The few days I had remaining before we left yet again passed in a whirlwind. Previously, I know I have bemoaned how few hours there are in a day. The scant days I had to lay the foundation for our future success were like that. There was always something to do and not enough time to get it done.
The next day, as soon as I got up, I got a list of things we needed to make this place livable. Then, I headed back into town. Barinov had planned ahead and left one of the large wagons with the four horse team with us. He obviously knew we would need some way to haul things back and forth from town. Today I was focused on grabbing the bare essentials – food and cleaning supplies. I took Xeng with me for his strong back and due to the fact that I didn’t think that too many people would fuck with a man who was essentially a giant in this world. After we left, since both Davit and Keti spoke the local language and I intended to leave the vast majority of our wealth with those who remained. The could acquire the things that would turn that decrepit stone house into our home. I knew that in my world, rodents often carried a wide variety of zoonotic diseases. We needed stronger chemicals of some sort to disinfect the surfaces where we slept, washed, and prepared our food. I doubted that chlorine bleach was a thing in this world. Maybe that would be something we could bring to market. Oh, and if I just happened to find a few cats for sale, they would be coming home with us as well. There is nothing like a little natural predation to manage a rodent population.
Thankfully, when we reached town we didn’t have to go too far to find the things we needed. We found a business district that catered to the cargo haulers that plied the river. Sprinkled in among the taverns and brothels, both of which were doing a busy trade even at this hour, were several provisioners. Obtaining food was not a challenge, even though I thought I probably could have acquired it much more cheaply in many of the markets in town. Cleaning chemicals were an issue. Soap was not hard to come by and I purchased a lot of it, but anything stronger wasn’t readily available. After asking around, I talked to a guy who knew a guy whose brother ran a still. I purchased several jugs of some high octane moonshine from the brother. He insisted I try some before I bought it and the single shot I took made my nose run and my mouth water. Even though it failed miserably in the taste department it certainly packed a wallop, being much closer to pure grain alcohol than anything I would actually choose to drink. I spent the rest of the day trying to get the taste out of my mouth but nothing really helped. I also managed to buy some rodent traps. In this world, mechanical mouse traps had yet to be invented, so most people just made do with buckets full of water with little baited trap doors on top of them. They weren’t the most humane solution but we really didn’t need the bubonic plague loose in our household, so I bought what they had.
By this time, it was already midmorning and I hadn’t located any cats for sale yet. Finally, I resorted to buying my way out of the difficulty. I purchased a piece of wood and made a sign. “Paying one silver piece per mouser” it read. Then, we went back to the wagon, parked it in a prominent place and started waiting. First in a trickle, and then in a flood, people started appearing, cats in hand. A couple of times, my interactions with the people selling the cats broke my heart a little as teary children followed behind their parents, clearly saying goodbye to their pets. Those times, I did not buy the cats. Instead, a gave a silver piece to the child and sent them on their way. Of course, people being people, someone decided to try to take advantage of me by showing up a bit later, the same cat in hand and the same child tagging behind. I just scowled at them and they did not get any additional currency.
Before long, I had lost track of how many cats I had purchased, but I thought there were at least fifteen or twenty of them. You know that old joke about herding cats? It’s not really a joke. Some of them didn’t get along with each other and wanted to fight. Others tried to wander off back to their homes. Finally, I had Xeng purchase a bunch of small crates from one of the outfitters and we housed them one cat per crate. Then, as I am wont to do, I started worrying again, this time about rabies. I was certain none of the cats were vaccinated and the last thing we needed was Old Yeller times twenty. None of the cats showed obvious signs of disease, though, so that put my mind at ease for the time being.
After we had acquired enough cats, we packed up and headed home. There were still people streaming into the area cats in hand when we left, but they were too late. They had missed the gravy train.
The trip back was punctuated by meowing, hissing, and crying. The noise was enough to make a pair of the horses a bit skittish but I kept them pointed in the right direction and eventually we made it back to the house. We unloaded the cats first then moved some distance away to get the food, soap and alcohol off the wagons. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Kadar busily nosing at the crates that contained the cats, his tail wagging furiously. I could see pandemonium in the future, but that was a problem for those of us who were not headed back to the island, not me. His presence did not settle the cats down any, and I heard a lot more hissing and yowling.
