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Caydock

Caydock

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The following day Jonathan arrived in Aridy. The young merchant was sitting in his laden wagon, holding his horse’s reins lightly with one hand as the animal navigated the rough road docilely. When the first hut came into sight Jonathan groaned. He despised this town. No one spoke, laughed or greeted him. Not a single child ever played in the street or woods and, horrors of horrors, there was no tavern. The only normal person in the entire village was Rowan, who appeared to be a few years younger than himself. Jonathan enjoyed the youth’s amiable nature and somewhat sarcastic sense of humor; he was the only reason the merchant continued to come to Aridy.

A sudden jolt caused the entire cart to jerk and Jonathan lost his balance, wind-milling his arms wildly in an effort to stay atop his perch. The wagon stabilized and he breathed a sigh of relief, not liking to think about what could have happened had he fallen under the wheels.

“Hello, Jonathan.”

Jonathan yelped and twisted violently, peering over his shoulder. Speak of the devil, there was Rowan, sitting amongst his merchandise.

“Rowan!” Jonathan cried, “don’t give me a heart attack! And get out of my stock!”

Rowan complied, standing on the wooden edge of the wagon with perfect balance, a fact that annoyed Jonathan as he remembered his desperate attempts to stay on the seat only a few moments before. He realized the jolt had been Rowan leaping into his wagon and said, “And don’t jump into my wagon like that! You almost pitched me under the wheels!”

“Well sor-ry,” Rowan said, stressing the word in a joking manner. He hopped lightly off of the wagon and landed easily on his feet without the slightest effort.

“You’re such a show-off.”

“Why?”

“Because…well because, that’s why.”

Rowan laughed. “Come by our house first?”

“Sure.”

01-Feb-2011 21:01:37

Caydock

Caydock

Posts: 6,279 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
The two men went along the road, one walking, the other riding, in companionable silence. Jonathan glanced around the town, noting that the damaged huts were in even worse repair than when he had last been here and he pulled a face. Rowan saw it and chuckled, “Ridiculous, isn’t it?”

Jonathan nodded, “Why don’t they fix them?”

“If they wanted to fix their homes they’d have to come outside.”

“Makes sense.”

“No it doesn’t.”

“Yeah…you’re right.”

By this time they had reached Rowan’s family’s hut and Jonathan hopped off his cart, stretching his back by bending backwards on tiptoe. A loud pop ensued and the merchant sighed gustily, “Ah…that’s better.”

Victory, who was still fastened to the hitching post, neighed a greeting to the older cart-horse. The elder animal merely grunted in return, shaking its head to ward off flies.

Rowan peered into the contents of the cart and frowned, “Not much this time around, is there? All the good stuff is gone.”

Jonathan shrugged carelessly, “Aridy is the last village on my route. It doesn’t take much brainwork to guess why. Anyway, the Tarasans went on quite a shopping spree yesterday, so I’m almost out. I’m going to be heading back to Lioper tomorrow in order to restock, although the trip will take a couple days.”

Rowan did*’t say anything, but his heart beat faster. Jonathan was going to Lioper? If the merchant would agree to take him along he would see the world!

Jonathan leaned against his cart and waved his hand at the hut, “Whenever your parents are ready they can come out and look through my items.”

Nicodemus and Robin came out shortly and after exchanging quiet pleasantries, they began to sort through the merchandise.

They searched on in silence until Robin found a halfway decent pot mixed in with the paraphernalia. After a whispered conversation with her husband, she turned around and declared, “I’ll take it. How much do you want?”

01-Feb-2011 21:04:24

Caydock

Caydock

Posts: 6,279 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Jonathan shrugged, “It’s yours. No one was interested in it in the other villages and there’s no way I’ll be able to get a good price on it when I auction off the remainder of my stock at Lioper in a few days.”

Nicodemus nodded his thanks and Robin went back into the hut to place the pot on the table.

Nicodemus was now searching through the front of Jonathan’s wagon, right behind the seat. This section was much more orderly than the ragtag fair in the back and it consisted of the necessary items for all villagers. Seeds, crossbow bolts, arrows and food, which included sacks of dried corn, beans by the bagful and strained pig meat. He selected a small bucket of cabbage seeds for the little family garden, which was located next to the house, and a few bags of beans. Rowan hid a grimace. It seemed he had lived his whole life eating nothing but beans and tough, stringy pig.

After a few minutes, Robin returned and Rowan tried to catch her eye, waggling his head at the merchant. Unfortunately, she did*’t get the hint, or chose not to. Rowan decided his parents took joy from provoking him to impatience and he resolved to hold his tongue, rather than taking the bait and looking immature in front of his potential employer.

