Chapter 31: Weston

It was a beautiful morning to set sail.

With the speed of our ship, we should be in Weston late in the day on the second day. Trixi and Foxi had both been to Weston, so they were happy to be out tour guides in the city. Albi would be our guide in the mountains.

I think the smoothness of the travel had them all amazed that they were on a ship at sea. We had picked up ten other passengers, a family of four, two single men and two couples. They too found our ship odd.

Albi bunked in with Foxi. I think he was a little surprised when he came aboard the night before to find it was either Foxi or a storeroom. I’d not realised Captain Hail had filled the other cabins. They had come aboard since as we were leaving at first light.

I’d told him about Foxi, but not Albi’s late inclusion. When we arrived on board after the dinner, Foxi had looked Albi over and said he’d do in a pinch. We hadn’t stayed much later than Albi and were surprised by how fast he had packed.

I’m not sure Albi appreciated being so relegated, but it was only for two or three nights. He could move to one of the other cabins if we got in early enough to find a berth and let the other passengers off.

I think he also missed Foxi’s smirk when she eyed off his tushy as he headed for her cabin.

He was 6cm taller than Foxi’s 158cm, so he stood eye to eye with Trixi. He had a distinct Genteli look with the pale completion and pink tinted blond hair. His face was also longer, and he had the big purple eyes, but they were paler than some I’ve seen.

He was a little thicker in the chest and thighs than most Genteli indicating a mixed-race background. I suspect it was with a local race, as they seem to be able to mix it up with the Genteli. From a female perspective, he was not a bad looking bloke, and he did have a fine tushy. He also had a wicked laugh and a dry wit.

Even though he had hit on Trixi at the previous dinner, he hadn’t touched her, since he knew she was mine. I got the impression he was smart enough to know when to back off. I l also didn’t think he into Trixi as much as I was.

He joined us on deck the next morning as we set sail. He happily followed my exercise program. I could tell by the way he moved, he was familiar with a discipline similar to mine and he was happy to keep fit. The light, loose clothing indicated that if he hadn’t found us already there, he would have happily done his own thing.

I introduced him around afterwards and asked where Foxi was, as she hadn’t joined us. He gave me a satisfied little grin. He said Foxi was a bit tired after the party and had wanted more sleep. Trixi and I both smirked at him, as he did look pleased with himself.

Foxi joined us for breakfast and gave Albi a couple of peculiar looks that suggested she wasn’t sure he was the same bloke who had energetically screwed her silly the night before. I doubted they would stay together, but for the time being, they were happy to use each other.

Foxi later told Trixi that for a quiet man he had a serious sex drive and knew how to please. Trixi told me that as long as Albi was around, she was sure her nympho sister would be kept happy. Albi didn’t seem to have any problems with accepting or executing the onerous chore of keeping Foxi satisfied.

I looked at Foxi and knew she would be coming home with us. I think I had filled Ian’s wish list as Trixi had told me that mermaid and lanky were two other forms she and her sisters could take. She often preferred her lanky form and Foxi mermaid. The fact Foxi also had a bull form made her a perfect wife for a Bull.

I think her temperament should also suit Ian. She was outgoing and fun, but she did have a serious side and thought her decisions through. She had been working with Richard so her knowledge of managing a port would also make her an asset.

I also didn’t think Ian would begrudge her having some fun with Aldi. He did say he wanted a nympho. By the sounds of things, Aldi had been teaching her a few new tricks so she would certainly spice up Ian and Marcy’s sex life. Trixi had also hinted Foxi was a true shifter and had no problems with multiple partners of either sex.

Trixi certainly had an affinity with lankys, and she had added two to our hold, Mia and Mea. Opal had approved of both her mares and had given Coppa a dirty look when she and Iron added the extra rail between his stable and the mares. We would see if it was high enough.

Opal was warned not to get our mares pregnant as we had a lot of riding to do in the next month or so. Albi had a painted gelding called Snap and Foxi’s mare was black with white patches. It was simply called Pat. They were all sturdy animals.

Two of the larger sturdier mares would be kept to pull the small coach that Rose would drive. Silver said it would require a small amount of assembly, but it seated six inside comfortably. It had space for storage on top and had a short compartment on the back they had designed for storage of feed for the lankys.

The front wheels were smaller than the back ones. The wheels had metal looking spoked hubs and a material she called ‘recoiler’ as the rims. It felt firm, but Silver assured me it took all the bounce out of the coach. It was hard wearing but surprisingly flexible.

She took me to look at the coach after breakfast, in was still in its pieces. She told me that the recoiler material could be made to feel much softer, like what was cushioning the seats. An altered variety with different flexibility and cushioning was even used as padding in the saddles they made.

