The Illegitimate Claim by Lorie O'Clare Page B

narrow windows allowed what little light there was in the unadorned room,
    as Meah walked slowly toward a simple altar at the opposite end of the temple. There
    were long wooden upright benches on either side of her and she wondered if Taratown
    had enough believers in Crator to fill the room. The ceiling was high and vaulted and
    two low-hanging ceiling fans moved slowly, offering little relief to the hot, sticky
    morning.
     
    “Mama, it’s the dog-woman.” Tory pulled on the thin material of her pant leg.
     
    Meah looked around the quiet area before she realized her son pointed to a large
    painting that hung on the wall toward the front of the temple. Tia tugged on her
    opposite pant leg, and Meah looked down at her daughter who pointed to the opposite
    wall. There hung another painting of the dog-woman. One of the paintings was of a
    large dog, sitting and facing the painter. The other picture was of the old woman
    herself. Meah walked with her children at her side, and studied one of the pictures
    before turning to study the other. She was impressed by the painter’s ability to capture
    the compassion in the old lady’s face, and the wisdom in the dog’s eyes. The strokes
    were long and thick and the color rich. They were wonderfully done, and she couldn’t
    imagine who in Gothman could capture the inner beauty of the dog-woman in both her
     
    forms.
     
    “I never understood why they’d want to hang pictures of me in Crator’s temple.”
     
    Meah turned quickly to see the dog-woman sitting on one of the upright benches.
    Paleah stood several feet behind her in the middle aisle looking somewhat distracted.
    She was unaware of the dog-woman’s presence. Well, Meah thought to herself, she might
    as well get accustomed to this part of me now.
     
    “Don’t let the paintings fool you, child. Beauty is only skin deep. It’s what’s inside
    that counts.”
     
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    The Illegitimate Claim
     
    Meah sat down next to the dog-woman, while Tia climbed onto the old woman’s
    lap. “If that is true then I would say you are the most beautiful woman in all of
    Nuworld.”
     
    “Now you flatter an old lady,” the dog-woman said, with a rusty chuckle. “Crator
    has brought you here. You will get your wish, but you must get started right away.”
     
    “My wish…what have I wished for?” Meah whispered.
     
    “Now, if I ate your food for you and slept for you, certainly you would starve to
    death and go crazy from exhaustion.” The old woman chuckled again and then patted
    Tia before standing and walking slowly down the central aisle toward the two open
    doors. She passed Paleah who now stood giving Meah an odd look. The old woman
    stopped and pointed a crooked finger at the young Neurian. “Know her, Meah.”
     
    “I don’t understand,” Meah complained.
     
    “You don’t understand what?” Paleah wrinkled her brow.
     
    “So there are two women.” An old Runner walked into the temple from a narrow
    door to the side of the altar.
     
    Meah and Paleah turned to face the old man who approached them. Once, the man
    probably had the body of a warrior, but his barrel chest seemed to have sunk to his
    waistline. Behind him, a tall, thin Runner woman with her hands clasped in front of her
    followed slowly.
     
    “There was only one when I came to get you,” the Runner woman said
    indifferently.
     
    “Kind sir, we have just arrived in Taratown after traveling Nuworld serving Crator.
    I come to serve if you’ll have me.” Meah spoke slowly and scrambled through her
    thoughts for some kind of sign as to how she should introduce herself.
     
    “As you can see, there aren’t many here to serve.” The old Runner smiled at her and
    then down at her children.
     
    “Then that’s how I can serve. You need help bringing the people to the temple.”
    Meah wasn’t daunted.
     
    “Can you do these things?” The old Runner surveyed her from head to toe as he
    questioned her abilities.
     
    “I’ve