8.3 Dogfight

Madam Josefa was all dolled-up. She wore crimson robes embroidered with chrysanthemums in silver and black thread, and her white curls were done up in matching black pins that twinkled in the light. Her fan today was of the same shade as her robes. Even as she gave me that ominous prediction, she stood tall (figuratively, since she's only five-foot-three) and confident. She reminded me of Grandma Susana and her wealthy old lady friends who like having tea parties in gardens, or playing high-stakes mahjong in the mansion. I could easily imagine Madam Josefa in that crowd, and I wondered if she and Grandma Susana weren't already friends. 

I glanced at her escort, dressed in his trademark white racing suit, with his initials emblazoned in bold black letters on his chest. 

I haven't seen him in months. Elves are naturally tall and leanly built, but Colin was more on the short and stocky. He was only six feet tall, and in my five-inch platf