Trek For Survival

"Ah! Gia, Vonn! I was just hoping ye would come down!" called Bob, waving for them to come over to him. "I have a bunch o" things I need done, before the comin" festival, and there"s not enough time t" get some dwarves t" do it. Would ye be willing? I"ll wipe all debt ye have fer the time ye stay, if"n ye"re willin"?"

Vonn looked at her and she smiled. This was perfect! Nodding enthusiastically to him, he clapped his hands and motioned for them to sit before him.

"Alright, listen close," he said, leaning in as they huddled together. "The dwarves don"t mind ye, but it"s best if ye don"t linger anywhere too long. The first thing I need is some special mead from the Under-Mountain Brewery down the street. Just tell "em it"s fer me, and they"ll let ye have it. The second thing is that I"m holding a drinking contest during the festival, and need some more mugs from the Chug-Mug t" get delivered. And last of all, it"s the princess" birthday and I need a gift fer her. Do you have any ideas? It"s only in three days."

"What does the princess like?" asked Gia, thinking hard about if her father could carve anything in that amount of time.
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"Funny as it sounds, she likes ponies," he said, glancing around to make sure no one was listening in.

"My father is really good at carving those, but he would need a good piece of wood," she said, looking at Vonn.

"Then ye"re in luck! I happen to have a piece lying back here, that"s just been collectin" dust," said Bob, pulling out a chunk of wood that was dented and dusty. "I don"t know if it will work for ye, but ye"re welcome to try! I sure would appreciate it, if"n ye could."

"I"ll take this to my dad right away!" she said.

"I"ll wait on you, and get the information on these other things he needs," said Vonn.

Gia nodded and rushed back up the stairs, holding the piece of wood tight. It was such a blessing that Bob had a chunk of wood that would work just lying around! Rushing into the room, she didn"t bother to shut the door.

"Dad! Bob wants to know if you can carve this into a pony? He needs it for a gift in three days."

Tom took the chunk of wood from her and turned it around and around in his hands. Hefting it for size, and scratching at it with his nail, he held it up and sniffed the scratch.

"This is ba.s.swood! Where did he get this?" he exclaimed as excitement flushed his face and he pulled out his carving knife.

"He said it was collecting dust, so if you could use it, he would appreciate it," she said with a wide grin. "Vonn and I are going to go run some errands for him, because he said there was going to be a festival in three days that he"s trying to get ready for. If we run these errands, he was going to forgive all our debt to him!"

"That"s great to hear!" cried Carla happily. "I was so worried what we were going to have to do!"

"Anything I can help with?" asked Mikey, peeking over the bed he had turned into a fort.

"Not right now. It"s probably best if you stay up here with mom and dad. If dad needs you for anything, you can get it for him. It sounds like the things we are getting might be breakable, and I don"t need you getting underfoot."

"Oh, fine," he grumbled, ducking back under his bed.

"Be careful," said Carla, as she looked at Gia with a worried expression. "Some of those dwarves looked so mean and unfriendly."

"Don"t worry, mom. We"ll be fine," laughed Gia, leaving and shutting the door carefully. She was so excited to be able to pay off their debt to Bob, she didn"t even mind the coming work. Her dad was excited to be carving again, and her mother and brother were safe and well fed. Things were great! If only they didn"t have to leave in a few days.

"Okay," said Vonn as she met up with him at the exit. "I know where we"re going. The first stop is just down the road to the brewery where Bob needs us to pick up a small cask of mead, he ordered last year. We don"t have to worry about paying for it; he just needs it delivered safe."

She slid her arm through his, and they made their way out onto the street. Dwarves glanced their way as they walked past, but none bothered them. The brewery had a large sign hanging outside the door, of a dwarf being crushed under a mountain of kegs. The funny thing was that the dead dwarf was still smiling.

"Mead first!" screamed a woman, barreling out of the door with a small cask under each arm.

"Hey!" shouted a dwarven man, running out after her. "Guards! She"s stealin" me mead!"

Vonn and Gia stood back, against the wall, as a handful of guards came running past, chasing after the dwarven woman, who turned to go down an alley screaming and shrieking the entire time about mead.

"Stupid Khag!" grumbled the dwarf, rubbing his bald head as he kicked at the ground. "That mead wasn"t even paid for yet!"

"Excuse me, sir," said Vonn, moving a few steps closer to make sure he could be heard. "Bob, from the inn down the street, said he had some mead we needed to pick up for him?"

