CHAPTER 2
She left and went straight to her room in the inn and undressed and put on her new clothes with her belt on under her shirt. She kept her small handgun, which was a 9mm Kel-Tec P-11, holstered and hidden with the safety on and a magazine with ten shots. She had special ammo made with iron tip bullets. The shirt was long enough to hide her boobs and ass quite well. She put the outside wide belt over the shirt. She put her braid down the back of her shirt, put on the cloak with the hood up and tied her money pouch to her inside belt too. She locked the door and put the key in her bra for safe keeping. She left to go to the end of the road where she was to find Ardan Witherput to get a horse.
She walked into a blacksmith shop and asked for Ardan Witherput. A big burly man stepped out from the forge and said, "Whatcha be needin'?"
Sarah said, "Gavin sent me down here to ask for you and to see if you had any horses and full tack to sell?" He grinned and told her to follow him. He showed her a really old gelding and asked for three gold. She walked away and saw a black young gelding. She asked if he was for sale.
Ardan said, "I see ye know horses better than I thought ye would, but ye can't blame a bloke from trying. Yes, Spirit is for sale, four gold."
Sarah said, "Three gold and I need a saddle, blanket, bags and bridal for the fourth gold coin. I need to feed and board him for the next 6 days." He scratched the back of his head and agreed after a few seconds. He got her full rigging for the horse. He said he would board the horse for five coppers a day. She gave him three silver coins. He put her rigging in the stall on a shelf in the back. She thanked him and went back to the inn.
She sat down and got an ale and listened to the conversations going on inside where the bar was. She heard a man say that he wanted to move to the city and get a job. He called the city Falias. She knew that was one of the four cities mentioned in the book.
Sarah asked, "Where is the kingdom of the labyrinth?"
Gavin said, "Oh ye mean the Goblin Kingdom. That be the Goblin King's domain. He saves human children and adopts em' out ta the fae, course after the transformation. The fae canna' have many children anymore and they be needin' the children. Been doing it fer centuries. Me mother was crippled from her da beating on her, but the Goblin King saved her and gave her work in the castle. She met me father there and built a house and stayed there until time fer both ta pass. Moved out here ta the small human towns outside of the Goblin Kingdom. We are still under Goblin Kingdom protection, but we kinda just keep to ourselves."
Sarah said, "Can I have another ale and do you have any stew left, Gavin?" He drew her an ale and went to get her a bowl of stew. She thought about what he said while she ate. The Goblin King adopts children and transforms them into fae unless they are too damaged. He takes care of the damaged humans? Here he led her to believe he would make Toby a goblin. She remembers him saying "one of us". Well he was fae, but she knew she just assumed it was a goblin.
She listened to the conversations going on around the room again. One man was telling the person he was with the caravan this year for the harvest season. He said it was a great amount this year and they yielded the Goblin King a hearty amount for his winter storage and fattened their purses for the season. He said they travelled to four kingdoms in their caravan to do the different harvesting times. He said they are still working in shifts in the morning and afternoons. He told him that he liked working for the Goblin Kingdom because they treated them better than most other kingdoms who barely tolerated the humans.
As she grew up and got through highschool and her first two degrees by 20 years old. She had learned much about the Tuatha dé Danann or Side or Fae. They have to tell the truth, they twist words, they love games, they are very magical, beautiful and talented people. She realized that he was offering her, in the end, to be his mate. She was too young to understand what he was offering at 15 years old. She thought everything he said was a trick and she would lose Toby to him if she didn't finish. She was relieved to find Toby in his bed and all was as it should have been had she not blown her stack over something so trivial. She had a healthy fear of Jareth, but a very inspired drive to learn as much as she could in her world about his people.
Sarah went to bed after brushing her teeth and washing her body and got comfortable in her underwear and t-shirt. She laid down and covered up with their blanket and sheets. The room was quiet with the fire banked in the fireplace. She slept hard into the morning. She got up, stretched and got dressed to go to the bathroom down the hallway. She took her pitcher and filled it with water from a pump in the bathroom. She went back to her room and washed her face, brushed her hair and took a sponge bath with soap. She got dressed again and went down for breakfast and had tea and pastry. Gavin sat next to her and had his tea and breakfast.
Gavin gruffly said, "Yer one of me better tenants. Ye paid up front and don' complain." She chuckled at him.
His wife came from the back and said, "Gavin quit flirting with the lassie and come help me with the venison haunches. I want you to cut them into roasts and I'll visit with our new tenant." He grumbled and said she was no fun.
Sarah put her hand out and shook hands saying, "I'm Sar, I'll be here for the next six days. You are the best cook I have ever had. That lamb stew was the best tasting food, frankly, that I've ever had in my life."
She grinned and said, "Me name be Abigail. Me husband said yer a very nice young girl alone from far away. He said ye got here on foot and ye needed clothes and a horse. Did ye find what yer needin', Sar?"
Sarah said, "Oh yes thank you for asking. I found exactly what I needed. I have a lovely black gelding named Spirit. He sold him to me with full gear. He is boarding him at the stable for me until next Wednesday. Abigail, where can I go to get a tub bath?"
Abigail said, "We'll, ya could always go skinny dipping and take a big piece of soap and cloth with ya? It is a bit too cold now though. I can get ya another pitcher fer ya room. Ya know, ye can open the window and toss it onto the street. It just be bath water."
Sarah smiled and said, "It's ok, I'll get by with what I have. That other pitcher would be nice." Abigail got her another pitcher. Sarah said, "Is there a Leather Tanner in town where I can get large saddle bags made or already done?"
