(The story so far resides here: ofourmaker.com/2023/10/17/adolphus-search-and-rescue )

Gibbsen was interested that the girl made no reaction to this challenge, except to cling a little closer to Gareth. Mundbern began to list off certain points of suspicion:

"Her feet are cleft," he said, lowering his rod. It was true: with only four toes each, and separated almost up to the ankle. However, there was a tiny bud of a fifth toe on the side of one foot.

"She cannot stand straight," he said, indicating the weird slope of her back. It was clear now that it was structural, not simply her weakened state.

"She wears the clothing of the gluckasts," he said, tapping her sleeve, from which her blanket had slipped. There was certainly no mistaking the ugly, coarse work of gluckast cloth.

"And her ears are ribbed," he concluded, nudging aside some of her short, tangled locks with a mild invasiveness. Though not as short as gluckasts usually wore their hair, it had clearly been cut in their rough way: as if sawn off.

Gibbsen would have added that every time she spoke she used distinct gluckast turns of speech, intonation, and interjections, though it sounded quite unnatural in her bird-like voice.

Gareth lifted the girl's hand so she would glance up at him, and asked if she needed to sit down. In response she squatted to the floor. Seeing the gluckast claw still tangled in the hem of Gareth's robe, she let go of his hand and set about to work the claw free. She had all of a human girl's interest in this intricate task, but as little cleverness in it as Gibbsen would have had using his paws. Indeed, Gibbsen was sure he could do better than her with his teeth and prehensile tail. Perhaps it was because she was sick.

Harmless as she appeared, Raleigh's eyes were widened by Mundbern's suggestions.

"If she is a gluckast," he asked, "how do you suppose she has such a human form?"

"Have we not heard of creatures that change their form?" Mundbern replied.

"Yes, but not gluckasts. And I have only heard of creatures that could change to certain forms, never to any form they chose. And could such a being deceive the banshees? Gibbsen, do you think she is a gluckast?"

Gibbsen shrugged - which was difficult with his dog-like forelegs, but his long hairs accentuated the movement. In the end, what did it matter if she was a gluckast? They could simply keep her in a cage in case she was bad. But then, if she was a human... that was the more important question than whether she was not a gluckast, apparently. She had succeeded in getting the claw free of Gareth's robe, and was idly playing with the gruesome appendage as if with a bauble. Raleigh knitted his brows.

"What do you think, Gareth?"

Gareth replied, "I want her."

Gibbsen was intrigued. Maybe this meant she would be someone new for him to play with.

She was bending and unbending the weaponised gluckast fingers, when a look of recognition suddenly came to her eyes.

"Oha, this is my father's claw."

To be continued.

#dailycreatedoom #writtenoom #adolphussearchandrescue 2023/10/17