Chapter 227

The carriage rolled to a stop and Jay's stomach suddenly felt like it had butterflies in it. He had almost forgotten about the sign, about what he had named the mini-golf course. He was nervous about the conversation he was about to have with M'redith.

The doors were opened by the driver and the sounds and scents of the city flowed in to the cabin. They took turns exiting until everyone was out and they stepped to the side of the city street to stand in front of their destination. Carts continued to pass by and had to pull around their parked carriage in order to get by.

There were two city guards posted at either end of the business and helped manage traffic as the street was down to only one lane while their carriage was parked. The guards let carts and carriages flow by in one direction before they stopped traffic and allowed drivers in the opposite lane to move past. Jay assumed that he was paying for them to be there, a fairly standard arrangement even where he came from on Earth.

The air smelled like the end of summer and the sky had begun to fade to a dark shade of blue.

They were greeted by a high fence with doors inset in to it. A heavy set gentleman stood next to one of the doors which had a thick braided velvet rope barrier drawn across it between two shiny silver metal poles at waist height. The entry area had a red carpet spread out on the ground. Magical lighting was strung along the top of the fence and lit up the entire street in front of it.

There were no barriers to prevent a person from just walking around the velvet rope – if one didn't count the heavy set gentleman who stood next to it. He stood as if someone had just spoken to him about his posture – back straight and shoulders back with his chin tucked in.

If one hadn't been invited they would have had no idea what lay on the other side of the fence. Even those who had been invited had no idea what they would find once they passed through the entrance.

None of that was what drew Jay's group's eyes however, and as M'redith looked up at the sign that had been expertly hung at the top of the fence she stopped walking and her lips parted just enough for her mouth to hang open in surprise.

The sign was tastefully done – there was no comic sans used, and the business name was done in a serif font with small decorative lines added to each letter. They glowed a neon blue light and spelled out the name of the establishment. The title was a bit long and was centered along the top edge of the fence.

M'redith Meadows

That wasn't the only thing of note however. To the left of the title was a picture of a woman seen from the back, her head turned just enough to see one eye and the side of a slightly teasing smile.

It looked a lot like M'redith. Not exactly – the chin wasn't quite right, but whoever had painted it had gotten the smile exactly right.

“It's me!” M'redith said in shock as the others grinned and smiled in recognition as they inspected the sign themselves.

“You named it after me?” M'redith asked in shock as she finally turned to Jay. Her tone was neither pleased nor upset and Jay wasn't sure what to say other than the simple truth.

“Yes. I thought the alliteration and the mental imagery would make a good title. Easy to remember too,” Jay said with a hesitant smile.

“You have a mini-golf course named after you!” Norri said in excitement as she grabbed one of M'redith's arms and bounced in place. “Also – I can't wait to see my first mini-golf course!”

M'redith tilted her head as she mentally worked through the ramifications of having a business named after her, especially one that she didn't even own or have a financial stake in. After a moment she finally decided that she was touched by Jay's romantic gesture and gave him a warm smile.

“I don't know what to say,” M'redith finally said with a shake of her head.

Aiden laughed and everyone turned to look at him. “Well that's a first,” he said with a teasing grin.

“Ha-ha. Very funny,” M'redith said with a light blush as the others laughed, but not unkindly. “Thank you Jay, I'm speechless!” she said and reached out, grasped his hand, and gave it a squeeze.

Jay smiled and returned the squeeze. That had gone even better than he'd hoped he thought with a smile.

They were all dressed in military looking uniforms and looked like they belonged together. They approached the doorman as a group and the doorman had a smile on his face as he immediately recognized them – or at least recognized M'redith.

Jay introduced himself anyways. “Hi, I'm Jay, one of the owners here. I'm guessing we're on the list?”

The gentleman nodded and spoke in a formal tone of voice, “Of course sir! You are all expected,” he said as he detached the rope from one of the metal posts and waved them inside. “Toren is already inside,” he added.

Toren, of course, being the other owner of the putt-putt turned mini-golf course.

“Thank you,” Jay said as the gentleman opened and held the door open for their group.

They walked through and the gentleman pulled the door shut from the other side. The group didn't even notice however as their focus was on the mini-golf course in front of them.

