask?\"\n\"He's working for the pope now.\"\nShe made a face. \"Tell me if this\nis meant as a joke, for I do not share your humor if it is an attempt at making\nme laugh.\"\n\"No, he really works for the pope.\nWe were heading there to get married, and we had planned on all of us seeing\nhis grace before we set off on other things.\"\n\"All of us? Oh, never mind. There\nis a reason I refrain from asking too many questions. The answers hurt my\nhead.\"\n\"So what now?\"\nShe looked stern. \"You rest. I am\nonly your nurse, not your nanny. Arrangements are being made to try and find\nthe rest of your party, or so I have been told. We all have our duties and we\nperform them to the best of our abilities. I will check on you tomorrow. The\nchef has prepared something for your dinner. It will not necessarily please\nyour tongue, but it will help to replace some of the necessary nutrients you\nhave lost.\"\nMaggie scowled. \"Look lady, I don't\nlike your attitude.\"\n\"And that means what to me? I am\nnot here for your approval; I am here for your recovery. You should be thankful\nsomeone cares enough to see to your treatment. As it stood, you could have been\nleft to drift in the sea for weeks.\"\nMaggie went to say something else,\nbut his hand came down and grasped hers tightly as he spoke to the woman.\n\"Thank you. We will be glad of any meal that you see fit, and a nice long rest\nwill be most welcome.\"\nThat seemed to be the expected\nresponse, and the nurse smiled slightly and nodded. \"Follow me. You will be\nshown to your rooms were it will be expected that you will stay until someone\ncomes to get you.\"\n\"What about this treatment you just\ngave us?\"\n\"If you're asking how it works, you\nmust merely wait. It is doing nothing more than stimulating your systems to\nrecover and reform or replace the damaged portions. It will not be\ninstantaneous. I would suggest you sleep after you eat, and worry about it in\nthe morning.\"\nTheir room was well furnished, with\na large bed, plenty of seating, and a window looking out over an alleyway. The\nonly disconcerting thing was the bars on the windows. Still with the old and\nvaluable items filling the house, it was likely a necessary precaution against\nthieves. Then again, if everyone here was of The Kind, a thief might last\nlonger in prison then he would here.  Preventing him from making a mistake might be\nto his benefit.\nFood arrived just like in a hotel,\npiled high on a rolling cart. There were plates and trays and several bottles\nof wine, including a rather large one of champagne that had a little card\nattached. Maggie pulled it off and read it, mildly amused. \nTo\nthe lucky couple, in thanks for all you have done.\nShe handed it to Edward. He shook\nhis head as well. \"What have we done?\"\n\"I don't know. I mean, yeah, we've\ndone a lot, but why are we being thanked right after being reprimanded?\"\n\"I think the thanks are from one\nperson, and the scolding from another. I'm really too tired and too thankful to\nargue it one way or another. I say we eat and hit the sack. It feels like it\nhas been an eternity since we've been able to just relax.\"\n\"Not an eternity, but long enough.\nI'm not saying I don't mind roughing it, but the past few weeks have been\nrather tiresome. I think I liked Russia's wildness better than what the North\nSea offered us.\"\n\"Amen to that. I doubt I will ever\nwant to take a cruise for the rest of my life.\"\nThey fell to devouring the food,\nwhich unlike what they had been prepared for, was well prepared and quite\ndelicious. Edward was hesitant to touch the wine, but Maggie had no such\nqualms.\n\"Look. The champagne is chilled and\nthere are two glasses. That lady, whoever she is, called us a couple, and I for\none agree with her. So why not celebrate a little? If we both recover from this\nordeal with Hyde, then I say we have something to celebrate.\"\nHe leaned back, holding his head. \"This\nwhole thing has made my brain hurt.\"\n\"Yeah, about that. Your thoughts\nseem very disorganized and jumbled. What gives?\"\nHe refused that say anything for\nthe longest time, and not until she prompted him again.\n\"I think I let my good nature get\nthe best of me.\"\n\"What? What are you talking about?\"\n\"In killing Robert.\"\n\"You did kill him, didn't you?\"\n\"Sort of.\"\nMaggie felt sick. \"Dammit Edward,\nwhat did you do?\"\n\"I absorbed him.\"\nShe shook her head. \"You did what?\"\n\"It seemed a waste to kill a good\nman only to leave behind a horrible one. I took that which made him a good man\nand pulled it from him. Essentially I killed him, and yet I didn't.