My prediction about being the one at the reins while the girls lounged around in back came true, unsurprisingly. I didn't mind though, as they promised to make it up to me tonight.

I played some music for them, and worked on our tent some. More for the practice, than because we'll need it any time soon. As it is, we probably won't catch up to Amelia's brother until just before Riverton. I'd feel bad, but that just means more time alone for me and the girls.

Since we got a late start, it's a couple hours after mid-day by the time we reach town. But, we still made slightly better time than we would have if Stormie was carrying the both of us.

"We should head for Skinner's first." Amelia decides. "That way he can have the meat ready for us by morning. He'll offer to buy the wolf pelts, but I can get you a better price in the city."

"Does he take a percentage, or ask for coin?"

"Both." She answers. "But, I'll pay and we can trade the pork belly and wolf meat for some cured bacon. We had a dog growing up, and I just can't..."

"That's fine." I nod, relieved that she didn't want to eat the wolves. "I hate wolves, but yeah they're too close to dogs, and you just don't eat pets."

"Mhm, I noticed you tend to snarl whenever they get brought up." She ventures cautiously.

"Nng. I-I can't really talk about it." I've been doing my best to block out what happened, and really don't want to go into it. "Let's just say they're the cause for my nightmares, and leave it at that."

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything." She wraps her arms around me, and I can feel a bit of the tension leave my body. "This is the place, just let me handle the negotiations."

"Thank you." I give her one last squeeze before letting her go. Apricot immediately takes her place though. "And, thank you too." I did my best to clean it up, but I know she saw the aftermath of that first wolf. And, she never said a word about it.

Amelia got a really good deal; apparently, wolf meat is something of a local favorite, which is probably why the guard Paul got so excited. So, she only had to hand over a few coppers, and that was mostly for him to handle the small game. Nobody likes plucking feathers, after all.

"Should we talk to Lacey next?" I've got enough coin for a night at the inn, but that's about it. "Or, should I mix up some samples first?"

"Let's go to Lacey's." Amelia starts towing us in that direction. "She'll be ecstatic at the thought of new dyes practically right outside her door. She's going to want to see the process anyways, and should have everything you need."

...

"Amelia!" The old weaver greets her with a smile. "What brings you back so soon? And, who's this?" She looks at Apricot, but mostly at the dress I made for her. "Did you find another friend that needs some new clothes?"

"We already met." Apricot laughs. "I was just a bit smaller last time. Name's Apricot."

"The pixie." Lacey exclaims. "I should have realized from the hair, but..." She just gestures at Apricot's body.

"Magic is strange sometimes." I shrug in a 'Whatcha gonna do?' gesture.

"We're good for clothes." Amelia tries to get us back on track, only to derail the conversation again. "Unless there's something you want Apricot? Then just speak up, and I'll buy it for you."

"I'm good, thanks." She shakes her head with a smile.

"If you're sure." Amelia turns back to lacey. "We're actually here to sell something. Sorrel, here knows how to make a whole rainbow of dyes out of material that's easily collected from the surrounding woods."

"Heheheh. No need to play the merchant girlie." Lacey's eyes spark up with interest. "If it means I don't have to order any more expensive dyes from the city, then I'll definitely pay, and pay well."

"Aww, look at her deflate." Apricot teases our little merchant. "Don't worry baby, you'll still get to haggle when we get baking supplies later."

"Nnh, fine." Amelia grumbles. "Sorrel, go ahead and show her what you've got."

"I'm not sure my old heart could take it if he did that." The old woman jokes, getting a groan from Amelia but a laugh out of Apricot, Temmie, and me.

"I'm sure you could take it." I say and then, looking straight at Lacey, I reach down like I'm going to unbutton my fly and materialize a particularly phallic looking shroom.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Ugh, why did I have to hook up with followers of Temmie?" Amelia groans while the rest of us laugh our heads off.

After we recover our breath, I make a large wooden bowl and fill it with one of each mushroom I was able to find. "Easy to overlook, aren't they? But, they make some wonderful dyes, and most don't require anything more expensive than ammonia."

"Mushrooms?" Her eyebrows go straight up. "I thought you were just joking when you pulled that one out."

"Lichens work well too, but I didn't feel like scraping every tree and rock we passed." I explain. "This one is actually called the dyer's mushroom where I come from, you can get anywhere from green, to yellow, to orange, even a rusty red just from this one mushroom."

"How colorfast are they?" She doesn't want the stuff she sells to fade after washing or bleach out in the sun.

"Most are very." I answer. "Though, some of the blues tend to fade."

"Mhm, hard to get a good blue." She nods. "Come on around back, and we can talk recipes."

We did just that for a few hours. Apricot and Amelia quickly got bored and went off shopping. But, I was having a ball, I'd only done this a couple times before, and only recognized a few of the mushrooms I picked. So, we got to experiment together to see how they would turn out.

