I woke up to the sound of our neighborhood alarm clock, the rooster named Big Earl. I sat up groggily. Jerry and I were out pretty late last night just goofing around and my body was protesting the lack of sleep.
I got out of bed and immediately turned around and straightened my sheets and pillow. Sticking with my normal morning routine, I walked out the back door to my immaculate pile of logs. Took 3 along with some tinder, and went about making a fire in my cast iron stove.
It didn’t take long to get my breakfast of dark coffee and fresh eggs, compliments to my 3 chickens, Gloria, Rufina, and Haze. Haze is my favorite but don’t tell the other two, they’re sensitive.
The town bell went off chiming seven times reminding me that I had an hour before I needed to be at work.
After enjoying breakfast I cleaned my dishes, swept and polished the floor, washed myself with a wet rag and a water basin, dusted the small room, and finally washed my clothes and hung them out to dry.
The bell chimed twice, indicating the half hour. It was only a 10 min walk to the “Tour Emporium” so I pulled out a small pocket notebook and relished in what I knew was to come. I didn’t keep track of my savings in this notebook in case some else was to view it, besides I knew my savings by heart. But what I did have in this notebook was a list of my expenses: Rent, food, clothes, and some small miscellaneous things. If my calculations are correct, which they always are, I now only needed to save up for 19 more months before I could accomplish my dream.
I closed my eyes and imagined it, tried to make it seem real in this moment. I’d never seen it so it was a little difficult, but I had seen pictures of it. Unfortunately, pictures were not enough, and I needed to experience the real thing. I open my eyes with a determined expression on my face, and in a little over 19 months I would experience it.
I swung by some local shops and grabbed supplies for the ‘Tour Emporium’. I would get reimbursed at the end of the week for the supplies of course. There was no way I was giving anything to that fat jerk for free.
I happily walked to work, lost in my own imagination when I turned the corner to the ‘Tour Emporium’. Standing outside the front door were the 3 individuals I had toured the previous evening.
What if they want their gold back!
My heart began beating faster
It’s not like I stole it, they gave it to me. They can’t just demand it back, can they? No of course not, if they didn’t mean to give it, it's their own fault.
Still I hesitated as I walked up slowly to the building. They turned as they heard my approach, but didn’t seem to immediately recognize me in my unassuming cream shirt and brown trousers.
I flicked the switch in my brain that turned on my extroverted demeanor, “Hey guys, want another tour I said,” not believing the words out of my own mouth.
The short blonde woman spoke up, “Yes.” I paused, taken aback. No one had ever gotten a tour twice before. I narrowed my eyes looking at the group weirily.
“Okay…. Is there some place in particular that you are wanting to tour?”
“Yes.” She responded flatly again.
There was silence, I leaned my body towards her, dipping my head slightly as if to say, ‘Okay, then where?’ But she was not getting the hint.
“Where did…” but she cut me off.
“I want to see the outskirts of the town, specifically a place that has this landmark.” She pulled out a folded piece of paper that seemed incredibly old. She handed it to me delicately. I softly unfolded it, to reveal an old charcoal drawing. It was extremely faded, but I was able to immediately identify it by the shape.
“Ah the statues of the three sisters. It is a popular choice, although people tend to just view the one here in town.” I replied, handing her back her paper.
The deep baritone voice broke in, “There’s more than one of them?”
“Yes,” I responded quickly, but then remembering my occupation added cheerfully, “There are actually 3 statues of the three sisters. Funny I know!” adding a cheesy laugh. The group did not seem affected. I coughed and then continued, “There is one statue located in the cathedral of Voth, another not far outside to the south of the city. And the final one,” I paused for dramatic effect, “ no one knows.”
The group looked unfazed by the information and Charles, who had his face covered by a scarf said, “Can you take us to both of them?”
I paused, thinking about the southern side of town. There wasn’t a gate there, but there was a heavy door, but normal citizens weren’t able to pass through the door. It was barred heavily from the inside and guarded at all times.
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“Yes we can if that is what you want. As you might remember from the tour yesterday, there is only a gate on the western and northern part of the city, and if we want to leave we will have to buy a pass.”
“That’s fine,” Charles responded smoothly.
“Wonderful,” I replied cheerily while I remembered last night and hoped that I would once again receive a generous tip if I did a good job.
“Let me go get changed and total up the cost and we can head out in a jiffy!”
Less than an hour later we were standing in front of the statue of the three sisters in the cathedral of Voth. It was a reverent place so I made sure to get close and whisper.
