As The Crow Flies 4

So sorry about the delay! I had a last minute content overhaul and decided to write something completely different for this chapter instead of what I had, hence the delay. Also, apparently being a member of society means I have to be social and talk to real people. From now on I will be back to giving you two updates weekly, hopefully more promptly :/

As soon as Elphaba had returned from town, Frexspar set her to take on Biff's chores on top of her own. Meaning that she now had to clean the windows and prune back all the foliage before Winter set in, on top of running errands into town.

Mr. Whistles helped her as much as he could while his nephew sat in front of the kitchen stove, his foot elevated on another chair.

Elphaba obeyed silently, performing all her duties in the hope that Frexspar would soon ask her to go into town for him. Thankfully she didn't have long to wait.

Just three days days after she had first met Dillamond in town, Frexspar once again came striding across the lawn. In his hand he held a thick book, unlike of a bundle of envelopes like last time.

"Elphaba," He called, disturbing her from helping Mr. Whistles prune back the roses for the winter, "I need you to take this down to Miss Nessarose at the Governor's Townhouse."

Elphaba quickly dropped the branches she was holding into the large gardening bag and pulled off her gloves, taking the parcel from Frexspar's hands, "Yes, Father!"

Busting past a rather perplexed Frexspar, Elphaba could barely able to contain her smile as she ran up through the church and retrieved the book Dillamond had lent her from her attic room before setting off down the In Road into town.

The In Road is the secondary main road of Longstone and it intersects with the Main Street, which runs from east to west and joins with the Yellow Brick Road, and circles out into the countryside. This meant that when entering town from the north or south you were guaranteed to find the main street, and from there get directions to the rest of Oz; or at least as far as the border.

Miss Nessarose's townhouse was on the far side of town by the river, meaning that Elphaba would have to circle around on her way back so she could visit Dillamond's shop on the Main Street, but she didn't mind. The scenery down by the river was beautiful and well worth the trip. Elphaba could remember sneaking down to the banks to read in the days when Frexspar had forced her to attend school. Thankfully, Elphaba no longer had to attend as the teachers had long since decided that they couldn't teach her anything new, and the students had forcibly shunned her from the grounds with insults and small rocks anyway.

This time as she walked through town Elphaba barely noticed the stares from the townsfolk and she was quickly out onto the less populated section of the In Road, which meant that she didn't run into so many people.

As she came within sight of the large wrought iron gates of the townhouse Elphaba noticed a group of uniformed men setting up tents along the river bank on the outskirts of town. A military camp. A little further down the road she saw more men performing combat drills in the fields and yet more tending to horses and weaponry.

Soon though she was passing through the gates of the Governor's townhouse. The Governor himself didn't actually live in the Longstone manor. He had constructed the townhouse for his daughters use in hopes that the fresh country air and calming environment would help improve her poor health.

Elphaba walked up the stone steps and knocked on the door. After a few moments a taller-than-average Munchkin answered the door. His eyes widened with surprise and recognition but he quickly schooled his expression, although not before he had placed half of the door between himself and his green guest.

"How can I help you?" He asked, staring at a spot just left of Elphaba's face.

"Hello, Boq," greeted Elphaba, smirking slightly at his forced gentility. "I have a delivery for Miss Nessarose."

"Give it to me," Boq stuck his hand through door, still avoiding her gaze, "I will deliver it."

Elphaba ignored his outstretched hand instead allowing her curiosity to get the better of her, "Who are the soldiers camped just down the road?"

"The Gale Force, the Wizard's men. I don't know," Boq shrugged. "Just give me the delivery and go."

Elphaba handed it over and sent a sarcastic smile Boq's way before turning and leaving back through the gates, heading into town to visit her new Goat friend.

"Mr Dillamond?" Elphaba called as she entered the book shop. The counter stood unattended and the store seemed empty. Elphaba called again and this time received an answer.

"Oh, sorry Miss Elphaba!" the old Goat hobbled out from amongst the shelves, "I'm afraid I didn't hear you come in."

Elphaba smiled, "It's alright. I brought you back that book you lent me."

"Ah, yes," Dillamond took it from her, peering at the cover, "Did you enjoy it?"

"Very much!" Elphaba was about to continue raving about the book when she noticed the old Goat squinting up at her quizzically. "What's the matter Mr Dillamond?"

