“Caspian,” an ethereal voice echoed in his head. “Caspian,” the voice sounded again, his conscious mind rousing itself. He gripped the soft fabric on the chair, his fingers sinking into it. His neck ached as if he’d slept on it funny. Fluttering his eyes opened, he looked around groggily trying to see what was happening.

“Caspian,” Valorie said, dropping a pillow in his lap. “Wakey wakey.”

“Huh wha? Valorie?” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. “What’s going on?”

“You were doing a lovely rendition of sleeping beauty I must say Caspian,” Valorie said grinning. “Come you’ve been asleep for hours, time to get some food it ya.”

“It’s been how long?” he said blearily. The mention of food made his stomach rumble, the last thing he’d eaten was some jerky. “I could go for some food.”

“Well it’s being served now, so you better hurry along if you want to eat it while it’s hot,” she said leaving the room. “Come on.”

Shaking the vestiges of sleep off, he stood up stretching and followed behind her. Entering the dining room, people were in various stages of eating, Rich already refilling a dirty plate. Taking a seat, he grabbed a plate and served himself some mash and a steak. The selection of food was quite simple, but the smell was divine nonetheless.

Pouring a peppercorn sauce over the meat, he tucked in hungrily, distantly aware of the conversation occurring around him. He was so focused on his meal that he didn’t realise someone was saying his name.

“Caspian ya seem out of it,” Erika said. “Rough day?” She seemed quite tired herself, a weary smile on her face.

“It was alright, Percy put me through the wringer alright,” he said smiling. Taking another bite of his steak, the juicy meat seemed to melt in his mouth. The addition of the sauce elevated the meal from simple meat to a fine dish you could serve in a restaurant. “What about you, you looked wrecked.”

“Haha is it so obvious? Rich was a harsh taskmaster, said he wanted to see when I’d drop,” she said smiling. “Unfortunately for him, that's a regular day on the farm.”

“Bah, you did a good job Erika, no need to rub it in,” Rich said. “Heard you had to clean out the stable Caspian, I don’t envy you there. I don’t know how Percy does it,” he said shaking his head.

“It wasn’t that bad,” he said before remembering how bad it had been. “Well, maybe a little.” He was glad he had the shower to clean off of the grime. He’d had to scrub hard to get the smell of animal out of his hair, he could swear he could still smell it though. “Probably my imagination,” he thought, dismissing it.

“Bad news Caspian, but tomorrow you’re with me,” Rich said laughing. “You’re gonna want a good night's rest for it. It’ll be a long hard day.”

Groaning, Caspian slumped down a little at that. Seeing that, Rich cackled, revelling in his despair.

“Oh stop it Rich,” Sofia said, shaking her head at him. “How are your wounds holding up Caspian? No new pains? Are the bandages still holding up fine?” she asked.

“My leg hurt a bit when I tried to pick up a barrel of water, but I stopped immediately,” Caspian said thinking. “Other than that, it’s all good. My arm feels completely fine, it’s just the leg that’s still causing me some problems.”

“I see. You better not aggravate his wounds tomorrow Rich, or you’ll have to answer to me” She said levelling a glare at him. “I know you have your fun, but try not to injure the poor kid.”

“Hey, what do you think I am, some monster? I know how to keep it safe and easy, don’t worry about it,” he said, grinning at Caspian. “We’ll have lots of fun won’t we Caspian.”

“Uh, maybe,” he replied weakly trying to get through his steak, much to Rich’s amusement.

Erika gave him a sympathetic look, mouthing good luck to him. This did not fill him with confidence for the coming day. Sighing himself, he tried to put it out of mind and finish his meal. There was no point worrying about it now when he couldn’t change a thing.

Turning to Victoria, who was quietly picking apart her meal, she looked as weary as the rest of them. Though, perhaps not physically. “How about you Victoria, have a good day?”

Jumping at the mention of her name, she glanced around. “Oh hi, Caspian. What did you say, I wasn't paying attention?” she asked.

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“I just asked how your day was. You were with Valorie right?” he said.

“It was ok. She showed me lots of maps and books. It was all very technical,” she murmured.

“I see,” he said, waiting to see if she said anything else. When she didn’t he continued. “You said your family own a ranch with camels right? I got to ride one today, I never knew they were so big.”

Victoria whipped her head towards him as he said that, her eyes bright. “Did you like it? Riding them is so fun right? How’d you manage,” she gushed, leaning towards him.

