CHAPTER 7

They both said, "No, we are not really mean. We just lost a lot of chickens in the last few days."

Sarah said, "I hope we weren't eating the leftovers tonight?" They laughed walking in the door and up to the counter that had three seats in the end. The innkeeper was surprised to see them laughing together now and figured they must have got over the wolf.

Sarah said, "Can I get three ales, please?" The innkeeper drew three ales and Sarah put out two silver to the innkeeper who smiled.

She clinked their wooden mugs and said, "My name's Haras, what's yours?"

The first fae said, "I am Amos. Pleasure." He nodded his head at her.

The second fae said, "I am Nat." He put his hand out to shake. Sarah did. Beowulf yipped and nudged her arm. Sarah looked at him leaning his head to the side looking at the kitchen.

Sarah laughed and said, "I'll ask if he has more." The two faes watched them. Sarah asked the innkeeper, "Do you have any more chicken or leftover bones with some meat on them? He says he's still a little hungry."

The innkeeper smiled and went to the back and brought out a bunch of scraps. He put it on the floor and Beowulf started devouring the food. Sarah laughed.

Sarah asked, "How much do I owe you?" The innkeeper said nothing.

Amos asked, "How did you know he was wanting more to eat?"

Sarah said, "He yipped once and nudged my arm to get my attention and then he kept moving over to look in the kitchen. Then he looked back at me. He's smart and I can see what he's telling me."

Nat said, "That is smart. Does he tell you when he has to go outside to the privy?"

Sarah said, "Yep. Want another round?" They smiled at her and nodded. Sarah stayed for one more ale and went to her room after saying goodnight to the fellas. She had a big day tomorrow so she took a bath and saved her hair for the next night. She got in bed and Beowulf laid on her feet. Sarah smiled and went to sleep.

—--day 22

Since Sarah's first night everyone in town has acted better towards her. She guessed the word got around that her and her wolf pup were not mean or bad. Sarah had spent all of the next day stocking up on the three day journey into the mountain range. Her friends Nat, Amos and the innkeeper Sam told her how to do it. They said to spot the caves that will not be too obvious because there is a treasure up there somewhere and it was huge. Everyone has tried to find it but nobody ever did find it. It was an old dwarf from over 800 years ago that had spent his whole life mining it and never came down the mountain after his last trek up there and everyone assumed he died in a cave-in. Sarah thought it was interesting but she'd do like they said look for the obscure caves.

Sarah was fed breakfast and ready to go. She got a better lead for Àlainn, her mare. Sarah saddled them both but had a secure halter for the longer lead so she wasn't having to work so hard trying to see where she was going with her footing. She really wants to keep her safe and get everyone to the Goblin City.

Sarah had her horses packed up and ready to go. She had packed extra dry meat, a big jar of chopped cooked meat. She wished it to never spoil or run out, to feed Beowulf once they were on the mountain. Sarah also had a bag of sweet feed and apples and carrots. She was glad she had Àlainn with her. She was a sweet horse who loved hugs and attention. Sarah mounted up and rode off to the mountains as instructed to find the entry point from Amos and Nat.

The foothills were big and nobody was behind her so she wasn't being followed at least. After a few hours, Sarah stopped to eat lunch with the horses and Beowulf. Everyone had a drink from the pail of water she wished for. They all drank their fill and Sarah drank from her water skin. Sarah fed the horses carrots and apples. Beowulf found a rabbit in the brush on the foothills. The climb wasn't far ahead and it was the best place to stop anyway.

Once everyone ate and drank. Sarah wished away the bucket and mounted back up.

Sarah said, "Beowulf, jump up here and ride with me there may not be room on the trail going up for you to not get stepped on." He jumped up into her arms and they began their ascent up the mountain trail. It zig zags up like a snake which wasn't as hard on the horses. Àlainn was doing well keeping up and Beowulf was comfortable and getting used to sitting on the horse.

