"Strange news in the village today," Olivia commented at dinner as she brought a pot of soup to the table and began dishing it out. "Three boys came wandering into the market at noon, looking quite drunk and unsteady. They were covered in bruises and scrapes, and were babbling something about 'snake in the meadow'. Have you ever heard something quite as strange?"
"How very unusual," Luke commented, neatly picking a carrot out of his soup.
"'Snake in the meadow', eh?" Katherine remarked. "Luke, isn't that what the village boys used to call you when you were younger?"
Thomas gave a bark of laughter. "I remember that. It was the O'Flannery boy and his two friends, wasn't it? I only wish I could've joined in."
"Shut up, oaf!" Luke snapped.
"Enough!" Olivia said sharply. "No fighting at the table."
"Jane, how did you get so muddy?" Gideon said concernedly as he passed his youngest daughter the bread. "I thought you were going to paint on the meadow to paint."
"Oh, I did," Jane replied cheerfully. "I had a lovely view."
"The meadow?" Katherine asked skeptically. "So, did you happen to see what O'Flannery and his friends were going on about?"
"Not at all," Jane said earnestly. "Though I rather wish I could've seen it. It would've made such an interesting piece; a snake beating up three boys at once."
"Indeed it would," Luke said dryly.
Thomas looked rather lost. "But how could a snake beat three boys? They don't have arms."
"Some do," Jane whispered to Luke out of the corner of her mouth.