Note: I did not invent safe-keepers, Wodenderry, or Merendon. I borrowed Sharon Shinn's world from the Safe-Keeper novels, but the characters in this story are original.

When I was 17, I went to Merendon for the first time. I had lived all of my life in Wodenderry with my father. Father was a scholar who hated anything to do with court life, so I had never lived at court or mingled with the upper class, though many safe-keepers did. I think he thought that my job was a burden, and so he didn't do what he might have to encourage my gift. Thus, I was about as well known at 17 as I had been five years previous when I'd first taken on the business. Not that I minded much. Some took heart and soul to the job of safe-keeper-me, only moderately so.

My mother lived in Merendon with her second husband and my older sister. I'd never learned the details of why my parents had split or how I'd come to live with our father and my sister with our mother. Nor was I very curious. I was just relieved that none of my family sought me out as a confidante; it was awkward enough hearing confessions from mere friends or strangers. I couldn't imagine what I'd do if my father tried to tell me his greatest secrets.

My stepfather was a kind, but simple man, warm where my real father was lacking. Mother was gentle enough, but distant, though not in the same way as Father. Whereas he was merely preoccupied with his studies, I think Mother felt guilty for leaving me with my father all those years. Della, my sister, was thought by most to be average. I was more likely to receive a compliment on my hair or eyes than she. She

acknowledged that she wasn't very smart or hard-working. But she was funny and adventurous and eager. Her letters always made me chuckle, but I had to wince from her spelling. I was a scholar's daughter, after all.

I arrived in Merendon grumpy and determined to have a bad time. The trip had started out poorly; I'd barely gotten a farewell from my father, who'd been too engrossed in a book on geology to even look up. To be fair, I think he was upset that I was leaving him. He couldn't understand that it was obligation, not choice, that drew me away. I was among the last people who would ever desire adventure- that much I had inherited from my father. If Mother and Della hadn't come to Wodenderry every year for the giant Market Fair, I would have known them only by their letters. On their last visit, they (mainly Della) had finally pressured me into visiting and Father into allowing me.

So here I was two months later, almost in time for Summermoon. My cart ran up to the building that served double as a home and tailoring business for my other family. I noticed that Big Sammy, my stepfather, had already placed a sign in the yard advertising the services of a safe-keeper.

I was in the middle of giving the sign a good, hearty kick when someone startled me by saying "Ah…I get it. You must be a Truth-Teller." I glared at the speaker. He was very tall and very skinny. His clothes bagged in puddles at his wrists and ankles. A big nose was all that was remarkable in his face. His floppy brown hair was covered by an even floppier black velvet hat. He looked ridiculous.

"Actually I'm a safe-keeper. The safe-keeper." I pointed to the sign.

"Indeed? Well, Dina, I wouldn't want to be the one to interrupt your important work." He nodded his hat at me, then started down the road.

I stared after him for a moment before I realized why he seemed familiar. I jogged to catch up with him and he paused. A breeze passed and he seemed to sway in it slightly. Tall and thin as he was, he couldn't have been very sturdy.

"Is it often very windy like this?" I asked him, beginning to regret that I hadn't brought warmer clothes. "You're Paul, right? Big Sammy's son? You must have known I was coming." Della had told me that Paul had moved out four years ago, when he was only 15 or 16. She said he and Sammy didn't get along. I'd never met him before, but I could see a lot of my stepfather in him.

"Little Dina!" he exclaimed, as though he hadn't known who I was until now. "When did you arrive? I tell ya kiddo,"he said putting his arm around my shoulder and sweeping the other one in the air, "I don't know how you're going to stand it, what with all the exciting things Merendon has to offer." He saw me roll my eyes. "Not too excited to be here, huh? Don't worry; I'll come by soon and save you from Della- she's got tons of horrible things planned."

That felt strange to hear. He knew my own sister better than I did. Before I could reply however, he leaned in close to my face so that I had to step out from under his arm in order to feel comfortable. "Can I tell you a secret, Safe-Keeper?"

