where Matt and Mrs. Flowers and Meredith are. I'm sorry."
"No, I'm just so glad to see you! Oh my God, but you're hurt."She was looking at the smal tooth wounds on Elena's arm, and the blood on her torn T-shirt. "I'l get out and - hey, no, you get in! There's plenty of room; plenty of hot water, and... plenty of clothes! Lady Ulma even designed some for us, for 'when we came back'!"
Elena, smiling reassuringly at the bath girls, was already stripping as fast as she could. The tub, which was big enough for six to swim in, looked too luxurious to miss and, she reasoned, it made sense to be clean when you greeted your hostess.
"Go have fun,"she shouted to Stefan. "Is Damon here?"she added in a whispered aside to Bonnie, who nodded.
"Damon's here, too,"Elena caroled. "If you find Lady Ulma, tel her Elena's coming, but she's getting washed up first."She didn't actual y dive into the pearl pink steaming water, but she got onto the second step down and let herself slide from there.
Instantly, she was immersed in delicious heat that seeped straight into her body, pul ing some magic string that relaxed al her muscles at once. Perfumes suffused the air. She flung her wet hair back and saw Bonnie laughing at her.
"So you got out of your hole and you've been here wal owing in luxury while we've been worried sick?"Elena couldn't help but hear the way her voice went up at the end, making it a question.
"No, I got picked up by some people, and - "Bonnie broke off. "Well...the first few days were tough, but never mind.
Thank God we got to Lady Ulma's in the end. Want a bath brush? Some soap that smel s just like roses?"
Elena was looking at Bonnie with slightly narrowed eyes.
She knew that Bonnie would do just about anything for Damon. That included covering up for him. Delicately, al the while enjoying the brushes and unguents and many kinds of soaps laid out on a shelf for easy reach, she began an inquisition.
Stefan got out of the steamy room before he was soaking wet. Bonnie was safe and Elena was happy. He found he had stepped into another room, in which were a number of couches made of some soft spongy material. For drying?
Massage? Who knew?
The next room he entered had gas lanterns that were turned high enough to rival electrical light. Here were three more couches - he had no idea what for - a ful -length silvered-glass mirror, and smal er mirrors in front of chairs. Obviously a place for makeup and beautifying.
This last room opened onto a hal way. Stefan stepped out and hesitated, spreading delicate tendrils of Power in different directions, hoping to find Damon before Damon noticed his presence in the estate. The Master Key had proved that it could overcome the fact that he hadn't been invited here. That meant that maybe he could...
At that moment he got a hit, and withdrew his probe immediately, startled. He stared down the long corridor. He could actual y see Damon, pacing in the room at the end, talking to someone Stefan couldn't see behind the door.
Stefan crept very quietly down the hal way, stalking. He made it to the door without his brother even noticing, and there he saw that the person Damon was talking to was a woman wearing what looked like buckskin breeches and shirt, who had weathered skin, and a general aura of being more at home outside civilization than inside it. Damon was saying,
"Make sure there are enough warm clothes for the girl. She's not exactly hardy, you know - "
"Then where are you taking her - and why?"Stefan asked, leaning against the doorjamb.
He had the good fortune to once - just this once - take Damon unaware. His brother glanced up, and then jerked like a startled cat. It was priceless to watch Damon scrambling for a mask until he decided on the fa?ade of absent amiability. Stefan guessed that no one had ever put so much effort into walking over to a desk chair, sitting down, and forcing himself to lounge.
"Well, well! Little brother! You dropped in for a visit! How...
nice. What a pity, though, that I'm practical y running out the door on a journey, and there's no room for you."
At this point the weather-beaten woman who had been taking notes - and who had risen when Stefan entered the room - spoke up. "Oh, no, my