Chapter Fifty-Six

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“More please!” you tell the nice lady.

She’s big and plump and has brown hair tied up in a bun behind her head so that it doesn't fall into the yummy, yummy food she makes. The woman bends down a little and pinches your cheek. “Oh, aren’t you the sweetest thing?” she asks.

You look up to the nice lady and nod. It’s a very serious question, even if you think it’s not being taken seriously. But you can’t fault the nice lady for asking. In only one morning she has climbed from unimportant background mortal to the fifth most important person in your life. You watch her leave with fondness.

“Still not full?” Abigail asks as she blows the steam off of her teacup.

Everyone is gathered at one of the big round tables on the first floor of the Inn. The background mortals taking care of the wagons aren’t there, but all the fun people are around. Daphne is sitting on Abigail’s other side, slowly feeding Archibald bits of bread. Everette and Skinner are at the opposite end of the table. Everette ignoring Wuffle’s pleading gaze for more food while Skinner is frowning at a letter.

Charlotte is right next to you, picking at her eggs and ham with a fork. You hope she’ll stop and give the leftovers to you, but you’re not in a hurry. The nice lady said you could eat as much as you wanted for breakfast at her inn and you intend to make the most of that.

You’re about to explain to Abigail that even with nice lady’s greatest efforts, you still doubt she’ll be able to fill your tummy, not that you don’t appreciate the attempt, when Skinner sighs and raps the table with a knuckle. “Everyone,” he says. “We have a small problem.”

Daphne snorts. “I’m sure.”

Ignoring her, Skinner wiggles the letter in the air. “The supplier the Library Expedition club came here to visit doesn’t, unfortunately, have all the things we came to get. It seems that the bandits that waylaid us were becoming quite the thorn in the local’s side. But, they will have what we need by tonight, tomorrow morning by the latest.”

“Which means we’re stuck here,” Daphne says.

Skinner shakes his head. “Not quite. If you girls wish to leave I would understand. I’ll even allow you to return with one of the wagons. We should be able to rent another under these circumstances. Or we could find you a caravan returning to Five Peaks this afternoon. I won’t hold you back.”

“But we could stick around,” Charlotte says.

“You could, yes, and return with us tomorrow. It’s up to you,” Skinner says.

“What would we do if we just stayed here?” Abigail wonders.

“I’d say shopping,” Daphne says. “But I doubt anything in this little town couldn’t be found in Five Peaks and at better price and quality.”

Everyone remains quiet for a moment, Skinner returning to his letters as he begins to write something in a journal of sorts.

Then Everette coughs into a gauntleted fist. “Well, if it’s something to do you’re looking for, there is a board.” He points to the far end of the room where a board is mounted to the wall with bits of paper on it, each one carefully pinned with little ribbons of different colours. “I’m in the Adventuring club, which means I can take bronze and copper ranked tasks without penalty. Depending on the task it might be a bit much for one person alone.”

“That sounds interesting,” Abigail says.

“No Abigail,” Daphne says. “You are not going to do menial labour for a few marks. It’s hardly worth the risk.”

Abigail smiles at Daphne. “But you don’t even know what the tasks are yet.”

“No, but I know you. You’ll see some pitiful message about a farmer whose flock was stolen by a troll and will want to help the poor fool.”

Abigail sniffs and stands up. “It won’t hurt to at least look. And I’m sure with Dreamer and Mister Everette along I would be perfectly safe.” Abigail nods firmly, then adjusts her glasses which look ready to fly off her face at any moment.

Daphne presses her hands over her face. “Why, why is she like this?” she asked.

You pat her arm. “Because she’s Abigail.”

Charlotte stands up and stretches a little. “Well, I’m certainly ready to join on any adventure. It sounds amusing, and a bit of coin wouldn’t hurt.”

And that reminds you of something you had nearly forgotten. You jump to your feet and grab Charlotte’s hand. “Tell the nice lady to put all the food on my plate,” you tell the others at the table before you drag Charlotte to a quieter corner. She doesn’t resist at all because she’s a good friend and good friends allow you to bring them to dark places. “I made you a gift,” you tell her.

“Did you now?” she asked.

You nod and reach into another place and pull out the gift you’ve been working on all night. It was made while most of you was napping, but it’s still very pretty. “Here,” you hand it to Charlotte.

She stares at the leather-like handle and the metallic, eye-shaped pommel at the bottom. The top part that sticks out of the end is a long coil of thin whippy tentacle and near where the thumb should rest are a few little switches.

“Ah, is this a whip?” Charlotte asks as she turns it this way and that. She lets it uncoil to drape onto the floor.

“Yup!” You say. “It reads your mind to know what to hit, and if you press on the things near your thumb it changes.”

Charlotte blinks down at the whip and, carefully, pressed one of the switches. Hundreds of spikes tear out of the ropey length, some of them digging into the floor with next to no resistance. “Oh my,” she says. “Not my usual kind of whip, but this might be handy. And it reads my mind, you said?”

The whip coils itself back up into a near bundle which she inspects closer. Then your face is buried in her chest as she hugs you. “Thanks, Dreamer. I’ll be sure to cherish your gift.”

You nod and grin and then leave her hug. “Just remember to feed it,” you say as you run over to Abigail and Everette who are both looking at all the pages on the board with quests written on them. Obviously they’ll need your help picking out the best mission!