“Och,” she blurted. “You mustn’t be trusting people so easily! It is not safe whatever!”
“Mustn’t I trust you, then?” asked Ian gently. “Are you not wanting to be trusted, Kelpie?”
“Indeed so,” explained Kelpie kindly. “Everyone is wanting to be trusted, because then it is much easier to fool the ones who trust them. And you may be trusting me because you have a stick over me, but it is foolish to do so otherwise.”
They looked at each other pityingly.
“Perhaps people are not so good as I would like to think,” said Ian slowly. “But I think they are not so bad as you have found them, either, Kelpie. And I would liefer trust mistakenly than to mistrust unfairly. Do you understand that?”
“No,” said Kelpie.