I poled our new and much larger flat bottomed boat over near the large dock by the village. No one was around, since it was getting late in the evening, so it was my job to tie us up properly and to get us moored to the dock safely. Even though I had pushed us the entire way, I hadn't exhausted myself. I had taken the Hag's words to heart and paced myself. I wasn't sure why the boat seemed to help with that and I wasn't stupid enough to ask about it. It worked and that was all I needed to know.

I quickly ran to the front of the boat and held onto the rope to tie to the dock, and tossed the middle of the rope instead. It flopped over the closest post and I pulled the slack out of it, then I very slowly pulled us in tight to the dock. I didn't want to damage the brand new boat, so I took off my thin sweater and laid it over the side that would hit the dock. It was just thick enough that when the boat bumped the wood of the dock, it made a thump and that was it.

I grinned at my ingenuity and then quickly unloaded the cases of potion onto the dock, careful of both the balance of the boat and the weight distribution. I still felt strong from the last meal I had eaten, even all these hours later, and I was done much sooner than I usually would have been. Without being asked, I scrambled up onto the dock and ran down the end to get the hand pulled cart.

It was going to take me two trips with all of the cases we had brought this time and I loaded half of them up. I was very careful pulling the heavy cart along the dock, watched the pits and dips in the wood as I passed them, and pulled the cart over to the general store.

The Hag was right there with me in her old woman disguise and opened the door. “DIANE!”

“Hello?” Diane asked and came out of the back room. “Oh! Hello.” She said and came right over. “You made it back a lot quicker than I thought you would.”

“It's the new boat.” The Hag said, I assumed to deflect that it was actually me being stronger that did it.

“I see you filled the cart!” Diane said happily. “This should do us for...”

“There's more in the boat.” I said and her eyes almost sparkled.

“That is great to hear!” Diane said, excitedly. “Let's get these transferred to the back room and you can start picking out the supplies you need.”

I nodded and carried each crate through the store and into the back room. When I dropped off the last one from the first load, I quickly handed Diane a healing potion to replace the one I had borrowed before.

“You didn't have to...” Diane started to whisper.

“I'll go get the other crates.” I said and cut her off, then left to go and get them with the hand cart. I loaded it up and was just as careful pulling the cart as I was the first time. Just because I was nearing the end of the job, that didn't mean I could slack off or possibly make a mistake. When I stopped at the door of the store, I saw the Hag turn away from the window. She had been watching me the entire time and I was relieved that I had been smart enough to not rush.

I finished carrying all of the crates into the back room and Diane counted them all and opened each one to make sure they were full, then added the numbers to a clipboard. She made sure to show it to me as she did.

_______________

You have a minor choice to make. Will you make the right one?

A) Pretend to read. B) Shake your head. C) Tell her you can't read. D) Run. E) Ask for a hug.

Pretending to read doesn't get me anything except in trouble later. I thought. I also shouldn't speak, so... I choose B.

_______________

I slowly shook my head when she pointed to where she was adding them up.

Diane took in a sharp breath and covered her mouth. “You can't read.” She whispered and I nodded. She touched my arm briefly and then led me out of the back room and to the front of the store. “I have the final total for you.” She said to the Hag, who quickly came over to us and looked at the clipboard.

The Hag almost frowned at the amount, then she hid her consternation and looked at me. “We need to work harder, it seems.”

I nodded and didn't speak, because I knew that trying to say that it was more dangerous during warmer weather to get ingredients was as redundant as saying those same ingredients were harder to find in winter.

The Hag started pointing to items on the shelves and I grabbed them and put them on the hand cart that I had left just outside the door. Two large burlap bags of oats, sacks of vegetables, skins of oil for the single lamp she wanted, bundles of fabric for some reason, and a large barrel of wine. Diane had to help me with that one, since I was only 11 and despite being a bit stronger, I couldn't handle something so awkward without help. She even helped me bring the load to the boat and helped me put the barrel into the boat.

_______________

You have another choice to make. The Hag can't see or hear you from here.

A) Complain about the Hag. B) Complain about your life. C) Warn Her. D) Ask for a hug.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

That's not really a choice. I thought, knowing what the Hag was like. I choose C.

_______________

“She's going to raise the prices next time.” I whispered as Diane handed me one of the sacks of oats.

“I know. I saw the look in her eyes when I showed her the total.” Diane said. “I also remember her saying it when you first came in.” She handed me the lantern and nothing else. “Thank you for shaking your head and letting me know there wasn't a price change then. I would have been in so much trouble if the store lost all that extra stock if you hadn't.”

There wasn't much I could say, so I waved at the cart. She handed over the oil skins and then the bags of vegetables.

“David, can I ask... I mean, you look like...” Diane paused with a bundle of cloth in her arms as her eyes roamed over my scarred chest and then looked me in the eyes. “What happened to your face?”

“Snake venom.” I said and used two fingers as I pointed to the hole and scar on my cheek.

Diane took in a sharp breath. “No! You... you gave me...”

“Shh!” I grabbed the bundle of cloth from her. “It was before I gave you that.”

Diane let out a sigh and handed me another bundle. “What about your ear?”

