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spectacles as he examined Toby from head to toe. “I doubt I will be able to accommodate you . . . sir,” he murmured, with a distain that made the final word an insult.
    Toby quirked an eyebrow at him.“Well, there's no call to be rude about it. I heard you were the best, but if that ain't so, I'll take my money elsewhere.” He casually withdrew his left hand from his coat pocket, bouncing the handful of gold in his palm.
    The clockmaker's eyes lit up at the sight of the gold, and his manner completely changed. “Please, sir, forgive me. It has been a trying day.” He cupped Toby's elbow and led him to a stool beside the counter. “What is it you wished to commission?”
    Toby saw the change for what it was: his gold was accepted where he was not. He ground his teeth at the slight, wishing he could strike the man for his rejection. The thought startled and dismayed him.
    Toby pulled a scrap of paper from his breast pocket and spread it on the counter. “I would like for you to make a doll, to these specifications, with a clockwork movement that allows her to dance. The finished result should be something like this, on a larger scale.” He showed the clockmaker the dancer in her tiny room.
    “I can make nothing as grand as this,” the man breathed, watching the dancer as if hypnotized. “But I will do my best. Give me a month.”
    “Sounds good to me.” Toby laid the handful of gold on the counter. “If it comes to more than that, let me know. I'm staying up the mountain.”
    The man started. “As you wish.”
    Toby walked back to the cabin thinking about the encounter. How dare the man treat him so dismissively when he was a paying customer? It brought a scowl to his bearded features. The doll was to be a present for his little friend. When he moved on, she would still have a dancer of her own. The man’s attitude had robbed the gift of much of its joy.
    When he reached the cabin and opened the door, Heidi ran to him with arms wide. She faltered to a stop when she saw his face. “What’s wrong, Toby? Your eyes look so funny.”
    He blinked. What was it she had seen in his face?
    He hastened to reassure her, but the question haunted him for days.
    The weather grew colder before the month was out, and the snow piled high in deep drifts about the cozy cabin. The wind howled around the eaves like wandering spirits, the sun cresting the horizon for scant hours a day. Inside the cabin, fire brightened the walls and warmed the occupants. The nights were long but filled with camaraderie that warmed Toby even more than the fire.
    When the day came to retrieve the clockwork doll, Toby almost lost a foot to frostbite tramping down to the village for the dancer and back up again, but it was worth it to him when he saw Heidi's face. The awe that spread over her features, eyes widening to stars, mouth in a little “O” of wonder, lifted Toby's spirits as his foot thawed before the hearth.

    When the snow at last melted, he knew it was time to be moving on. His foot had never completely recovered, and he walked now with a slight limp, like Chester with his broken leg. Grandfather presented him with a beautifully carved walking stick the day he left the mountain. Heidi hugged him fast and made him promise to return to see the doll dance again one day. Toby promised with tears in his eyes. He had been happy here.
    But as he headed down the mountain, scratching the beard itching upon his chin, he realized he had missed the road as well. The traveling, the exploration called to his soul. He'd been stationary too long.
    Still, with his new limp, he couldn't risk remaining in the mountains. Another season in the snow might take the leg. It had been a lovely winter, but he'd better find somewhere warm before the next.
    He'd probably be barefoot by then. He would undoubtedly look shabbier than ever, but he would never be hungry. He had good money in his pocket—gold spoke across borders—and a song in his heart. He'd never