I said, “Easy? Really? I was saying that it would be nice, but I didn’t expect it to be easy, or even possible.”
The man laughed and said, “Oh, perfectly reasonable. I’ll show you. Lucille, do you know why it will be easy?”
She shrugged and said, “No. I don’t. I’m curious about what you have in mind.”
He smiled and said, “I’ll show you when we go to look at the places. But for now, let me approach the current owners. But, the house on the left of yours is only half the house. The wing that joins to you, and the wing at the back are one residence, and the front and far side are another. Only the one half joins to your house. It sounds like half a house is plenty, but you would be willing to take a whole house if that’s what works best. And it won’t be expensive, if my guess is right. Will you let me try to structure a deal that is happier for everyone involved, even if it is a bit complicated?”
I said, “Of course. In fact, the more it helps others, the better. I don’t want to take advantage of anyone. Do you think that this can make people happier than they are?”
He smiled again and said, “I think that it might. If I find the right plan. Let me work on it for you.”
I said, “I will leave it up to you. Let me know what you come up with. How much money do you need to get started?”
The man smiled and said, “No money. Our agreement was that anything related to keeping us safe was our gift to the entire village. I can’t make weapons and darts and arrows, but I know houses and shops. It isn’t that much work, and my wives will be proud that I have had some part in what is happening.”
I said, “But, the troubles are over.”
He said, “Are they? And so do you think that we will thank you and send you on your way to go somewhere else? My friend, we will do what we can to have you settle here. None of us want to see either you, or any of your women, leave for another village. Valeera is like royalty to us. And you are too. And the widows are dear to us. We are better off if you are happy here. And, didn’t three murders and rapists die the day before yesterday? And you were unarmed at the time? Friend, this is part of what we need to do for the good of all of us. And it isn’t much work anyway.”
I said, “You are all very generous. But when it comes to digging a secret passage, I will pay for that, at least. You can’t claim that a tunnel is necessary for the sake of the village.”
He grinned and said, “I told you, that request is easier than you think. Give me some time. Maybe a few hours. Maybe a day. I’ll see what I can do for you.”
We shook hands and thanked each other, and Lucy and I left him.
Lucy held onto my arm as we walked around the village.
She said, “Ronin, tell me about wanting to get the girls new dresses.”
I told her what I was thinking, and about the idea of having clothing for the family that made us easy to identify as one family. She thought that it was a nice idea, especially to get nice things for the young girls. She surprised me by suggesting that she make them herself. She pointed out that she was an expert clothing designer, had a work room at my house, and could do the best job of anyone in making something that was exactly what was wanted. I readily agreed. I expressed concern that it would be a lot of work, but she assured me that she would enlist plenty of help. Harmony had helped her many times. And Dawn had said that she had made clothes in the past as well. Lucy wanted to involve both April and Tanya in the process, teaching them what she could. And she was sure that Brenda and Alice would have time during the day at points to help as well. We decided to let the girls pick something from the market for right now, but to work on something more special for the weeks ahead.
Lucy said, “Ronin, you need a bedroom. One of your own.”
I said, “Do I? Why is that? I think that I can stay in any of the rooms with the girls.”
She said, “No, you need a room of your own. It’s important. A room decorated in a way that is you. The man of the house. The lord of the family. And sometimes you need to call one, or sometimes two, of your women to be with you there, for a special night, or a special conversation. And a place for you to get away by yourself when needed. I’ll help the ladies get it ready for you. I think that I might stay with you a few more days.”
I said, “Lucy, that’s wonderful, but don’t you have to go back to the farm?”
She smiled and said, “Not so much. If I were more like other women, then yes, I would. There is a new woman at the farm, and I would need to be there to establish how we would live together. But as it is, Anne and Jean and Gerald will get to know each other and that will be good enough. Ronin, it’s a bit hard for me. Because I’m different. Let’s not talk about it right now.”
Lucy went quiet, seemingly a bit sad now. I wondered what I could do to cheer her up, but all I could think of was to put my arm around her and hold her against my side.
Chapter 27 - Midday
Lucy and I wandered about the market, greeting people. There were a few lighthearted jokes about what a lovely couple we made, but no one meant anything by it and it was all in fun. Eventually, Gerald found us and offered to take me to talk to the right people about making a claim for the kobold cave. Lucy said that she would see us at the house and kissed both of us and left us to our business.
The village was small, and people didn’t have offices like they would in a larger city. Goods were sold in stalls at the market, but a lot of them were made at home. And business, like land registrations, and even any kind or leadership meetings for the village, were conducted at someone’s house. Gerald and I went to such a house.
The man there was glad to greet us, and when we told him why we had come, he laughed.
He said, “Well, let’s see what we can do. Our hero wants the land above what we now know was a cave full of kobolds. Let me get a map.”
He went to a cabinet and brought out large piece of paper with a drawing of the village, the farm, the river, the meadows, and the hills behind the orchards.
He laid it out on the table and said, “Well, here is what we are talking about. And, as Gerald has said, the kobolds gave it to you when they left, so you have a very strong claim.”
