"Oh, no, Mom's still alive," she said, shaking her head. She was quiet a second while she scraped the cooked poultry into the gravy. "She's a traveling merchant, and our primary supplier of products from the outside world. She was staying in town for a week or so, then showed back up a couple months later to inform Dad that I was on the way." She laughed a little. "I wish there was a way to have captured an image of the look on his face when he was told, like the Slate can do."
Then she set the still hot skillet that had the bird in it onto a heating element that wasn't on to cool off. "She stuck around long enough to have me and get me weaned, then took off. She was going crazy, stuck in one place. She was born on the road, she'll die on the road. Besides, from what I understand, she and Dad make better friends than lovers. Having them stuck under one roof apparently soured the joy of my infancy for them both. But even though she loved me and wanted me, she was going to suffer trying to stay caged in town, and she does a lot more than just wandering the well-traveled paths, way too dangerous to have taken a toddler along with her. So I stayed here with Dad."
She smiled. "I'm just as glad, honestly. If I lived with a mother who was miserable all the time because she had to live a way she didn't like because of me, I'd feel guilty, and I'm happy here. I honestly don't think I would've liked being out on the road. I like the stability of living in town, and I'm going to be taking over the store when Dad retires. Besides-" her smile turned absolutely wicked, "-I wouldn't live right across the road from Sophie if I were out there, and that'd make me mighty sad."