Chương 16: Bonus Chapter - The Knitting Circle

Gustav ducked behind the counter of the bathhouse lobby, pretending to rearrange something on a low shelf. He tugged at his tail repeatedly, until the sensation caused a dull ache of discomfort at the base of his spine.

"Stupid. Stupid stupid, I shouldn't have told them that." The first few members of The Knitting Circle had begun to arrive and were gossiping loudly as they awaited the rest of their fellow hags grandmas. The mousekin could hear the owlkin Gladys's shrill offended whispers as clearly as if he were standing next to her, which probably had little to do with his hearing and more to do with the fact that her whispers were about the same volume as someone talking in a noisy restaurant.

"They were right here, I tell you! The nerve of those fledgelings to raise such a ruckus in our town and not come greet their elders! Gustav said they took a private bath instead. The Gryphon Bath! I'm sure those two marched right in and demanded poor Gustav give them his most luxurious bath, with no thought for us suffering grandmas. And grandpas. Sorry Jim." The aforementioned Jim just nodded, smiling.

Gustav winced at the use of his name, muttering to himself a few more times about how foolish it was that he mentioned that Bella and Gemma had visited the bathhouse while The Knitting Circle were in the public baths. And he regretted how he had no way to resist the smug owlkin's forceful wheedling questions. I should stand back up. They're going to think I'm weird for being down here for so long. With a frantically beating heart at the thought, he carefully eased back up and peeked over the counter.

Thankfully none of the elderly patrons were looking his way. He heaved a deep sigh and stood the rest of the way up - which, to be fair, was not much with his short stature.

"Ugh. So rude," another woman, Florence, agreed. Gustav knew that she and Gladys were inseparable - both the mothers of influential merchants who worked together to corner the market on specialty spices here in Elkstone. And they were the meanest of the entire group, the most willing to force their children to throw their considerable influence around to humiliate anyone who upset them.

"They could have at least arranged a meeting with us afterwards. But no, they spit in our faces and skipped town! And after that party they threw! I had to step around the drunkards for an entire morning!" Even as he did his best to keep his smile professional, Gustav couldn't help but roll his eyes. You crazy foxkin. Your husband was one of those passed out drunks and you were so wasted you started making out with Franny in the plaza's fountain!

Franny, at least, had the good graces to stare at her feet with a bit of red in her cheeks. The mousekin had been dealing with The Knitting Circle long enough to recognize that Franny had a crush on Florence, though he'd never understood why she would be interested in such a mean woman. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Beside them, Gertrude was kneeling on one of the benches like a roosting turkey.

As if to complete the disguise, the human woman had a long narrow neck with folds and flaps of wobbly loose skin. She clucked in frustration.

"And even if they were staying at the Witch's Flagon, they didn't even have the decency to come eat at my inn! Everyone knows that Gertie's Golden Griddle and Grange is the pre mier establishment! That damned orc and elf have a quarter of my talent!" She paused, then hunched into herself a little bit.

"Though they are quite lovely. And they're so sweet with their adopted daughter too, the poor thing." The entire group murmured their assent at the last statement, expressing support for the plight of the unlikely mothers of that rambunctious little rapscallion. Jim, the only man amongst their ranks, chimed in with a softly disappointed voice.

"I just wish they had gotten to try my lemon bars." Once again the group clamored in their agreement. Even Gustav knew that Jim's lemon bars were famous across the city. The mousekin found himself watching the older man with the same eager curiosity that he always had when the Circle visited. As horrid as they can be, it's really sweet that they let Jim still join them after he transitioned and decided he wanted to stay with them instead of smoking smelly cigars with the boring old men that meet up at Gertie's.

I hope anyone that finds out about me is that okay with it. Blinking, the bathhouse keeper realized he must have been staring because Jim was walking straight towards him. He let out a quiet eep, ears quivering slightly in distress. Stupid, stupid! I let him catch me! But instead of chastising him, Jim reached over and placed a few pieces of candy on the counter before squeezing Gustav's shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry, big guy. Anyone gives you trouble about you being a guy, send 'em our way and we'll raise hell." Despite his quiet voice, it was apparent Gladys was listening because Gustav could see her nodding over Jim's shoulder.

"You're an important member of our town and deserve as much respect as anyone else." Snuffling and trying to not show the tears in his eyes, Gustav swallowed hard but couldn't manage any words. Instead he nodded slowly, his teeth biting hard into his lower lip. Jim just winked and returned to the rest of the Circle. Gladys's voice was already raised once more, huffing as she repeated her first point about how they deserve respect too.

"Really, we ought to teach them a lesson. Heroes or no, they need to show deference to their elders. I'll be having my daughter write a very firm letter to the Countess about banning them from town until they come and apologize to us." She snapped her beak with satisfaction at the idea, preening at the agreeable responses from her compatriots. Gustav shook his head with confusion. Goddesses save me. How can they be so supportive of me and show such disrespect to the heroes that saved the entire world?

And how could the heroes come apologize if they're banned from town? Ugh. I hope the rest of the Circle shows up soon so they can go into the bath and leave me alone.