“This statue depicts the oldest sister, Katrina.” I gestured to the beautiful statue that was immaculately polished. “The three sisters, Katrina, Elizabeth, and Lilian were born to a some nameless farmer. While they were still young, a plague swept across the countryside ravaging thousands. After their father succumbed to the plague, they traveled from city to city, town to town, village to village, caring for and helping nurse the citizens to health. For their service to Voth they received the title of Saintess. Lilian is still the youngest person to be named Saintess, as she received it when she was only 14.”
“Wow, only 14 that’s crazy” the tall muscled woman responded and whistled. “What happened after that?” she asked.
“No one knows,” I replied, “But because they were believed to have been from the southern part of the kingdom, three statues were placed in this region to commemorate their service.”
“Don’t you think it is odd that only one of them is inside the city and the other two are not?” The shorter blonde woman responded.
I turned and found myself staring into a pair of deep blue, piercing eyes. It took me a moment to regain my train of thought, “ Uh yes, it is odd now that you mention it.”
“Don’t you think it is odd that one of them is completely lost, even though they were supposedly so important?”
“Yes, it is indeed very odd.” I replied with a playful shrug, “But that was thousands of years ago, so who knows what happened to cause this.”
I turned to the other two and noticed that Charles was no longer standing with them. He was instead on the other side of the statue scribbling something down.
After wrapping up at the cathedral we made our way over to the western gate. There was a huge line with at least 30 people leading up to a table with a man and some guards.
“Voth, this is going to take forever,” The large woman let out with a heavy sigh.
A glint in my eye appeared as I turned to the group proudly. I activated my cheesy voice and said confidently, “Fear not my dear customers, for I, Tom, your humble tour guide have prepared for this moment.”
The group stared at me in disbelief as I gestured for them to follow me. We got many angry looks from the line as we strolled up to the front. The captain, a man well past his prime with more gray than black in his hair, looked up from reading his papers.
“Good morning Captain!” I said cheerfully while handing him 4 pieces of manila paper with the words 'Prepaid Certificate’ on them. He looked at me, took the papers quickly and stamped them, before handing them back. The entire exchange took less than 7 seconds.
We made our way through the gate before one of the members asked, “How did you do that?”
I showed them the pieces of paper that had some technical mumbo jumbo and the town crest of the eagle stamped on them. “If you don’t mind filling out some paperwork every week and paying a small fee, you can purchase these at the bank.”
“Then why doesn’t everyone do them?” Charles asked curiously.
“Well most of the merchants do, but many of the people can’t afford the extra couple copper fee on top. Additionally, not everyone can read.”
They nodded understandingly as we walked underneath the city walls.
A pleasant two hour walk later and we were at the second statue. The statue of Elizabeth was carved out of the same marble material, but was not nearly as well kept as the statue of Katrina. Leaves and dirt covered various portions of the statue, but it was all still easily distinguishable. I began my speech about the second sister, but the group ignored me as they all got extremely close to the statue and started looking for something. Glad for the break, I sat on a nearby bench and allowed them to do whatever it was that they were doing.
After 5 minutes they seemed to have found whatever it was that they were looking for, because they all began to huddle together and write something down. I took this moment to unpack the quick lunch that I had prepared for the group.
When they returned they were surprised. Sandwiches, apples, water, grapes, some dried jerky, and nuts for each person were set on wooden plates.
“Impressive,” The shorter woman replied before quickly plopping some grapes into her mouth.
“It always pays to be prepared,” I responded with a slight laugh. I had prepared twice as much food for Shan, and I was glad to see that my guess was correct. That woman was an apparent black hole of food. She managed to finish off any remaining scraps of food that either of them had left on their plate and all my extra nuts and apples.
“That was surprisingly delicious. Fruit doesn’t normally taste this good.” Charles pointed out.
“That’s because I get our fruit from a local merchant every day. Her name is Gertrude and her family has been growing fruit around these parts for generations.” The group nodded in lazy agreement as we sat in the shade on the beautiful summer day. We rested for some time and talked about inconsequential things such as the weather.
After some quick chatter amongst themselves they decided they were ready to head back. I obliged and found myself walking alone for the remaining two hours. The three of them traveled some distance back talking amongst themselves and occasionally pointing furiously at a map that they had pulled out.
We arrived where we had begun and I was ecstatic to receive another gold coin as a tip. I waved fondly to the group as I thought I would never see them again.