Chapter 14: Howdy Mr ... what a big sword you have

We rode at a much faster pace for the remainder of the day. The breaks were shorter, and the time spent walking was cut in half. No complaints came from the girl or from the horses. I still made her keep up her exercises, both mental and physical, for the journey.

It was getting to be late afternoon when I noticed that the farms started getting closer together. The terrain was rolling and lush. We did pass one older man on the road, but he scurried off the road and hid before we approached, so I let him be and continued on. It was near dusk before I saw what looked like an old western town appear on a hilltop. Since it was only a couple of miles away, I had us press on. We could rest at an inn when we stopped for the night. I'm glad that we had extra horses, so that the ones that we rode would have an easy time of it tomorrow.

We passed a few people that were riding plow horses, I nodded at them as we went by and none did more than nod back. When we pulled into town, it seemed fairly busy. At first glance every building was built out of wood and whitewashed; there was a signpost in front of all the buildings that didn't look like a house. The people here, every single one, stopped and stared at us. We were the only ones mounted, and we were dressed completely different from everyone else. All the women were wearing conservative, full length dresses, with tight bodices and loose skirts. I could barely make out that they were wearing boots from the length of them. The dresses were all browns, tans and faded ivories.

The men were wearing what looked like 1850s trousers, white shirt, a vest and a wide brimmed hat. I half expected Billy the Kid to come walking out of a saloon shooting the sheriff. I could not see any weapons besides a dagger on the men though, while my sword was clearly visible from the left side.

I pulled up next to a youngster that was trying to get a closer look at me.

"Young man, which building is the inn?" He pointed at the largest building.

"It's there, Sir." I pulled out a penny and tossed it to him with my thanks. I went to where he pointed, expecting Meri to follow.

There was a horse in front of the inn tied to a long rail next to the sign; my guess was it was what they call a hitching post. The sign had a faded brown mug on it, so I figured that this was the right place. I dismounted, looped the reins over the rail, and entered the inn. It looked to be pretty busy; there were about twenty tables set in rows, and most of them were occupied by at least two people. The conversation dropped noticeably as I approached the bar and the man behind it. He looked like a stereotypical movie innkeeper with a dirty apron, potbelly, and a cudgel behind the bar somewhere in easy grabbing distance.

"I'd like a room for the evening and I have some horses to be stabled. Would you send your stablehand out to assist my page?"

Ya know, it would be nice if everyone did not look at me when they first meet me as if I were from Mars.

"Do you have a stable for my horses?" I asked patiently.

He answered with a nod. "Good, then would you get someone to show my page, who is waiting outside, where to put them."

He bellowed for Simon to go help with the horses.

"Now then, how much for stabling five horses, two meals, and a room for the night?

The innkeeper feeling more comfortable, obviously, since money was mentioned seemed to settle down. "Three coppers sir, four if you want grain for the horses."

I gave him five, knowing that I was being overcharged, but I wanted special treatment for my horses today. "I'd like it if someone took extra time and rubbed them down well; we've had a long day and expect to have more in the future. I'd also like some fresh bread and some cheese for our journey in the morning." At which he nodded assent.

"Good, now I would like to wash up before I eat, could you point me where to go?" He bellowed for Elsa, even though it turned out that she was right behind me. She mutely led me to a washroom with a large pitcher of water, a basin, and an ancient brass mirror on the wall, and let me be. I washed up and wandered my way back to the main room to find an empty table. Just as I sat down I heard a shriek with a familiar voice behind it coming from behind the inn. I took off to find out what was going on. I ran through the kitchen to the rear of the inn figuring, correctly, that there would be a door for me to pass through. I briefly noticed the two women cooking as I flew through the open door. The barn was about fifty feet behind the inn when I heard another yell of "Let go!"

I strode into the stable and assessed the situation; the horses were disgruntled and wandering around unfettered, Meri was down on the ground trying to back away from a very large boy that was advancing on her. He must have been six-one, two-fifty, all farm-boy muscle. He had a small pitchfork in his hands.