“That was so fun, Molly! You missed the best part — The Jumping Song! We jumped and jumped all over!”
Noticing her sister was sitting in what she termed was her thinking chair, Cally stopped short of her prattle about the Green Dragon and looked at her.
“You know, I've been thinking”, Molly said.
“What about?”, asked Cally. She knew her sister wouldn't take the time to think if it weren't something important.
“Well, you know”, she answered. “About all the fuss about lost lore, and the Archives... I think I have an idea.” Cally noticed the slightly self-serving, but generous, so very generous twinkle in her sister’s eyes.
“What are you going on about now, Sissy?”. Cally absently rubbed her cheek where a solid goose egg bruise was forming after her “fainting spell” in the Dragon. That band fellow WAS terribly cute, and she no idea what happened. One minute she was staring at him and the next she woke hearing frightened and concerned voices gathered over her... Embarrassing to say the least.
“Cally, you're hurt! Here, a cold piece of meat will fix you right up.” Before Cally could react, Molly gingerly laid an icy cut of their would-be supper on her bruise.
Cally held it to her cheek and looked at her sister with her one good eye. “All right, so what are you thinking? And don’t tell me it’s nothing!” Cally noticed Molly looked proud of herself which usually meant an adventure.
“Well, I overheard one of those Hobbits at the Dragon talking about some letter Mr. Samwise got from Merry. Seems the Brandy Hall Archive needs books. An’ items like maybe the Mathom Society has too?”
Cally looked at her sister, wondering how she hears about such odd requests. “Do go on, my curiosity is up.”
“I was thinking, we’re good at gathering stuff, right? And Sam has always been kind to us, so we could lend him a hand”. Molly smirked. “‘Sides, we might find something that won‘t be missed, and nobody will complain if we take the leftovers, right? Think about it!” The cagey burglar paused. She looked at their trusty stack of books, which had been moldering at their house ever since she found them too close to an open window. “Books, tools, trinkets, jewelry...”
“He said something about looking far and wide”, she continued, “so I rode out this morning and put some signs up. At the boards by the inns, by the wanted posters at the stables... Y'know, here and there”. Collapsing in her chair, Molly dusted off her pants. “Riding all over is tiring, I need me some pie!”
Trotting off to the kitchen, Cally quickly returned with a stack of freshly baked apple tartlets, some lemon biscuits and a pot of lavender tea. As she watched her sister devour the first of the three tarts in her plate, she wondered, already packing her stuff. “Where to first, and when?”
Molly's eyes glimmered with promise. “Needlehole, Thursday”, she responded, biting into the second tart.
