The fall evening was alive with the sound of birds and insects, the background murmuring of frogs and the flap of bats as he walked along the path by the river. He walked with hands in his pockets thinking as he looked at the surface of the swiftly moving current.
He like this spot, he came her often to sit under a tree and watch the current go by, even if it was close to the old sewer entrance that made him think of a tetanus shot every time he looked at its locked gate caked with rust. He sat and laid back on the bank as he twirled a piece of grass in his hand, relaxing. Enjoying the piece of the evening, when to his surprise he heard noises behind the low fence to his side.
There was a muffled screech of metal hinges and he could pick out two voices chattering to each other.
"Do come visit me again Human, you have such interesting tastes. I should have some wares you would like and I will tell you more of my people and the dwarves. But not tomorrow, for Fridays I say quiet in honor of Yoba." The voice was odd and Harvey couldn't place its accented words.
"You know, other when it takes Yoba herself to keep you silent, for someone who doesn't get out much you sure love to chat. Maybe you should get to know some of the others round this town, not all of us humans are so scary." This voice Harvey knew, it was unmissable as the farmer's kind and melodic tones but the words were confusing to Harvey. The odd first voice came again.
"you told me before you had encountered others like me in the mines, but they were hostile to you, not like me. So how am I to know who of these town humans is another like you, and not a hostile human who would scream and attack?" They conversation continued at the gate to the sewer, but Harvey felt ill at the thought of eavesdropping like this. Fearing discovery, Harvey quickly stood and quietly as he could darted away to stand by the bridge out of earshot.
He wasn't sure what to make of the conversation that he heard, he felt guilty for listening in but also intrigued by who that voice had been. It had mentioned humans like it wasn't one, talked about other of its kind, and Harvey could tell if his brain was tricking him of if he had heard it mention Dwarves. Was this some resident of the town he didn't know about? If so, he would treat this overheard information as he would any other patient information and keep it to himself, his ethics oath as a doctor was important to him.
His head spun as he looked into the dark water running beneath the bridge and wondered if one day the farmer might feel comfortable to introduce Harvey to her mysterious friend. But until then he would do his best to keep this as patient information and keep this secret to himself.