Ithelus looked askance at Lothar at the suggestion of fire-eating: before he could reply, there was the click of a door, and the little girl in question poked her head out into the yard.

Silently extricating herself from behind the door without opening it more than a few inches, she stared up at the group with wide eyes, not saying anything: barefoot and clad in pauper's clothes, she held her grubby hands behind her back, as if afraid to appear uncouth in front of the strangers. At last, she overcame her reticence, and blurted out a sentence:

"Are you looking for the raggedy monk?"