Strange Noises Fiction by Rachel Greenham

“Anyway.” Sam clears her throat and levers herself off the window seat and edges around the cot. “Do you want to go for a walk or not?”

“What?”

“Fareis said if you feel up to it you should get up and get some air.”

I really feel too tired. “I haven’t got anything to wear,” I point out.

“Yeah you have.” She opens a cupboard recessed into the wall. I can see clothes; my clothes, that Fareis had sent me. “We brought all your stuff here. Did you actually get a chance to look through it last night?”

“Not really.”

She pulls one of the prettier dresses out and looks at it. The white one with the embroidery almost like shell markings, and a blush of pink in the wide skirt. “I hate to admit this but I think I’m envious.”

“You wear it then.”

“Wouldn’t work. Anyway yeah, there’s all sorts of practical stuff too, stuff like tunics and leggings and boots and underwearand stuff. Not the poncy stuff they sell to the local aristos, but c’mon, you gotta admit this is cute!” He waves the pretty dress at me again.

“It’s nice,” I say noncommittally.

“Oh g’wan!”

“Sam—”

“Oh y’will!”

In answer I just raise my useless hands a little.

“It’s okay, I’ll help you. Fareis did say you need to get exercise when you can.”

Still I hesitate.

“Look, I’ve been looking after you most of the last two days. There’s no point being shy now.”

“Oh that’s… good to know,” I say sarcastically.

She just grins at me. “’Sides, you’re in Jeodin. Get used to it.”

I sigh. “Okay, yeah, maybe it’s a good idea. Hey, did you say ‘underwear’?” I ask hopefully.

“For Jeodine values of.” She grins. “Undertunics, underskirts, that sort of thing,” she uses the Jeodin words for the garments, injected into the English sentence. “And one or two things that look a bit like petticoats, I suppose. I – Actually I think that goes with the dress. I saw some girl on deck wearing a combo like that earlier.” She looks at me, failing to entirely repress another grin. “’Course, it might have been a boy. Can never be quite sure with elves, can you?”

She gets a raspberry blown at her for that.