Chapter 7: Settling in
After Jessica hesitantly gave Gail the staff's crystal, we've been speeding right along the coast. Gail said that if we went any faster, we'd hit the rocky coasts of Albion. "Whatever happened to Gordon?" Ellie spoke up, breaking the long silence in the large submarine. "Well, he was among the first to go, so he'll be waiting for us at the Cow and Corset. Hopefully, we'll be able to get a decent meal." Gail kept her eyes forward, taking off her goggles, and the silence returned.
Every once in a while, we'd see a ship or two, almost looking as if they were lost. They drifted slowly across the ocean, making it look like a painting. I heard a small whimper from my bag as I lifted up the small pooch to greet everyone. "I guess this is our dog now." Ellie decided. She loved animals. That's why she was trying to teach the stuffed bear to swim. "Does it have any fleas?" Jessica lifted her eyebrows. "I hope it doesn't. I don't want to go the whole way to Bowerstone all itchy." Jessica continued, eyeing the pathetic creature. Gail finally said "Even if it does have fleas, they would've died in the cold at Knothole." That left the conversation dead, leaving any type of emotion with it.
Gail once said it would take two minutes to get to Bowerstone, but now since our little stop to put the crystal in the engine, we got off track. "Did you find out where we are yet?" I walked up to see her with the scope on one eye and the map near the other. "Well, I think we're right here." She pointed on a gap between a huge landmass. "You have a compass, right?" she slowly nodded. "Yeah, but I don't really rely on them. Too much theory." She shrugged. "Well, show me the compass and it'll be easy to get to Bowerstone." She slowly handed me the compass, as I looked at it I realized we were headed south. "Turn around. We're going south instead of north." She punched a gap in the dashboard angrily. "Damn." Ellie and Jessica were in the back, completely oblivious to the fact that we were going in the wrong direction.
"Maybe I should have the map now." I convinced her soon enough and she handed me the map. "Ok, go into our top speeds now." She pulled the small handle colored brightly red, and I was pushed back into my seat. We waited for at least five minutes until we saw Knothole Island again. We slowed down to pay our respects. "Well, it seems you were right Heath." Gail was always used to being right, so this was hard for her. "We need to get to the Bowerstone harbor now. I don't want to run into that-" my voice was cut off by a huge thud on the submarine. "What was that?" Jessica asked. More thuds were heard. "Get us out of here!" I yelled. "I'm trying!" she seemed to be in a trance, pushing a lot of buttons but still we went nowhere. I looked through the scope to see the monstrous figure that threw the guard, looking. Right. At us.
Now I'm a very… censored kind of guy but at that moment I unloaded a parent's nightmare. "!" I yelled. Gail smiled knowing exactly what was grabbing us. She flipped a red lever and we were flying right through a Kraken. Once again using the scope, I looked back at the Kraken's huge wound, and Knothole's deserted island.
Bowerstone was a huge town. Many people were working very hard, selling, buying, and I even saw a few people begging for money even though it seemed they were filthy rich. "Finally!" Jessica expressed joy as she opened the hatch when Gail gave the 'OK'. "Fresh air at last!" Ellie was complaining for the whole trip that it was really stuffy in the submarine. I climbed the small ladder leading to the surface, which was when I started to look at the large city. "No wonder its Albion's capitol!" I managed to say after a few minutes of admiring the view. We made it to the docks soon, and I stepped off still having those lousy sea legs, which were quite a bother.
I soon became very hot because of all the clothing I had on me. I quickly took off many sheets of clothing and left them in our submarine. Ellie and Jessica quickly followed, leaving us with a more comfortable feeling. Gail didn't really have to take any coats off because she's been evacuating villagers for quite a while. "Hey Gail," I wanted to ask her something. "Where are all the Knothole refugees?"
"Well, some left for the gypsy camp, and the guards are notifying the Guild, and most of the villagers spread out across the land. I've even heard some went to Oakfield." She quickly recited as if they were told to her. "C'mon, my father doesn't want to wait for us." Gail skipped happily. Ellie shoved the rifle into my hands, and then joined up with Gail, leaving me with Jessica trying to keep up with them. "Why aren't you happy that we're here?" Jessica asked me as we walked to the inn. "Well, Gail's happy wherever her dad is, and Ellie's happy to be here probably because we won't be so… unique." I chose my words carefully. "You are more mature than you know." She replied, walking ahead of me. I didn't really take meaning to the words, so I brushed off the life lesson.
"Gail!" Gordon was a kind man. He was the person who came up with the submarine idea, which benefitted everyone, and also made many items in Jessica's shop. "Hello, dad!" a long hug was made between the two. "Ah, Heath! It's good to see you again!" we shook hands very politely. "Don't think I forgot about you, Ellie!" he soon rubbed her head like a pet. Speaking of pets, my dog was cowering in fear in my pocket. "Hello old friend." Jessica smiled and Gordon just sort of shrugged. "People do say cockroaches survive many things."
"And they also say grease monkeys don't know when to shut up." They laughed heartily, and hugged. I could see how they were, which was like Gail and I. "Well, let's get set up here." Gordon rubbed his hands mischievously. "I am very successful, as you know, so I can buy you each a house." He handed deeds to Jessica and I. "Obviously, I don't think you'd be living in an inn for half your life!" He smiled cheerfully. "Since I'm the landlord, you won't have to pay a single gold piece." That made me very happy. "So, where do we live now?"
