'And you know Verence got an Omnian priest in to do the Naming of young Esme?'
Again... fractionally too long, infinitesimally too silent.
'You know I put my mind to business,' said Granny. She glanced at the baby sitting on Magrat's lap.
'Why's she got a pointy head?' she said.
'It's the little hood Nanny knitted for her,' said Magrat. 'It's meant to look like that. Would you like to hold her?'
'She looks comfortable where she is,' said Granny diffidently.
She didn't know the baby's name! Perdita whispered. I told you! Nanny thinks Granny's been in the baby's mind, l can tell by the way she's been looking at her, but if she had she'd know the name and she doesn't, I swear. She wouldn't do anything that might hurt a child...
Granny shook herself. 'Anyway, if there's a problem, well, you've got your three witches. It doesn't say anywhere that one of them ought,' she nodded at Agnes, 'to be Granny Weatherwax. You sort it out. I've been witching in these parts for altogether too long and it's time to... move on... do something else...'
'You're going to hide up here?' said Magrat.
'I'm not going to keep on repeating myself, my girl. People aren't going to tell me what I ought to do no more. I know what's ought and what's not. Your husband invited vampires into the country, did he? That's modern for you. Well, everyone else knows that a vampire don't have no power over you 'less you invite it in, and if it's a king as does the inviting, then they've got their teeth into the whole country. And I'm an ol' woman living in the woods and I've got to make it all better? When there's three of you? I've had a lifetime of ought from can to can't and now it's over, and I'll thank you for gettin' out of my cave. And that's an end of it.'
Nanny glanced at the other two and shrugged.
'Come on, then,' she said. 'If we get a wiggle on we can be back at the broomsticks before dark.'
'Is that all?' said Magrat.
'Things come to an end,' said Granny. 'I'm going to rest up here and then I'm on my way. Plenty of places to go.'
Now get her to tell you the truth, said Perdita. Agnes bit down. Ought had been bad enough.
'So we'll be getting along,' said Nanny. 'Come on.'
'But-'
'But me no buts,' said Nanny. 'As Granny would have said.'
'That's right!' said Granny, lying back.
As they filed back into the caves Agnes heard Perdita start counting.
Magrat patted her pockets. Nanny patted her knickerlegs.
Magrat said, 'Oh, I must have le-'
'Blow, I left my pipe back there,' said Nanny, so quickly that the sentence overtook the one in front.
Five seconds, said Perdita. 'I didn't see you take it out,' said Agnes.
Nanny gave her a piercing look. 'Really? Then I'd better go and leave it there, hadn't I? Was there something you'd left too, Magrat? Never mind, I'll be sure to look for it, whatever it was going to be.'
'Well!' said Magrat, as Nanny darted back.
'Granny was certainly not telling the truth,' said Agnes.
'Of course she wasn't, she never does,' said Magrat. 'She expects you to work it out for yourself.'
'But she's right about us being three witches.'
'Yes, but I never intended to come back to it, I've got other things to do. Oh, perhaps when Esme's older I thought, maybe, a bit of part-time aromatherapy or something, but not serious full-time witching. This power-of-three business is... well, it's very old fashioned...'