Chapter Sixteen
Mandy and I were still traveling with Jack and his wagon. It has been two days already. We stopped once in awhile to give Bessy, his donkey, a rest and to let her eat some stray grass. Jack always checks his wagon for defects during this routine. Me? I just sit on the hay and wonder. I didn't mind being with the hay during tour travels. It was comfortable and there, I was alone. I could brood on my memories and the contents of the magic book. Especially the contents of the magic book.
Yesterday, the book revealed the letter of Lady Vanessa of Erima. I couldn't get it out of my head! Time and time again, I tell myself that I will not have a rival. But then, the mere mention of Lady Vanessa, sends murderous thoughts to my mind. I couldn't help it. And I certainly couldn't bear to think of leaving Char to a self-centered wench! If they were to be married, then Char might have to listen at Lady Vanessa blabbering about her beauty. And by just reading Lady Vanessa's letter, I feel that she spent the whole day looking at a mirror! Every minute I spent at the back of the wagon was used to think of plots to get to Char. I had a lot but then I would think of this at the end: I couldn't just barge in after what happened between us.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I woke up. It was the third day in the wagon. It was moving of course and Mandy was up front with Jack. I sighed. It was another dreamless sleep. And every sleep was a dreamless one for the past days. I woke up wondering the usual. What would I dream about if I do? Char? Lady Vanessa even if I hadn't seen her? Hattie? Mum Olga? Olive? I brushed all my wondering away and went up front.
"Jack, how many days till Bast?" I asked.
Jack turned his wrinkled old face and smiled. "Give me…one and half a day. If no ogres or bandits come between Bast and this old wagon."
"Really!" I felt my face glow with joy. I was nearing Bast! I went back once more.
Bast! A new place and maybe, a new beginning! My heart felt considerably a ton lighter. I have less worries to ponder about. And I hope, there are no more ogres and absolutely no bandits. I went up front again. I still have a thing to ponder about.
"Mandy, did you make the sound of horse gallops back at the ogres?" I asked.
Mandy stared at me with an amused expression. "Lady, no! What makes you think that? Another one of your jokes again, am I right? You know that your dear old Mandy can't ride a horse! You are probably dreaming!"
"What!" I said. It was involuntary. Bessy whinnied.
"Tone down your voice, Lady."
"But…how…" I whispered dumbly. My voice was reduced to a whisper because of the order.
Confused, I turned back to my spot with the hay, lost in my thoughts. How can it? Who can it be? Maybe I was dreaming. Hallucinating. Or, maybe I reached the highest point of desperation that I started to be crazy! Was I losing it back there? I was imagining things…maybe. And the ogres might have been out of the enchantment. Maybe they didn't hear it. Maybe it was just me. It was possible. After all, I was with ogres. Yes, I was dreaming.
"You were dreaming at that time." I said to myself in Ogrese so then I would convinced. It worked. I was convinced. But I knew, deep down inside, I didn't want to be.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A day and a half was more than enough. We arrived at Bast first thing in the morning. I was so happy! I couldn't believe that we arrived. It was so soon. And I was expecting, for a little, ogres or bandits. Fortunately, nothing bad happened. We arrived at Bast in one piece. We didn't get to enter Bast in the wagon. Jack dropped us off at the border. He said that his destination is not in the town but in the farmlands that were out of the way. It was alright for me. I was in Bast and that was the matter.
"Thank you so much Jack! It's nice of you to take us here, even if it was out of the way." Mandy when I went out of the wagon and Jack was starting to go.
"Yes, we really needed that. Can you believe ladies walking around without transportation! Imagine! It's a joke for ladies to do that!" I said happily. I couldn't help it. I was in Bast. Bast!
"No problem ladies. And I reckon it is a joke. Can't imagine my wife doing that! Anyway, me and ol' Bessy should be going now! We have lots of things to do! So long and see you soon!" Jack raised his hat and waved it. He and Bessy sped off.
Bast was a simple town. Green carriages, just as what Char wrote before, sped before us in a quick pace. Creatures of all races except ogres wandered around. Mostly were elves. There were also gnomes, very few number of giants and humans. Humans were as abundant as the elves. I suppose that Kyrrians were here and so do Ayorthaians and people from Jenn [Nayie's thoughts: haha. I just don't know what I will call the people from Jenn!] A few Frellans were there too. I hope they didn't recognize me. The houses of Bast were simple but it had a touch of every race in it. The roofs were brown and tiled like the ones in Frell. The color of houses were white like the ones in Ayortha. Vines crawled up the walls and reminded me of the elves. The doors were of gray stone and each had a lantern nailed atop it. It reminded me of gnomes inside a mine. Some houses were huge too. Just like in the giants. A lot of trees were there too. And hammocks cradled in between some. It seemed to me that Bast was a place for all races. The people who passed by us gave us cheery smiles and waves. Everybody here were friends. And it seemed like the most welcoming place in the world.
I was in Bast…at last.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Okay. When Ella thought, I was in Bast, at last...wait!!! Hold it! Doesn't it rhyme? Gawd! I just realized that it did! Hahaha! Whatever.
So anyway, the point is that I really meant at last! Because hello? I've been using fifteen freaking chapters before she got to Bast and Bast is the place of the story!
But then, if I compressed the chapters, the ones that have connections, I would probably have less chapters.
*sigh* oh well. That's the way it goes. Can't do anything now…
Anyway, if you all didn't understand why I had a few randomly selected bold letters on Olive's diary, well, I meant it as ink blots! It's really just for fun. Not relevant for the story! Heehee!
Oh, and I need
serious help! Really! I'm not serious most of the time but I am now! This is a
real issue!
Question:
Where will Ella and Mandy employ to? A house of a rich person? Or an inn?
Answer:
I have not the faintest idea.
Please help me! I do not know! I mean, I have plans for both of the places but both are so good! I couldn't decide!
So if ever you review, can you please tell me what you like?
Thank you soooooo much if you do! I'm a bit brain dead right now. And I still have four stories to write!
Ohhhhhhhhhh! The work! Don't worry I'll finish it! I never quit on a story!
But the uploads might take a long while because I have a lot to do. And other reasons
Let me enumerate:
-I have the daily job of rescuing my poor Siamese, Mowgli, up the roof. But Mowgli is a bit stupid too. He has done that for three times already and so I climbed up the roof for three times! And he always get stuck up there! And he does it at night usually, so I look like a burglar!
-I plan to take up classes here. You know, Public Speaking, Creative Writing…blah blah…
-My sister tends to hog the computer to play Tomb Raider.
-I have to tend to the scratches my cats, Mowgli and Princess, gave me. Haha. It's not funny.
-I still have to hang out with my friends!
-I have other hobbies too! Reading, drawing, playing…
-I love hogging the phone!
-Internet. Can't waste money!
-Basically, I'm tired.
-The computer hangs every minute so I have to restart and restart and restart and restart.
Thanks a million to…drum roll….
Moongirl1618
Eowyn
Earthen_Nature
Ironic Paradise
Faeriegurl who reviewed every chapter and shocked me…heehee
Fanatic
It's soooooooooooooooo nice of you to review! See you all on the next chapter!