I opened my mouth to say, then remembered I was to never, ever say what the Hag did to me. I just shook my head and put the last item into the boat and covered it with a tarp. I climbed up onto the dock and we went back to the store. She didn't ask me anything else as the Hag pointed out a new hand saw, a bow and several quivers of arrows for some reason, and what looked like a good piece of meat. To my surprise, she also picked out a nice knife from the small rack behind the counter.

“These are just the blacksmith's display items.” Diane said. “If you want to look at his wares...”

“Is he open right now?” The Hag asked, knowing full well that he wasn't.

“No.”

“Then I will take that knife and the hatchet on the wall.” The Hag said and Diane took both, wrapped them up with their leather sheaths separately, and handed them over. “We will be back when we have more to sell.”

“You still have more store credit to...”

“I want two barrels of spirits next time.” The Hag interrupted and held the wrapped meat to her chest.

Diane looked at the balance of the store credit and after a few markings, she looked at the Hag. “I'll forgive the remainder and you can consider the next barrel paid for.”

The Hag gave her a squinted look for a moment, huffed and nodded, then led me out of the store. I dropped the hand cart off at the end of the dock for the next person to use and carried the remaining bundles to the boat. I packed them under the tarp and made sure everything was secured, then the two of us sat down and ate some of the soup we had brought to eat. I felt the energy of the powdered fungus fill me and tried to not smile at the feeling.

I untied the rope and pushed on the dock to get the flat bottomed boat away from it, grabbed my thin sweater and slipped it on, then picked up the push pole. I eased us along the shallow part and back to the entrance of the waterway that would eventually lead us back home. I wasn't stupid enough to ask to stay for another night in the inn, not with a boat full of supplies that would be left unguarded.

I poled at a steady pace and my desire to get us home quicker made the boat go a little faster and feel lighter, even with all the extra weight. I didn't fight that feeling and used it as much as possible.

The Hag didn't speak at all for the entire trip. It wasn't until we were halfway home, I started to realize that she had lied about how far away the village was from where we lived. Or at least, that's what my young brain tried to tell me. We had gone there and come back in a single day and not the three days she told me, and that got me wondering where she went during all that extra time.

_______________

You have a minor choice to make. Will you make the right one?

A) Accuse her. B) Push her over the side. C) Argue. D) Keep quiet. E) Resent her. F) Ask to go.

There's no good choices at all there. I choose D.

_______________

I kept my mouth shut and did my best to push my thoughts away. What she did was her own business, especially if she didn't want to tell me what she did. The last thing I wanted was for her to think I was trying to interfere with her business. It wasn't until we arrived home in the middle of the night and I had unloaded all of the supplies, that she finally spoke.

“You told her that I was raising the prices.” The Hag said in a voice without inflection.

_______________

You have another choice to make.

A) Lie. B) Tell the truth. C) Deny it. D) Spin a tale. E) Tell her you like Diane. F) Stay quiet.

I am not messing this up now, not after coming this far. I thought. I choose B.

_______________

“Yes.” I admitted. “I remember the look on her face when you mentioned it this morning.”

The Hag gave me an angry look and I ducked my head and waited for the hit. When it didn't come, I kept speaking.

“I didn't want her to be angry the next time we saw her. If she decides that she won't buy the potions or tells her father not to, we have nowhere else to go to sell them.”

I listened to the Hag breathing, since that was the only sound I could hear, then she huffed.

“At least you didn't say how much it was going to go up.” The Hag said.

“Like you told me before, I don't know how much they are worth, only what you sell them for.” I said and carried everything into our little hut.

“Where are the two spider potions?” The Hag asked and pointed to the side of the room.

“I have them here.” I said and produced them. “In case we met any more spiders on the way.”

“You are lucky you didn't steal them.” The Hag said as she took them from me and put them back. “You'll need them tomorrow.”

I nodded and divided up the supplies and put them where they would stay until we used them. It made our small living space that much smaller; but, we were used to that and I didn't want to admit that when we were almost out of supplies, it worried me that we had so much space inside. It meant there wasn't much food left and that meant I would eat a lot less than I normally did.

“Go check the traps.” The Hag said.

I left and quickly did so. There was nothing, which meant that her wards were still going strong. I came back inside the hut ten minutes after leaving and saw that she was working over the large cooking pot. I didn't comment and went right over to the vegetables. I took several different ones and prepared them, as well as the last of our tasty mushrooms, then added them to the cooking pot.

I was surprised that some of the meat she had just bought was already chunked up and floated in the water. I caught my drool before it escaped my mouth and turned to ask her to add a bit of the fungus powder to it as well. As if she knew what I was thinking, she produced a small vial with it inside, then sprinkled a tiny little bit into it. My mouth opened in shock that the small amount in a huge pot had given me so much extra energy and made me feel so good afterwards.

“Now you know why it's so sought after by potion makers.” The Hag said and gave me that same odd look she would give me occasionally. “You will make the trek to gather more tomorrow.”

I nodded several times in agreement. “We're out of mushrooms, too.”

“Do not leave without talking to me first.” The Hag said, a bit cryptically, then she fell silent and we both cooked our supper that night.