"Giavanna," said her mother softly."Yea?"
Tom and Mikey were sleeping in the cart, while Vonn pulled them along. There was evident pain in the way his shoulders were hunched, but he continued without saying anything.
"Can you have Vonn stop for a bit? I need to use the bathroom, and I think I may need your help."
"Alright, mom," she said, noting that Vonn had heard, and was setting the cart down gently. Tom"s soft snores had already alerted him to the fact they were sleeping. It had taken a lot to get Mikey to stop questioning their mushroom guide, but they had learned a lot. He had crashed almost as soon as he got into the cart.
"Can you start a fire, Vonn? I need to make mom some more of her tea, while we"re stopped. If not, I can do it when I get back?"
He gave her a tired smile. "I can start a little fire, but we don"t have much wood left. Better make extra and let it steep for next time. I don"t know that it will hurt her much."
Nodding, she watched as he carefully picked up a little piece of wood out of the cart. Every little movement was causing him pain, and it bothered her. He was used to hauling the cart, but not constantly. She didn"t have the strength to pull it. Maybe she should have her dad walk a bit. The path was pretty smooth here. It would depend on how well her mother was doing, she decided as she followed her mother behind a small cl.u.s.ter of mushrooms.
"Help me with my stockings. I don"t want to get them dirty," Carla murmured, lifting her skirt.
Gia studied her mom"s legs as she helped lower the stockings, and relief flooded through her. The swelling was almost gone! That tea really was working! Maybe walking for both her mom and dad would do everyone some good.
"That"s better," sighed her mother, finishing up her business. "You might as well go, too. There"s no telling when we"ll get another chance."
Gia nodded and glancing back at the cart to make sure everyone was still okay, she squatted next to her mother.
"Do you human"s always have to purge yourselves?" came a small voice, startling her. Luckily, she had just finished peeing, so she didn"t dirty her pants.
A foot in front of her was a tiny little mushroom with a short round hood. Peeking out from under it were two lovely little eyes.
"Oh! I"m so sorry!" came a voice not too far away, and Gia watched a figure, about the same size as Truffle, hurry out from among a clump of tall thin mushrooms. "My little b.u.t.ton is always getting into trouble!"
"That"s alright," said Gia, pulling her pants up self-consciously.
"Mother?" asked the little b.u.t.ton, clutching her dress as she reached him. "Do all humans have to purge themselves?"
"Yes, dear. They don"t have the same bodies we do. They have to consume their food, and the parts they can"t use, they purge. That"s what gives us such rich soil to absorb. Though we like to wait a bit to let it lose some of its aroma and strength," explained the mother mushroom, looking down at him.
Gia shot a look at her mother who was watching in silence, unable to say or do anything.
"If you will excuse us," said Gia politely, she motioned for her mother to head back to the cart.
"Oh, Truffle?" called the mother.
"Yes, Mrs. Mushroom?" he asked, turning with a small grin.
"Oyster said to tell you she was interested in meeting with you once the forest was done sporing."
"Really?" he squeaked, looking surprised.
"Don"t worry," she laughed, taking b.u.t.ton"s hand. "Mr. Mushroom said he wouldn"t chase you away this time. Oyster has started to bud, so he"s grudgingly accepting suitors."
"Wow! Okay!" he gushed, his whole face darkening.
b.u.t.ton snickered as he was led away by Mrs. Mushroom.
"I dare say, this is turning into a very entertaining trip!" joked Tom, sitting up with a stretch. "I hope that since we are stopped, that means I can go to the bathroom? I need to stretch my legs!"
"Yes, do you want me to go with you?" asked Carla, glancing back towards where the mushroom people had disappeared.
"I would love for you to accompany me," he said, wiggling his eyebrows.
Carla gasped and giggled, causing Vonn to chuckle. Gia glanced at him and he tried to wiggle his eyebrows, too.
"Oh, you!" she laughed, moving to slap his arm, but stopping when she realized they were probably still really sore.
"How does he even do that?" he asked, still trying to wiggle his eyebrows.