She had brought new ones for us to try. If we didn’t like them, we could always sell them. I didn’t remember seeing them I told her. She smiled and said I wasn’t supposed to have seen them as they were presents.

They had made three extras for my spouses, but if I wished the others in my party to use them for the long ride, she could easily arrange new ones for Greta, Bea and Cora. She pulled a box out of the body of the coach and opened it. She lifted out the saddle to show me.

I was surprised by how light and supple it was. She put it back in the box and handed it to me. She pulled another box out and looking at Sable said, “This one is your’s, young master. Should we see if Red likes it?”

She didn’t have to ask twice. We carried the boxes to the lankys, and I got Opel out as Sable got Red. The lankys were interested in what we were doing. I pulled the saddle back out of the box and showed it to Opal. He looked at it and sniffed it.

Rose pulled a new blanket out of the bottom of the box and placed on Opal. I dropped the light saddle on him. I got it strapped down and seated in the right spot. Silver then handed me a new bridle. So I put it on Opal too. He gummed it a bit and seemed satisfied it was a comfortable fit.

I swung up into the saddle. I wiggled around a bit to check the fit for my skinny arse and that the stirrup lengths were comfortable. I was surprised just how comfy the saddle felt. I walked Opal down the aisle, lifting off the saddle several times to feel how it moved under me. Then I turned him and brought him back.

“It feels good Silver. I’ll let Rose know after a couple of days if it’s better than my old one. Right now, it feels like a nicely worn in model and cushions my arse. I think we will chance it and take them with us.”

I watched as Rose cupped a hand so Sable could step up to get into his new saddle. He did it with ease as if he had done it many times before. He happily told Red to walk down the aisle. She ambled down the aisle and back. I watched Sable lift up and down and wiggle, as I had, to check the comfort.

Sable grinned at Silver upon his return, “This is a very nice saddle, and I should be able to use it for a long time too. Thank you, Silver, for caring about our butts.”

Silver replied, “You shouldn’t get as sore in your butt with that saddle, but it will still take time for you to get used to riding for long periods like your father.”

“That’s why you have made sure I can have nice comfy naps in the coach, Silver,” he replied with a cheeky grin.

Silver chuckled and leant a shoulder to help him off Red. She got a big hug for her troubles. “Get away with you, you little scamp,” she said and pushed him away gently. I was surprised to notice he was nearly as tall a she was. I could see why Mary had thought he was older. He would most likely be taller than me, as he was over a metre tall already.

Sable happily ran up the ramp to disappear above us. We decided there was enough room up on deck to assemble the coach. It would keep us amused for the day, and we could have it packed and ready to drive off the ship tomorrow.

We had a lot of fun putting the base together with helpful hints from Rose and Silver who for the most part stood back and watched us unless a little extra muscle was needed. We were delighted with the finished product. Sable happily demonstrated that he was going to have some nice naps on the seats.

I got up in the driver’s seat and bounced around a couple of times. I grinned at Rose, “This seat should even be soft enough for your lead arse, Rose.” She made a rude sound at me in reply.

Chuckling, I notice it even had a built-in power supply for Rose to plug into and travel lights. I thought they were great ideas. It even had special holders for water bottles if a human was driving. Under the seat was a compartment for keeping snacks and maps and a couple of rain deflectors.

I pulled out the bag of crystals I had put in my pocket and embedded two crystals behind me in the top corners of the coach. I added a small shield that would deflect rain and dust over the top of the coach and protect it. It would still let in light and air.

The main body of the coach that provided the roof storage was 1.6m wide by 2m long. The interior being was slightly smaller due to the 5cm thickness of the walls. The walls were interesting. They looked like a painted wood, but Silver said it was a material made in the replicator, which was tough, light weight and even provided insulation.

The coach had two windows, and a central door on each side with a full mud runner and steps as the back wheels were a metre high. On top, we placed two 80cm square by 60cm high boxes on each side so they could be opened from the sides.

I had learnt how to modify my bottomless bag spell so the cubic space of the container could fit double the dimensions of what it should or eight times its original area when you thinks in cubes. I called it the ‘eighth-space’ spell.

I placed this spell on the top storage boxes. I got down and proceeded to embed a couple of extra crystals to keep the spells strong. I added the eighth-space spell on the three larger storage containers on the back.

We had two on the bottom and one on top in the middle. They too were 80cm square, but the 60cm side became the depth. I spelled them, so the square front became the door and opened to the outsides on the bottom and the top one lifted up. They all had little locking arms to keep the doors open when you were removing or replacing items.

I modified two more containers to make rectangular rain barrels to fit squarely, either side of the top storage box. I joined then all together and spell locked them to the coach, so they didn’t move. I added a tap on the bottom of the tanks.

On top of the barrels were water collection openings so the runnels on top of the coach would feed into them. We could also bucket in water if it was necessary.