“Woah,” he thought, surprised at her sudden outburst. “Yeah it was fun, the camel Percy picked out was very friendly so that helped. Her name was Bell, and she was very gentle with me. I still almost fell off multiple times, and my ass hurts from all the bumping around but other than that it was amazing. I’d never interacted with one so close before, it was eye-opening.”

“I know right, they’re such lovely animals. You have to come to our ranch sometime and see our herd,” she said excitedly. “We have hundreds of them. The calves are so cute as well, they like tiny little pillows. Promise me you’ll visit sometime so I can show you. Oh and we have different coloured ones as well, we even have some white ones. The fur is so pretty in the sunlight.”

“I promise,” Caspian said smiling. Victoria was a completely different person. “It might have to be after the expedition though. I don’t think there will be much time before then.”

She seemed to deflate at that, her shoulders hunching a little. “Oh yeah, you’re probably right.”

Alarmed at her sudden change in disposition, he held up his hands. “I will come to see them though, promise.”

“Alright,” she said smiling. “No taksie backsies.”

Chatting a little while longer, Caspian finished his meal and excused himself. Placing his plate in the same sink as this morning, he remembered that he’d forgotten to talk to Valorie about moving his stuff. Slapping his forehead, he cursed his sleep-addled brain for not remembering. Luck would have it that she was sitting alone in the lounge, one book open in front of her, as she jotted down notes in another.

“Excuse me, Valorie. Do you have a second,” he said clearing his throat.

“Sure do Cas, just let me finish this line,” she said, scribbling away. After a few moments, she set both books down and turned to him. “What’s up, need something?”

“Yeah, you mentioned some sort of fund to help me move my belongings here from my home. How would I go about doing that?” he asked. “It feels a little weird all my stuff sitting in an empty house. Not having anything of my own here is odd as well.”

“Well I can handle that for you if you need,” she said. “I know them fairly well, so it’d be easier that way.”

“That would work,” he said nodding. “They don’t need someone there to supervise or anything?”

“No no, as long as you give me the key I can pass it on to them,” she said. “I’ll need your address as well of course.”

“It’s unit 84 on Heartten Ave,” he said. “And they’ll grab everything?”

“Is that one of the government-supplied homes? If so they’ll grab everything that didn’t come with the place. Do you need me to pass on any special requests?” she asked.

“Yes, make sure they get my kettle, it cost me a fortune. I love that thing,” he said, remembering the long mornings it had helped him through.

Holding out her hand, she looked at him expectantly. When he died nothing she sighed. “I need the key to the door Caspian. They won’t be able to get in otherwise.”

“Oh right, uhhh, let me go get it,” he said dashing off to his room. “Key, key, key. It should be in my satchel right,” he thought a bit worried. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen it. Opening the door he made a beeline for the bag, opening it wide. Rummaging around it wasn’t in the main area. Worry started to seep in as he checked pocket after pocket only to find nothing. Flipping it over, he unzipped another relief flooding through him. Wedged in the bottom, underneath a notepad was his key, an 84 etched on its handle. “Thank god,” he murmured.

Returning to the lounge, he handed it to Valorie who squinted at it. “Alright, that should be all. I’ll get them to do it tomorrow, so your stuff should arrive sometime during the day. Who are you assigned with? Do you know?” she asked.

“Rich.”

“Ooo that’s a doozy, good luck Cas,” she said sympathetically. “In that case, it will definitely arrive before you return. If that’s all I have to get back to work.”

“Yes, thank you so much. Really taking a burden off my shoulder,” he said, bowing his head slightly. “I’ll leave you to it.”

Returning to his room, Caspian got undressed and tried to see if there were any sleeping clothes. The best he could find was a comfortable pair of pants and a loose-fitting shirt. Not wanting to sleep in clothes he’d wear outside, he decided to set them aside as bedtime attire. The sun had already set, and a cool breeze entered his room. Turning off the light, he threw himself onto the bed, energy draining from his body fast.

“What a good day,” he thought to himself. Despite mucking the stables, he’d enjoyed himself and even learnt a new skill. “Camel riding,” he mused as he looked up at the ceiling. “Who’d a thought I’d be riding a camel.”

Getting under the thin sheet, his head rested against the pillows. Slowing his breathing, he focused on relaxing. Stopping any errant thought, he quietly lay there surrounded by silence. Holding onto a pillow tightly, he eventually drifted off into dreamland. In his dream, he was riding Bell again, who was twice her regular size and had silky white wings on which they flew through the air. Muttering to himself as he tossed and turned through the night, a smile never left his face.