Nin was a pretty town, Lots of orange-leafed trees and reasonably spaced two-story houses. Some of the smaller ones had white picket fences or honey-suckle lined front doorways. What few roads there were were better built, all tar-seal and no dirt, despite there being only a smattering of cars. The town was small enough that the locals could walk or bike or ride across it easily enough while the travellers mostly stuck to the centre of town or took one of the horse drawn carriages. Like Little Rock, Nin was full of transients. Unlike Little Rock whose visitors were mostly merchants and sailors, Nin was an academic tourist town. The sea met her from the northern side where the waters were calmer and more approachable than the south-eastern sea that bordered Little Rock. People flocked from all over to visit Nin’s grand libraries and museums.
Cat groaned as they turned on to Main Street and found themselves in an equine traffic jam.
“What’s our cover story?” Kass asked, figuring they should probably be consistent.
Cat shrugged. “We’re from Paradise and we’re here to drive the Dragon Mountains.”
“What’s Paradise like?” Kass knew little about the place. She knew it was a large city known for its street racers, dried up lakes, and dirty underbelly but that was about all. Cat had lived there ages back but Kass herself had never been.
“Does it matter?” Cat scowled at the rear of the carriage in front of them. “It’s not like anybody’s going to ask for details or would know if you got something wrong if they did. Just don’t talk too much. Paradise is big, it varies.” Another shrug.
“We could say we’re from Mercy.”
“Nobody street races in Mercy.” She gave another pointed scowl at the traffic then mumbled, “At least they have cars there though. I don’t get why they don’t just move to cars here like everyone else.”
“Paradise and Mercy are far enough from the mountains,” Kass replied hesitantly. She figured Cat probably knew that and just wanted to vent. She wasn’t completely certain though and her own tiredness made her focus on the more technically correct answer.
“We’re far enough away here. They don’t even really come into Little Rock, and that’s closer to the mountains.”
“Is it?” Kass peered out the window at the surrounding landscape. The mountains looked pretty close to her.
“Those are hills,” Cat replied.
Kass studied them. They were indeed shorter and more rounded than the peaks that surrounded the Greenstone Valley and Little Rock itself, but they were a lot closer and there was far less of the flat farmland in Nin. “Hills can still have dragons,” she replied.
Cat didn’t argue with that, perhaps she was too tired, or perhaps it was cause at that moment the traffic started moving and up ahead a ‘vacancy’ sign came into view.
“How about that place?” Cat asked.
“Sure.” Kass didn’t see any reason why not. It looked like it was one of several motels along here. Unlike some of the others further toward the centre of town, it was single story. It was simple and plain looking, and probably contained all the essentials they would need.
Cat pulled up right in front of it.
“At least finding a place to park is easy,” Kass remarked.
Cat just grunted.
The reception was small and tidy. A stand with pamphlets was situated on the front counter. Behind it, a woman with medium length hair and glasses was sorting through some papers. She looked up as they entered and gave them a welcoming smile.
“Hi, how can I help you?”
“We’d like a room for two, just the one night.” Cat leaned across the counter and barely managed to stifle a yawn.
“Sure thing. Um, we’ve only got doubles is that okay or would you prefer a second room.”
“Doubles is fine,” Cat replied without pausing to think about it.
“Excellent, just bare with me a moment.” The woman tapped at some keys on her computer.
Kass studied the pamphlets in a larger stand against the right hand wall. Evidently Nin was not far from some decent rivers and caves for several pamphlets promised white-water rafting and guided caving tours. Others were for the museums and of course, The Library. The world’s largest collection of literature, from children’s books to dark spells, some forbidden for public consumption. The Library of Nin dwarfed that of even the one in Myst.
Kass reached for another pamphlet. She hadn’t seen any evidence of any trams on the drive in but this pamphlet was titled, ‘The world’s most expansive underground tram network.’
“There are trams here?” Kass asked.
Cat spared her a tired glance.
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The lady behind the counter looked up from the computer with undisguised enthusiasm. “Oh, yes. The entire city is built on an expansive cave network. The trams run all underneath us. Most of them were natural caves, carved out by dragons who have since moved on. There’s wards that stop them getting too close, most of the time.”
“City?” Cat cocked an eyebrow. Kass thought she looked like she might fall asleep on the counter at any moment.
“Oh, well, I like to think of it as a city,” the receptionist replied with a giggle. More seriously she added. “But it is a lot bigger than you think. Much of Nin is built underground. Some people live down there permanently.”
“Vampires?” Cat asked.
The receptionist nodded, her eyes still on the computer screen this time. She tapped a few more keys. “Yes, a fair few of them are. There we go, all checked in. You’re in room 4. Now, we take at least half up front but if you want to pay everything now to save time on check out, that works too. The total comes to 42 coppers.”
“Yeah, all now sounds good.” Cat handed her a card.
As they did the transaction, the receptionist remarked, “If you’re really looking for something exciting, you should check out the dragon museum. They have a life sized skeleton of one. They’re really something different when you see them up close you know. Thank goodness for modern tech.”