Jonathan cleared his throat and stepped forward, digging around through his cart. “This piece here,” he held up an iron spatula, “is in fine condition and I can guarantee it will not break. Watch closely.” Jonathan lifted the spatula above his head and threw it, spinning end over end, at a nearby tree. The implement collided with the tree and snapped cleanly in two, one end ricocheting off into the woods and the other falling to the ground.

A stunned silence presided over the four until Rowan snorted loudly and, pretending to cough, buried his face into his arm. Nicodemus and Robin were silent although a hint of a smile might have played around Nicodemus’s mouth.

01-Feb-2011 21:07:56

Caydock

Caydock

Posts: 6,279 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Jonathan flushed crimson all the way up to the roots of his brown hair and he scratched his neck furiously. Turning to his horse, which had been standing obediently without a rope he said, “Well if that’s all you folks will be wanting, I’ll be off.”

Rowan looked at his parents imploringly, his eyes darting from his parents back to the departing merchant frantically. “He’s getting away!” he whispered, “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

Robin looked at him and, in an annoyingly, and most likely purposefully, loud voice said, “Rowan, can’t you ever be patient? Jonathan, will you wait a moment?”

Jonathan turned at the sound of his name and shrugged, still feeling the sting of the accidental breaking of the spatula.

Nicodemus’s gruff voice addressed the merchant, “Jonathan, Rowan has a question for you.”

Rowan would have normally brought up the topic himself but his parents had made it clear that they would initiate the conversation. While he did*’t particularly like that situation, which made him feel as though they were trying to baby him, he seized upon the opportunity his father had created.

*I don’t know if you’ve heard of it or not, Jonathan, but the king is holding a tournament for the best warriors in the land, starting in just under three weeks. My parents have said that I may take part if I pay my own way in. The entry fee is two silver pieces and I don’t have any way of making that money.”

Jonathan had an idea of what was coming and, although he berated himself for it, he was hoping that he was right. “And?” the travelling salesman said, prompting Rowan to continue.

“Do you like company?”

Jonathan was pleased with the turn of events. He liked Rowan quite a bit. But Jonathan now sensed a perfect opportunity to get back at Rowan for showing off previously and laughing at his spatula mistake.

01-Feb-2011 21:08:54

Caydock

Caydock

Posts: 6,279 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Jonathan decided to fill in the blanks in Rowan*s question himself, but he used a slightly condescending tone, “You mean do I like company that I would pay to help me run my business until the tournament? Company that I would have to watch at all times to make sure this so-called company doesn’t get themselves killed by a wild animal or fall off of a cliff?”

Rowan did*’t like the way Jonathan had phrased that sentence and he said huffily, “I can take care of myself just fine, thank you.”

Seeing the grin on Jonathan’s face, Rowan realized that the merchant had been pulling his leg. An answering smile spread across Rowan’s face. “So you’ll take me with you?”
Jonathan pretended to think, “Well let’s see*You can’t just tell me that you’ll work hard and assume that I have to take your word for it. What do your parents say? Are you a hard worker?”

Jonathan saw the look on Rowan’s face and realized that the question may have been a mistake. Nicodemus opened his mouth to reply, but Jonathan cut him off hastily. Yes, he had wanted to cause Rowan some mild suffering while he waited for the reply to his request, but Jonathan did*’t want Rowan to be embarrassed by his parents needlessly.

“On second thought, yes, you can come. I’ll be glad of the company.”

“Thank you so much, Jonathan! You won’t regret it, I promise!” In in haste to lean forward and shake his new employer’s hand, Rowan tripped over a root and, whirling his arms wildly, pitched forward, slamming his upper chest and head into the body of the wagon. This in turn caused the cart-horse to neigh loudly and flick its head in alarm.

The merchant mock frowned, “I’m beginning to regret it already.”

Turning his back on Rowan, whose entire face was blushing, Jonathan swung himself into his wagon. He grabbed the reins and clicked his tongue to his horse, flipping the reins just slightly.

01-Feb-2011 21:09:53

Caydock

Caydock

Posts: 6,279 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
The ancient horse began to plod in a slow circle, turning so that it faced the road. Jonathan flicked the horse just a bit harder and the cart began to roll away, heading to the nearest hut.

“Jonathan!”

Jonathan turned at Rowan’s voice, certain that another ‘thank you’ was forthcoming.

Rowan pointed at the forest, “You forgot your spatula.”
-
END OF CHAPTER TWO

01-Feb-2011 21:10:29

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