Chapter 2 I Get Robbed for a Vacation
“Your joints are inflamed, is this normal for you, dear?” The healer was using water magic to help heal my burned arm, neck, and face. I'd been lucky that the burn wasn't as bad as it seemed and I wouldn't need too much recovery time, but once again my chronic condition came up.
“Yes, they swell and sometimes I can't even get out of bed, but it's something I've lived with all my life. I manage.”
“The pain must be terrible. Do you use Seaweed Balm to help?”
Of course I used Seaweed Balm, I practically stank of the stuff. I lived my life smelling like an old person.
“Yes, and I take aspirin and Vallerian as needed.”
“So you have some Vallerian at home?”
“Some, I don't keep a lot of it. I don't want people to be tempted to rob me.”
“Smart, we have a real drug problem in town right now. The junkies will do anything to get their fix. I'll write you a prescription for some more, you can turn it in at the desk. They'll keep a record of it so that you don't have to take more than a few days supply with you at a time.”
“Alright, anything for the burn?”
“Don't use the Seaweed Balm on burned areas. Use aloe gel. You can get some at the desk, you don't need a prescription for that. Apply it liberally, and I mean liberally, on the burns every four hours. Cold baths will help. Other than that, I've fixed most of the problem. You won't scar and should be healed up completely in a few days. Stay out of the ocean until your skin starts flaking and your new skin comes up, Ok?”
“I understand,” I thanked the healer and turned in my paperwork to the desk. I picked up my pots of aloe and only one packet of pain killer. That I tucked into my underwear. The pharmacist gave me an understanding nod. He'd probably seen all sorts of things.
I felt like all eyes were on me when I left the private area for medicine pick up. Junkies were lined up on benches. They gave me the once over looking for the telltale packet. Seeing only the jars of aloe most of them lost interest. One woman stood and followed me to the door.
“Bad burn you got,” she rubbed her arms up and down.
“Yep,” I left it at that and tried to open the door. She held her hand against it preventing me from opening it.
“Bad burn like that would mean you have some V. I'll buy it off you. 80 coppers for a full packet.” Her eyes were glazed over and she began to rub my good arm. She was attracting the attention of the other junkies. Two more stood up from the bench and came our way.
“I'll give you an entire silver,” one guy said.
“Split it with you half half,” said another who elbowed the first guy out of the way.
“I'm sorry, but I didn't get pain killers just aloe.” I held up my jars in their bag. Then I went to open the door again. The half half man slammed it shut again.
“Listen here Missy, I know you got the goods. Give it up.”
“Excuse me, are you Miss Rille of Juzz's tavern?” An older guard had been waiting near the benches and came up to me. He scared off the junkies and they fled to go back to their position in line.
“Thanks for the save,” I muttered.
“No problem, the healer would have been out here soon to threaten them. They won't risk their next fix by pissing of a healer in their own temple.”
“That's true enough,” I went to open the door again.
“Mind if I walk with you, I'd like to ask what happened at Juzz's.”
“That's fine, but I'm sure you got the gist of it from Juzz and Wembly.” I stepped out into the sunshine and waited for my eyes to adjust to the brightness.
“That's true, but what happened can be considered a capital offense if it was done intentionally. Do you think it was on purpose?” He acted like a gentleman and took my bag and held my elbow as I stepped down the stairs. Not going to lie I was grateful for the help. Stepping out of a dark temple into the bright daylight left me a little blind.
“I couldn't say. I'm the one that actually started the fire,” I glanced at the guard. “I didn't know that he'd put the fire core in there. I needed to clean a burnt pot and boiling water in it is how you get them clean.”
“But would you say that he intended to start a fire?”
“I really couldn't say. Wembly is the one who talked to him in the basement pantry.”
“That's fine, can you tell me all the things you did up until you discovered the fire core in the stove.”
I told him about the day's events. Grunck searching for something, my needing to clean the pan, my getting water for the tea I listed it all.
“But you weren't there to see him put the wood in the stove?”
“No, I don't know when that happened. I'd just gone on shift for the dinner rush.” We stopped in front of the small apartment I shared with my mother.
“But you would say that he was intoxicated, I want to make that clear.”
“He often comes in half sober or hungover. Today was a half sober day. I don't know how much he drank, but he keeps hiding small bottles of liquor in the pantry and in the cupboards. Wembly finds them and takes them for the bar. She keeps telling Mr. Juzz to fire him, but Grunck always gives Mr. Juzz a story. Mr. Juzz believes him every time.”
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
“I see, thank you Miss Rille. There shouldn't be anything else. Thank you for your time. Will you be able to come to the offices tomorrow to write down your account? I don't think this will go to trial, but if you have to leave town we need a written statement.”
“I'm not going to leave town, but I'll stop by tomorrow,” I promised.
“Rille! The most exciting news! I WON!” My mother pushed open the door to our apartment with her walker and nearly ran over the poor guard in her excitement.
“I WON, Rille,” she waved a thick piece of golden paper under my nose.
“Won what?” I said at the same time the guard said, “Oh, Congratulations! My sister got hers today too!”
“Oh! Are you going with her?” My mom turned and excitedly waved the paper at the guard.
“No ma'am, she's taking my niece with her. They promised souvenirs,” he laughed. “Are you taking this young lady?” He asked my mother.
“Of course!” My mother laughed and did a happy little wiggle not letting go of her walker.
“What is going on?” I asked.
