She broke into a run when she saw the small group surrounding the small women in tears. When she reached them, they still hadn't noticed her. She seized the nearest man by the shoulders and forcibly turned him to face her. He had a look of shock in his eyes and it took her a few moments of shaking to get a comprehensible sentence out of him.

"The Inn-Keeper's boy," he stuttered. "He fell in the river" As soon as those words had left his mouth, she released him and turned away to face the river. She could just see the small child floating face-up down the river. He was much closer to the other side of the river, and hence father away from the small crowd that had assembled to watch in shock as he floated away. The woman in tears was obviously his mother, due to the hysterical note to her tears. Since none of the people in the small gathering were obviously in charge the newcomer decided that she should take things into her own hands. Since her short stature would be a mark against her, she stood on a nearby rock before whistling shrilly for attention. All of the people in the sombre group turned as one to face her. They all had stunned expressions on their faces and simply stared blankly up at her.

"Does anyone here know how to swim?" The strange newcomer questioned in a demanding and authoritative voice. "Anyone?" She sighed, and jumped off of the rock. She began giving orders while removing the pack from her back and any clothing that would impede her swimming.

"You," She said pointing at one of the less stunned faces that surrounded her. "Go fetch warm, dry clothes for the boy. You," yet another face was singled out from the group. "Go to the nearest home and build the biggest possible fire in their fireplace. When we come out of the water, take us there and warm us up. If you have anything like a healer or medicine woman fetch her. Tell her to treat him for hypothermia. If she's any good, she'll know what to do." With those last instructions, she had shed the last of the clothes she was willing to part with. She piled them in a heap next to her pack and bent over to fish out the rope she kept in her pack at all times. She found it swiftly and tied one end around her waist and gave one to the biggest man she could see.

"Don't let go," she told him. And with that, she turned and dove into the river that was swifter then usual due to the spring thaw. All the villagers gasped and ran to the edge of the water. They knew that the water was much to cold for anyone to survive very long. They had thought the boy doomed and hoped to retrieve his body somewhere down the river so that he would at least have a proper burial. But then this stranger had arrived and everything had seemed just a tad brighter.