“Yes, modern tech,” replied Cat in a somewhat sarcastic tone that the receptionist failed to notice.
The receptionist handed them some keys. “You just go through that door and straight ahead on the left,” she told them with a smile.
“Thank you,” Kass replied since it didn’t seem like Cat was going to give her much of a reply.
Once they were out of earshot of the receptionist, as they unlocked the door to their room, Cat remarked with a slight grumble, “They have wards to keep away the dragons and they still use horses to get around.”
“Well, it sounds like they actually use the trams to get around,” Kass replied. She pushed the door to their room in.
There was one double bed, one ensuite bathroom, a couple of nightstands, small table for two, and an old telly, the sort with the large box out the back.
Cat sat down on the bed and eyed the pillow longingly.
“I found a map in the pamphlet stand,” Kass told her brandishing the piece of folded paper and then placing it down on the small round table in the corner. “And Oleary’s Road is right here.” She glanced at Cat. Cat looked too tired to answer. “You know I could take the car up there if you want to sleep?”
Cat was quick to shake her head. “No, I should go. We got their address through my contact, and it’s my car.”
“Okay,” Kass conceded.
Cat remained seated on the bed.
“Are we going then?”
“Mmm, just give me a sec.” A second later, Cat got to her feet. She paused and then she looked at Kass. “I should probably go alone. Less people with the car, the less we match the description from the compound if they send out out.”
Kass hesitated. Cat was right. But Kass was also a little worried about her state right now.
“Why don’t you get us some food. I’ll take the car out to the garage and meet you back here. Sound good?” Cat suggested.
Kass nodded. Cat did seem a little more on her feet after the brief sit down and speeding up the getting of food would probably help. She doubted it would take Cat long to drop the car off. “Okay.”
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After unloading their stuff from the car they went their separate ways. Kass walked along Main Street, looking for bakeries and cafes that were open and food that would stay good even if Cat did take a little longer. She found one with fresh croissants stuffed with bacon, tomato, and lettuce, which she bought two of from a very friendly lady. It seemed like everyone in this town was extra friendly.
Figuring Cat probably wasn’t back yet, she wandered a little further until she stood outside a large building with a big sign that read, ‘Museum of Cursed and Unusual Artifacts.’
Curious, Kass walked up the front steps. The entrance way was intimidatingly large. A man in green suit greeted her. His name tag read ‘Georgie.’ Like many of the other residents he approached her with a large smile.
“Hello! Welcome to the Museum of Cursed and Unusual Artifacts, would you like to buy an entry ticket?” said Georgie.
“Sure, how much is it?”
“Only three coppers.”
Kass’s eyebrows went up. Accommodation had been cheap, she hadn’t expected the museums to be that expensive but she supposed that they were Nin’s main attraction and it wasn’t like she minded supporting the museums. She considered the preservation of history to be a good thing. She fished around in her wallet and handed over some coins.
“Thank you.” He smiled and handed her a ticket. Then he pointed. “Start through that way.”
Kass walked though a large archway into a room filled with musical instruments. All of them were contained behind glass and when she peered up closely she could just make out strange inscriptions within the glass itself. Swirls that looked not quite like writing. If it was writing though, it was like none Kass had ever seen.
The box in front of her read, ‘The guitar that killed Nightingale Nigel!’ Kass knew the name, knew his songs even. He’d been a famous singer of the 70s who had died on stage electrocuted by his guitar. Kass hadn’t thought there had been anything unusual about that, just an unfortunate accident, all too common back then. But the placard in front of her claimed otherwise. It stated that despite proper and safe wiring, this guitar was later discovered to have been cursed but someone. Although who the someone was had never been discovered.
Kass wondered at the truth of it. Perhaps it was just for show. She wandered past several other exhibits, pausing to read a few of them. She passed a piano that was enchanted to make everyone who heard it dance continuously until the music stopped, a trombone that simply burst eardrums of those standing directly in front of it, and a triangle that when played with a specific tune summoned a sort of demon that relentlessly hunted the musician.
Kass moved onto the next room. There she found toys and puzzles, an array of creepy looking dolls, and a life-sized replica of a clown that she knew Indi would have absolutely hated.
She passed through a room filled with various plants. They even had a witch’s weep in one corner, although it was much smaller than the one she’d last encountered. She knew the glass was probably infused with some kind of binding magic or something that kept the plant contained and the guests safe but even so, the presence of it being so close unsettled Kass and she moved on quickly to the next room, all the while wondering if binding magic really could counter the plant or if that too would make it stronger. Perhaps that glass had just been painted with some kind of weed killer. Kass had little inclination to test it.
She paused at a curtain that partially covered what looked like another hallway. Was that part of the museum too or was it closed off? She poked her head around the edge of it. She was about to leave, figuring Cat would probably be back soon, when she spotted something she recognised.
An exquisite doll house sat behind one large pain of glass. A doll house that was a perfect replica of a house that Kass knew far more about than she desired, the Milton Estate.