"Get out of the water before you get wet," Ellswyss yelled at him.

And, incredibly, he realized that the part of himself that was out of the water was completely dry. He walked to the shore and the water that covered him flowed away like water from metal.

"I thought you said you'd count to five," Ellswyes rebuked him. "You've been in there for so long, I thought you drowned."

He noticed that she didn't say anything about worrying or coming in to pick him up. He didn't explain that he was confused by her instructions, but just looked at the hat and the cane and said, "I don't understand the cloth and the stick." ”

"Magic can't be made out of nothing," Ellswys said. "That's why I said I can't give you gold. What- do you think I'm just tough? ”

Selwyn decided it was safest not to answer this question. I saw that the hair on the back of his hands was thick and black, and his hands were much wider than before. The dunk she inflicted on him changed his appearance, and also changed his clothes, making him sturdy and not just short, but darker, and—he felt his face—hooked nose. He said, "Thank you." It would be nice. ”

"I doubt it," she snorted.

Farrow landed on his shoulder. "The pilgrim and his bat are ready," he declared, "isn't this a stupid-looking photograph?" The pilgrim and his dog make more sense. ”

"A dog for six months," Ellswyes said, making an offer to Selwyn — because he was lucky — not Farrow. "And it's going to be a puppy."

"The bats are good for this pilgrim," Selwyn said.

"Then I'll see you in seven days," Ellswyes said, "in fact, since you've wasted so much time, six and a half days." ”

She didn't even wish him good luck.

Ellswis went, and Selwyn finally had no reason to call her back. He oscillated between relief and panic: relief because he no longer had to protect his head and arms from her attacks, and because he was no longer in immediate danger of haggling at the cost of more years of her service; Call the police because he is alone. Being with Farrow is no noticeable improvement over being alone.

He gathered in the dark the wild berries he could find, which left him still starving, but no longer fainting.

"What are you doing?" As Selwyn began to look for a comfortable place to sit, Farrow asked in his annoying little voice - perhaps for a nap.

"Find a place to rest until morning," Selwin said. He's spent the last two nights in mass graves, and when exhaustion turns fearful, he's got a good night's sleep on and off, so he's not fussy; He settled down on a meadow and threw away only a few sharp stones.

"Oh, that makes sense," Farrow told him. "Pay the witch by the hour, and then the first thing you have to do is take a nap."

"I'm sorry," Selwyn said. "For the past three days, you have died peacefully. I had to put up with them. ”

"Death makes you lose a lot," Farod argued. "I won't even mention the pressure of some stupid fool to turn you back into a bat. Let's see if you do better when it's your turn to die. ”

Selwyn realized uneasily how close he was to his turn. Instead of arguing with Farrow, he explained, "But I can't walk into Penrith in the middle of the night." You know them. They'll believe I'm a thief or a scoundrel or something, and they'll definitely chase me away"

Farrow didn't say anything – it could mean he agreed but didn't want to admit it.

"It's going to give us a chance to talk," Selwyn said. ”

"I'm not allowed to talk about the afterlife." Farrow grabbed a nearby branch and hung it upside down. "That's one of the conditions, before people are allowed to leave."

"All right," Selwyn slowly agreed. Thinking about it now, he couldn't believe that he had been with someone who had come back from the dead for so long, and it had never occurred to him to ask what it was like—a question that had plagued him throughout the ages. He was too preoccupied with his worries. Farrow gave him a conceited, arrogant smirk - Selwyn could even recognize the expression on the bat's lips, even those that hung upside down in the pre-dawn darkness. "Well," he repeated, disappointed—now—he couldn't ask questions he hadn't wanted to ask before. He went back to what he had to say. "Then let's talk about your enemies."

"I didn't. Everybody likes me. ”

"I didn't," Selwyn noted. "And then someone killed you. Or did you stab yourself in the back? Is it suicide after all? ”

"I don't like you either," Farrow snapped. "I'm constantly reminded why."

"This quarrel leaves us with nowhere to go. Who would want you dead? ”

Farod, head down, shrugged his shoulders.

Selwyn said, "I think it could be Linton." ”

"Linton is my cousin," Farrow protested. "Why does he want me to die?"

Instead of saying, "Because he's your cousin," Selwyn said, "Go get the mill." Linton is the eldest of Derian's sister's children, and he has been helping out at the factory for the past two years.

"Then he'll kill Uncle Derian too." The ancients seem to have suddenly realized the full meaning of all this. "Will he? Do you really think he killed me? Do you think he was going to kill Uncle Derian? ”

For the first time, Farrow didn't sound like he cared about himself. "I doubt he'll kill Derian," Selwyn assured him. "Then it's obvious that the two of you died suddenly, and people will suspect him."

"But he could wait two or three years," Mr. Farrow said with suspicion, "and then kill him." ”

"If he had waited another two or three years, Derian would most likely have died on his own," Selwyn said, "despite his old age." ”

"Well, you really are the personable guy, aren't you?" Farrow snapped. "Don't you ever think about other people's feelings?"

It's hard to imagine that a sarcastic little bat has feelings. Selwyn told himself that if Farrow was what he used to be, he would do better and not be so blunt. "I'm sorry," he said.

"My uncle Derian raised me, you know" - Farrow continued to complain - "from a time when I could barely walk or talk - when my aunt Sierra said her hands were full of Linton. ”