Sarah looked back and saw five horses out at a great distance coming to the mountain. She thought she was lucky with nobody, but she guessed not this time. They hopefully won't be trouble for her. As time went by and dinnertime came, Sarah was looking for a cave for a while and cleared her mind and let the cave draw her to it. They were about halfway up and she felt a draw to her. It was a bunch of vines hanging down thick over a rock overhang that was compelling her to it. Sarah smiled as she dismounted and took down Beowulf so he wouldn't have to jump down on the rocks. Sarah wished the cave to be empty of all insects and creatures. All the bugs were running out into the rocks as well as a few snakes. Sarah cut off some of the vines and took out her crystal to see inside Sarah and Beowulf went inside and it had plenty of room for the horses.

She led them inside to the back. It looked like nobody had been here before. No footprints. Sarah wished all of the loose dirt and cobwebs to be taken away. She wished for a trough and a bale of hay in the back with the horses. She had a day's worth of wood stacked on the wall by the front of the cave. Sarah got rocks for her fire in a double ring for depth. There of course was plenty. She started a fire and it lit up the cave enough to see well. She set up camp and got the horses unloaded and unsaddled.

Sarah said to Beowulf, "Don't leave the cave because I saw five men behind us but they are coming and I don't want them to try to hurt you, my friend." She petted his head. She got everything laid out in the cave and the horses were comfortable. Sarah looked around the cave walls pretty well and saw a slab up against the wall waist high. She moved it and there was a square hole about waist high. Sarah was going to come back and look at it better after dinner.

Sarah made dinner for her wolf and herself letting him taste her food too after he ate his bowl of meat. He liked vegetables cooked. It must be because he likes seasoning on it. She made a wish to hide the cave and any light from it without allowing anyone or anything inside while they are here except for herself and Beowulf. After a while, she heard the men go by. Sarah fed the horses a carrot and an apple each. She brushed both of them down and told them she loved them. She hugged them as they nickered and groaned. Sarah just loved how beautiful they were as a pair.

Sarah took her crystal and crawled through the hole in the wall. It was dirty, dusty and it opened up into a room. Beowulf followed her inside. She looked around and said, "Alice said, Curiouser and curiouser."

Sarah saw crates stacked against the walls in a phenomenal amount, there were rotted bags with lumps of stuff spilt over and large pots stacked on top of each other filling the room. Sarah went up and found, after clearing off about two inches of dirt, the crates that were intact had gold or silver ore in it in chunks. The bags that rotted had uncut gemstones in it. The pots had gold and silver nuggets. There were even gold, silver coins and cut gemstones in some of the pots. Sarah found a big door and opened it to a mine entrance with more rotted bags and gold ore.

Sarah thought about it and made a wish, "I 'wish' for all of the gold or silver ore to break down enough to go into the door opening on my necklace from this room and any deposits of the mine itself. Sarah held her oval necklace out and opened it with her key with the door open on the palm of her hand. Stones started breaking and dust and dirt started to plume in clouds. Sarah put her sleeve over her mouth and squinted.

Sarah said, "Beowulf you need to go back into the cave you can't see in here." The wolf went back to the horses.

Once the room was done the mountain started to rumble and the stream of gold ore was never ending. It took her three hours to clear out all the ore in the whole mine. She wished all gold dust and silver dust into her necklace. Tons of it emptied all of the room then the mine started flowing in. After that she did the uncut gems, the cut gems, the nuggets of silver and gold. Last she emptied the gold, then silver coins. Sarah went through all of it in increments of ten thousand each time with wishes so she could keep up with the total.

When she was done, she had 62,967 gold and 18,472 silver coins. Inside her necklace, in coin, she had 95,507 gold, 23,074 silver, and 535 copper coins approximately. She had no idea how much she had in the other stuff. After hours, she couldn't guess with the constant flow of gold and silver ore, then uncut gemstones flowing out of the walls of the mine, Sarah was tired of standing. She sat down still covering her nose and mouth on the floor with her hand still out but propped up on her knee. Once everything was in her necklace or stacked on the floor in front of her, Sarah said, "I 'wish' for all of the gold and silver dust in this room and in the entire mine to flow into my necklace." The torrent of dust flowing into the necklace was remarkable. Sarah covered her face and eyes squinted as it all passed through the room to her hand.