Nine holes worth of various multicolored hazards were spread out in front of them and continued off in to the distance. The colors were bright and the setups were bewildering at first glance. One had glass rods hung from almost invisible threads that would make tinkle sounds as the ball passed by, another had round cutouts in the course that would pop up at random times to interfere with shots. And, of course, there was a hole with a windmill hazard.

There were tons of moving parts and even a man made stream that ran along the course in places. It also served as a hazard on one hole where the edges of the play area weren't blocked off – one bad putt and your ball would land in the water.

To their right was a roomy entry way with seats for those waiting to rent their clubs and balls. An office was there as well with a window that rented clubs and balls. To the left was a set of stairs that led up to a raised deck that looked out over the entire course. The deck had tables and comfortable chairs. Two kiosks to the far left sold flavored ice slushies and glasses of wine with snack platters.

Magical lighting had been strung up throughout the grounds and provided just enough light to see by without being blinding. It was not yet dark enough to need the lights, but dusk was fast approaching.

Norri's eyes practically sparkled she looked so excited. “Can I try? How do you play?”

Jay laughed. “Sure! Go over to the window there, they can rent you a club and ball. I have to look around and find Toren but you guys can play or join me, whatever you'd like.”

“Somebody play with me!” Norri insisted as Jay moved to walk up the stairs.

M'redith followed Jay but Aiden stayed put.

“I'll play with you Norri, come on. Let's get some clubs,” he said with a grin. “We'll catch up with you guys in a bit!” Aiden said with a smile that fooled no one. He was just as excited as Norri was to try out the course.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Norri led the two of them over to the wide window on the side of the office building. A person was inside but had to walk over to the window. Norri read the stickers on the window while she rocked on to her toes and back down in excitement.

“Hello! Welcome to M'redith Meadows! How many players do you have?” a happy looking woman with short curly hair asked from the other side of the window.

“Two please! And how do you play?” Norri replied as the curly haired woman passed Norri two clubs and two balls. “Oh, how much?”

The curly haired woman shook her head, “We're not technically open yet so you can go ahead and try it out. Otherwise? Ten silver per person.” She then passed over a small pad of paper and a short writing implement. The paper already had a grid of lines and some writing on it.

“So – how do you play? Well, each station is called a 'hole.' There are nine of them. You play them in order. You start by putting your ball behind the white line and then you take turns hitting your ball. You keep track of every swing. So if it took you two swings to get your ball in the hole then you scored a 2 on that hole. At the end you add up your scores and whoever has the lowest score wins!” the curly haired woman explained succinctly.

Aiden and Norri nodded in agreement. The rules sounded easy enough.

“Use the paper and writing implement to keep track of your score for each hole as you play. Any questions?” the curly haired woman asked and Norri shook her head quickly no – she wanted to get to playing.

“Then good luck and have fun!” the woman replied with a smile as Norri and Aiden ran off to the first hole, which had a white sign with black lettering on it atop a pole. It read “Hole 1”

As the two friends played their first game of mini-golf Jay and M'redith had climbed the stairs to the observation and relaxation deck where Toren was going over some paperwork at a table in the back corner. Toren noticed them approach and waved to them tiredly.

“Jay! M'redith! Welcome! What do you think?” He asked with a bit of worry in his voice. The money for everything had come from Jay and Toren wanted to show him that he had spent the money well.

“It looks amazing!” Jay said at the same time M'redith said “Love the name!”

The three laughed at the same time and Toren motioned at them to sit down as he did so himself.

Jay and M'redith sat across from him and Toren shifted some of his paperwork about.

“I love it – it's just how I had pictured it. I know it isn't a putt-putt field any more but I think with the changes you've made we'll be in business for a long time. Any problems that need fixing?” Jay asked a bit directly and M'redith frowned.

Toren blinked and shook his head. “Not really. All the construction is finished, everything is set up and working properly, people have been hired and they showed up for their shifts, we've got the city guard detail outside to manage traffic, and Boland handled all of the invitations so that has been taken care of. Unless you want to do some of this paperwork all that is really left is for the guests to arrive.”

Jay nodded and was about to say something else when he felt a cool hand close over his own and he looked down to see M'redith holding his hand. He stopped what he'd been about to say just as she spoke in to the opening she'd made.

“This must have been a lot of work – how are you feeling?” M'redith asked Toren.

