CHAPTER THREE

“Sven! Rolf! Sven! Rolf!” Yumi continued in her boisterous giddiness as she hung on to Rolf and hugged him tighter, swaying from side to side.

“Ack!” Rolf cried. “Get off me! We don’t have time for this!”

He struggled ineffectually to get her off him. Eventually, Yumi let go and slumped to the floor in a giggling, drunken heap.

“I love you guys!” she hiccuped.

“Phew!” Rolf said then, fanning the air in front of him with his hand. “You reek, girl! Just exactly how many barrels of alcohol have you been drinking?”

“Heaven’s Beard!” Sven exclaimed with a grin. “I can see the fumes coming out of her.”

Yumi giggled again. “I wasn’t drinking. I was celebrating.”

“Too much from the looks of it,” Rolf stated sternly. “You’re drunker than a fish in a wine barrel. You need to get your ass of to bed and brace yourself for one hell of a hangover in the morning.”

Yumi sat up straight and slowly raised her right hand. Her hand wavered in air momentarily as though she was looking up at multiple Rolfs before pointing in the wrong direction.

“No,” she declared. “Shows what you know. I don’t get hungover. The trick is burning it all off before it starts to hurt.” She hiccuped. “Besides, I’m not drunk. You’re drunk! There. See? You’re swaying so badly there’s three of you.”

Sven bent down to pick her up and help her back on her feet.

“Now, now, Yumi,” he said. “I think you’ve had enough. On your feet now. There you go. That’s a good girl.”

He turned thus to Rolf and commented, “We better take her room before we leave town.”

“Yeah,” Rolf agreed with a sigh. “I suppose there’s no helping it. Hey, Yumi, where you staying at?”

“Noooooooo,” Yumi protested. “You sound like the guys at the other taverns! I wanna drink some more!”

She turned and waved to the barmaid.

“Hey, Bella!” she shouted out loud. “More ale! Get some for Rolf and Sven, too! Time to get this party started! Wooo!!!”

And that’s Rolf when remembered Severin.

“No, wait!” he blurted out. “Not so lou--”

“Ah, Rolf, Sven, there you are,” Severin called out as he approached them. “Just the men I’d been looking for.”

“Oops,” Sven murmured.

Rolf buried his face in his right palm and slowly shook his head.

Damn it. They got distracted. He was right. She was bad news after all.

“And more cheese!” Yumi added.