Excerpt:
Betony and Felix thanked the nomad, who directed them to an inn and said good-bye. The inn was called the Offal House. It was one of the circular buildings, rather larger than the others. The rooms would have made a pattern like the segments of a bisected orange but with the middle missing, for in the center was a garden. Low tables and cushions were placed in between little palm trees and flowering plants, and people were sitting on the cushions eating and drinking.

Felix and Betony copied what the other were doing and found themselves faced with a totally unfamiliar meal, consisting of a ricelike cereal with vegetables and slivers of something liverish. It was a bit on the slimy side, but it filled them up. "Paying for this is going to clean us out," said Betony. "Ironclaw…"Her voice faltered. She swallowed, took a deep breath, and went on, "Ironclaw and Thornbeack had the gold in their leg-pouches."

The next morning, Betony handed over the last of their money to the innkeeper.
"Don't despair," said Felix. "I'm going to sell my flashlight."

Betony stared at him, aghast. Then she said, "But, Felix, it's scientific. You've always said that you don't want any scientific things on the loose over here, any more than you want magical things in your world."

"The battery will run out eventually. And then it won't work anymore."
"I hope you know what you're doing."

"You've got a better idea, have you?"

Betony scowled. "No. If we're going to find the brazzles we need transportation."

"Find them? You're optimistic. Shouldn't we look for them first?"
Bethony bit her lip, and her eyes brimmed with tears. She wiped her hands angrily across her face and looked away
.
"That came out wrong," said Felix. "I'm sorry. We mustn't give up hope."
"I haven't," sniffed Betony. "It's just that I lost my necklace in the wadi, too."
Felix felt even guiltier. He'd had no idea that the shells he'd strung together on a silver chain the previous year had meant so much to her. "I'll get you another," he said. "I promise. One that will make Agrimony emerald with envy."

"It'll cost you," said Betony, with a watery smile.

"Agrimony's envy doesn't come cheap."

They made their way to the market and offered the flashlight to one of the traders. He asked a lot of questions about it, and Felix felt he had to come clean and explain that he light wouldn't work forever.

"It is like a glass offal-dish, then," said the trader. "Once it is broken it cannot be mended. How much do you want for it?"

Betony took a deep breath. "Ten gold pieces."

"Ten gold pieces?" squealed the trader. "Would you beggar me? It is better to itch all over than endure the worries of poverty. "Five."

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