> "There were more like it?"
> Follow!
>"There were a couple," she says, as she leads you outside, and around the house, taking you past the wing with the sagging roof. Glancing though the windows, you note the inside is mostly empty, and doesn't seem to be much better than the outside. "Not that that make or quality, though. I traded them long ago."
>Around the back, you can see that the trees are more dense here. Several of them have charms dangling off the their branches, you can't read them but you imagine they are probably designed to keep faeries away. Other trees have ropes with lengths of bamboo dangling from them, designed for chopping. Various cuts of green bamboo are placed into the ground in small stone holders, as well as a few dummies stuffed with dried grass. A fairly dense and sizeable grove of bamboo occupies much of the yard, some of it stretching a couple dozen feet into the air. You imagine Meira must have a hard time keeping it from spreading; or perhaps it has been spreading and she simply doesn't bother?
>"Have at whichever one you like," she says. "Don't worry, I have plenty more if you cut them all down."
>_