The dwarf looked over at them, and did a double take, before shaking his head. "I got it, jus" didn"t remember Bob hiring humans t" do his runnin" around fer him."

Gia stood back and let Vonn do the talking, as he often had to talk to people in order to sell his wood back in the city. They followed the dwarf into the brewery and stood there amazed as he fetched the small cask of mead for them. The walls were lined with bottles and small casks of every different kind of ale and mead you could think of. There were wines covered in dust, and bottles of beer lined up in wooden crates.

"Be sure ye get back with this quickly. Those crazy Khag"s are stealing all o" it before the comin" festival, t" make a point. If something doesn"t happen soon, the king may have t" step in."

"Thank you," said Vonn picking up the heavy cask and they made their way quickly back up the street.

"Do you think that feud is going to cause us any problems?" asked Gia softly as they reached Bob"s inn and stepped inside.

"I certainly hope not. I don"t think it possibly could," said Vonn, setting down the cask and waving at Bob from across the bar.

He saw them and rushed right over, checking the cask over carefully. "Oh, thank ye! I had heard that some o" the casks were getting" stolen from the brewery and wanted t" make sure it was safe. I would hate t" waste money on something I never got!"

"Well, we"re on our way to get those mugs for you now," said Vonn. "You wanted a case of them, right?"

"That"s right. And make sure there"s a full twenty mugs in the case. They"ve been known t" short a guy a few."

"Alright," said Vonn, taking Gia"s hand.

She was starting to feel useless, until they stepped outside and the crazy dwarven woman from before was running at them. The guards were still chasing her. Sticking out her foot, she tripped the woman, causing her to tumble to the ground.

"Oh! I"m so sorry!" said Gia, holding a hand over her mouth as the guards rushed up. "I didn"t mean to trip her!"

"Tha"s all right. Here"s th" reward fer stoppin" her," gasped one of the dwarven guards, handing her a coin pouch. "No tellin" how long we would have chased her!"

They stood back and watched as the guards hauled her to her feet and dragged her away. Gia had hidden the pouch in her shirt by the time the commotion was over. She would look at it later, to see how much was in it. It might be enough for them to buy some supplies before they had to leave!

The Chug-Mug was two blocks away, and the trip over was uneventful. Stepping into the dimly lit interior, they both paused, wondering if Bob had made a mistake. There were mugs for sale, but they looked poorly made, and several were covered in indecent sculptures.

"What d" the lot of ye want?" asked the dwarf behind the counter with a scowl.

"We were sent by Bob to pick up his order?" asked Vonn stepping forward.

"Bob, eh? Well, the box is right here," said the dwarf, picking up a wooden crate and setting it on the counter with a thud that made both Gia and Vonn wince.

"Mind if I take a look inside? Bob wanted me to count them before we took the box back, so we didn"t have to make more than one trip," said Vonn looking very sheepish.

Gia was impressed with his acting skill. The dwarf sneered but waved for him to check it out. Vonn took his time, counting each one, and even took a few out to whistle over.

"These are very finely made," he exclaimed looking impressed. "The ones across the city were nice, but these are beautiful if held just right!"

Gia tried to hide her confusion, glancing at the mugs Vonn was holding up. They looked like normal mugs, and ugly ones at that, but the dwarf was buying every word of it, the sneer and ugly expression dropping off his face as he squared his shoulders a bit.

"Thank ye fer ye"r business," he said gruffly, but not rudely as when they first entered.

Vonn nodded and picked up the box to leave. Once outside he chuckled softly and Gia glanced over at him.

"Bob told me to give him a chance to gloat, and his horrible behavior would disappear. I couldn"t help but give it a try, after all, he only broke two of the mugs when he slammed it down. Bob was expecting him to break half of them, which was why he ordered so many."

"But if Bob knew he was going to break so many, why order them at all?" Gia asked.

"His kid is sick, and he took over the business when his father died. Bob"s just about his only customer. If he loses the shop, his wife will leave him, and his kid will probably die. As it is, Bob said he went through enough mugs with the dwarves getting drunk, he didn"t mind if they were ugly. They still held the drinks long enough for the dwarves to drink it, and that was all that was important."

Gia shook her head. She couldn"t imagine how nice Bob was. They just had to get back to the inn without breaking any more of the mugs, so she could count her money!