Lacey really liked the purple that came from the "Jack O' Lantern" mushrooms and agreed to buy all I had for the same price she would have spent on the carmine and indigo needed for a similar effect. And, that was on top of the already quite handsome fee she gave me for selling her the recipes.

The girls came back to get me when the sun started going down. Lacey only let me go reluctantly, and made me promise to stop by next time I'm in the area.

"Did you get your haggling fix in?" I tease Amelia as we're walking back to the inn.

"Yeah, she did." Apricot must have gotten tired of walking, she shrunk down and is sitting on the blonde's shoulder. "And, you seriously got ripped off last time. We picked up your guitar strings too, not that you need them anymore."

"I'll still try them out, they might have a good sound." I say take the small -to me- pouch from the pixie, who doesn't seem to have any trouble holding something several times larger than she is. "Hey, Fred." I greet the innkeep as we enter the main room that's now filled with happy people and an enticing scent. "What's for dinner? It smells great."

"That's my specialty." He beams. "Skinner got his hands on a couple wolves, and came straight to me because he knows I make the best wolf stew around."

"..."

"Don't worry." Amelia laughs at my dumbstruck expression. "We ran into Annie earlier, she gave us a heads up, so we stopped by Skinner's before coming to get you. Luckily, he'd already finished carving everything up for us."

"Thank you." I give her a sincere nod. "Sorry Fred, but we're gonna have to pass on that."

"Heh. You don't know what you're missing." The innkeeper replies with an amused smile. "But, that just means more for the rest of us." The man pauses for a moment. "You know, it's going to get pretty packed in here soon, and we could use some music..." He trails off hopefully.

"We stay and drink for free." Amelia's mercantile instincts come to the fore. "And, you let Sorrel use whatever he needs in your kitchen to make dinner for us."

"Deal!" Fred agrees immediately. "Come on back."

I follow him behind the counter, leaving the speaker box on it playing my "Classic Country" playlist. Since I'm doing a bit of cooking, I decided to start with "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash.

"Nice kitchen. Is that an enchanted double oven?" I don't know what I was expecting, but his kitchen could nearly pass for modern. "Thank goodness, I was afraid I'd have to stick to steaks, or try using magic."

"Thank you." Fred nods to me. "I wish I could take all the credit, but the founders of the town wanted the best, and were willing to put in the coin to get it."

"Well, it's still a nice kitchen." I nod back. "Now, I should start with the potatoes. Cleanse!" I'm hungry, I don't got time to waste washing them.

"Hah!" Fred barks out a laugh. "Wish I could do that."

"It does come in handy." I preheat the oven and then add some beef tallow to a pan before setting it inside to melt. Next, I chop the spuds into large chunks and start parboiling them. "If you boil them just slightly before roasting, they turn out really crispy." I explain to Fred's inquisitive look.

"I'll have to remember that trick." He gives his stew a quick stir and checks the flavor. "So, what else are you cooking?"

"Seared backstrap with blackberry sauce. I've got a few venison recipes, but most are slow cooks or long marinades." I test the potatoes and give them another minute before draining them into a colander none-too-gently. "You want to rough them up a bit at this point, then you just add them to the melted tallow with a sprinkling of salt." The grease in the pan pops and sputters as I do just that. "Normally these take about forty-five minutes, but I'm going to speed it up a little with magic since the deer won't take that long."

Once the spuds are roasting, I turn to Amelia and ask. "Could you hand me the backstrap?" I pause to glance at Apricot. "Actually, you'd better make it both of them, the deer wasn't that big."

"Uh..."

"Just lay out all the meat, I'll pick what I need." I smile at her confusion. "Wow, Skinner did a great job, he even peeled all the silverskin off."

"Yeah." Fred bobs his head. "He's not the most sociable person, but he knows his business."

"This part's simple." I state. "Just rub some salt, pepper, and nutmeg onto the meat, and sear it for a minute per side before putting the whole skillet into the oven for seven or eight minutes."

"And the sauce?"

"Berries, sugar, vinegar, cloves and anise." I reply while adding those to a pot. "The recipe I have calls for the zest, and juice of a lemon, but I'm just adding a bit more vinegar. Boil everything until the deer is done, then smash the berries, and let it simmer while the meat rests."

The next dozen or so minutes are spent talking recipes with Fred while fending off a voracious pixie. Once the sauce has thickened, and the potatoes are done. I slice the meat into medallions and plate up everything, including a small sample for Fred.

"Mmm." He moans around his first bite. "Oh, that's good... not as good as my stew, but still good."

"Hahaha. Alright, thanks for letting me use your kitchen. Cleanse!" I take care of all the dirty pots and pans with a single word. "Amelia, please tell me you picked up some wine earlier."

"Let me." Fred interjects before she can even open her mouth. "I've got a nice earthy red that will go great with this. The common room is already packed, so you three can sit over here and eat."

"Thanks, we'll stay out of your way." I bow my head to him, and we all tuck in.

***