“I’ve butted my head into things a few times,” Demetrios admits with a wry grin. “Do you remember what brought you onto my land? I cannot believe it was by accident. There are fences, and the property is posted as private.”
For a moment, Johanna thinks of pleading amnesia, but the truth comes spilling out, including the resentment that had led to her coming here to steal.
“Why didn’t you speak to me about this?” Demetrios asks when she has finished. “Had I known, I would have made an arrangement to share the proceeds with you. I did my best to make sure you received the credit. I thought it would help your business.”
Johanna flushes, ashamed. Her host lets his hand drop so he can scratch the dog behind her ears. When he speaks, Johanna has to fight the odd impression that Demetrios’ explanation is for both of them.
I’m still concussed, she thinks, amused and relieved, receptive to whatever Demetrios will say.
“You were right when you thought I had some idea the fairy apple might be special,” Demetrios says. “I had studied the parent tree, had some hopes for the genetics if properly stimulated. When I found the witch’s-broom gone, I tracked down who might have taken it.”
Johanna opens her mouth to ask how he’d managed, but Demetrios anticipates her.
“It really wasn’t that difficult,” he says. “The skills and knowledge needed to do the job are rather specialized. Then I visited your greenhouse and you pretty much told me the rest.”
“That tree,” Johanna says a touch defensively, “was not on your land.”
“No,” Demetrios agrees. “It was not, but the tree was too well established for me to move it, and I was reluctant to forgo my experiment.”
“I can understand that.”
“Can you?”
It strikes Johanna that Demetrios always looks slightly sad. He pauses as if considering, then goes on.
“You are interested in finding new species. You might say that I am interested in preserving the very old.”
“Heirloom varieties?” she offers.
“Yes. You might call them that. The gene pool has grown very small and very attenuated. I am always searching for traces of...”
Demetrios trails off. Johanna thinks that perhaps he has forgotten she is there, but he speaks before she can prompt him.
“From one point of view, the fairy apple was a success. However, from another, it was a failure. It is a new version, but definitely not an heirloom.”
“And the witches’-broom I saw back there in orchard,” Johanna says, “what about that one?”
Demetrios smiles.
“That one will be special,” he says.
“A new variety?”
“Oh, no. One that is very, very old.”
About the Author
Jane Lindskold is the award-winning, best-selling, internationally published author of over sixty short stories and twenty-some novels, as well as a considerable amount of non-fiction.
Among her better-known works are the six-volume "Firekeeper Saga" (beginning with Through Wolf’s Eyes), the two athanor novels (Changer and Changer’s Daughter), and the three-volume "Breaking the Wall" series (beginning with Thirteen Orphans).
Although creating novels takes the bulk of her writing time, Lindskold has always enjoyed writing short fiction, because it provides fresh opportunities to explore different types characters and themes.
A former English professor, Jane Lindskold has been a full-time writer since 1994. She currently resides in New Mexico with her husband, archeologist Jim Moore, assorted small animals, and a garden that keeps her busy enough that it should qualify as another pet.
Also available from Obsidian Tiger Books
Changer
for information about all of Jane’s titles, visit
janelindskold.com
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Introduction: Changing Changer
Epigram
Changer’s Daughter
Epilogue
Author’s Note
“Witches’-broom, Apple Soon”
About the Author
Also Available
Changer's Daughter Page 46
