Kettle stepped out of the trees and onto the road’s surface. She, too, halted. For an instant, she seemed startled and muttered something. ‘Did you say Skill-wrought?’ I demanded of her. Her eyes jumped to me as if she had been unaware of me standing right there before her. She glared. For a moment she didn’t speak. Then, ‘I said “Hell-rot!”’ she declared.
