CHAPTER 4

—--Day 8

Sarah got up to two crying little kittens. She fed each of them under the blankets. Sarah thought they were beautiful and frickin' adorable.

After feeding the two kittens, Sarah put on her boots and cloak. She surrounded the kits with the warm blankets and went to pee. Sarah went over and got a better look at the mother afterwards. The cat looked like a tiny leopard that was tan brown with rusty red spots outlined in black with stripes too, but smaller and a bit bigger than a domestic housecat. It was fascinating how incredibly beautiful the animal was. It was so sad to see her dead now. Sarah said, "I swear I'll take good care of your babies, mama cat."

Sarah went back and got to work making a fire, tea and a leather pouch from a leather bag folded over with holes punched through each side. She lined the bag with two washcloths and hung it around her neck from one of her shoestrings. She got some tree moss collected for herself for later and made the kitten's potty with a pinch of the moss. They cried and cried. She got them settled in the pouch together under her cloak with the top button open for air ventilation. She ate her leftovers and drank her tea.

Sarah packed up, saddled Shadow and left for the next town of Móinéir (meadow), only stopping to feed the kittens and herself. They got into the town at dusk and she checked into the local inn and boarded Shadow for two nights.

She went into the room and made a fire right away to warm up the room. Sarah took off her cloak, gloves and belt. She sat down in front of the fire on the floor with her kitten supplies and pulled the kits out and was inspecting them. She looked at their genitals and they were both boy kitties. They were due to be fed so she did it one at a time and after making them potty one at a time. She was thinking up names for them, but she had time to think about it.

Sarah put the kittens around her neck and put her cloak, belt and gloves on. She went downstairs to eat.

The innkeeper was a fae with blue eyes and light blonde hair almost white in a long braid down his back. He was in brown loose leather pants and a blue shirt that made his eyes very blue. He asked her as she sat down, "What do you want?"

She spoke in her practiced low voice, "Dinner and wine, please."

The innkeeper poured her wine and brought a plate. He said, "Seven coppers." Sarah laid down a silver. The kittens started grunting and mewing trying to get comfortable.

The innkeeper was interested, smiled and asked, "What have you got there?" Sarah reached in the pouch and pulled out a kitten.

He grinned big and said softly, "I'll be, that's a cathwyllt (wild cat). I heard of them but never seen them before. There aren't many left in the Underground. Where did you get it?"

Sarah said, "I have two males. The mother was killed by some other animal not far from the place I was camping at." She put the baby back in the pouch to stay warm.

He tilted his head and said curiously, "They look young. Where do you keep them whilst traveling with them?"

Sarah said as she ate, "I keep them in the pouch under my cloak with the top button undone. I want to get a fur pouch turned inside out and keep them warm tomorrow."

The innkeeper nodded and asked, "That is smart. Where are you from? You talk funny."

She said, "I'm from very far away. You'd have to take several ships to get there."

The innkeeper said, "That is far. My name is Terryl." He put his hand out and Sarah shook it.

Sarah said, "My name is Ash." Someone came up to ask for refills and it got busy. Sarah ate her meal, drank her wine and went up to her room.

She locked the door and said, "I 'wish' that nobody but I can get into my room until I remove all my belongings." Sarah made a fire and put on water to heat up and put water in the tub. She got out her things before bed and was so tired she put off washing clothes until the next day. Sarah went to bed with her kittens and plenty of blankets.

—--Day 9

The next morning Sarah woke up to two kittens trying to nurse on her neck. They were licking, sucking and purring all over her neck. It made her giggle. It was so cute to her. She got up and sat the two squealing kittens in the warm spot in the middle of the bed surrounded by blankets.

Sarah did her morning routine and got dressed. She threw the dirty clothes from her duffle bag in the tub to do later and pulled out money from her ring to shop with. Sarah fed the kittens, made them go to the bathroom and put them in the pouch. She went down to have breakfast.

After breakfast Sarah went to the cobbler and asked for a fur pouch to be made. The nice human old man that looked about in his seventies made her a perfect one to hold them both with plenty of growing room out of red fox fur. Sarah went to the market and the bakery. She stocked up on everything.

Sarah took it all to the room and started the fire back up with the screen on it and reorganized her bags. She fed her kittens, washed her clothes and spent most of the day in the room, but stopped for food breaks downstairs. Sarah took a bath again that night and washed her hair. It felt good to be clean again for a while. That night she slept hard and dreamless.