The others had noted our arrival and had come out to help unload. When he saw all the cats, Bowen started laughing at me. Mariam was a lot more clinical in her approach, though. She started organizing the crates and ordered that certain crates be taken to different parts of the house and also the barn. Clearly, she thought my purchase was a good idea.
Finally, I turned to Bowen. “Would you rather see cats or mice and rats?” I asked him.
That just made him laugh harder. The man was my friend but he was also an asshole.
I explained to the others that the alcohol was for cleaning and not drinking. Bowen was not fully convinced, though, and I saw him take a large swig out of one of the jugs. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head and a long rope of drool dripped out of the side of his mouth. Then, it was my turn to laugh.
“I wouldn’t drink this stuff if you paid me,” he managed to gasp out.
By this point, the remaining furniture in the house had been triaged. Some of it was not salvageable. Rodents had nested in some of the mattresses and cushions. That furniture, we dragged out of the house and burned. Other furniture had been damaged and could be repaired. Of course, that would require money and time, but it was still probably better than buying new stuff. Surprisingly, the majority of items left in the house were still fit for their intended purposes. While we no longer had a house full of furniture, we did have enough beds for everyone to have one of their own.
The rest of the week passed in a blur. From sunup to sundown, we cleaned, arranged things, and just generally settled in. After thoroughly scrubbing all the leftover cookware, Jahhaf was able to begin cooking again. Although the chairs around the dining room table were mismatched, they served their intended purpose. After a couple of days of cleaning, Breban showed back up with the paperwork that he had mentioned. I reviewed it, reading it aloud to Patrick and Helvia for good measure. None of us detected any problems with it so I signed it. Then, Breban stayed for dinner. As he was leaving, he kept going on and on about Jahhaf’s tasty and exotic cooking. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that what we had that evening was among the least exotic meals that Jahhaf ever cooked.
Soon enough, though, I was running out of time. We were scheduled to leave in two days and Aleyda and I would have to go back to the city the night before and stay in the compound if we were going to leave on time. Out of all of our people, I though Helvia was probably the most competent in organizing an estate, which is what we were essentially living in now. I pulled her to the side.
“Helvia,” I said, “what sort of budget would you require to get things around here refurbished and organized so that we could host business meetings here or maybe even social events in the future?”
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“I would estimate between two and three thousand gold,” she said.
I couldn’t hide my involuntary wince. “That much?” I asked.
“Yes, if you want to make a good impression,” she said. “This place is a lot larger and grander than our old house. The people you will be dealing with expect a certain degree of opulence. If you fail to meet their expectations, it will hurt our reputation.”
“Well, we need to have enough money to start our business as well, but Breban’s investment should help offset our startup costs somewhat. I would like to get it paid back as soon as we can, though. That interest rate is steep. How much gold do we have right now, since we sold the rest of our melted gold?”
“Just under fourteen thousand gold,” she said.
“Barinov never mentioned what exactly we will get paid for our service,” I said. “Maybe this property is our only payment. I wonder what we could sell it for once we got it refurbished?”
“The only way you profit by selling this property is if we get out of the market and move someplace else,” Helvia said. “We have land here and a good place to live. There is no reason to believe there would be cheaper land or a better place to live anywhere else near the city.”
“That’s true,” I admitted. “How much do we need to feed and clothe everyone for the next year?”
“Probably less than a thousand gold unless catastrophe strikes,” Helvia said.
“That leaves us with about eleven thousand gold to start our business with,” I muttered. “Is that enough?”
“It will have to be,” she replied.
“We’ll have to start with some of our smaller, less grandiose plans,” I said. “If we let Werner run wild, that money will be gone with very little to show for it.”
“I will keep him on task,” Helvia said. “And if I can’t, Patrick certainly can.”
“Yeah, you two will be in charge,” I said. “Patrick will be in overall command, like normal, but you will be the one who manages our household. You, by far, have the most experience.”
“I will not let you down,” she said.
“I know you won’t,” I replied. “If I haven’t told you before, I very much appreciate this version of you.”
“You mean the one that doesn’t act like a stuck up rich woman?” she asked.
“Yeah, that one,” I replied.
“I like this version of me as well,” she said. “How do you feel about taking on a few servants?”