"It"s talent," responded Tom over his shoulder.
"I have the fire started, but it"s not really enough to get the water boiling. Your mom can drink warm tea, right?"
"Where did you get the water? I thought we were out?" Gia asked, picking up the water bag next to him.
"Truffle showed me how to get water out of those short pink mushrooms. You cut the top off, and the middle is hollow, where the water is."
"He didn"t mind?" she whispered in horror. It was so strange not knowing which mushrooms were going to start talking to you.
"He"s the one who showed me how to do it," said Vonn, glancing over at her. "You look tired."
"Not as tired as you. I think I"m going to have mom and dad walk a bit. It would do them both good to stretch their legs and it will give you a break. I can pull the cart with just Mikey on it."
Vonn looked at the cart thoughtfully, and it confirmed her suspicions. If he wasn"t hurting really bad, he would have turned her down right away.
"The tea"s ready. Pour some in the water bag, and have your mom drink the rest."
She moved to do as he suggested, and listened as her parents giggled behind the group of mushrooms. They hadn"t been this carefree in a long time. She knew her father was joking to help keep them all in better moods, but it was getting harder. Where were they going to find a home, if they were going to end up in the dwarven city? Didn"t dwarves dig deep into the ground and mine all the time? She missed the sun.
"We need to get a couple hours of sleep," said Vonn, to the little mushroom man, Truffle. "Will that be a problem?"
"I don"t think so. I"ll watch for dangers."
"Thanks, Truffle," said Gia, handing her mom the tea when she got back with her dad.
"I"ve decided," said her dad, as if that were a monumental thing.
"What have you decided?" asked Carla, blowing on her tea gently even though it wasn"t hot.
"I want to walk for a bit," he said.
"I don"t know…" began Carla, worry immediately turning her features older.
"Dear, I have been sitting forever in that cart, without a chance to walk more than 5 feet at a time. I need to walk. My b.u.t.t"s killing me!"
"We"re going to rest for a couple of hours," said Gia, smiling at her mother. "Then I think it would be good for both you and dad to walk a little. Your legs are getting much better and a couple more days of this tea, you shouldn"t have any problems."
"My legs might not swell anymore, but that doesn"t mean I want to do a ton of walking," she grumbled, but everyone knew she didn"t say no, either.
"Drink your tea, and let"s have a nap before we get back on the road. I don"t know about the rest of you, but I"m looking forward to meeting these dwarves," said Tom.
"Uh, oh," said Carla, a suspicious look on her face. "Why are you so excited at seeing the dwarves?"
"I heard they make the best ale in the whole world! What better chance do we have of testing that theory, then in the dwarven city?" he exclaimed excitedly.
"Oh, Tom!" exclaimed Carla, rolling her eyes.
"Dad!" exclaimed Gia at the same time.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but we don"t have any coin to buy any ale," said Vonn with a huge grin, as if he was kind of excited at the thought himself.
"Oh, well, I"m sure we can think of something," he laughed.
"This has been some adventure," said Carla in the following silence, glancing at the cart where Mikey was still sound asleep.
"I never imagined there was a mushroom forest underneath the Forest of the Lost," said Vonn, looking around.
"Did you know there were dwarves?" asked Gia, poking the glowing embers from the dying fire.
"There were rumors, but there were rumors for just about anything," said Vonn with a laugh.
"That"s true," said Tom thoughtfully. "I don"t recall ever hearing much about the dwarves. I"m pretty sure that if I knew there were some so close, I would recall it."
"We"ve been walking for days," said Carla. "Surely we"ve traveled a long way?"
"I don"t think so," said Vonn, shaking his head. "I"ve be surprised if we"ve gotten half-way through the mountains."
"Really? Not even that far?"
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"You"ve never been that far before, so how would you know?" asked Tom, stroking her hair as she leaned against him.
Gia took her mother"s tea gla.s.s and set it back in the small chest she had in the cart. Returning to her spot, she settled down for a short nap. Without a sun, it was really hard to tell when it was time to sleep.