He was still too close. I took another step back. "Surely there's another Safe-keeper around here, one who's more firmly established?"

Ignoring me, he leaned close again and whispered, "Every night at moonrise, the baker sets all his leftovers on his doorstep for the taking. I personally prefer the cherry muffins." He paused a moment as I stood gaping at him, unsure if he was serious or not, then he straightened up and went on his way again, whistling.

Sammy and Della were extremely excited to see me and immediately showed me around town. Della was practically skipping. I tried not to let my moodiness show so I wouldn't ruin their fun. Mother had given me a quick kiss and hug before she returned to her work. She was more like my father than she realized.

When I mentioned my encounter with Paul at dinner, no one seemed surprised. I noticed Sam's mouth pressed into a thin line, but he didn't comment. I didn't mention the baker. Though I couldn't see it as anything but a joke, it was told to me in confidence.

"Can I tell you something, Dina?" my sister asked the next night while we were in bed. I sighed quietly- I hated being keeper for people I knew- but I told her to go on.

"I'm in love!" Her voice sparkled in the darkness. "No one else knows- I think Sammy disapproves of him-but we're planning on marrying as soon as he finished his apprenticeship. Isn't this exciting Dina?" And she proceeded to tell me all about Cohr, from his black hair and green eyes to the way her heart felt when he held her hand. When she finished, I wished her luck. As Della fell asleep, I wondered at how open and trusting she was with me; I knew that I wouldn't have been the same in her place.

I actually got to meet the wondrous Cohr the very next morning. Della and I were cleaning the floor when he stopped by to ask her to Summermoon Festival with him. He really was quite handsome, though he seemed rather stand-offish to me. Maybe it was just because he was next to Della, who absolutely sparkled around him. I imagined that I must seem extremely dull compared to her.

Paul entered the building just as Cohr was leaving. Paul stared coldly at him, but Paul merely smiled blandly at him. This time he was sporting a wide rimmed, feather-grey hat. After exchanging somewhat awkward greetings with Della, Paul turned to me. "Great day, isn't it little Dina? Enjoying Merendon?"

I glared at him. "I'm seventeen. And the weather is awful."

He grabbed the broom from Della's hand and began sweeping wildly. "I wouldn't expect a hermit like you to care much about the weather. Okay, I'm sorry," he went on without pausing, "I promised to spend time with you and I didn't." Had he promised that? I couldn't remember. "It's no wonder you're in a bad mood. You know, I heard wonders about your sunny disposition, but it seems I've struck out twice now. Well then," he said leaning the broom against the wall, "Shall we?"

Della was frowning at Paul. It seemed he didn't get along with anyone in his family, not even Della. "Quickly now, before Sammy walks in and starts yelling at me. You can come too, Del, of course. We can go climbing trees or jumping off cliffs if you like."

I looked at Della to gauge how she felt about Paul's proposition. I figured that anything would be better than cleaning. Della seemed to be thinking the same thing and told me to go. She stayed to finish the chores, though I got the feeling that it had something to do with Cohr's disapproval of Paul.

"A shame you can't join us," he said to Della, then offered his arm to me. "Shall we?" I ignored it and walked out of the shop into the gloomy, gray day.

Paul strolled out after me. "What is it, Little Dina? Do I smell?" He sniffed one arm experimentally.

"Are you always like this?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. Probably." Whistling, he started off down a street.

"So what is it we're doing?" I asked, hurrying to catch up.

"You know, I was thinking about it and it's a little cold for cliff-diving and you don't seem the tree climbing type." Well, that was certainly true. "I feel terrible, Deen. We're family, but I don't know you at all. I never visited, even though I've been to Wodenderry countless times. I don't even know if you like cheese!" he finished dramatically.

I stared at him warily. "Cheese?"

"Ah! Here we are." He halted in front of a vendor's cart and asked the man for two items. After paying the vendor, he handed me something dripping on a stick, then led the way to some nearby steps and sat down. I followed him uncertainly.

"Toasted cheese," Paul told me.

"I figured as much."

