shoulder. Walking side by side, so closely that they almost tripped over each other's feet, the two left the

inn.

Flint sighed and shook his head. "More ale," he called gruffly.

"Did yousee me, Flint? Did you see me?" Tasslehoff, his face bright red, skipped back to the table. "I

stood on my head! And I didn't fall off the face of Krynn. My head stuck to the floor just like my feet do.

I guess you'd have to not have any part of you touching. Do you suppose if I jumped off the roof of the

inn?..."

"Yes, yes, go ahead," Flint muttered, preoccupied.

The kender dashed away.

"I'll go stop him," Sturm offered and left in hasty pursuit. Raistlin poked his brother, prodded him

awake.

"Uh? What?" Caramon grunted, sitting up and peering

around, bleary -eyed. He'd been dreaming of Miranda.

Raistlin raised his half-empty wineglass. "A toast, my

brother. To love."

"To love," Caramon mumbled, sloshing ale on the table.

As it turned out, Tanis and Flint did not leave Solace that summer.

Caramon had already departed for work in the early morning dawn and Raistlin was putting his books together,

preparatory to going to his school, when there was a knock on the door. Simultaneous with the knock, the door flew

open and Tasslehoff Burrfoot jumped in.

Flint had been trying to teach the kender that a knock on the door was generally conceded among civilized peoples

as an announcement of one's presence and a request to be admitted. One waited patiently at the door until the knock

was answered and the door was opened by the person residing in the household.

Tasslehoff simply could not grasp the concept. Knocking on doors was not much practiced in the kender

homelands. It wasn't necessary. Kender doors usually stood wide open. The only reason to shut them was during

inclement weather.

If a visiting kender walked in on his hosts and found that they were engaged in some pursuit in which he was not

particularly welcome, the visitor could either sit in the parlor and wait until his hosts showed themselves or he was

free to leave -after ransacking the dwelling for anything interesting, of course.

Some uninformed people on Ansalon maintained that this custom was followed because kender had no locks on

their doors. This was not true. All doors to kender dwellings had locks, generally a great many locks of differing

types. The locks were only used when a party was in progress. There was no door knocking at these times. The

guests were expected to pick the locks to obtain entry, this being the major form of entertainment for the evening.

Thus far, Flint had trained Tasslehoff to at least knock on the

door, which he did, generally knocking on the door as he opened it, or else opening it and then knocking on it, as a

way to loudly announce his presence in case no one noticed him.

Raistlin was prepared for Tasslehoff's arrival, having heard the kender shouting his name breathlessly six doors

down and having heard the neighbors shout back to ask if he knew what time of the morning it was. He also heard

Tas stop to inform them of the correct time.

"Well,they were the ones who asked," Tasslehoff said indignantly, swinging inside with the door. "If they didn't

want to know, why were they shouting like that? I tell you" -he fetched a sigh as he settled himself down at the

kitchen table- "I don't understand humans sometime."

"Good morning," said Raistlin, remo ving the teapot from the kender's hand. "I will be late for my classes. Was

there something you wanted?" he asked severely as Tasslehoff was reaching for the bread and the toasting fork.

"Oh, yes!" The kender dropped the fork with a clatter and jumped to his feet. "I almost forgot! It's a good thing you

reminded me, Raistlin. I'm extremely worried. No, thank you, I couldn't eat a thing. I'm too upset. Well, maybe a

biscuit. Do you have any jam? I-"

"What do you want?" Raistlin demanded.

"It's Flint," said the kender, eating the jam out of the crock with a spoon. "He can't stand up. He can't lie down

either, or sit down for that matter. He's in extremely bad shape, and I'm really worried about him. Truly worried."