Changespell 01 Dunn Lady's Jess Read Online Free PDF

sorted papers, waving a small stick at Eric to emphasize her words.
    In front of Eric lay Carey's saddlebags. On the floor beside his chair was Jess' saddle and bridle, the crupper and breast band, and the freshly cleaned blanket. Eric tipped his cap back to look up at her and said cheerily, "Hi, Jess. Sit, have something to eat."
    Dayna took one look at her and sprang from her chair, interposing herself between Jess and Eric to grab the open edges of Jess' borrowed blanket and overlap them, snugging them securely with the girth.
    Eric shook his head in quiet amusement. "She's safe from me, Dayna."
    "Fine. But she's got to learn."
    "Why wouldn't she know already?" he asked thoughtfully.
    Jess only followed the merest outline of the conversation and didn't have the slightest idea what they were talking about learning. At the moment, she didn't care. "Dayna," she pointed. "Eric . . ." and herself, "Lady." Then she touched the saddlebags, a caress that expressed all her devotion to the man who owned them. "Carey."
    "Saddlebags, Jess," Eric said.
    "She does that sometimes," Dayna interposed, licking a small square and pressing it onto one of the rectangular papers. "Just like all our clothes are blankets and that—" she pointed to the robe belt, "—is a girth. She might not know English, but she's got a few words she won't budge on."
    Jess' phantom tail switched in annoyance. She went through the naming routine again and then tugged at the robe on her arm. "Dayna," she named it.
    Dayna gave her a puzzled look. "You know that's not me. That's a robe—or a blanket, if you have to have it your way."
    Impatient, Jess snatched the cap from Eric's head. "Eric." The small stick from Dayna's grasp. "Dayna." The saddle and bridle. "Jess." The saddlebags. "Carey."
    "What—?" Dayna exploded.
    "Wait a minute, wait a minute," Eric said, tumbling over his words so Jess understood none of them. "I think I get it. The robe belongs to you, Dayna, and so does the pen. The cap is mine—and the saddlebags belong to someone named Carey?"
    He directed the last at Jess, who let out a sigh of relief and finally sat. She looked him right in the eye and pointed at herself. "Carey."
    "What!" Dayna repeated. Her voice had risen considerably.
    "Easy, kiddo, now is not the time to push feminist power lingo on her. I think she's really trying to tell us something."
    "What, that she belongs to someone named Carey? Slavery's out, in case you hadn't heard," Dayna said acerbically.
    "Dayna, relax, okay?" He held her gaze until she looked away and nodded, a silent language at which Jess was much more adept. Then he gave Jess his attention. "Jess . . . you understand us, don't you? A little?"
    Jess tried her first nod, a gesture she'd seen many times and finally now understood.
    "The saddle and bridle are yours," Eric said slowly, pointing at her.
    Another nod.
    "The saddlebags belong to your friend Carey."
    She thought about that a moment. She wasn't sure about friend , but . . . "Carey," she affirmed, drawing the saddlebags closer to herself. Then she reached for the bridle. The metal pieces made the comfortable homey clatter she was used to, and she folded her hand around the double-jointed snaffle to enclose the copper roller that had often entertained her tongue. She looked deliberately at Eric and touched her chest, where the old robe was once again beginning to gap between her breasts. "Carey."
    Eric retrieved his cap and thoughtfully jammed it on his head, while Dayna looked first at him, and then at Jess, before finally exploding out of the chair. "I'm not going to encourage this. The sweats should be dry by now—I'm going to get them, and get her dressed."
    Jess had snorted and shied at Dayna's sudden movement, but settled quickly. Eric was still listening to her, and she dismissed Dayna to give him all her attention. She studied him across the table, her thick hair unheeded where it had settled in her eyes. He was a tall man, rangy but without her