—--Day 10

Sarah was packed up and ready to go. She ate breakfast, said goodbye to Terryl and rode off to the city Fhírinne (truth). She was going to put in for a week in the city hoping she might find a smelter. Sarah assumed they would be the ones to take in gold and silver.

The day was frigid cold but the sun was out. It snowed last night and everything was white and sparkled in the sunlight. It was beautiful but freezing.

Sarah made it to the city at sundown and made it to an inn that was a throng of activity. It was a full house of rowdy people. Sarah looked for another inn less rambunctious. She found a nice one that was busy, just not rowdy. She went in and got a room dropping off her stuff, made a wish to keep others out and went to board Shadow. She kissed and hugged him. She told him she would come the next day and brush him down.

When Sarah got in the room, she made a fire to thaw out her fingers and toes that were stiff from the cold. She sat down in front of the fire and let her fingers warm up. It took a while. The kittens cried out for food after a while and Sarah had the milk by the fire to warm up some too. Even though she kept the bottle close to her body, it was still kinda cold. By the time they cried it had gotten to room temperature. She fed them and decided to call them Magus and Merlin. They both had "M's" on their foreheads but Magus had a rust and black spot on top of his head. They were such pretty creatures with their tan brown and the rusty red spots and everything outlined in black and dark brown striping. The design of the markings were just so beautiful. Sarah wondered what color eyes they would have. She couldn't wait to find out at six to seven weeks old. She learned about cats from a lady she met a few years back that worked at a vets office. She told her all about them and what to do if you found a little kitten abandoned on the streets. She would love to be able to thank the lady for all the information she gave her to apply now to this situation.

Sarah laid down on the bed and the kittens crawled out making a beeline for her. Their eyes were trying to open and they knew she was there. She let them crawl to her. Magus beat his brother, Sarah cuddled her tiny babies to her neck and warmed them up. They were both purring. Sarah was surprised because they were so young. She smiled and held them, closing her eyes. She knew they had to be at least ten days old.

She fell asleep but woke up so late, she ate a breakfast cake and drank some water. Sarah left her hair braided so as not to fool with it. She fed and tended to the kittens, then got in bed with all her blankets and cuddled her babies and went to sleep.

—--Day 11

Sarah had a kitten sucking on her earlobe. She smiled because the kittens were both on their backs. Magus was spread eagle sleeping without a care in the world and Merlin was nursing her ear on his back. Sarah hated to disturb them. It was so sweet with their little bellies exposed and relaxed. She rubbed lightly each of their tummies around the spot where their umbilical cords were attached. Mother cats do that to relax them and help them digest. Sarah had been doing it for them from the start. Reality was something different for Sarah, because she had to go to the bathroom.

Sarah got up and put the babies in the warm spot on the bed with the covers. They were grunting and rooting around for Sarah. She put a kettle for some hot water on fire and took a bath after feeding and tending to the kittens. She figured that she would brush out her hair and re-braid it, then wash it later in the evening. When she was ready, she put the kittens in the pouch, grabbed Shadow's brush and went down for breakfast.

Sarah sat at the counter and the human innkeeper was a fifty looking older man with a black vest over a white shirt he had on simple brown pants. He asked, "What do you want?"

Sarah said politely, "Breakfast and tea, please."

He said, "Eight coppers." Sarah gave it to him. He came back with her tea and plate of food. It was a very good breakfast. Eggs, steak, beans and toast. Sarah thought beans with eggs was a British custom of eating. She never tried it before. She tasted the beans and they had a good flavor to compliment the rest. She ate heartily.

The innkeeper asked her, "Where ye come from, lad?"

Sarah said, "Very far away."

He said, "I can tell. Ye be talkin' funny like a fae, but not. Me name be Derrick." He put out his hand.

Sarah shook it and said, "My name is Ash. Do you know where I could find a smelter?"

Derrick's eyes got big and Sarah said, "It's nothing. I just got a few broken gold items to get melted down."

Derrick nodded and said, "He be four streets over ta tha left then make another left." Sarah thanked him and continued eating.

When Sarah went to the smelter they were slow for business so it was opportune because not very many people to draw attention. Sarah asked if she could sell them gold dust, silver dust and nuggets. They didn't believe a young man could have so much on him. Sarah had produced in canvas sealed bags they gave her to fill, 10 bags of silver dust, 14 bags of gold dust, 12 bags of silver nuggets, and 25 bags of gold nuggets over the period of the next two days.

