Chapter 8: Jasmine Travels

We ended staying over and left the next morning. I got an accounting of my share from what I had left in their custody last time. We had eleven conches profit that was mine. I didn’t understand all of what they had done to make that much but at their insistence I took it.

The ride was uneventful after yesterday’s follies. James would ask questions about how Jasmine could be a warrior and when she had time to learn all of this as she looked so young.

“In Cassandra terms I am twenty-eight years old. But we have a very different time sequence. On Chaos I would be just over one hundred and twelve and on Earth, I would be sixty-five.”

That revaluation just about had me falling out of my saddle. “What is wrong, my Hero?”

“Beth and I never discussed her age in Earth terms. I remembered that she was twenty-seven when I selected her. That would make her almost sixty-five now then.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Only in the fact that she is older than my mother would have been if she was still alive”

“So it is a problem.”

“It is just another thing for me to understand, like all of the other things I have to understand.”

She rode closer and our legs touched, and she leaned over nearly in half it seemed to give me a kiss. “It will be fine, my Hero. Do not think of it again.”

“Who is Beth and how did you take her to Earth?” James asked.

“You ask too many questions sometimes. Do you know that.”

“You broke the rules didn’t you? Just like you did to come back here.” He had me now, he thought.

“I didn’t break any rule. I simply tested it and found that nothing stopped me from pushing it a little.”

“You took your Caretaker Beth back with you to Earth, and she is pregnant with your child and that is only pushing it a little?”

“I didn’t say she was pregnant.”

“Not now you haven’t but you talked in your sleep some nights when you were here last. I wondered who Beth was, and now I understand.”

“What do you think you understand?”

“I don’t know exactly but I am sure I understand something.”

“You’re going to understand cleaning out the chamber pots.”

“I understand that. Plus I have to clean the dishes when we camp, too.”

“I’m glad we came to that understanding.” I laughed then, and he joined me. Even Jasmine giggled a little.

We made it to town and went to find the armorer. Mine, while comfortable, had seen better days, so we all got measured. Moe, the leather worker, went to work on making it and said we needed to come back late tomorrow. With nothing else to do we went around and spent the day spending more of the eleven conches for new weapons. We had taken a pack horse from one that they had on the farm when we left.

We stayed the night at the inn even though we could have made it back to the farm. James made mention of the fact that he was not lucky enough to have someone to keep his bed warm. I said all he had to do was beat Jasmine, and she was free to spend her nights keeping him warm. I got a look that let me know he was not impressed with that offer.

With nothing to do after breakfast the next morning we went out of town and found a secluded place. We used the new weapons to get the feel for them and practice for the fights that would come in the future. Jasmine and I covered the edges of our blades and then decided we would go full speed at each other.

She hit me four times to my one on her. Mine was a lucky blow, but she was angry with herself as it would have certainly been fatal if it had landed during combat. Of course she had killed me three times before that hit.

We sparred for about ten more minutes before I sat down. I was exhausted and covered in sweat. Jasmine just looked at me and didn’t say anything. “Care to spar with her, James?”

“I would like to, yes.”

He died eleven times and he never even got his blade close to any vital part of her. He was so exhausted he lay down on the ground trying to catch his breath. We relaxed then and had some lunch. It had been a pleasant morning but my body ached from both the horse and the workouts. We would all need a bath tonight if we didn’t want to be ripe on the road.

The ride back was as quiet as when we left, and we headed over to see Moe. He had finished with James’ new pieces and my entire new set. He was having some difficulty with Jasmine’s as she had extra parts he usually did not build armor to cover. I paid him for what we took and arranged to come back after breakfast the next morning to get hers fitted.

The stew did nothing for me but fill my belly. It was pretty poor fare as far as what I have had over my past adventures. We arranged for a bath and took turns having that. Jasmine wanted to share mine but when I pointed out what was sticking out at the thought of that we decided that we would bathe alone. It was better not to tempt fate with my desire for her.

Since at this point it was getting quite boring, we made plans and went to the tavern. I wasn’t really worried about anyone jumping us but all the same I took the precautions that Samuel had taught me when we first began. Our eyes adjusted to the night quickly, and we made our way to the tavern.

There was gambling going on at one of the tables. A serving girl brought us a pitcher and three cups. James paid her and we sat with our backs to the wall watching the people come and go. It was pretty quiet as far as being on Chaos was concerned. We knew that could change at any time.

Over breakfast we discussed going to Samuel’s. I was certain that he would have passed by now, but I would visit his grave all the same. I had hoped he might have written some papers I could take back to Earth to deal with the issues that would come up about his disappearance.

We got all the supplies stowed away and our horses pointed in the direction we need to go. It was going to be forty days of riding to get there. It was just after lunch when the question I knew was coming James decided he would ask.

“Could I go to Crossroads or Earth with you as your companion, John?”

“That would be no. It is a hard and fast rule written that expressly states that the people of Chaos may not leave via the portals.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Welcome to life, my friend. You just figure that one out?” I laughed then and he joined me. We spend the next four days riding in and out of towns without much trouble. But on Chaos no matter how you try to stay out of trouble it always has a way of finding you.

Ours came via the way of a young woman of fourteen, I would guess. Kathy was hiding along the road as we passed. Jasmine had pointed her out before we were close. Her body shape didn’t match the fauna is what Jasmine told us. We had just called her out when we saw three men come riding our way. She ducked back when she saw them and we just stayed where we were.

“You see a runaway?”

“Describe her.”

“Girl, old for marrying, brown hair.”

“I don’t see anyone like that now.”

“Did you see her?”

“I don’t see her now.”

“That don’t answer my question,” This one was getting steamed at my non-answers.

“Do I have to answer your questions?”

“You do if you know what’s good for you.”

He just barely finished that sentence before Jasmine had hit him with the staff that she grabbed from the side of her horse. She hit him across the Adams apple, and he would be dead shortly. James and I engaged the other two with our swords then, and it was over quickly.

“Why did you kill him?” I asked Jasmine. She was going over to get the girl from her hiding place.

“Your answer would have had him following us for days. I wasn’t going to leave her out here or have them following. Use fewer words next time,” she went over and talked to the girl then.

We cleaned up the area and took everything worth having. She was a runaway from a farm the direction we were headed. She had been gone for over a week now but was just staying ahead of those three.

“She is Kathy and she has been gone, and they now have no one looking for her; she is free property to any who find her,” James said.

“Well since you live here, and we do not, she is your property to keep.”

“I won’t own a slave,” James said.

“After my experiences with my last slaves I won’t either,” I laughed.

“Okay. I will take care of her. But, when I can, she will be set free.”

“I would suggest we feed her first. And add some clothes before you go on planning anymore.”

Jasmine found her some things to wear and James took some food out for her. I wanted to move down the road before we stopped to sit down and eat. Kathy, once she was fed and had something to eat talked a mile a minute for the rest of the day.

At the next town, we stabled the horses trading in two of the ones he had from the trackers and the extra weapons. While James and I did that, Jasmine took Kathy to get some clothes that she fitted into and some extra things they would need since she would be traveling along with us now. When we got our rooms and since it had been awhile since our last bath, we arranged for that. I heard yelling coming from the woman’s room but knew that Jasmine would be more that capable of taking care of anything that came up.

When we went down for dinner, there was a new woman with us. Kathy, the runaway, had cleaned up into a beautiful woman. That did not pass James’ eyes either. We had another stew dinner and ate it with our bread and more watered wine. After dinner we decided rather than go back to the rooms we would go for a walk around the town. The problem with walking in town was that the streets were covered in manure decomposing at various stages. So instead we walked out behind the inn and walked out into the woods.