“I'll let her explain, but remember to come to the office first thing tomorrow if you're going on the trip or if you have some time later tonight. Congratulations to both of you.” He waved and left.
“RILLE! What happened to you!” My mother gripped my burnt arm and tugged it near her so she could focus her bad eyes on it. Pain shot up my arm into my back and made me feel dizzy.
“Mom. Let go that hurts.” She let go of me and once again waved the paper in the air.
“This is great!” Mom enthused happily. “You've been fired again. Now we don't have to worry about you not being able to get time off.”
“What!” Why on earth would she be glad at the prospect of my being fired? Had she lost her mind?
“You can't go on a three-week trip if you have to show up for work can you?”
“Three-week trip? Mom slow down. I wasn't fired.” I opened the door and went inside. The oil lamps were already lit and I could see the chaos that had hit our tiny two-room apartment. “Were we robbed?” I picked up a pair of my underwear from the floor.
“No, honey we WON! I borrowed a pack from nice Miss Gee next door. I was trying to pack, but I don't think one bag will be enough, do you? After all, it's going to be three weeks for both of us. Do you think Fronz has a bag we can borrow?”
“MOM!” I tossed my panties on the table. “I nearly died today, I've got a burn going up my arm and face, and I come home to you doing this. What the hell is going on?”
“Oh! You're fine I'm sure,” she waved her hair out of her face and smiled. “Tell me what happened later, right now we need to prepare. The boat leaves tomorrow afternoon.”
“WHAT BOAT!” I finally exploded. My mom had been known to be more than a little self-absorbed but this was crazy.
“Don't you know?” Mom looked at me like I was the one who was nuts. “The lottery, the kingdom wide one, for The Island ?” I gave her a blank look. “I've got the flier somewhere,” she muttered scooting her walker across the floor scattering more clothes in her passing.
She pulled a folded piece of paper out of our junk drawer. I took it from her and read.
*FREE ALL EXPENSES PAID TRIP
Kingdom wide lottery for all citizens for the maiden tour of The Island. You and one guest will enjoy a trip to the Amber Kingdom's own resort, casino, and relaxing medical spa. Every guest is guaranteed a 50 copper daily allowance for the duration of the trip and another 2 silvers for the completion of the end of the trip survey. Guests will enjoy free range of our open facilities, be housed in our secluded villas or our deluxe casino hotel. Meals will be provided at our own casino buffet and bar. Adults only. Participation is limited to Amber Kingdom citizens only, Those with criminal records are prohibited from entry.
Participation is mandatory for those who enter. Employment opportunities are available. To enter or apply take your ID to your local guard offices.*
I looked at the chaos of clothes my mom had made. She'd been packing to go on this trip? She'd entered this lottery and won? A trip to a casino...fuck no.
“We aren't going Mom,” I said firmly.
“But baby we have to go, once you sign up and win participation is mandatory.”
“It's a casino, Mom. You promised me.” I sighed, “why would you even sign up for something like this?”
“You get a 50 copper allowance a day. It doesn't say what you have to spend it on. Plus, you get an extra 2 silvers after. That means we'd come home with at least 4 silvers. That would be enough to pay rent for three months. Really, we can't afford not to go.”
“Mom,” I began.
“I know I promised after last time, but you know that I win more often than I lose.”
She had me there. Contrary to my own luck, my mother's was legendary. She'd managed to raise me most of my childhood from gambling her widow's pension. Legendary indeed. I glanced at the paper she still held in her hand. Out of all the people who most likely signed up for this, my mother won.
“I know I was bad last time, baby, but this time I'll have you with me. You can stop me if I get too involved.” She touched my arm, her eyes begging me to consider.
“You won't have a chance to get too involved, we aren't going. I'll go talk to the guard, there should be some way of getting out of this.” I turned to walk out the door.
“There's a spa, with a hot spring, massages, and mud baths. They even have a healer on call at all hours. I asked, I wanted to be sure you'd have fun too, baby.”
Hot springs? My muscles twinged just thinking about it. Being able to soak in warm water all day. Mud baths might be good for my burns. It would be good for me, but was it worth the risk of having her fall off the wagon?
“We need this Rille. When was the last time we took time for ourselves without having to worry about bills and debt?”
“This won't make the bills go away.”
“No, but it will be good to go and forget about them for a while. It will be good for both of us. Please, consider it.” She gave me the all-knowing motherly look.
I sighed, this would be good for us if she didn't lose her reason.“You will get the 50 coppers a day and that's it. I won't give you mine and you have to give everything you have at the end of the day to me. If you win you are not to spend no more than ten percent of the winnings. No more than 50 coppers a day, do you understand?”
My mom practically squealed with glee she hugged me close.
“Oh baby, you won't regret this I promise. This is going to be a changing point for us, you'll see, I can feel it.”
“Well, I need to go to the guard offices and give them my statement. On the way back I'll borrow a bag from Fronz. You clean this up. Put my clothes in a pile on the table and your clothes in a pile on the counter. I'll sort it out when I get back.”
“Yes dear. Oh, I'm so excited I could dance.” She shuffled around with her walker some more.
“Right, I'll talk to you later.”
“We need to cook all our food,” I left my mother mumbling to herself. We didn't have a lot in the house so I wasn't worried about coming home to a feast.
A spa, with a hot spring. I couldn't help but feel a bit of excitement too. First I needed to tell Juzz and Wembly, talk to the guards, borrow a bag, make sure that at least part of next month's rent was paid... I had a lot to do on so little notice. Why hadn't they given people more notice?