Authors: Mackenzie Morgan
Doreen stuck the paper in her pocket. “There is one thing though. I have to make four ahead of yours and my wood’s not here yet. I can order more wood, that’s not a problem, but it’ll take it a while to get here.”
Debra shook her head. “Korman has plenty of wood behind his smithy. He keeps it on hand for repairs. You can get whatever you need out there. And you know those hooks and the drip tray? He can make those for you, enough for all the planters you’ve got on your list. I’ll take him out to Jana’s and let him look at hers so he’ll know what you’re talking about.”
Doreen leaned back in her chair. “Would he be willing to trade the hooks and drip trays for five planters in exchange for your planter?”
“You mean a straight trade?”
Doreen nodded.
Debra grinned. “Are you sure?”
Again Doreen nodded.
“It’s a deal. Bring your wagon around anytime you want and pick up the lumber you need. I’ll take him to Jana’s this evening. He can get started on the hooks and trays tomorrow.”
Chapter 33
New Arrivals
Cpt. Lawrence got back from the mountain camp around lunchtime Saturday. Since he had Tyric and the two men from Tyric’s settlement with him, he took them straight to Kevin’s office and left them with Chris.
“Before we do anything else, have you had lunch?” Chris asked them.
As the other two shook their heads, Tyric said, “We came straight here.”
Chris motioned for Isak. “Isak will take you to the dining room so you can get some lunch. When you’re done, come back here. Myron will be ready to see you then.”
After they left, he went into Kevin’s office to let him know they’d arrived.
“Did they say what they want to do?” Kevin asked.
Chris shook his head.
“All right. Let me know when they’re back.”
Half an hour later, Tyric and his friends returned to the reception area. When Kevin joined them, Tyric asked, “Would you be willing to take us to Willow Branch? It’s fifteen miles up the coast from our settlement?”
“Are you thinking about moving there?” Kevin asked.
One of Tyric’s friends nodded. “I’ve got family there. It’s larger, more like a village. I’m sure they’ll have room, but before we load up, I want to be sure it’ll be all right for us to join them.”
“Could you show me where it is on a map?” Kevin asked. When the man nodded, Kevin took them into his office to the big map of Camden on his wall. “Where do you want to go?” The man pointed to a dot near the top of Heron’s Gulf.
“Are all three of you going?”
When they nodded, Kevin held out his arms and told them to hold on. Before he turned the key, Kevin glanced at Chris. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
They emerged from the energy field on a road right outside the village. All three men were doubled over, but Tyric recovered quickly. While the other two concentrated on breathing, Tyric asked, “Are you going with us?”
Kevin shook his head. “Things will be easier for everyone if I’m not involved. Do you think you’ll know what you’ll want to do by this evening?”
Tyric shrugged. “I don’t know. We may move here or we may go somewhere else, but no matter what we end up doing, we need to go back to our place first. Most of my stuff’s packed, but they’ll need to pack theirs. I hope we can borrow a wagon and a horse from someone. Mine’s missing, not that I’m surprised.”
“You need to be at the castle when your wife gets there Monday.”
“Let’s say I’ll meet you at my house Monday. I doubt we’ll be done by then.”
Kevin nodded. “Then I’ll see you Monday morning at your place.”
By then the other two men had recovered, so Kevin wished them luck, told them he’d see them Monday, and left for home.
~ ~ ~ ~
Saturday evening Kevin and Nikki went down to Doreen’s a little earlier than usual. Rhianna was still outside working on the garden areas when they got there.
“I wasn’t expecting you so soon,” Rhianna said as she stood up and dusted off her hands. “Give me a minute to put this stuff away and I’ll be ready to go.”
“Have you eaten?” Kevin asked.
“Dinner? No, but that’s all right. I had a late lunch, and besides, Blair always has some leftovers. I’ll grab something later.”
“Are you sure? We don’t mind waiting.”
“I’m sure.” Rhianna stacked her tools in her wheelbarrow and rolled it towards the shed. “How do you like our new wheelbarrow?”
“It’s nice. Where did you get it?”
“Wrenn brought it by earlier today. He said he had a couple and figured we could use one. Personally, I think it was Jana’s way of paying Doreen back for the planter.”