"You haven't been to the baker's yet," he told me while we ate.

"Do you only think about food?"

"Mostly. Sometimes I think about hats.

"You know, we really don't have a safe-keeper here. Our last one died recently; that's why Sam put out the sign. I'm surprised you haven't attracted more business." He analyzed my face while I fiddled irritably with my empty cheese stick. "I think it's you. You're cute enough"-I scowled to hide my blush-"but you're not really friendly. You got the looks and Della got the personality," he mused.

"That's it!" I shouted- far louder than one who keeps silent for a living should- and stormed off.

This man! It was no wonder he didn't get along with any of the family. He was horrible. I was surprised that someone as friendly as Sammy could have a son like Paul.

He found me a short while later, watching some school children play. "I don't like Merendon," I told him when he came up to me.

He considered this. "I honestly can't imagine that you're missing your father very father." He paused and I shrugged. "And you were never at court." Another shrug. "So the only reason I can find for you missing Wodenderry so terribly is that you have a lover back there. How romantic!" He put his hand to his heart and mock sighed while I blushed and vehemently denied it.

"I hope you don't take to heart what I said earlier, when you ran off," Paul said as we walked back to Sammy's. "I actually find Della to be a very attractive girl." I glared at him and he relented. "You see, Little Dina," he explained, "it's an older bother's job to tease his younger sisters."

"How unfortunate it is then that you aren't actually my brother; I guess you'll have to avoid that duty in the future," I said lightly, no longer very upset.

"In that case," Paul bent over and lightly pecked me on the mouth. He laughed as I tried to decide which emotion to focus on. It did no good to be serious with him, so I decided on mock anger.

"You creep!" I shouted, chasing him down the street while he laughed wildly. I found that I was giggling too.

"I tell ya, Deen," he said when we finally reached the house, "I haven't laughed like that in a long time."

"I find that hard to believe," I said, grinning. Paul seemed as though he did nothing but have fun.

"Give my greetings to my dear father and stepmother," he bid me, then left. By now it was nearly evening and Della was in the kitchen working on dinner. She asked vague questions about my day, but seemed uninterested in the whole. She was surprised that I'd never tried toasted cheese before. At dinner I didn't mention that I'd spent the day with Paul, and neither did Della.

"He's always goofing around," Della told me later that night when I asked her about Paul. "He's rarely serious, even around Sammy."

"Do you know why he left?" I was curious. Della had never mentioned it and I'd never cared to ask before.

"They just don't get along. I asked Mother if there was more to it, but she wouldn't say, and Sammy doesn't like to talk about him. Paul was always getting into trouble." Della seemed uneasy, so I switched the subject to Cohr. Della was soon talking eagerly and I was free to sort through my thoughts.

The next day Mother and Sammy seemed tenser than usual as they worked in the shop, serving customers and filling out orders. While we worked in the kitchen (again), Della told me why. It seemed Paul had invited himself to dinner, and everyone was trying to figure out what he meant by it. I was wondering, too, especially after what Della had told me last night.

That evening Paul walked in right on time, just as everyone was sitting down at the table. Remarkably, he wore no hat. When I mentioned this, he laughed, seemingly unaffected by the tension that had gripped everyone else, including me. Even though I knew he had been teasing me, I couldn't stop thinking of how he'd kissed me yesterday.

Conversation was stinted and awkward, even by my standards, and I had been raised with a near-recluse for a father. After the meal, Paul accompanied Della and me into the kitchen and began washing the dishes.

"Well that was fun, wouldn't you say?" my stepbrother asked us as he reached for the pot the potato soup had been cooked in.

"Why did you come tonight, Paul?" Della demanded quietly. "Mother and Sammy were very upset."

"I missed your cooking, Del. Sadly, you must have let Dina cook tonight." I shrugged. I'd never counted cooking among my talents. I was more curious about what was happening and wondered if Della would bring up Cohr. I didn't know what he had to do with Paul, but there was an obvious connection. Della didn't mention him though, and Paul left shortly after without saying goodbye to Sammy.