Xandra wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but it did seem that a wizard or even a person who knew about such things as dangerous enchanted gifts ought to look at least a little bit weird. But the man who was standing on the steps of the large cabin was, at first glance, fairly ordinary-looking. Checking him out carefully as she and Belinda walked toward him, Xandra noticed that he was tall and rather thin, and dressed in a dark sweatshirt and trousers. His hair was gray and his long narrow face didn't look especially old or young. His eyes were not especially scary or threatening, Xandra decided—except that when they looked at you, it was hard to look away and even harder to remember what you meant to say and exactly how you were planning to say it. “Hello, Alexandra. I've been expecting you.” The voice went with the eyes, deep and steady. He nodded to Belinda and gestured toward a row of chairs at one end of the front porch. “Belinda, child. Bring our guest up here.” While they were climbing the steps and finding places to sit, Belinda beside Xandra, and the grandfather facing them, his eyes were turned elsewhere, and Xandra found that she was able to feel more herself.
