Fabulous Beast Read Online Free PDF Page B

it would be dangerous?” she countered roundly. “Heavens, I was about to do the exact same thing. A few minutes earlier and it would have been me who got attacked.”
    The level glance he gave her was suddenly unreadable. “How did you happen to wander into that alley when you did?” He dug into his grapefruit.
    “I was following a sign on the wall outside which said there was a sculptor’s studio at the other end,” she explained easily. “I had already found the most interesting little wooden dragon at another shop, and I was hoping to find something else equally fascinating before I went back to the ship. You never can tell what will turn up at little, hidden shops.”
    “What sort of things do you collect?” he asked curiously.
    “Things like this,” she said, holding out her hand to display a ring done in an intricate design.
    Dev frowned over her fingers. “What is it?”
    “A sea serpent! Can’t you see the little fins and the odd-shaped head?”
    “Er, yes, now that you mention it. Uh, you collect sea serpents?” he asked very politely.
    Tabitha smiled in amusement. “I like fantastic creatures. Dragons and unicorns and griffins and harpies.
    There’s something about mythological animals that I find fascinating. I can’t really explain it.”
    “Maybe it’s because you’re part tabby cat,” he suggested softly.
    She looked up in surprise and then chuckled. “Tabby cats are hardly fantastic creatures. Quite ordinary animals, as a matter of fact.”
    “Any creature is fantastic to someone who isn’t familiar with it. If a man had never seen a tabby cat up close, he might be quite amazed when one wandered into his life.” Dev’s words were spoken in a slow, thoughtful tone.
    Tabitha stared at him in astonishment. “You’re absolutely right, you know,” she said very seriously, plunging into her favorite topic. “When the medieval monks wrote their bestiaries they had to describe a lot of creatures they had never seen. It was natural that the unfamiliar ones seemed quite strange to them.”
    “Bestiaries?” he queried.
    “Books of beasts,” she laughed. “They were books of natural history. Full of information on flora and fauna. They were serious attempts at biology but a lot of the information on animals from far-off lands got a little garbled in the translation process. Perfectly understandable, of course, given the limited methods of communication at the time. It’s rather fun to sit down with a bestiary and figure out just what kind of creature a griffin or a unicorn really is.”
    “What do the bestiaries have to say about tabby cats?” Dev’s mouth crooked into a small smile, and his eyes asked her to share the humor.
    “Not much, as I recall,” she retorted dryly. “Something about cats being useful for catching mice, I think.
    It’s a very short entry in most bestiaries. Perhaps a case of familiarity breeding contempt.” Determinedly Tabitha decided to take charge of the conversation. She didn’t care for the personal tone it seemed to be assuming. “Are you on board this ship to scout out new itineraries for your clients?”
    He hesitated as if reluctant to change the topic and then gave in gracefully. “That’s right. One of the perks of being in the travel business.”
    “Have you been in the field long?”
    “Quite a while,” he answered vaguely.
    “You must have seen a great deal of the world by now,” she said enthusiastically.
    “A fair amount,” he agreed dryly. “Is this your first cruise?”
    “How can you tell?” she asked, grinning.
    “You seem to be a little reluctant to join in with the others. I’ve noticed you a few times during the past couple of days, and you’re always by yourself.”
    She flushed. “I could say the same thing about you.”
    He looked pleased. “Had you noticed me before you encountered me in that alley yesterday then?”
    Something about the boyish pleasure in his eyes made her laugh out loud. “Yes, as a