Beam shrugged at that. "Because I'm stupid, I guess," he said, repeating what she often called him. "I won't be too long. Sorry for making you wait."
"Hah…" Nila let out a sigh as she watched him go. He was basically just hopping. She could see from the way he was moving that he was making a sincere effort to make sure that he wouldn't ruin the stitches. She thought his consideration to be misplaced, given the state he was in.
Beam struggled his way through the square, avoiding the many people as they crowded in the marketplace. It was mid-afternoon by now, and the market was busier than it had been in some time, as people started getting in all that they needed for the winter.
Greeves' house felt an extraordinary distance away doing it on but a single leg. By the time he got there, he was drenched in sweat, and he could see faint patches of red starting to seep their way through the shirt Nila's mother had given him.