“Not particularly good,” I admitted. “I want us to be self reliant. But, if you do hire anyone make sure they are members of the five-fingered community. And keep those numbers to a minimum. I don’t want to live in a household full of people who have forgotten how to clean up after themselves or who are afraid to get their hands dirty. That’s not who we are.”
“I was only thinking about a couple of maids,” she said. “This is a big house and if we are going to keep it clean, some extra help might be necessary. Especially if you don’t want to take time and effort away from our business ventures.”
“I guess that makes sense,” I said. “Do what you think it best.”
The next day and a half passed quickly. Around midday on the second day, Rostov showed up at our front door. Barinov had apparently taken pity on us and sent us an escort so we wouldn’t get lost. I was glad because I was certain we would have gotten lost.
“Rostov,” I said. “Good to see you.”
“And you,” he replied. “Are you ready to depart?”
“Almost,” I said. “Let’s eat lunch first and then we can go.”
“I won’t turn down free food,” he said with a grin.
I gathered everyone together for lunch. After everyone was done eating, I stood and addressed them.
“Aleyda and I will be gone for a few months, I imagine,” I said. “While we are gone, Patrick will be in charge of our overall operations and Bowen will be his second in command. If Bowen gives you unreasonable orders, don’t listen to him. Helvia will be responsible for organizing our household. Werner, I need you to focus on low cost products that we can get to market quickly. We can move on to more grand plans once we get some cash flow and pay back our loan. When we get back, I expect we will already be selling some things. I am not a great businessman. Feel free to call on Minister Breban if you need advice. Since he has an investment in our success, I have no doubt he wants us to do well. Don’t sign any more deals while I am gone. And make certain that you work on the language at least five or six days a week. Keti and Davit and good tutors but you all have to do the work. Does anyone have any questions?”
“Can I plant a garden?” Mariam asked.
“I don’t see why not,” I replied. “It will require us to get some tools, but they shouldn’t be that expensive.”
“Can Davit and Keti and I go into Kollavik?” Mero asked.
“Not without a couple of adult escorts,” I said. “I have a feeling the three of you would be pretty adept at finding trouble.”
“Will we be setting up a forge here for me to work?” Sathebeena asked.
“Of course we will,” I replied. “You will work with Werner to make the parts and doodads he requires.”
Then, silence set in around the table. Apparently, nobody had any other questions. Finally, Rostov spoke, breaking the spell.
“Do you eat this well for every meal?” he asked.
“Yes, we do,” I replied.
“Will you hire me to guard your estate once my military service is completed?” he asked with a little laugh.
“Absolutely,” I said. “We could use more people who are educated in the local culture as tutors as well, and to guard our business interests. Not everybody is going to be very happy once we start bringing out our products.”
“Great,” he replied with a wink. “Keep a bedroom open for me.”
“Even if you don’t work for us, you are welcome as a guest anytime,” I said.
Then, we stood up and I went around hugging everyone. Even those people for whom physical affection wasn’t the norm in their cultures permitted me my eccentricity, until I got to Davit that is. He reached out to shake my hand but fuck it, I hugged him anyway.
Then, we collected our things and started walking back towards town. When we reached the bridge, Rostov led us back down the stairs to a long boat with six rowers. After we settled in, the rowers propelled us back upriver much more quickly than I had envisioned. Before long, we were back at the compound. This time, instead of having to sleep in an empty barracks we got assigned to a small apartment in the officer’s quarters. Afforded a nice degree of privacy, we engaged in a little stress relief and then went to sleep.
The next day we were awoken at dawn. We boarded a military transport full of troops and headed downriver back towards the ocean. I didn’t think we would have to worry much about river pirates on this trip. They would be severely outgunned.
On the way downriver, we passed the desolate hulk of our once proud riverboat. Nobody was evident on its decks. I didn’t think that boded well for the fate of its crew.
Going downriver was much quicker than going upriver and we soon arrived back at Restov. We weren’t given any time for sightseeing. We moved as a unit directly towards a large troop transport ship. Aleyda and I got our own cabin, so that was alright. Things had been planned with military efficiency and as soon as we were all settled onboard, anchors were weighed and we took to sea, surrounded by a trio of menacing looking escorts.
And we were off to revisit a place I had hoped to never see again.