“Could be.” Kevin looked at the wheelbarrow a little closer. “Looks new.”
“I think so too, and so does Doreen, but what can you do?”
“Say thank you.”
“That’s what we did.”
By that time, the wheelbarrow and all her tools were stored in the shed. As they headed back towards the road, Kevin asked, “So, how was your day?”
“Funny you should ask,” Rhianna said, grinning. “We have to make another planter.”
“How many does that make now?”
“Five. We have to make Blair’s first, then Allisandra’s, Danyelle’s, Callie’s, and Debra’s. The wood’s holding us up. She’s ordered plenty, but it’s not here yet. We’re hoping it arrives soon, but in the meantime, Debra told Doreen to take what she needs from Korman’s shed behind the smithy. But Doreen’s hesitant to do that because he might have plans for his lumber.”
“She could borrow some and replace it when her shipment comes in.”
“That’s what I said.”
“Do you want me to talk to him?”
Rhianna shook her head. “She can do it. And if she doesn’t, we’ll wait until her shipment comes in. It shouldn’t be much longer.”
“Has she decided what she’s going to charge for these planters?”
“So far, the only two she’d charge for are Callie’s and Debra’s, and she worked out trades for both of those. She’s doing Callie’s in exchange for some lunches and Debra’s going to get Korman to make all the metal hooks and drip pans in exchange for hers.”
“She might need to think about a price. She’ll probably get more orders once some of the other women see them.”
“I hope she does. From the little she’s told me, she felt out of place when she first got here, like she had nothing to contribute, but now, with people liking her work, she’s feeling a lot better about everything.”
“Good.”
“While I was at the castle yesterday, Cryslyn told me some of the women at the castle have been watching me work with the pages. They asked her if I could teach them how to handle a dagger too, as well as some basic self-defense. What do you think?”
“Are you interested in doing that?”
“I can’t say how long I’ll be here, but while I’m here, sure.”
“I know Darrell wanted to set up something like that a while back. If you’d like to do it, talk to him and see what the two of you can come up with.”
Rhianna nodded. “You haven’t told me how things went when you took Eryn home yesterday.”
“Sorry. I had a meeting to go to last night, and that was the main thing on my mind while we were walking.”
“Did your meeting go well?”
Kevin nodded. “It was with a gnome I’ve worked with before. If nothing else, meetings with him are fun.”
“I bet. So how did things go when you took Eryn home? Did you meet Dougan?”
Kevin took a deep breath and nodded. “He’s not too happy with me.” He told her about Dougan’s reaction to the fact Marshall had stayed in Milhaven. “He insisted on coming here for a visit since Marshall doesn’t want to go to Farragon. I’m all in favor of them coming here to see Marshall, but the way he tried to force the issue made me wonder if it’s a good idea. I’m supposed to pick all three of them up Friday right before lunch.”
“Do you want me to go with you to pick them up?”
Kevin hesitated. “I don’t think so, but I’d love for you to be at the office when I bring them back. Things could get messy if Dougan has to deal with me. He sees me as his enemy, and I’m not, but I’m out of my depth with that man.”
“You’re not out of your depth, you’re in a totally different pond.”
Kevin frowned. “I guess that’s the best way to look at it. I think he blames me that his daughter and grandson were captured in the first place.”
“He probably does. Humans captured them, humans sold them, and humans enslaved them. You represent humans.” Rhianna shrugged. “There’s not much you can do about that.”
“So what do I do?”
“Let me handle Dougan. I think things will go a lot better if you step back, like you’re only there for transportation.”
“Like Chris did at the council meeting.”
Rhianna nodded. “I may have met him before, but even if I haven’t, he’ll know I’m a warrior elf. He knows there’s no way I’d stand by and let his grandson be anybody’s slave. The fact that I’m here at all should remove the slave idea from his head.”
“Would it? He lives in Farragon and he works with the local army units along the coast. Most coastal army units use slaves to fill out the unit. I can’t say for certain they do in Farragon, but I imagine they do. If having a warrior elf around guaranteed no slaves...”
Rhianna paused. “You may be right.” After a moment she shrugged. “Maybe I should stay at the castle while he’s here and keep an eye on him. Might make it easier for everyone involved.”
“I’m so glad you said that. I wanted to ask you to but I was afraid you’d take it wrong.”
