“I was going to wait till tomorrow, but I don’t think I can, come and meet our new neighbour.” he said smiling broadly.

They went out of the front of the shop and Lee locked the door. “Have to be careful, things are getting tighter in town.” They walked up the street to a new butcher's shop. Stepping in, Raya was hit by the powerful smell of fresh meat.

“Arwin are you there?” called Lee.

Arwin was a young woman with short blonde hair, she was wearing a bloody apron with a large knife in a holster on her leg, her bare arms showed rippling muscles.

“Lee! Good to see you, and this must be your young friend Raya, you have been telling me about, in fact there isn't much else he talks about. Glad you made it in safely.”

She came out and shook Raya’s hand while looking her up and down. “You are a tough wee thing aren't you.”

Raya blushed.

“Does she know yet?” asked Arwin.

“No, shall we go through” said Lee looking excited.

Out the back of the shop and Arwin's home was a small wooden barn that faced out to the commons. In one of the stables a solid looking dog was feeding a litter of pups.

“Sheba is my hunting dog” explained Arwin. “She has been my protector and companion since my mother died. I was about your age when I got her, Dad was busy all the time trying to keep us fed so he wasn’t around as much as he would have liked."

She handed Sheba a handful of diced meat and gave her a good scratch. Raya knelt for a closer look; Sheba growled a warning but settled when Arwin reassured her.

“She’s a good mother.”

One of the pups broke away from feeding, trotted over to Raya, climbed onto her lap and fell asleep.

Arwin laughed, “Looks like the pup has chosen you, I thought it would be the other way around.”

Suddenly the pin dropped, and Raya worked out why she was there.

“I can't afford a dog.” She said in surprise.

“Don’t worry it's all sorted,” said Arwin giving Lee a poke in the ribs.

“A girl who wanders the wild needs a good dog and once she is trained, she will be able to help hunt for both of you out in the Vior.”

Lee spoke up, “Arwin has said that you can come and go as much as you like over the next month or so, to get the pup used to you. By then it will be ready to leave the litter.”

A tear ran down Raya's cheek, she was independent and loved being out in the wild, but she certainly would be glad of the company.

“Let's leave her here for a bit so she can process the idea” Arwin said to Lee.

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“We will be inside” said Lee patting Raya's shoulder.

“Thanks Lee this is so kind of you.” she said letting out a few more tears. Lee bent down and gave her a hug.

“It is my pleasure” he said.

Sheba seemed to accept her, so Raya lay down with the puppy. It was an hour later when the puppy woke up. It got up, licked her hand, then went off to playfight with the others.

“Thanks Sheba” Raya said and went back into the butchery.

“Lee has headed home to get dinner on. How was that?” Arwin asked, cleaning the bench down with a bucket of water.

“So great, I didn’t even know I wanted a dog” said Raya.

“Don't worry about any details, Sheba and I will help you train her, and we have plenty of time before they are ready to leave their mum. Lee has invited me down to dinner if that’s ok with you.”

“Of course, that would be great!” said Raya.

Someone came into the shop and bought some sausages and Arwin stuck her head out the door and called “Last orders!” Two more customers came in.

“Shutting early Raya?” one asked.

“A girl’s got to eat” she replied with a grin.

“Shall we go?” Arwin asked finally, and they headed down to the Apothecary.

They took the back way through Arwin's barn and over the commons to Lees back door. The commons were a field where farmers could graze their animals when they were bought in for market. It sat between the market buildings and the castle's wall. As they approached, they could smell Lees delicious stew.

“You are a master at making something out of nothing and making it delicious” complimented Arwin.

“Thanks to the great bones you gave me, and Raya’s delicious wild mushrooms, without them the stew would be a boring watery soup” said Lee graciously.

The three of them sat down to a hearty meal, the first Raya had had for a couple of days.

“What do you live on out there?” asked Arwin.

“The honey I bring in pays for most of the things I need from town then I supplement my dry goods with wild foods like mushrooms, berries, fish and occasional small animals. I also make candles that I trade from the bees wax. The Tungol Scholar's village is near where I work so I trade various things with them too,” explained Raya.

“Very resourceful.” complimented Arwin.

It was common for all sorts of people to be doing all sorts of jobs after the Virus like Raya did. Raya asked Arwin what led her to butchery. Arwin's father had been a hunter and by the time the virus took him she was proficient at hunting and processing game. When the butcher's shop came up last winter, she thought it would be a good move to set up shop in the market. She still went hunting, usually for a week at a time, in the woods to the north, then bought the animals back to the store to process and sell them but more and more she was buying animals bought into the market.

After dinner Raya poured out a small jar of honey left over from trading.

“This stuff is amazing, I've never tasted anything like it,” said Arwin.

“You won’t have. My entire supply gets sold to the castle. It comes from deep in the Vior so is free from any meadow flower varieties. The wild bees don’t produce much over what they need, so it takes a long time to collect. It has great healing properties as well as its distinctive taste.” Raya told Arwin.

“I can vouch for that,” said Lee, “I use it all the time with my clients, very rarely do we eat it like this, it's a shame I can't pay as much as Cerberus can for it.”

“I eat it all the time when I'm out collecting.” said Raya, then she told them about her encounter with Cerberus.

“That thieving slime-ball. Those castle traders have us all screwed down.”

There was a butcher in the castle grounds, so Arwin's sales were restricted to the market. When Arwin found out what Cerberus had bought the honey for she made a proposal.

“Next time you bring some honey to town stop by my shop first, I will see what I can do.”

Raya was overjoyed at the prospect. “Here, after I fill up Lee’s jar why don’t you take the rest of this skin, I will need the skin back of course.”

“I can't take that much,” said Arwin.

“Please you have been so kind, there is enough there for you to see if you can sell some, and besides you might yet get sick of me when I'm visiting my dog.” Raya added.

Lee laughed, “You drive a hard bargain. There is no point in arguing with her Arwin.” He was proud that his young friend could make her way so confidently.