Trek For Survival

As the town grew on the horizon, everyone was amazed to see actual houses.

"How did you get the materials to build out here?" exclaimed Tom.

"They had everything hauled out here. It cost a pretty coin or two, but it"s worth it. There"s a lot of money to be had out this way," explained Bee with a grin. "The wild animals all around bring in lots of exotic materials for the workers further east. They pay a lot for specific things, and we are more than happy to oblige them."

"Is it possible that the town has an inn?" asked Gia, inwardly prepared for the answer to be no.

"There is, but it"s pretty pricey," said Bee with a wince. "If you have coin to spare, then yes, otherwise you would probably be best to just set up in the street out of the way somewhere. Be careful of carts though, they don"t mind driving over whatever may be in the way."

"We have coin, thank you," said Gia, thinking about the coin they had gotten from the dwarves and the orcs.

As they entered the town, they all heaved sighs of relief. It had been so long since they had been in a real civilized place, that it was nice to be back in one, even if everything was sized too small for them.

"If you"re not afraid of the prices, then let me take you to Bob"s bar!" said Bee cheerfully. "He has the best ale, and his food never upsets your stomach!"

"Bob?" they all exclaimed at once.

Bee turned to look at them in confusion. "Have you heard of him? I didn"t think the orcs knew about him?"

"Is Bob a human?" asked Carla, hesitantly.

"Oh, no! He"s a halfling, just like the rest of us," chuckled Bee. "You must have known another Bob then?"

"Yes," said Vonn, nodding. "He ran a bar in the city we used to live in, and his brother ran a bar in the dwarven city under the mountains."

"Wow, I"ve never heard of them. That"s interesting. No, Bob"s been here as long as I can remember, but I"ve only been here personally, for about fifteen years."

As they walked along the dirt streets, they saw a lot of colorful characters. There were several more wolf riders, a couple of people preforming with puppets for a crowd of monster hunters, a monk preforming intricate movements, and young halflings chasing after small foxes.

Bee paused in front of one of the largest buildings in the town, and jumped off her wolf.

"Do you want to come inside, or do you want some free time?" she asked her wolf.

He turned to look over at the other wolves in the street, one of which growled at him, and he turned back to her with a lopsided grin, panting with his tongue out.

Chuckling, she patted his neck, and turned to take them inside. "Your stuff will probably be safe. Not many people will mess with a cart full of orc things. But if you want, you can drop it off around back, at the stables, and the stable boy will keep an eye on it for a coin or two."

Glancing at the others, Vonn nodded to them, and headed around the back. If they didn"t have the chest of coins in it, under some of the orc things, they probably wouldn"t have bothered, but the cart contained everything they owned at the moment.

Gia went on inside with her parents and brother, all of them having to duck to get through the door. Thankfully the ceiling was high enough they didn"t b.u.mp their heads on the rafters.

"Ah, new comers!" exclaimed a voice.

Turning to their left, they saw an old halfling woman with a deep blue dress grinning at them.

"Welcome to my inn!" she said, throwing her arms wide. "Will you be needing rooms? I"m afraid I don"t have one big enough for all of you…"

"Martha, where"s Bob?" asked Bee, craning her neck to look at the bar.

"Ah, he"s stepped in back for a bit, dealing with other business. If you stay any length of time, I"m sure he"ll pop back up. Why don"t all of you have a seat here in the back at the large table? I"ll get my daughter over right away to fetch you all some drinks!" Martha said warmly, motioning at a large table in the back that wasn"t as low as some of the others.

They all made their way over, being careful not to b.u.mp anything. The chairs were a bit low, but not too uncomfortable, and they were able to sit with their knees under the table.

"I wonder if they have a tub large enough, we could bathe?" wondered Carla quietly, as a young red-headed halfling made her way over to them.

"h.e.l.lo," she said shyly. "My name"s Lily, and I"ll be serving you today. Would you like something to drink before your food arrives?"

"What is there to drink?" asked Tom, looking over at the other tables to see most everyone was drinking ale.

"You can order anything you want here," laughed Bee, grinning at the girl. "Bob can serve it! I want a blackberry wine."

"Is there a halfling drink I could try?" asked Tom, perking up.

"We have something called the Lucky Coin," said Lily. "It"s made from apples grown behind the inn. Bob makes it himself, in barrels in the bas.e.m.e.nt."

"That"s really good too, but I enjoy my blackberries," said Bee with a nod.

"Then, I would like to try one of those," said Tom cheerfully.

"I would like something that isn"t alcoholic," said Carla, carefully. "Do you have any hot tea?"

"It"s pretty hot outside, maybe a Magic b.u.t.terfly would be better? It"s not alcoholic and its really tasty," suggested Lily.

"It"s not magical is it?" asked Carla, with a frown.

"Oh, no! That"s just the name, ma"am. It"s a beautiful drink that has blues and purples in the bottom and no colors on the top," said Lily quickly, her freckles standing out as she blushed in embarra.s.sment.

"I want one, too!" cried Mikey, without giving his mom a chance to speak up.

Carla nodded, after glancing at him, that it was alright.

"I"m not sure what I want," said Gia, looking to see if Vonn was there yet.

"May I have Bob mix you up something?" asked Lily. "He likes to try new drinks on people who can"t make up their minds."

"As long as it"s not too strong, I guess that would be alright," said Gia with a nod. "Have him make something for my husband, too. He should be here in a few minutes. He was dropping off our cart behind the inn."

"Alright. I"ll let the cook know you all want meals as well," said Lily with a quick smile before hurrying away.

"She"s a doll, isn"t she?" sighed Bee, setting her chin on her hand. "She"s always so nice and gently. I don"t think I"ve ever seen Lily upset with anyone."

"She did seem really nice," said Mikey with a nod. "Will the beds be big enough for us to sleep in? I would like to sleep in a real bed tonight."

"I think so," said the halfling, patting her wolf on the head. He had laid down under the table, and was curled around her chair as well as he could.

They watched as Martha greeted Vonn when he came in, tucking a strand of her white hair back behind her ear as she looked up at him, then motioned in their direction. She followed him as he made his way over to them and sat down next to Gia.

"Will you be needing two rooms, or three?" she asked pleasantly. "And would you like baths prepared?"

"I think two would be fine," said Tom, glancing at Vonn who nodded. "And baths would be wonderful."

"I only ask because the bath house at the end of the block isn"t really designed for large folk like yourself," she chuckled, to let them know she wasn"t trying to insult them. "I"ll have Tunny prepare your baths while you eat, so they"re ready when you are."

"That sounds great!" said Carla with a wide grin.

Martha moved over to talk to some of the guests as Lily returned with a blonde halfling wearing a blue dress. Lily set down the Magic b.u.t.terflies in front of Carla and Mikey, who leaned down to admire the beautiful swirls of color in the bottom. Tom got his Lucky Coin, that had swirls of gold and red throughout it. Then she set down two gla.s.ses in front of Gia and Vonn.

"Bob said you would like these. He calls them the Blue Bunny Brew. I"m not sure what"s in them, but I love how they fizzle! They"re such a light drink that I could drink them all day!" she giggled and moved away with the blonde girl, who Martha called over.

"Oh! Mine"s really sweet and fruity!" exclaimed Mikey, taking a sip.

"I just hope these don"t cost too much," said Carla, setting hers down after tasting it. "I really want another before we have to leave!"