After, she had collected everything of value in the room including the unmined ore, nuggets and uncut gems in the mine. Sarah had a big pile of uncut gemstones and a small pile of extremely large cut gems that wouldn't fit. Sarah needed bags to carry them out, or drag them out through the tunnel hole. She was amazed how much the old dwarf had in the room. It was absolutely amazing.

She crawled out of the mine on all fours and came out to get some bags she was carrying around. She went back in and bagged up five large bags of uncut gemstones and used a large bag for the big cut gemstones she pulled it all out of the tunnel. Sarah was wiped out.

She walked out of the cave and shook out and dusted off her whole body and hair as best as she could. She went to the trough and washed her hands and face. Sarah stripped and took a bath in the room temperature horse trough. The water would self clean itself afterward. Sarah even washed her hair. She got all of the dirt and dust off of herself. She shook out her clothes again outside one at a time. Sarah got dried off and dressed in the tent, then washed her clothes in the trough. She was glad she wished for a self cleaning horse trough. She was only able to get away doing it because it was September 2nd according to the time she left the Aboveground. If it had been winter she couldn't do it in cold water. It sounded like it would not be very appealing unless you were super hot.

Sarah sat down and dried her hair by the fire. The wolf laid down next to her and laid his head in her lap. She scratched and petted him and said, "I can't believe how much stuff we have in valuables. I'm going to have to cover up and disguise everything. I'm tired. How about you? Are you tired and want to sleep?" The wolf sighed. Sarah got up and went into the tent and pulled off her boots. She laid down on her blanket and Beowulf laid down next to her. He had gone outside while she was in the room and did his business and came right back in. He was a good wolf. Sarah fell asleep petting him and he cuddled with her.

—--day 23

Sarah woke up with her arm over Beowulf and his head lying next to hers. She started petting him awake. He groaned and rolled over towards her and looked at her in a sleepy way.

Sarah caressed his face and said, "I love you, Beowulf. You're such a good boy." The wolf started licking her hand and she patted him. She said, "Time to get up, sweet boy." The wolf groaned and got up stretching. Sarah sat up and put on her boots and went outside to go to the bathroom and the wolf pup went to find a spot too.

They went back inside and Sarah made breakfast for herself and fed Beowulf. She fed the horses a few big handfuls of sweet feed, apples and carrots. Sarah broke down everything and packed up the horses with half of the gemstones disguised by being in regular bags like her clothes were in. It made them look like her other bags but had the weight balanced evenly on the horses. Sarah led them out to the trail. She mounted and caught Beowulf in her arms to sit on the saddle with her. They rode up the mountain and wondered how far the five men were ahead of her. She hadn't spotted them yet.

When she made it to the top, it was lunch time and they all had a bite to eat. She didn't see the men at all which was very odd. It made her uneasy because they were hiding behind the rocks then out of sight.

Sarah made a careful wish specifically. She said, "I 'wish' that the five men waiting in the rocks for me to cause me harm were bound and would step out into sight and be made to stand there until I say otherwise." All five men stood out from the rocks in different places on the trail. They were going to ambush her. Sarah finished eating and so did Beowulf. He growled looking down at the men.

Sarah said, "They can't harm us." She mounted up with the wolf and went down the trail to the first idiot thief, rapist or whatever. Sarah dismounted and took the man's horse and tied her to Àlainn's saddle.

Sarah said, "Get walking to your next buddy on the trail. He did. Sarah connected each horse, one to the back of the other, once the dumbasses were standing all together. They were all fae.

Sarah frisked them and took everything off of each of them, shoving it in a saddle bag. Weapons, money and all. She said, "I 'wish' for all of these men to never be able to commit a crime, unbound, lose all their magic, change into human women and appear in the middle of the city of Gorias with only their clothes and ten gold in each of their pockets." The men all screamed from the transformation and the loss of their magic, before they disappeared. Sarah mounted back up and had her wolf jump up into her arms and the train of horses all headed down the mountain.