Abigail said, "Yea, go back down toward Ardan and on the left ye'll see the cobblers. He be who yer needin',"
Sarah thanked her and took a hot tea up to her room. She went through her stuff and reorganized to accommodate the new stuff. She was going to get a set of large saddle bags. She was carrying gold and wanted a couple leather containers like leather bags that were larger than the gallon bags that would fit inside the saddle bags she was going to pack around it so they wouldn't jingle. First she needed to visit the cobbler.
She left the inn and went into the cobblers store. The little old man and his son made beautiful letter goods and shoes. The little old man said, "I see ye like me belt and boots. I included it in my trade with the clothier."
Sarah said, "I just love it. They're both of fine quality. I'm looking for large saddle bags and a few large leather pouch bags." The little old man got excited and was looking for what she needed. Sarah was looking at the shoes and boots he made. They really were excellent quality. She ran across a large leather tote bag in black leather. She took it up to the counter.
The little old man said, "I found you a black large saddle bag already made and I have three kinds of bags in different sizes." She looked them over and got four leather bags, the saddle bags and the large tote.
Before she took it back up to the inn, she got the saddle bags from the tack on the back shelf. She lingered and petted Spirit for a little while. She asked the blacksmith if he had a horse curry brush she could buy from him. He sold her a curry brush for a copper.
She went up to her room and repacked her bags. She counted her gold coins and had a grand total of 776 gold, 23 silver and 15 copper coins. No wonder she was so fucking heavy and exhausted when she got here until she put her bags in the room. During her repacking of gold, she split the gold in 380 coins on each side of the saddle bags. She was evenly distributing the extra weight. It weighed evenly at 23.75 pounds on each side of the saddle bags. She thought the coins weigh about an ounce, so it's an estimate. The large saddle bags held the gold which she had her raincoat folded and stuffed around the gold in the bag and added her two books in front. She stuffed her towels around the other gold coins on the other side with her shampoo, conditioner, and a few bars of soap wrapped up in there. The regular saddle bags she wanted up by the withers of the horse. They all had buckles on the outside of each bag. Her large round duffle bag would be strapped and tied down to the back of the saddle across the horse's butt. Her backpack of food was safer there because it was waterproof and the straps could adjust to go around the duffle bag. She had enough rope to secure the entire tie down. Her shoulder bag was much lighter now and could hook over the saddlehorn and the tent on the other side because it was a circular flattened disk. It had a domed pop up tent inside, it was x-large so you could walk in bent over, but roomy enough to shelter all the bags from the horse.
—--
The days flew by and Sarah was ready to leave. She had the horse packed up and she was saying her goodbyes to everyone she had got to know during the week. Abigail and Gavin made her a care package of dried meats and a block of cheese with a loaf of bread which she stored in the front saddle bags with a bottle of water. She had learned that there were two other human towns that border outside the Goblin kingdom, as well as a few inside the kingdom.
She was headed to the next town. She had her mens clothes on and her hair down her back. Abigail told her about a small pool hot spring on her way about a day's ride away. Sarah was on high alert for running into other people and not trusting anyone again. She found a rabbit along the way, she shot it with her bow and gutted and skinned it.
She found the hot spring and made sure she was alone. It was by a pond that it fed with a small waterfall. The steam misted and swirled around the area being it was the beginning of November. She tethered her horse and took her towel, bath stuff with her and a set of clean clothes. She stripped and got in and hurriedly washed herself from head to toe. It was a perfect place for a bath. She soaked for a few minutes and started singing a Celtic song:
—--
"Cymbeline" by Loreena McKennitt (from words written by Shakespeare from 'Cymbeline', Act IV. Scene 2)
"Fear no more the heat o' the sun
Nor the furious winters' rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this and come to dust.
Fear no more the frown o' th' great;
Thou art past the tyrant's stroke
Care no more to clothe and eat;
To thee the reed is as the oak.
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this and come to dust.
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee and come to dust.
Fear no more the lightning flash,
Nor th' all-dreaded thunder-stone;
Fear not slander, censure rash;
Thou hast finished joy and moan.
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee and come to dust."
—--
It was a haunting, echoing, sound with perfect pitch for singing. She got out of the water and started drying herself off, ringing out her hair, put lotion on her skin, and then got dressed. Sarah started another song by her favorite Celtic songstress, Loreena McKennitt "The Mummer's Dance".
—--
"Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh
When in the springtime of the year
When the trees are crowned with leaves
When the ash and oak, and the birch and yew
Are dressed in ribbons fair
When owls call the breathless moon
In the blue veil of the night
The shadows of the trees appear
Amidst the lantern light
We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day
Now returning back again
We bring a garland gay
Who will go down to the shady groves
And summon the shadows there
And tie a ribbon on those sheltering arms
In the springtime of the year
The songs of birds seem to fill the wood
That when the fiddler plays
All their voices can be heard
Long past their woodland days
We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day
And now returning back again
We bring a garland gay
And so they linked their hands and danced
'Round in circles and in rows
And so the journey of the night descends
When all the shades are gone
A garland gay we bring you here
And at your door we stand
It is a sprout well budded out
The work of our Lord's hand
We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day
And now returning back again
We bring a garland gay
We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day
And now returning back again
We bring a garland gay"
—--
Unknown to her, she was watched with curiosity and lust filled hungry eyes. He saw her before. But he would wait til darkness fell.
Sarah made camp and put up her tent and stowed everything inside, including the horse's saddle. She staked Spirit by the pond on a healthy patch of grass so he could drink also. She made a campfire and put up a spit to cook the seasoned rabbit and made a very small amount of a pot of rice with wild dried mushrooms and she had a bit of cheese and bread. She drank water and was full. She would eat what she could of the leftover rabbit with a slice of bread and honey and discard the rest of the rabbit.