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a crooked grin
and avarice glinting in Yuka's brilliant green eyes, usually taking
them for everything that they could spare.
Naturally, some of us were skeptical about her.
Tybalt, Jonah and myself were out in the woods one afternoon,
idly tossing stones at dragonflies and discussing Anya's alleged
capabilities. Tybalt hunched over, imitating Old Giles the
Crofter:
`Well, Yuka Haneda turned me into a newt!' We sighed, waiting for the
punchline.
`... I got better...' he concluded. we snickered. Tybalt said,
`She's probably over at Arnalt's Pond, now, fishing for frogs.'
`What's Yuka Haneda want frogs for?' Jonah asked, turning over a broad,
flat toadstool with his toe.
`Didn't you know? Yuka Haneda turns them into horses and sells them at
Banbury Market.' Jonah pushed Tybalt into a bush, and they
fought, pummeling each other playfully for a while. I leaned
against a tree, lost in my own thoughts, until they both leaped on
me and pushed me into the bush.
We found ourselves only a few minutes' walk from Arnalt's Pond,
so we decided to sneak up and try to spot Yuka's catching frogs. As
we neared the pond, we made our way more cautiously, until we
could hear a clear soprano, singing:
`St
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