After the bard’s departure, everything had gone back to normal. Mostly normal anyway. Anna asked around town about spell casting, simply telling people she was just curious because she thought that the bard had tried to charm her and a few of her friends.
The men in town seemed to have the same reaction, getting angry and threatening violence against the man if they ever caught him. Half the women had the same reaction as the men. The other half sounded scared.
She sighed. "I guess I’ll just have to let it go for now," she thought.
The time passed quickly, and before she knew it, the season had changed to summer. This was the time of the year when the port did most of its business, and life was good.
Anna was down at the docks. She was picking up the fish they would use for meals for the next few days. Fresh fish didn't keep, so someone had to pick them up regularly. She was that someone.
Ted had started sending her instead of Mack because she always seemed to get better deals, and she could carry a lot more back than anyone else at the inn.
“They are always so nice to me at the docks,” she thought.
She went to the fishmonger and noticed that a large ship had pulled in overnight. It didn’t look like most of the ships she had seen. The hull was larger and deeper, and it had more sails. She admired the colorful paint and grinned at the carving of a nude woman. The carving was smiling as well. For some reason, the sailors had paid extra attention to its breasts.
They were larger than most women’s, smaller than her own as usual, and it looked as if they had been exposed to a breeze the way the nipples poked out.
“People like boobs,” she thought.
The fishmonger was a weathered old man who used to be a fisherman until he had lost his legs in some unfortunate accident. She’d asked him about it, but he just told her it was no tale for a woman.
“I still don’t know what he means by that,” she thought.
The fishmonger smiled at her. He was missing most of his teeth, and the remaining few were black. “Got some river fish, and a boat made it all the way to the inland ocean and back if you want something different,” he said.
They didn’t get fish from the ocean very often. She knew Elizabeth liked to cook with river fish, mostly because of their cheapness, but the ocean fish were colorful, and she liked the different textures, so she decided to get a barrel of both.
“They won’t mind,” she thought. “I want a barrel of each,” she said.
“Alright miss. You can pick them up in an hour or so. We still have to unload them. That cargo ship came in for repairs last night. Hit some rough seas and sprung something terrible. Those poor boys have been pumping all night. They are trying to get it unloaded so they can get to the leak.”
She looked at the ship again and saw water pouring out of a few spots on the side. “Bilge pumps,” she thought.
The sailors just loved to tell her all about the sea and ships and all the ports they visited. They just went on and on. She usually just smiled and nodded at them. She had never even seen the sea, or anywhere but here for that matter. Neither had any of the girls whose memories she possessed.
She didn’t bother with the memories much anymore. She learned everything she could from them. At least she thought she had anyway.
The men were unloading the ship with a few large cranes; although, they didn’t seem large enough for this job. She turned to the fishmonger and smiled at him. “What’s on that ship?” she asked.
He scratched himself and spit. “Spices from the islands I’d say. Only reason a big ship like that would be in the ass-end of nowhere like this,” he replied.
“What does this have to do with butts?” she thought.
“Sorry miss,” he said.
She was even more confused by his apology but didn’t say anything. She just smiled.
He grinned and nodded.
Suddenly she heard a terrible groaning sound, then a crash followed by a lot of shouting. She swung back around to see that one of the cranes had collapsed. She ran to help.
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Moving through the crowd with ease, she made it to the other pier in moments.
The crane was surrounded by men trying to lift it. They struggled in vain, not strong enough to move it. Others were pulling at the broken cargo that was scattered around.
She rushed over to help, hearing that men were trapped beneath the crane and other debris. Pushing several men from her path, she took hold of a sturdy portion and lifted the entire thing into the air effortlessly.
After a moment of shock, the men began to clear the wreckage of the crane and the remains of the cargo. She watched as they pulled mangled bodies from the broken crates one by one. It looked like one man wasn't moving at all. He was obscured by some men so she couldn't make out what had happened to him.
She shifted to get a better look but wasn’t able to.
“You there! What the fu... Miss Anna, what, how?” the dockmaster’s statement turned into a question. He looked at her and then the crane several times. “You can set it down now. We can clear the rest,” he said. He sounded confused.
She carefully set the crane down and looked at him.
“Will he be alright?” she asked.
The dockmaster looked at the still figure. He was covered in a cloth for some reason.