Rhianna shook her head. “It’s only for a weekend. Don’t worry about it. We’ll get through it.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Sunday morning after his sparring practice with Glendymere, Kevin stopped by Kyle’s. The dogs spotted him as soon as he emerged from the energy field, and although a few were completely focused on Kyle, most of the others ran over to say hello. After a dozen ear and belly rubs, Kevin joined Kyle where he was working with some dogs who would one day be herders.
“Hi,” Kyle said. “Give me ten more minutes and we’ll be ready for a break. Why don’t you go on inside and fix some tea?”
Kevin nodded and turned back towards the house. Fifteen minutes later, once he and Kyle were seated in the kitchen drinking tea, Kevin said, “You were right. Marshall has elven blood in him. His grandfather’s a warrior elf.”
“Which one?” Kyle asked. “I may know him.”
“Dougan.”
Kyle shook his head. “Don’t think I’ve run into him before.”
“Dougan’s his mother’s father, so legally Marshall’s no more elf than we are, but it explains his affinity for animals.”
“How did you find out?”
Kevin told Kyle about Marshall’s comment about Rhianna’s eyes and how that lead to rescuing Eryn, his mother. “Eryn’s back with her father and husband, but Marshall didn’t want to go, so I didn’t force the issue. Neither did Eryn for that matter.”
“I’m surprised she let him stay,” Kyle said.
“I was afraid she might try to force him to go home, and so was he, but she didn’t. She did ask me to look after him and let her visit him once in a while.”
“What about his father?”
“His father didn’t seem to have as much problem with it as Dougan did.”
“Are we going to have trouble with him?”
“I hope not. Marshall’s afraid he might though. He doesn’t want to go to Farragon to visit because he’s afraid his grandfather might not let him come back.”
Kyle frowned. “How could he stop him? You’ve got a key.”
“That’s what I said, but Marshall’s afraid if he goes to Farragon he won’t be where I left him when I come back to pick him up, that Dougan will take him someplace where I can’t find him.”
“He could be right.” Kyle thought for a moment. “Marshall likes working at the castle.”
Kevin nodded. “He likes working in the stable. When Neiven told him Watson was his horse, you’d have thought he’d given the boy the world. And he adores Nikki. Neiven said we need to think about getting Marshall his own dog when Nikki gets a little older.”
“Doesn’t Marshall live with Neiven?”
Again, Kevin nodded. “I think that was Neiven’s way of saying it’s all right with him for Marshall to have a dog.”
“Do you want me to give him one now?”
Kevin shook his head. “His parents might see it as a bribe, but maybe by the end of the summer.”
Kyle nodded. “I’ll keep my eye out for a good one for him.”
“Thanks.” Kevin drank some of his tea. “I want to ask you something.”
“What?”
“I can’t get Marshall to take any time off. He’s been at the stable every day since he first started working there except for when he was up here with you. I had Chris talk to him about taking a day off every week, but Marshall wasn’t interested. He said his job is more like fun than work, that he’d rather spend his time with the animals than do anything else.”
Kyle laughed. “I feel the same way. And I bet if you ask Shadron, he does, too.”
“But I still want him to take a break, get away for a bit, and I think the only way he’ll do it is if I bring him up here or take him to Shadron’s.”
“It would be a change of scenery. When do you want him to come?”
“His parents and Dougan are coming for their first visit this Friday. I don’t know which would be better, to give him a break before they get here or after they go back.”
“If you wait until afterwards, I can find out how he felt about it. But if you tell him before this weekend, his parents might think you’re trying to bribe him, same as if we gave him a dog,” Kyle pointed out. “Let’s wait until they’re back in Farragon. Then, sometime during the next week, come pick me up and I’ll ask him if he wants to help me work with these herders. He hasn’t done any training other than the basics with Nikki.”
“All right,” Kevin said. “A teaching vacation. That sounds good. And if this one goes well, I’ll talk to Shadron about teaching him how to train horses. If he wants to spend his life working with animals, he might as well learn how to do it right.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Sunday evening Kevin went to Rainbow Valley to pick up Laryn and Steve. While they got their stuff together, and Torrey packed up some sweets for Chris, Kevin and Warren went for a walk around the valley.