The cart barreled off the track out of the mountainside and into the bright day. We were thrown from the cart as it nosedived down towards the rocks below. The gemstones scattered everywhere. We had about fifty feet to fall so I tried to pull a rabbit out of a hat…

“Gust!” I said, as I cast a wind spell directed at breaking our fall.

But it was no use. I had drained too much from using the Spectral Hand a few minutes prior. It slowed us by a millisecond or two at best.

With about twenty-five feet to go, Arduwan grabbed us both by the back of our shirt collars like a mother cat picking up her kittens. She turned us over and rolled to her back as she coddled us up to her chest just before taking the brunt of the impact.

We dashed to the ground and skidded a few feet. Arduwan’s ample breasts were like little pillows. Falling hurt like hell but we were alive. Wraith and I staggered to our feet. Arduwan was tough, but she didn’t look so good.

“Arduwan, Arduwan!” I shouted as I shook her shoulders. Her tongue hung out of her mouth and her eyes looked dizzy. She wasn’t going to die, but she was in no condition to flee at the moment. And gathering our gemstones was the last thing on my mind.

“Here, take this,” Wraith said, as he pulled a small test tube vial with red liquid from his satchel.

She drank most of the liquid and started to recover. It was a healing potion!

“Quick,” Wraith continued, “let’s each take a dribble of what's left to cure our own wounds.”

“A Potion of Healing! Those are rare and expensive. You brought one?” I asked cheerfully.

“Well, yeah man. I got access to this kinda stuff on the market. You think I’m crazy enough to come to a place like this without one?”

There was no time to challenge that. I took my dribble and felt my bruises and cuts start to subside as we gathered our loot. Luckily, we were able to recover most of the gemstones and get out of there before the Dwarf patrol made their way down.

We camped out in the Grasslands and made our way back to the spring the next day.

“This is where I get off guys,” said Wraith.

“Oh, you’re not coming back with us for a bit? Ya know Christmas is coming up?” I noted.

“Nah. I got my harem and my enterprise to get back to. I’ve spent too much time parading around with you two lately.”

“Alright. Well, don’t be a stranger. I guess we’ll see you next adventure.”

“Seeya,” he said, as he clicked his tongue twice to signal his camel to head on out of the canyon.

* * *

Arduwan and I made our way down the well back home. When we came out on the other side, there was no one to greet us. It was midday and everyone was upstairs. No one lived downstairs anymore since Higgins had passed. We hauled our bags of precious gems upstairs and were promptly greeted by sweet Anabel in the kitchen.

“Eric! You made it back in time for the holidays!” she said, cheerfully, “Stephanie! Emily!

Eric and Arduwan are back.”

“Are those cookies, Anabel?!” Arduwan asked.

She went over to have one as Anabel gave me a hug and Stephanie came into the room. Down the hall I saw Emily walk by and look in my direction with a somber look on her face. She gave me a little wave and I returned it with one of my own as I released my embrace with Anabel.

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“Welcome back,” said Stephanie, as she entered the room and gave me a little hug herself. I looked back over and saw that Emily was gone. Anabel was distracted giving Arduwan cookies, so I used this time to touch base with Steph.

“Hey. How’s it going?”

“Good. We’re adjusting. Are you alright?” she asked.

“I’m better,” I said.

It was the truth. I hadn’t been back many times since the funeral and I never stayed more than a day. But I think I could live here again knowing everyone else was well taken care of.

“Good. You had us really worried there for a bit. I’m glad you made it home in time for Christmas. Anabel wouldn’t stop worrying about that.”

“Well, I think we got enough loot this time to set us back to the way we were.”

“Hey, before we get into that. There’s something you need to know. A few days ago, some men from the government came by. Apparently, they have some questions for you concerning the incident in Switzerland.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked nervously, “what did you tell them?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered. I told them you were on vacation in the Caribbean and wouldn’t be back until after Christmas. I didn’t want to put it too far out to raise suspicion even though I wasn’t sure when you’d be back.”

“What if they look into that claim?”

“Got that covered too. I paid a private aircraft charter twenty thousand dollars to retroactively make you a reservation and doctor their flight log. No questions asked. The account is running pretty dry because I didn’t want to put the earnings from all the gold you brought back in at once. But we’ll be fine.”

“Brilliant! Exactly like Higgins would’ve done. Anyway, I’ll worry about that later. How’s things on the Emily front?”

“Good,” she nodded cautiously, “I don’t think we’ve graduated to friends but we’re more than tolerant of each other now. You’ve got a way of bringing people together.”

“I don’t know about all that. But I’m glad things are improving.”

She started to walk away before she said, “Oh, hey. There was something else I wanted to tell you before I forgot.”

“Huh? What’s that?”

“Anabel has something she’s been wanting to ask you. I told her I didn’t have a problem with it, but that she needed to talk to you herself. You know how she is. She’s afraid to speak up about it. Might as well discuss it with her now.”

Stephanie walked away and I stood there in contemplation. I knew what this was about. I had a feeling this was coming sooner or later. Anabel and Stephanie wanted a threesome with me. It all made sense. I had history with Stephanie, and she was back in my life. Even though she liked girls, I assumed she still liked men too and obviously Anabel had feelings for me. So, it was only natural to assume they were bi. Not sure about how a thrupple would work between us but it’s not the strangest thing to happen to me this year.

I thought about it some more as I went to the laundry room where Anabel was taking clothes out of the washer and into the dryer. I took in a deep breath. I wasn’t against the idea but I wasn’t sure I was fully for it either. Maybe it was best to just talk it through and see where things went.

“So…Anabel. Stephanie said you had something you wanted to ask me about?”

Anabel turned around and had a nervous look on her face, “Oh, she brought that up to you already? Sorry. I didn’t want to bother you with it as soon as you got back.”

“No, it’s quite alright,” I assured her, “I don’t really think of it as bothering me. Certainly nothing to apologize for.”

“Really?” she asked, with that signature wholesome smile, “then you’re okay with it?”

“Well, I don’t think it's something that simple. We should be careful in making a big decision like this.”

“I agree.”

“And shouldn’t we consider Arduwan and Emily too?”

“Oh, they’re fine with it. At least Emily is. I already asked her. But I don’t see why

Arduwan would be opposed. In fact, I think the two of them would want it too.”

Wowser! Am I hearing this right? Is sweet, innocent, adorable, and naive Anabel actually suggesting the five of us have an interlocking sexual relationship with each other?!!! What the hell would my life even look like a year from now at this rate?

Before I could say anything, Anabel added, “Oh, Eric. I’m sorry. I didn’t consider your clothes.”

She started to take my shirt off over my head and I was really starting to wonder what had happened to her while I had been gone.

“You always come back from that world so dirty. Here, let me take care of all these for you,” she said as she put my clothes in the laundry. I was down to boxers and beginning to worry about a certain someone I knew making an appearance downstairs.

Anabel turned around and said, “oh, how careless of me. I should have allowed you to cover up first,” as she playfully shielded her eyes.

Okay, this was getting confusing.

“Oh, it’s fine,” she laughed, as she drove her head to my chest and hugged her arms around mine, “I’m just so excited!”

“Yeah, I'm getting excited too,” I murmured.

“I can’t believe you’re letting me get a dog!”

A what? That’s what this was about? I mean, I certainly didn’t have a problem with that. But how could I possibly have perv brained myself into thinking Anabel was spearheading the five of us into an orgy.

“Yeah…a dog. Of course, you can have one,” I played it off, reciprocated the hug and gave her a little kiss on the forehead before heading upstairs to an ice cold shower.