Thanks to Diane's directions, we made it to the warehouse Steve worked after only twenty minutes of walking around to find the right street. Unfortunately, the place was huge and was about the size of the garrison inside. It took us another ten minutes and asking fifteen people where he was, before we finally found Steve in a little office near the back with the door open.

Steve saw us coming and immediately put his hands up as he stood. “I swear, that mage said she was bonded...”

Roy burst out laughing and Donna hushed him.

“We're not here for whatever that means.” Alex said and motioned to me.

I stepped forward and leaned in close. “Diane sent us here on a secret mission.”

Steve gave me a wide eyed look for a second, then his face split into a huge grin. “I hope she wasn't lying when she said she had a marsh panther pelt for me.”

“It's not tanned yet.” I said and didn't mention the other pelts I had.

“Ha! Very funny.” Steve said. “I'll take the thing with fresh blood still dripping off of it if I have to.” He said and sat back down. “I can turn exotic stuff like that over right away for a huge profit, even while giving her a fair price for it.”

“You're a broker?” Alex asked.

“The best and brightest.” Steve said. “I assume she gave you a list of stuff.”

I took it out and handed it to him, along with the gold coins Diane had given me.

“Hmm. The list seems a little light. I guess she doesn't have a lot of ready cash, huh?” Steve asked and looked at the money.

_______________

You have a minor choice to make. Will you do this normally or take advantage of the situation?

A) Offer more money. B) Hand over Mrs. Hansen's list. C) Stay quiet.

I know the supplies are really for Mack and for the village, so I'm not going to offer more money. I stood there and thought about it. Since the only real money Diane had came from the marsh panther pelt she sold, she must be doing it because of the house deal. I thought and read the options again. Okay, I am totally taking advantage of this deal. I choose B.

_______________

“If you can easily fill that list, can you fill this one, too?” I asked and handed over Mrs. Hansen's baking goods list and her two gold coins. “Separate orders.”

“Ooo, two clients? Did she open the specialty store she wanted?” Steve asked.

“She has near-deer antlers hanging behind her counter.” I said.

“HA!” Steve barked the laugh. “She knows how to draw in customers, at least!” He said and I nodded. “All right. I'll have these done up right away and I'll meet you out by the loading doors.”

“We'll need a trolley cart or...” Alex started to say.

“This is not some hand-me-down run-of-the-mill shipping business. I'll have two lorry carts loaded up with horses to pull them.” Steve said. “I assume you've got a boat on the dock?”

I nodded and told him the size.

“Damn, you really wanted these supplies to pole that huge thing this far from Ester's Village?” Steve asked. “Just for that, I'll add in another couple bags of flour.” He said with a laugh and clapped me on the shoulder. “I love meeting crazy people.” He said and left the office at a fast walk.

We exchanged looks for a moment, Alex shrugged, and we followed him back outside. We walked around the building, which took a couple of minutes, and found the loading doors. Two men with horses and large carts were there and the backs of the carts were quickly filled up with the supplies I had paid for.

Steve saw me staring and he nodded. “We're the best in the business.” He said and pointed. “That's Diane's order.” He pointed to the other cart. “That's the other woman's order.”

“Thanks.” I said and put the roll of sail canvas in that cart.

“Next time, don't try to sneak something past me. If you have more than one order, just tell me first.” Steve said.

“I was going to try and buy them from a shop.” I said.

Steve gave me a surprised look and shook his head. “Yep, you're crazy.”

_______________

You have another small choice to make since he saw through your deception. This will effect your relationship with Steve and Diane.

A) Apologize. B) Offer money. C) Offer something else. D) Stay silent. E) Choose two.

I can't offer money, not after that. I thought. Staying silent is probably bad, so I think I'll choose two. A and then C.

_______________

“I'm sorry that I didn't know how you did things here.” I said and reached into my bandoleer and pulled out a healing potion. “How much do healing potions sell for around here?”

Steve chuckled and stepped into the warehouse for a minute and then stepped out with a crate of them. “I've got crates of them here.”

“Can I see one?” I asked and he opened the crate and tossed me one. I caught it and held them up to let the sunlight glint off of them. “They don't look like mine.”

Steve stepped close and looked at them. “Hey, you're right. Yours has a deeper hue.”

I nodded. “I use different ingredients and it's not for anything specific like the others.” I said and handed him the duller one, then handed him mine.

Steve gave me an odd look for a moment. “Are you trying to break into the potion market?” He asked and glanced at Alex. “Only licensed mages can sell magic infused potions.”

“It's a good thing he's giving it to you and I don't have to run you both in for it.” Alex chuckled and waved at us to board the carts with the workers.

“Ha.” Steve said as we climbed on the carts. “Make sure that you tell Diane, 'mission successful'.”

I nodded and the two drivers flicked the reins. The horses trotted away from the large warehouse and five minutes later, we were back at the dock and the workers carried everything down the stairs and onto the boat.

“This is a really nice boat.” One of the workers said when he stepped on it and it didn't rock at all. “Ugly as hell and sturdy.”

