Chapter 5: Oh little town of Brinkham

Osa and the Orangemen, part 5: Oh little town of Brinkham

By the time Osa reaches the village of Brinkham, the sun has set. Four crossroads divide the town in the same pattern of a children’s game that she played when she was young. The first thing Osa passes as she enters the town is a corral and stables, with half a dozen horses lodged for the night. Across from that is an inn, and connected to the inn is a tavern.

Osa steps into the tavern, and immediately everyone stops to look at the unusual-looking woman dressed in the enchanted liquid silver Zentai of an unmarried noble. Osa sits at an empty table, and a serving girl walks over to her. The serving girl runs through a very short list of everything that is available in the kitchen, then asks, “What would you like to eat?” Osa informs her, “I have no currency to pay with, but I am very hungry.” The girl calls for her mother. An older pudgy woman comes out of the kitchen and approaches Osa’s table. “How can we be of help to you, my lady?” Osa explains to the mother her situation about being taken from her land and escaping from the castle.

It doesn’t take long for the tavern to return to the normal chatter and goings-on, albeit the new chatter seems to be about Osa, and everybody seems to be keeping one eye on her and one eye on the door. The serving girl returns with a plate with two eggs and a biscuit and a glass of warm goat’s milk. After Osa finishes her meal, the serving girl collects the dish and cup and says, “Follow me, please, my lady.” In the kitchen, the older woman asks, “What can you do to help out?” Osa says, “I can fill the water casks and the soup pots so they are ready for tomorrow.” The older woman chuckles and gives Osa instructions on how to get to the well and how to use it. Osa grins, then closes her eyes and concentrates on summoning water from the well and directing it into the proper containers. In less than three minutes, both soup pots, all three large casks, and the dishwashing tub are filled to the top with clean water. Impressed with the feat of magic, the older woman tells the serving girl, “Take the lady over to the inn and tell your father that her night is paid for in the big room.”

Over at the inn, Osa is shown to an old worn cot in a large room with 29 other cots; over half of them are full with drunks from the tavern, a couple homeless people, and a few passers-by, all of whom, like Osa, can’t afford a private room. Osa can’t tell if it’s the room that stinks or the people sleeping in it; between the stench, the strange noises they make, and the very uncomfortable bed, it takes hours before she is able to fall asleep.