I said, “I could make a contribution to the village, some gold for public projects, or something like that.”
He said, “That’s actually a good idea. I wouldn’t agree to it, except that I know that you can afford it. And Gerald, a new project for the village would be very good for morale, and it would give everyone a sense that new days were dawning. Ronin, if you are so generous, it will be a boon, not because of the thing that is done, but because of the process of doing it. Thank you. Gerald, we do need a council soon. But how much of the land do you want? It doesn’t really matter.”
I looked at the drawing and said, “Well, the Cave is here. I need some area at the front, here, and some surrounding it. It might be best if I had whatever land is above whatever is underneath. I have no idea how far that goes yet.”
The man said, “What if we start here. In his area.”
He drew a circle with his finger, indicating nearly a mile radius around the cave entrance. It was centered farther back so that it didn’t include any portion of the orchards.
He said, “What if you start with that. As you know more, we can adjust the thinking. Ronin, you aren’t taking anything away from us. That cave is dangerous. We will all feel safer if you actually own it. If you own it, it becomes your responsibility. Perhaps you should rethink this. You can explore it, and what you find on public land is yours to keep. You don’t have to be responsible for it. It could be better for you if you don’t.”
I thought for a moment and said, “No, I think that I want to be responsible for it. So, Gerald to be clear, our agreement to pay me for cleaning out he fields and orchards is completed.”
Gerald said, “And it was a bargain. But, OK I won’t feel obligated to pay you for killing the dragon that lives under the cave. But, if I do, it will be at our same rate. Two c
opper coins for each dragon you kill.”
We laughed together, and the man said that he would start making up the paperwork and discuss it with some others.
Then he said, “But, Gerald, back to the other matter. We need a council now.”
Gerald said, “Yes, we do. Will you take care of getting a meeting put together. It probably needs to be the entire village. But we have to talk to a few men separately. Those that we expect to be on the council, even if we don’t know for sure.”
The man said, “I’ll take care of it. We can do it in a few days.”
Gerald and I headed to the inn to sit at a table on the street and have something to drink. We talked about the kobold cave for a bit. I wasn’t sure what was there, but I was very interested to find out. If kobolds were there, there might be other things as well. Usually, an underground cavern meant some ancient history of some kind. The caverns started out as volcanic tunnels, but over time, if a monster population moved in, it meant that there was some very old and very deep history. Sometimes, it wasn’t volcanic. Sometimes it was a buried civilization, possibly thousands of years old. There wasn’t much written history in his part of the world, and it was possible that the cave marked the very top of some city that had once dominated this region, but had been covered by the earth over the centuries. It could be that some city had died naturally, or had been attacked and overrun, or any number of things, and then the monsters moved in. Sometimes, a city was built and as it dug farther and farther underground for some purpose, either mining, or the building of catacombs, or something, the people dug in the wrong place and opened a passage to a previously unknown lair of kobolds, goblins, or the like.
But as the land registrar, whose name was Cletus, had said, it did feel like my responsibility now. It was a potential threat to the villagers, and protecting them was my job now. It was also a potential underground palace, a treasure trove, or some other amazing adventure. In a way, I wanted to see about building a house on that land, and perhaps living there. If it was safe, of course. Not safe for me, but safe for Brenda, Alice, and the children. If it were just Dawn, Val, Harmony, and I, we might build a camp and explore the cave for who knew how long.
After we had been sitting for an hour, I spotted April and Tanya walking toward us. Gerald had his back to them and didn’t see them yet.
I said, “Gerald, we have to settle something.”
He looked at me with curiosity and I said, “What will my children call you?”
He laughed and said, “Oh, I thought that it would be something more urgent than that. I suppose they will call me Grandpa. Why do you ask?”
I said, “Because I have three children already, and it seems like an urgent question.”
He looked surprised and said, “Oh, I guess you do. So, you really think of them as your children already? Well, then, they will be my grandchildren. I have a son from Anne, and a grandson from you, both the same age. How funny.”
At that moment, the two girls stood beside the table, and I winked at Gerald.
He turned and smiled at the girls and said, “Well, hello. You both know me, but I hardly know more than your names. And since I’m your grandpa, if you’ll have me, we should be better acquainted. Sit down and let me get us all some lemonade.”
He quickly called the waitress and had her bring pitchers of juice and glasses for all of us.
Gerald said, “Now, let’s see. The older one is the very lovely April, and his pretty one is Tanya. Am I right?”
The girls giggled and nodded.
He said, “So, what do you think? Will you call me Grandpa, or do you need to think it over a bit? Maybe you need to ask some questions before you decide.”
Tanya said, “What kind of questions?”
Gerald said, “Well, I’d think the most important question is do I know how to give a wonderful granddaughter a nice present on her birthday, or am I a stingy stinky troll who never gives anything but a snotty rag and a blob of mud? And if that’s your question, and I don’t blame you a bit for wanting to find that out right up front, I assure you both that my granddaughters get very nice presents whenever they want them. As long as they aren’t selfish stinky trolls themselves, of course.”