“Just like the Marsh Man.” Roy said with a laugh and pat my shoulder.

“Zip the lip and give us a hand with the sail.” Donna said and started to unroll the canvas as the workers finished loading the boat with the two orders clearly separated.

We attached the two eye hooks to the front two posts and then tossed the canvas over the middle support posts. The next two eye hooks were attached to the rear poles and then we eased the canvas over to the poles. It didn't quite reach, so Roy used one of the push poles to prop the front half of the canvas up to remove the slack and Rich did the same to the back.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

That gave me enough room to hook one side and then I did the other. After a few more pokes with the push poles to get the canvas to settle with an equal amount on both sides of the main support posts, I secured it into place with some number ten potion, discretely of course.

“How you feeling, Rich?” Roy asked.

“Like a horse shat me out.” Rich said with a groan.

“So, normal.” Roy joked and then laughed.

“We need tarps and cooking pots.” I said and waved at all of the supplies that were a ridiculous amount for the money I had spent. “If I wasn't in the army, supplies like this would let me live in the marsh for years.”

Alex and Donna gave me a look that I couldn't read, even when I quickly used the vigilance technique.

“I think I saw a flag with an anvil off to the left.” Donna said and pointed, then the four of us left the boat and went up the stairs. “There.”

“No wonder they send you out for scouting missions all the time.” Alex complimented and she blushed a little.

We quickly went there and they had tons of the large stewing pots. They even had handles. Apparently, they weren't that big of a seller this far away from bigger game in the thicker forests. I got five of them for the cost of one back home, and that was at the normal price and not the inflated one the blacksmith tried to charge me, too.

“Now we now why the blacksmith said he would sell them to us at a discount when we told him we were coming here for them.” Alex said and shook his head. “I wonder if he made them himself or just bought them here?”

“Himself.” I said and stacked the pots together and tied the handles to my pack and put it back on. “He doesn't make them with handles.”

Alex nodded and thanked the blacksmith, then had the inspiration to ask where a general store was. Luckily, it was practically next door and I bought ten tarps for the price of one back home.

This new town is amazing. I thought as we left there and went back to the boat.

It didn't take us long to cover everything to make sure it wouldn't get wet from the splashing, then we cast off and poled out from the small slip the boat was in. I had to use the weight enchantment right away, because there were so many heavy things in the boat. To my surprise, Rich took out a bedroll and tucked himself under one of the tarps between the supplies at the back of the boat.

“Wake me when we get there.” Rich said and then started snoring right away.

I opened my mouth to speak as I pointed to him, and the others laughed softly.

“You learn to sleep whenever you can in the army.” Alex whispered while Donna and Roy nodded.

“Is this far enough?” Roy asked and glanced around.

“A little more.” I responded.

Once we were partially obscured from the dock by another boat, I nodded and we all sat down. I used some magic in the movement enchantment and we took off. We were quickly out of sight and the sail canvas flapped in the wind. There was a bit too much slack in it and I now realized why a winch would have been better, even if I had gotten four of them and done them individually.

I shrugged and used the vigilance technique to help me steer the boat and added more magic. Roy let out little whoops under his breath as he sat right at the front of the boat and enjoyed the ride all the way back to what I now knew was Ester's Village. I had been going there for seven years and no one had told me the name.

I smiled, because I hadn't learned that the marsh I lived in was called Drake's Marsh until I met the new CO. I looked at the others in the boat and realized that I was learning a lot from them about how things in the world worked, which was what they had promised. I liked that they kept their promise.

_______________

Montage mode engaged. Skipping travel times. Reviewing interactions. Done. Continuing story.

_______________

The trip went by in a blur and we stopped at Diane's place. It was not an ideal offloading situation, so it was time for me to make a suitable dock. I had seen two different kinds now and since I could meld wood together to perfect dimensions, I decided to make one similar to the one in Ester Village. It was a good height and supplies could be easily transferred from a boat to the top of the dock at waist height.

It was easy to use logs as posts and supports, since they didn't need to be trimmed or cut, except to make the bottom flat and the right height to stay out of the water. Even making the rectangle dock went even quicker than I thought, because you needed to leave spaces for water to run through the planks when they got wet.

I barely used any number ten potion and was done in what Alex had said was 'record time', whatever that was. Alex explained that it meant I had finished before anyone else could have and I understood.

We transferred all of Diane's goods to the new dock and Roy ran up the road and across the property to get the hand cart that they had left by the garrison. He was back a couple of minutes later and we loaded it up to a ridiculous amount. A dangerous amount.

“No, that's not going to work.” Alex said and we unloaded it. “David, can you make it longer like you did to your old boat?”

“Sure.” I said and used my knife to slice off the front part of the hand cart off, then used freshly cut planks to extend it by eight feet and applied the fortifying waterproof potion. No one said anything for several minutes when I was done and just stared at it.

“Um... Donna? Go and get Diane while we load this thing.” Alex said and she took off at a jog.