Sarah put the gold coins in her ring per bag as they went by whispering wishes and sticking her hand in the bag of each until empty to fill it up again like a vacuum in the rings oval. After all was said and done, she had approximately 14,768 gold coins added to her ring. Sarah was blown away. She had to specify a wish to filter it all out of her ring for each item. She locked it with the key around her neck.

After she was done on the second day at the smelter, Sarah made it back to the inn, she went upstairs and locked the door. She was tired after all that work getting rid of the gold and silver from that treasure room, it was such a huge horde. She had no idea what the grand total could possibly be because taking all the gold or silver out would be an enormous pile of coins.

Tomorrow Sarah decided she would change into women's clothing so she could throw off anyone who knew how much money she just got from the smelter. Sarah also decided to not sell anything more in this city.

—--Day 13

The next day Sarah dressed in a dark purple blouse and a black one under for warmth. She had on a black skirt, leggings and her black outside corset that laces in front. She wore her amethyst stud earrings and a small amethyst pendant. She put on the little makeup she bought and braided the sides of her hair and tied them together at the back of her head with a black leather thong. Sarah fed the kittens and took the milk with her tied to her belt in a drawstring bag. She left after breakfast to walk around and visit jewelers to find out if there was such a thing as magical jewelry in the Underground. She had easedropped on people talking from time to time in the inns and heard it mentioned once. She figured she would inquire at each jeweler.

Sarah stopped in one jewelry store and the little old man bought a silver garnet ring that was protection against magic and an emerald luck ring in gold. She bought them both. She felt the magic coming off the rings. It had a certain feel Sarah could sense almost like a taste in the air.

The next jeweler that had magical items had a sapphire ring of protection against elemental attacks. She bought that ring also. She stopped at a bakery and got pastries, cookies and caramelized roasted black walnuts and butternuts in a big bag.

She took her baked goods back to the inn and fed her kittens after making a fire to warm up the room. She snacked on her walnuts and pastries. Both kitten's eyes were completely open now and they were trying to focus on her. Sarah would talk to them by name and pet them with her fingers. They were still so small and Sarah estimated them at almost two weeks old. She tried playing the "are you stepping on my toes" game with them by putting her finger on top of their paws and getting them to step on her finger. They were trying to bless their little hearts but they were so wobbly.

Once Sarah's stay in the city of Fhírinne was over, she was well stocked up and ready to go with her two and a half week old kittens. It had snowed quite a bit during her stay. Sarah had another mountain to cross with a town called Féasóg (beard) on the top of it. She was told to find a cave at the midpoint of this side of the mountain first night to stay in, before the climb to the top. Sarah hoped to find one that fit her and Shadow because she didn't want him to stay out in the weather exposed at all.

—--Day 17

She went down in the morning and ate breakfast then got her horse. Sarah tied down everything and headed east towards Féasóg. It was cold and crisp outside and they followed the road leading east to the mountains once they reached the base of the mountain the sun was starting to set and

Sarah was drawn to an obscure cave that was grown over.

It had a boulder in front of it but enough room for a horse to fit through. It had vines hanging over the overhang of rock on top of the entrance. Sarah made a wish to chase out all bugs and harmful creatures. She used her flashlight and went inside looking around to see everything. It was big enough inside for them both and small enough to heat well. Sarah brought Shadow inside to the back of the cave. She wished for clean water, hay, wood, campfire rocks and kindling like last time she was in a cave. She also made a wish that nothing harmful could enter the cave while she was staying in it.

She set up her camp and started a fire to see by, then got her gear and unsaddled Shadow. Sarah fed the kittens after the cave warmed up. It was cozy because it wasn't too big and didn't need long to heat up. Sarah went back and brushed Shadow down and gave him hugs and kisses. The horse just loved the attention she showed to him.

When Sarah inspected the walls and every inch of the cave she tripped over a rock and it jingled. She had tripped over a filthy pot of gold. She couldn't believe she found a pot of gold. No wonder the cave felt like she was compelled to go in it. The luck ring must be working well. She bet the leprechaun that left it will be ticked off.

Sarah made tea and dinner. Afterwards, she drug the pot over to the fire and started counting the gold coins and dumping it into her ring. There was 2,000 in gold in it. She started dragging the empty pot back to a spot out of the way. Sarah sat down by the fire and started singing to herself all the songs she could think of.