Dillamond shook his head slightly and blinked, returning to himself, "I'm sorry, Miss Elphaba but, If you don't mind my asking," Elphaba gave a rueful smile at the old Goat's rambling, "I'd never seen you around town before the other day, not that you're particularly hard to miss."

"Oh, I don't venture out much. I prefer to stay at the church where no one can stare."

Dillamond nodded in understanding and the pair fell into an awkward silence.

"I could say the same about you, Mr Dillamond," said Elphaba, breaking the ice once more. How long have you been in town?"

"I moved in this Spring just gone," he said, "I wasn't expecting quite so many soldiers though."

"Yes," Elphaba frowned, "I saw a group camped along the In Road. What are they all doing here?"

"I'm as baffled as you are, my dear. They've been pouring in from all over Oz. I heard that they're setting up camps all along the eastern border."

Elphaba nodded, "A squad passed by on the In Road this morning. Why are they here?"

"I don't know," the Goat's concern showed on his face, "and from what I've gathered from the townsfolk, the soldiers themselves don't know either."

"But, soldiers are for fighting," Elphaba shrugged, "and there's nothing out here to fight except wheat germ."

Dillamond chuckled, "Oh, Miss Elphaba," his smile faded into a grim mask as he gazed out the window of his shop, "I fear their purpose is much bigger than that."

Elphaba was just about to question him further but he stopped her with a sigh and a shake of his head. Taking a deep breath, he smiled up at her, "How did you find that last book I lent you?"

Elphaba realised the old Goat had no intention of continuing on his previous topic, and willingly joined him in this one.

"It was fascinating. I never knew the history of Ozian politics could be so interesting."

Dillamond's face lit up, clearly pleased. "And, Chapter five?" he asked, curious.

"You mean the part about the Wizard's chief advisor?"

"Yes that's it." Dillamond urged her on.

"I didn't find anything odd about the Wizard's advisory staff," Elphaba shrugged.

"Nothing odd?" Dillamond's face fell once more, "No I suppose not. Well, maybe you'd like to read something on military history next? All this talk of soldiers must have piqued your interest, hmm?"

Elphaba smiled enthusiastically down at the Goat, "Sounds wonderful, Mr Dillamond."

This time when the old Goat hobbled into the shelves Elphaba followed. As she followed, Elphaba realised the store was a veritable maze of shelves and stacks of books from all over the country. She gaped at the sheer number of books that the Goat had managed to cram so many books into his tiny store. There were books leant against one another, crammed on top of each other and even stacks on the floor on top shelves. Amongst the books Elphaba spotted the occasional numbered label that must have been some sort of system to the chaos that Dillamond used because he seemed to know exactly where he was going through the labyrinth.

Dillamond stopped before a shelf and regarded its contents for a moment before selecting a large text.

"Here you are, Miss Elphaba." He held the book out to her, "Feel free to have it for as long as you like."

"Thank you, Mr. Dillamond." Elphaba took the book and eagerly opened the cover to begin reading.

Dillamond cleared his throat to get her attention, a small smile on his face, "I think you'd better be headed back to your duties, Miss Elphaba."

"Oh, of course," she laughed lightly, embarrassed, "See you, Mr. Dillamond."

"So long." He waved as he lead her out onto the main street and watched her begin her walk back to the church.

Out on the street Elphaba once again opened her book and began walking back to the church, nose buried within the pages.

Faintly, through her concentration Elphaba heard someone close by call, "Hey, throw it over here!" then something large and not quite soft hit her, hard. Elphaba stumbled and dropped her borrowed book into a muddy puddle

Furious she picked it up and spun around to see what, or who, had hit her, "Hey! Watch where you're going!"

Before her stood a rather sheepish soldier holding a round loaf of bread in his hands. His blue eyes struggled to look nonchalant as he tried to disguise his shock as he said, "Sorry, Greenie."

Obscure musical quiz! From which musical comes the song with the lyrics, "I rather be nine people's favorite thing, than one hundred people's ninth favorite thing?" No cheating! Answer will be in the next update.

Also, shout out to the guest Beta for this chapter The Wizard Of Wicked as my regular Beta has been super busy this week! I still love her to bits though :)