"Well. Heath, you live at the house in between the Alchemist's shop and the Book store. He pointed at the house exactly where he described it. "Jessica, you live right next to the inn," he didn't really have to explain anything for that "and we'll be living across the street from the barber's shop." He walked us to our new homes, which were great. Hardwood floors, two nice beds, and Gordon even made one of his refrijorators for us. (Yes I know I spelt it wrong. This is Fable II after all!) I quickly stored some meat, fish, and also a little bit of celery. He left us in our own wide house, which we loved very much.
We went to sleep after we were settled in, and also after a few trips to get all the clothes from the submarine. Life was better. If I didn't know better, I would've thanked for that unfortunate event to put us in a great living style. The beds were wonderful. The next morning, I decided to go to the book shop to see what interesting books they might have. "G'morning!" the owner greeted me. "What can I do for ya?"
"Well, I'd like so see your collection of books." I wanted to see everything. "Well, today we have quite a few products. We have dog training books, perilous ed. books… heck, we even have some of Meredith Sock's work." I scanned the bookshelves, taking quite a few of the dog training books. I also took a few books for Ellie like 'The history of Lord Lucien' and a more childish one which was the 'Sock puppet skills'. I took at least thirteen books, paying all the gold needed. "You're quite the reader, eh?"
"Yup… that's me." I slowly arose, grabbing the hefty load. "Do you need any help?" He asked me, my face hidden by the tower of books. "Nope. I'm fine for now."
I walked back to our house, tiptoeing when I entered, hoping not to wake Ellie up. I set down the books on our empty bookshelf, and went out again to buy some other supplies. I bought more vegetables, fruit, meat, two pies, and returned to the house again to deposit the food. I threw the dog a small bit of beef, and it started gnawing on it. Then I went to the General store to buy a deck of cards, and a few boxes of dog treats. Everything was being set up, and soon I decided it was time to buy some clothes. I jingled the money I got from the raise, and noticed it was starting to deplete. On a second thought, I left the money there, as well as a note telling Ellie I'd be looking for a job.
"Hey, what're you doin' here?" The blacksmith obviously didn't know how good I was at forging. "I want to apply for a job. Preferably weapons… augmented ones at that, and also a few machine parts."
"I hope you don't mind if I say I don't believe ya."
"I don't. In fact, I'll make you all those things I just talked about right now." The smith raised an eyebrow. "I'll give you the things you need." He soon came back with a hot weapon, right out of the fire. "Make this augmented." He said. I soon started chipping away some spots in the hilt, and soon worked my way up to make a fine blade, if I do say so myself. "Wow. You got the job. I have never EVER seen anyone make four augment slots." He shook his head in disbelief. "I'll pay you… 100 gold per sword. Now, can you make machinery?" he handed me some scraps of metal needed to make the clockwork of the pistol. A few minutes later, the same result. "You get 40 gold per gun. Get to work!" I smiled when he couldn't see me, and happily started my career as a blacksmith once again.
"Heath! Brother! Where are you?" My little sister yelled into the smith's about five hours after I woke up. "I'm right here Ellie. How did you sleep?" I took two chairs for us to sit on. "I slept fantastically! I love the beds and the sheets… everything! I brought our dog. He wanted to see you!" I didn't ask how she knew this. She handed me the small lab, and I started to pet him. "We need to find a school for you. You need to keep your education in mind." I said to her as I chose another blade from the heated stack. "Brother, now that we don't have to pay for our house, you can go to school now!" I thought deeply for a moment. School? I couldn't see myself there. "No, it's already too late. I'm thirteen, and I have no experience with school other than being able to read."
"Well I don't want to go to school either." We've already had this discussion once, a long time ago. When she was starting out, we had this same exact discussion, except I had to work. "Listen, I'll be fine. Just learn all you can from school." I gripped her shoulders in a parentish way. "Fine… but we do have to name the mutt." She changed the subject very quickly. "How about… Dakota?" She shrugged. "I'll get a collar!" she yelled and ran towards the General store.
The smith came back just as Ellie left. "You have any family? I wouldn't expect a young kid to know how to forge."
"We're orphans. It's been hard on us, but we get by."
"I heard you uh… were friends of Gordon. Are ya?" I nodded in response. "Well, how much have ya made so far?" he indicated the blades. "I've made about 20 swords. Three have no augments, four have two augments, six of them have three augments and the rest have four. I've also made about six guns. Two have no augments, two has two augments, and the last two have three augments." The smith inspected all the weapons and soon smiled. "You get about…"
"2000 gold for the swords, and 240 gold for the guns." I finished. "You're good at math. Do you go to school?"
"No but my little sister taught me to read. Speaking of her…" a small figure ran into the shop again, with a pleading sign with her hands. "I need some money to get the collar." I handed her 100 gold pieces. "You can get the collar and also some chocolates from the gift shop." She shrieked in excitement. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ellie, his little sister." She curtsied and then ran off before he could reply. "You're quite the family." He said, awed at the color of her hair. I shrugged. "We get that a lot."