We loaded it up again and the supplies easily fit inside the huge 'hand' cart. We put the heavy bags in the back for counterbalance, Alex said, and explained what that meant.

“It's all you, now.” Roy said and pat my shoulder and waved at the handle. I stepped inside the opening and lifted it up easily.

“We'll help push.” Alex said and the two men went to the back. “Okay, David.”

I started walking and there wasn't any real resistance. I was pretty far from the wheels and didn't really feel their impacts on the ground and it felt light.

“This counter balance thing is great!” I exclaimed and walked up the road as if I was walking normally and not pulling a twelve foot long cart full of supplies. We met Donna and Diane on the main road.

“David!” Diane said loudly when she saw me. “I thought Donna was lying when she said you guys had gone and come back already!” She came over to me and her eyes widened. “Is that Dad's hand cart?”

I nodded. “We couldn't get all the supplies in it, so I fixed it.”

Diane went to the side and checked the contents. She glanced at everything and smiled. “I'm glad Steve came through again.”

“Steve said to tell you, 'mission accomplished'.” I said and her face broke into a huge grin.

“He likes you!” Diane said and reached out to rub my arm. “I'm so glad. I thought he might not like me sending someone else in my place.”

“He also said that you better have that panther pelt for him, tanned or not.” I said.

Diane laughed. “He's a great supplier, even if he is a bit greedy to get his hands on new products.”

I guess that's why he was surprised by my healing potion. I thought.

“Let's get this over to Dad's store.” Diane said and then she gasped. “D-David, I... I'm sorry. I know what you feel about what happened to you and the Hag.”

“I hope he's going to give you the money back for all of this.” I said and looked at her with the vigilance technique.

As if she knew I was doing it, she sighed. “I have to help out because of the house.”

I waited for a second and she didn't apologize or say she would ask for the money.

“Don't be angry. Please.” Diane said. “It won't take me long to pay off the rest of John's debt to the store.”

I nodded and we brought the supplies to the general store. I didn't help unloading, even when Mack came out to thank me for making the run. He didn't mention the modified cart or that it looked sturdier.

After that, we left and took the hand cart back to the boat. We loaded up all of the baking supplies and I pulled the cart all the way back down the road to Mrs. Hansen's house. I had felt my ward when we passed it earlier and knew that this was the right place. Donna knocked on the door and we waited. I felt the ward was moving and the door opened.

“Hiiiii!” Gloria said when she saw me and waved.

“Hiiiii!” I said and waved back. “Is your mom home?”

“She's in the kitchen.” Gloria said and turned around as she took a huge breath. “MOOOOOOOM!” She yelled at the top of her lungs, even though we could see the kitchen was right there beside the living room. There was a sound of a metal pan clattering to the floor and a loud sigh.

“Gloria, you know I'm busy.” Mrs. Hansen said as she came out of the kitchen, her hands and forearms covered in flour with hand prints all over her nice apron. “Oh! Hello.” She said when she saw us. “Did you change your mind and didn't go?”

“Actually, thanks to the Marsh Man's magic, we've been there and come back.” Alex said.

“Wh-wh-what?!?” Mrs. Hansen looked at Alex, then at me, then at the large hand cart. “N-no, you have to be joking.” She said and slowly walked through the living room and stopped at the door. “It's not possible. It's three days by boat to get there and then three days to come back.”

“Not for David.” Roy said and clapped my shoulder. “It sure was fun!”

“W-well, if... if this isn't a dream, then please bring the supplies in. I'll move them to the storage cupboard later.”

“I hope it's more like a storage room.” Alex joked.

We started unloading sacks and sacks of ingredients for baking. Mrs. Hansen stared, her mouth dropped open, just like mine had been after learning about ladies of the night. It took us ten minutes to get everything into her living room and the place itself looked like a storage room.

“By the Son's Light.” Mrs. Hansen whispered and looked over everything. “H-how...”

“We met the guy that runs the best shipping business in town.” I said and she looked at me, her eyes wet with tears.

“You... why...”

“I really like your sugar bread.” I said with a shrug.

Mrs. Hansen walked over to me and gave me a hug, which really surprised me. “Thank you.” She said and looked up at my face. “I'm sorry that you've lived the life you have, even though it's turned out like this.” She said and reached up to touch the small snake fang hole in my cheek. “This was all because Benji and Marge thought you were too sick to take care of as a baby.”

I took in a sharp breath and she gave me a worried look.

“Benji and Marge?” Alex asked.

“I... I shouldn't have...” Mrs. Hansen said and tried to let me go.

_______________

You have a critical choice to make.

A) Ask her. B) Let her go. C) Keep hold and ask. D) Yell. E) Run. F) Wreck everything.

I remembered all of the things I had to go through to get to this point. Definitely C.

_______________

I clamped my arms around her and she couldn't back away. “Please. Tell me who my parents are.”

She looked up into my eyes and whatever she saw there, it made her sigh in defeat and more tears appeared. “Benjamin and Margaret Addams.”