Page 38 of Geoffrey the Very Strange
"Yeah, yeah. I got it. Bring the eggs in. Bolt the doors. Keep everyone inside."
Geoffrey nodded. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Katya turned back before she reached the cobbles of the street. "You're a strange one, no question there. But you'regood, boy. You're good."
Aspic let Geoffrey lean against him as his breathing slowly returned to normal. "She's wrong, you know."
Geoffrey made an interrogatory sound.
"You're not good. You're amazing." Aspic kissed the side of his head. "Bait next?"
"I need… to think." Geoffrey sighed and sat up on his own. "There's something… I nearly have something. I just need a few moments' peace to get it to settle."
Aspic was willing to wait as long as it took for Geoffrey's thoughts to gel, but he wasn't sure they'd get more than a moment's peace.
11
Bones, Shells, and Stones
Leaning against Aspic was altogether too comfortable, which first emphasized how tired Geoffrey was and how much his body wanted to pull him down into sleep, and second, how easily his tired thoughts kept wandering off to Aspic instead of concentrating on the problem at hand.
Vine Garrain.
Aspic lying naked on a bed of Irish moss, little white flowers dotting his hair like stars.
Bait. Who in town has bones and shells?
Aspic bringing pies and making him stop work.
Hadley, the lycan butcher, will have bones. Aunt Frida might have some limestone in the back for white frosting.
Aspic taking his hand while he stumbled through the most painful apology of his life.
Ryu must have some limestone the shells missed.
Aspic's hair stuck to his forehead with sweat from lugging the shells up the hill.
Come to think of it, the jewelers will have fine bones for carving, and Talondon's probably has some to grind for garden bone meal.
Aspic's adorably horrified face when he knocked the lemonade over on Aunt Frida's kitchen goddess.
The lemonade… on the goddess…
Aunt Frida said, "Make sure you get the drops off Alphito.The acid's not good…" The little statue… The little limestone statue…
Geoffrey grabbed hold of Aspic's shirt with both fists and shouted, "Vinegar!" He leaped to his feet, thoughts jumbling in his head. "Aspic, run to Grandma! I need vinegar. And vials. And bait." He thrust a hand into Aspic's hair and waited for Sundrop to hop on. "And Sundrop! I'll meet you in the square! Please hurry!"
He took three running steps, realized he'd forgotten the most important part and called back, "Tell Grandma that it's 'vinegar rain'!"
It wouldn't be easy. There were a lot of things that could go wrong. But Geoffrey had never been as sure of a solution in his life.
It tooka full three seconds for Aspic's brain to recover from the Geoffrey shout assault. Then he ran to the bakery because he couldn't think of anything better to do.
"Grandma Tutti! Aunt Frida!" He pounded on the back door, reasoning they were more likely in the kitchen than in the front of the shop.
Lila and Marta yanked the door open and practically threw him inside before bolting it again behind him.
"What's happened?" Marta demanded. "Where's Geoffrey?"