I did the eighth space spell, and purification spells on the rain barrels, so we had good drinking water. The spell would let them hold about 1500 litres of water each. I did a mental check for any parts not being well made but determined the coach was sturdy, so I added the preservation, keep-clean and fix-it spells.

I also added a spell to the brake, so only an android or one of us six humans could drive the coach if it was applied. Once this was done, we started stocking it. I’d told the girls not to pack too much. I pointed to one of the top compartments and said that one was theirs to fill. We boys would take the one on the other side, and the other two were for food.

The girls looked at me oddly and left. I told the boys we’d used the top one on the back for our camping and fossicking gear and the other two for feed for the lankys. You’d be surprised what you can fit into a 3 cubic meter space when you have seven of them to fill.

I was helping the androids load the feed when Trixi punched me in the arm. I looked down at her in surprise. “Geez, you can be bastard, Bron,” she said quite peeved.

“What did I do wrong?” I asked mystified. Trixi had her hands on her hips looking quite vexed at me.

“You spelled the bloody storage boxes didn’t you?” she said.

“Of course I did, surely you haven’t run out of space?” I said exasperatedly.

“Foxi and I have spent ages trying to work out how to pack our stuff to put it in that little box,” she said crankily.

I looked at the box and started laughing. I laughed so hard I damn near lost my breath. Trixi growled at me and stomped off. Oops! I followed her back to our cabin and gently took her in my arms. She was still pretty cross with me.

“I’m sorry sweetie, I didn’t think to tell you,” I said and softly kissed her.

“We spent ages,” she said mulishly.

I kissed the side of her neck and up to her ear and blew ‘I love you’ into it, before sucking gently on her earlobe. Her arms snaked around me, and she said into my chest, “You’re still a bastard.”

“Yes, my love. My grandfather reminded me of that fact as often as he could,” I said as I hugged her to me.

She pulled back and looked at me shocked, “I didn’t mean it like that, Bron.”

“I know my love. But sometimes I forget to tell other people things, expecting them to already know what I know. I simply assumed when I was altering the containers to become our rain barrels that you would know I’d put my favourite spell on the other boxes.”

She chuckled, “You should have seen Foxi’s face when she pushed the chest in, and it shot to the back of the box and looked like it was further away. She squealed and asked me how to get it back. When I got up and looked, I knew what you had done. I felt so stupid.”

“I can only apologise, my love. My intent wasn’t to embarrass you,” I said and softly kissed her again. This time she returned the kiss, and it was amazing how quickly it changed to lust. She was pulling my clothes off before I had released her lips.

I have learnt that a smart shifter, never says no when his lover is busily removing his clothes. I submitted to my punishment.

It was tough, but a shifter’s gotta do, what a shifter’s gotta do.

We did get the rest of the coach loaded by nightfall.

Ben put on one of his best meals to celebrate. The other passengers had chipped in and helped us load it. I don’t think they had realised I was a mage until they saw me doing the spells on the coach.

One of the men, called Reilly, volunteered to hold the hose and fill the water barrels. Reilly kept looking in the barrel, he was surprised by how long it took to fill them both. When I came back with the last of feed pellets to load, he eventually asked me, “My Lord, how much water does this barrel take?”

I scratched my head. I did a rough calculation and replied, “About 1500 litres each.”

He looked at me in surprise and said, “Can this coach handle all the weight you’re adding?”

“Oh as far as the coach is concerned the only weight we’ve added is the containers. I’ll work out one day where that spell sends the stuff we put in the containers. It does have limitations, but so far, those limitations haven’t affected me. I do try to be careful not to overdo it,” I told him. That’s why I’d adapted the spell.

“What happens if a person was to crawl in there?” Reilly asked as he looked down into the container that I had open.

I looked at him in surprise, “I have no idea! I’ve never tried to put anything that was alive into a magical space. Thank you, I’d better add some protection spells to them. A person or a calf could easily climb into these containers.”

I quickly rattled around in my head and found a spell I believed would stop unauthorised access. I thought of another that blocked the entrance to a living creature. I put both on all of the doors and then asked Reilly if he wouldn’t mind trying to open the door for me.

He could easily reach the top container, so he tried it. “Hey! I got a real tickly feeling from the handle,” he said. He shook his hand and looked at me in surprise.

I opened the door and told him to try and put his arm in. He looked dubious, but his hand never got past the entrance. “It feels like a glass wall,” he said and rubbed his hand across the entrance.

I tried. I could put my hands and arms in, to call something to the entrance, but I couldn’t put my head in. I grinned at him, “Do you think that will make it safer?”

He chuckled, “And theft proof too.”

I grinned back, “Now that is as good a reason for the extra spells as any.”