“I don’t know miss. You can head home now if you’d like. I’ll have one of the boys deliver the fish. You’ve done enough for us today,” he said then started to walk away.
“How did he know I bought fish?” she thought. She had never really talked to the dockworkers. They just came into the inn, got drunk, then left. The most they did to her was try to pinch her butt.
She wasn’t sure what she should do. She had time before she needed to be back at the inn. Beth was busy with Elizabeth today, so she couldn’t go back to get the girl. She shrugged and went to get some sweets.
The streets were oddly empty. She made it to the merchant that sold her favorite treats quicker than expected.
He was looking around confused by the lack of people. “Miss Anna. It’s good to see you. Do you know what happened at the dock? Everyone rushed away. I heard there was an accident,” he said.
“A crane fell,” she replied.
“Oh, that’s terrible! I hope no one was hurt,” he said. She nodded and smiled.
Some of them were hurt, but she didn’t want to tell him that. She bought a few boxes of her favorite candies and went back to the inn.
Ted was behind the bar and the dockmaster, along with several large dockworkers, were there.
“Are they mad at me? Did I mess up? I hope they don't hate me,” she thought as one of the large men walked over to her.
“Miss, thank you,” the man said pulling her up into a bear hug. He squeezed her against his chest. She was so small he lifted her off of the ground. Her legs sort of dangled, and she didn’t know what to do, so she just went kind of limp.
The dockmaster coughed into his hand. “Put the lady down you lout. You’ll crush her before we can thank her properly,” he said.
It didn't feel like he was squeezing her all that hard, and she was certain she'd be fine, but she didn’t say anything. The man set her down with a sheepish look on his face. She smiled at him and then looked at Ted.
He was pulling several mugs out, and he got a bottle from under the counter. The one he told her and the children not to touch. He poured the contents into the mugs and passed one to everyone there.
“To William,” he said.
“To William,” all the men responded back. Then they tapped mugs.
Anna tapped hers a moment later. They all downed the mugs, including her. The drink was rich and well-spiced. It had almost a sweetness to it, but not quite. She liked it. She didn’t know exactly how to describe it. None of the memories had anything like it.
She had tried ale before and didn't like it all that much. It was just bitter, and it didn’t seem to have the same effect on her as everyone else. This drink did nothing to her, other than leave a pleasant aftertaste that is.
It seemed like it had a much stronger effect on the men compared to ale. They were all red-faced after the first mug.
“That was nice,” she said, causing the men to break out into laughter.
“Miss, we watched you pick a crane up and hold it over your head for half an hour, and now you down a mug of dwarven black ale and tell us it’s nice. If you weren’t built so well, I’d swear you were half troll or dwarf,” the dockmaster said.
He shrugged then slammed the mug down. “Well dwarf, troll, or good-looking woman, you’ve helped us all today,” he said.
“So, you’re not mad at me?” she asked timidly.
He looked shocked. “Where in the abyss would you get the idea we were mad at you from?” he asked.
“I didn’t save William,” She replied quietly. The dockmaster put his hand on her shoulder.
“No one could have saved him. The crane fell right on top. You did more than anyone else could,” he said.
“Oh, I didn’t think of that.” she replied. He smiled at her.
“You’re a good woman, Anna. Strange, but good,” he said.
“Boys, I think we need another round,” Ted said. The men all cheered.
It turns out that another round means ten or so, and the men spent the rest of the time telling Anna about William. She loved the stories but hated the ale that went along with them. They teased her about the candy she tried to sneak to get the taste out of her mouth.
After a few hours, the evening customers started to come in and join the group. Anna got up to get ready for the night when Elizabeth came over and shook her head.
“I’ll serve tonight. Just spend some time with them. You’re the hero today,” she said, leaning in closer. “Don’t take any of them to bed,” she whispered, patting her on the shoulder.
“Why would I want someone in my bed?” Anna thought. She shrugged and went back to the conversation.
The night seemed to last longer than normal for Anna. She was not used to being the center of attention.
Men that would normally leer at her or try to smack her butt were treating her like she was just another dockworker. All of this was just too strange for her.
After things quieted down, she slipped off to bed before anyone could ask her any more questions.
When she went to sleep, the eyes all seemed to be looking at her. In her dreams that night, she smiled up at them. "I'm glad you're all here with me," she thought.