\"\nThe glass broke under her grip. \"Where's\nthe damn vodka when you need it? You fucking idiot. No wonder your head is a\nmess. You can't keep him inside there. Can you?\"\n\"I don't know. I see bits and pieces\nof his life, just like when you touch someone. But I did more than touch him. I\ngrasped his neck and willed him into my consciousness. I just can't kill a good\nperson. But like he said, he had to be gone before Hyde would be alone. It was\na risk I felt I had to take.\"\nHer anger burst forth. \"When are\nyou going to stop doing stupid things!\"\n\"Probably never.\"\nShe settled right back down. \"Good.\nIf you did, I would know something was really wrong. But in the meantime, what\nare we going to do? I don't think a little potion, no matter how good it is, is\never going to rid you of something like Robert's awareness.\"\n\"I know. I didn't think about what I\nwas going to do with him once I had him. I just wanted to be rid of the evil\nand save the good.\"\nShe sighed. \"Well, there isn't\ngoing to be a body to stick him into. His old one is at the bottom of the North\nSea, hopefully dead as a doornail. So I guess you'll have to ask this Lily lady\nwhat to do. From what I can piece together, she's pretty important.\"\n\"Yes, I think she is. It has to be\nher face I keep seeing; she said as much, though for all I know it's something\nleft over from Robert's past life.\"\n\"What does she look like?\"\n \"You didn't see her face when you've touched\nme?\"\n\"No.\"\n\"Strange. It's always in the\nforefront of my thoughts. Her face is beautiful.\"\n\"You sound infatuated.\"\n\"Do I? I don't mean to.\"\n\"Well you do.\"\n\"Funny, I do feel a little turned\non, and I don't know why. I have never met this woman, and yet I am seeing her\nimage and I am feeling strangely attracted to her.\"\nMaggie fluttered her wings, doing\nso almost unconsciously. \"I'd be jealous, but I think she has somehow implanted\na method for finding her.\"\n\"Method? You mean like a homing\nbeacon?\"\n\"Maybe. I'm guessing the key will\nopen a door to wherever she is at. I bet she prefers privacy, so that any\nintrusion into her space must be earned.\"\n\"But she came looking for us!\"\n\"Yes she did. And she got us to\nshore. And then she sent people to fetch us. But outside of that, I think she\nexpects us to work for the honor of meeting her.\"\n\"Honor? I take it you are taken in\nwith her too?\"\n\"Edward, don't be an idiot. We both\nknow she has wings. Unless she can levitate, she has wings! Like me! Not many\nof us have wings, not that we've met. All those we know of are my family on my\nfather's side. And ugh! Who would want to be with them?\"\nHe said nothing. Her father and his\nclan were a tough lot, and not one to be taken lightly. He had been a little\nsurprised that she had managed to sprout wings at all, and though silent on the\nissue, was still grappling with that fact. On the other hand, it made sense,\nfor a person was the sum of their genetics. But that also might mean that\nsomewhere in the tsar's family line was someone who had wings. After all, a\ngenetic feature that important likely had to come from both parents.\n\"So, you want to meet her to find\nout about your special ability?\"\n\"Abilities! I can freeze people for\nshort periods as well, something you can't do.\"\n\"But I've never tried.\"\n\"True. And you have a few oddities\nyourself. If this lady is wise and well informed, who is to say that she can't\nanswer all of our questions?\"\n\"That will be up to her. In the\nmeantime, I wish I knew more about her. It seems people know more about what is\ngoing on than we gave credence to. I mean, it seem like this Lily lady knew where\nto find us. I only wonder why she didn't help us sooner.\"\n\"I'm sure she had her reasons. For\nnow, let's just get this out of our mind.\" Then she grimaced. \"Sorry. I guess\nyou can't\"\n\"No, but I'll deal with it. I've\nhad exchanges before, but this time I'm stuck with the whole package.\" He\nreached for a glass and tilted it towards her. \"Fill'er up! We have to be the\noddest damn couple in the world, but I wouldn't have it any other way. If there\nis anything to celebrate, I hues that would be it.\"\nAs she poured, she stared at him. \"Your\nmood seems to slip back and forth. Are you sure you don't want to go back to\nthe way things were?\"\n\"I don't know. Sometimes I don't think\nI even know what that is.\"\n\"It is what it was.  I for one am glad that we met.\"\n\"When you put it that way, then I\ncan but agree. Still, things have just gotten so weird anymore. It's like I\nstepped out of reality and into, into...\"\n\"The Twilight Zone?\"\nHe laughed ; a real, hearty laugh.\n\"Yes, now that you mention it, precisely\nlike that.\""}