I said, “But Grandpa, no unicorns. Their mothers say that they are too much trouble to keep in the house, and if you want to give them unicorns, then you have to keep them at your house.”
Gerald said, “These girls would be very welcome to come and be at my house. That won’t be any trouble at all. How could Tanya and April be too much trouble to keep in the house, whether I give them a unicorn or not? That doesn’t make any sense at all.”
Both girls laughed and Tanya said, “Not us! The unicorns! We can’t put a unicorn in the house!”
April exaggerated the formality of the situation, and said, “And we thank you for you for your offer to stay at your house Grandpa, but we need to stay with our father the prince for now. He has just rescued us from an ogre, and we need to take care of him and make sure that he knows that we love him.”
Tanya said, “I know what! You could give our new daddy a unicorn and keep it at your farm, and we could come and visit it. I mean, we could visit you, and see the unicorn when we come to your house!”
Gerald said, “A splendid idea. Very well. Ronin, my son, I give you a unicorn from my herd, and your wonderful girls can come and ride it whenever they like. In fact, I’ll give you three of them so that they can all ride together. I assume that Jack likes to ride too, doesn’t he?”
Tanya said, “Oh yes. Well, we never did it before, but I’m sure we all do.”
Gerald said, “Good. All settled. You all get unicorns and we will keep them at my farm. But, here’s a secret you have to know.”
April smiled and said, “What is it?”
He grinned and said, “Well, most folk think that unicorns don’t really exist. So, to keep it a secret, I breed all of my unicorns to look just like burros. And I keep them mixed in with the real burros so that no one knows. Of course, I can teach you to tell which ones are which, but most people can’t tell the difference.”
Tanya laughed and said, “Oh, that’s a good plan. I’m not sure that our moms would want us to have unicorns even if we do keep them at your farm. We can just let them think that they are burros.”
Gerald said, “So, that’s fine then? If I have unicorns for you, but they look and sometimes act just like burros? I can help you make saddles and teach you to ride them. Valeera rode them when she was little.”
April smiled and said, “I think that will be wonderful. And we won’t tell anyone. And when we talk about it, if anyone is around, we will just say burro, not unicorn.”
Gerald said, “OK then. So, what do you think? Am I Grandpa, or do you need more time?”
Tanya looked at April and said, “He had me when he said lemonade.”
April said, “Me too. I’m a little chilly. Are you Tanya?” and she winked at her sister.
Tanya looked confused for a second and then said, “Oh that’s right. I am feeling a little chilly. Grandpa, can I sit in your lap?”
April said, “And Daddy, can I sit in yours?”
Gerald and I exchanged glances and immediately welcomed the girls into our laps and put our arms around them.
April said, “That’s nice.”
Tanya said, “I knew it would be. I told you. Grandpa, I never sat in a grandpa’s lap before.”
April leaned against me and said, “Or a dad’s. I like it,” then she kissed me on the cheek.
I smiled and kissed her on the cheek in return, and she leaned into me even farther.
I said, “Girl’s, you have a family now. Everything is different now. You can always sit in my lap, or Grandpa’s, or Grandma Jean or Grandma Lucy.”
Gerald said, “And, Grandma Anne has one of the best laps I have ever seen.”
Tanya said, “Anne has…um, I mean, she’s really pretty. Is she your widow-wife now? And she does wifely things for
you? We’ve been to her house before and she made cookies and she hugged me sometimes, like our moms do. It was really nice. Grandpa, I like you. I’m glad that Anne is your widow-wife now. If I come and sleep at your house, maybe she will let me sleep in her bed.”
Gerald said, “You know, it seems like I hear that a lot. Everybody wants to sleep in Anne’s bed. And I don’t blame them a bit.”
I said, “What are you girls up to? Did you come to find me for some reason?”
April said, “We came to look at the market and see if we had ideas for the house. For the big house. We don’t know what the little house will be like yet.”
Tanya said, “No we didn’t. We came to find him because we like him and wanted to have lemonade and Alice said that if we found you that you’d buy us lemonade if we asked you to so we came and found you.”
April said, “Well, we looked around at the market too!”
Tanya said, “Yeah, for maybe half a minute!”
April said, “It was long enough. Because we don’t know what the little house looks like and we don’t know how all the rooms will be.”
I said, “Well, I’m glad it only took you half a minute. I was sitting here thinking that it would be really nice if you came and found me, so I was really happy when I saw you.”
Gerald said, “And so was I. I never had granddaughters before. And I never had one sit on my lap. I like it. I like it very much. I’d say that you can do it as much as you want to.”
Tanya said, “Because we aren’t stingy stinky trolls?”
Gerald said, “Well, you don’t seem to be. And I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. So, as long as my burros don’t turn up half eaten after your visits, I won’t even think about it.”
April looked sternly at Gerald and said, “Grandpa, it isn’t us you need to be afraid of.”
Gerald looked shocked, but then smiled and April laughed.
She said, “We heard about the Guardian Maiden of Sturgil’s Mark. And she’s scary.”
The Edge of Harmony: The Guardian Maidens Book 2 Page 25