Toren smiled widely. “It was a ton of work. I'm exhausted, thank you for asking, but I'm excited to finally open up for business. Boland has been really great, a big help. I think after tonight I'm going to take a day-long nap to recuperate.”

M'redith laughed. “I know the feeling! After I graduate and finish secondary training I'm planning on doing the same thing!”

The group heard a squeal and looked out over the course just in time to see a jubilant Norri bouncing up and down, waving her club wildly over her head in victory. They hadn't finished playing but it seemed as if she had beat Aiden in at least one of the holes.

Suddenly Jay was overcome with a sensation of joy. He could smell grass on a sunny day along with notes of vanilla and cedar.

Toren and M'redith both had joyous expressions on their faces as the feeling passed but the scents did not.

Jay looked about and called out, “Sha'li? Is that you?”

“Hello?” they heard from downstairs as a wave of the scent of cedar filled the air around them.

“We're up here!” M'redith called out.

“Hi guys!” said a hooded Sha'li as she crested the top of the stairs and offered the group a pleased looking smile.

“Sha'li! You made it!” M'redith said and got up out of her chair to give her a hug hello. Sha'li seemed a bit surprised at the hug at first but quickly warmed to it and hugged M'redith back before the two sat down at the table. She reached out to squeeze Jay's hand in hello as she got comfortable.

She reached up and pulled down her hood to reveal her flowing red hair. Then it was purple. Then red again. Streaks of yellow danced across the surface of her hair as the colors constantly shifted like a raging fire.

“I wanted to come by early to say hello so that I wouldn't cause too much of a commotion,” Sha'li explained with a self deprecating smile.

Jay shook his head, “Nonsense. You're always welcome. You don't have to only show up when no one else is around.”

Sha'li nodded, “Thank you for that, but it can feel overwhelming at times constantly being the center of attention. Sometimes it is nice to just sit and relax and not have to explain anything to anyone,” she said with a sigh.

Toren was staring at her with wide eyes. He'd never met a half-elf before and had a ton of questions – but now he felt as if he couldn't ask them without being rude. She seemed oblivious to Toren's interest though and stared instead out over the mini-golf course.

“By the way, this is Toren, co-owner – and Toren, this is Sha'li, a good friend of M'redith and I,” Jay said in way of introductions.

Sha'li seemed to suddenly notice Toren and offered him a polite smile and shook his hand. Toren just nodded in greeting and M'redith chuckled at the awkwardness.

“So you own this place? You know how to play?” Sha'li asked in an attempt to draw Toren out a bit conversationally.

Toren lit up, “I do! Both. You want to try playing?”

Sha'li looked surprised, “Oh, I wouldn't want to bother you – I know you probably have work to do.”

Toren shook his head and forgot all about his paperwork. “I'd love to show you – unless you had more for me?” he asked with a look towards Jay.

Jay shook his head, “Not at all – you two go have fun. We'll be here when you finish. I'm just going to enjoy sitting here while not doing anything for a change.”

Sha'li got up and smiled in excitement. She had given the entire course a good look while she had been sitting there and wanted to give it a try herself. Although Toren came across a little shy she was used to that – a lot of people tended to act shy around her.

Toren got up and the two chatted as they walked down the stairs, Sha'li turned at one point and waved at Jay and M'redith before they disappeared from view entirely.

“Well that was quick,” M'redith said with a smile.

Jay nodded, “She'll be back. They both will. We can all talk then. I'd love to hear if she has any news on her training.”

M'redith nodded and leaned up against him as they looked out over the mini-golf course.

They could see Toren down below showing Sha'li how to properly use the club. She tried a couple of practice swings before she moved her ball to the starting position. It looked like they were already having fun.

“This is fun, just sitting here for a change,” M'redith said as her hair moved in the summer breeze.

The sky was darkening and soon the sun would set entirely. The lights across the course glowed a multitude of colors as the brightly lit play area came to life in the falling darkness. A twinkling was heard as Norri hit her ball through a forest of glass rods – each rod lit up and glowed a rainbow of colors when it was brushed by the passing ball.

Norri let out a high pitched giggle in the distance and Jay and M'redith smiled.

There was nothing else like it on Eden, and soon guests would begin to arrive to enjoy it, for the very first time.