1.17

Half an hour later, and the group made it back to Cobbleson.

“Back to Genna’s then?” asked Sharampf.

“Yeah. I wonder if he’ll give us more gold because of the whole teleporting thing?” Bodwyn bounced ahead of the group.

“Only if he offers it,” said Fenrick.

“Of course, that’s what I meant. Are you serious all the time?” asked Bodwyn.

“Someone needs to be.” Bodwyn led the group and Sharampf locked next to Fenrick.

“You saw a lot in the war, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I did.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend or be insensitive.” Sharampf glared at her feet as they walked. A long silence was shared between them.

“I’m not good at small talk,” Fenrick admitted.

“How old are you, Fenrick?” The burning anxiety to try and restart the conversation became too much for Sharampf to bear.

“How old do you think I am?” Fenrick shot her a grin.

“Gnomes can live for a long time. Competing with the dwarves.” Relief washed over her as Fenrick answered her question.

“Why not take a guess?”

Sharampf took a long hard look at Fenrick. Her nose twitched as she lost herself in thought.

“Ninety.”

“A little higher.”

“A hundred and ten?”

“Add another decade and you’ve got me.”

“Seriously? You run circles around the two of us.” Sharampf looked at Fenrick with wide eyes.

“What’re you two talking about?” Bodwyn had stopped and waited for them to catch up.

“Just guessing Fenrick’s age,” said Sharampf.

“Oh yeah, how old?” Bodwyn looked at Fenrick with a face that showed bored curiosity and nosy impatience.

“A hundred and twenty.” Fenrick grinned and pointed at himself with his thumb.

“Whoa, you don’t look a day over ninety.” Bodwyn shot a grin and jogged ahead.

“That was my guess.” Sharampf’s voice trailed off as she realised Bodwyn disappeared.

Countless balls of soft woolly clouds were scattered across a sky of cool pink and soft orange.

The party made it back to Genna’s house and Bodwyn gave a loud thud with his fist.

“He-hello” came the familiar raspy whine of the elderly leporid’s voice.

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“It’s us, we’re back. The pixies didn’t teleport us too far away.” The clicks echoed and the door screeched open to reveal Genna’s flustered face.

“Can we come in?” Bodwyn asked.

“Of course, of course. I’ve just made some banana cookies if any of you are interested.”

“I wouldn’t mind having something nice to eat,” said Sharampf. Cutting off any response from Bodwyn, Sharampf pushed herself in. They sat down and waited for Genna.

“Here they are.” A divine aroma rose from the plate of fluffy cookies. Sharampf dived and grabbed three.

“How has it been with the pixies since we disappeared?” Bodwyn asked.

“Great. Whatever you said to them, they’ve left. No trace of them can be found. Of course, I was worried about you lot, I pictured the worst things imaginable. I really thought you were all dead. I’m glad you’re not though. Thank you so much for taking care of that for me. I’d imagine you’re after some coin? Of course you are. Give me a moment.” Genna got up and left the room, only to return moments later.

“Here you are, a little extra for your troubles and for completely removing them in one fell swoop.” Genna handed a small cloth pouch to Fenrick. Fenrick counted eighteen gold pieces.

“Seriously, you don’t have to give that much. That’s a lot more than you advertised.” Fenrick handed out the coins to the others and he could tell Bodwyn had hoped for a little more.

“Thank you very much, but we must be going. We have another job we need to squeeze in before we get back to The Cracked Cauldron. We owe a bit of a tab there and need to get in early for a discount. Thank you Genna, I’m sure we’ll see you around.” With that, Bodwyn stood and shook the elderly leporid’s hand, waited a moment for his companions and was out the door without looking back.

“Oh, so soon?” Genna asked an empty room.

“Hey, why the rush?” asked Sharampf.

“We need to make some more money and pay back Glayda.” Bodwyn played with the coins inside his pouch.

“Don’t stress, we’ve got more than enough. It was a little rude how quickly you left Genna’s though.” Sharampf nibbled on her final cookie as she waited for Bodwyn’s response.

“I’d just hoped for a little more. Call it juvenile greed, I dunno. But I wanted to get out of there before I said something stupid and offended the old coot. He gave us more than he said. I like him.”

“That’s very nice of you, I think,” said Sharampf.

“Off to our next job then.” Fenrick pulled out his compass and started in the direction it showed.

“Yeah, moving rocks.” Bodwyn’s tone said it all.

“More money,” said Fenrick.

The team made it to the job just as the dying daylight had only a sliver of a stage to dance on.

Compared to Genna’s amazing but tattered house, this one was a ramshackle hovel. Large patches of spreading water damage made the few patches of paint left look miserable.

Sharampf took the lead this time and knocked on the door with a gentle thud.

“Hello?” cried a concerned voice.

“We’re here to help with moving some rocks. I know it’s a bit late, but we’re here now. Just point us in the direction and we can do it for you. You don’t even have to leave the house.”

“It’s way too late, come back in the morning if you’re still interested.” The voice carried a kind of bouncy and strangled tone to it. Like something was caught in the back of the throat.

“No worries, sorry for the intrusion. We’ll be back tomorrow.” Sharampf walked away from the door and shrugged her shoulders.

“Is it even worth coming back for nine silver?” Bodwyn asked.

“Of course. We’re broke. Squeeze in as many jobs as we can tomorrow,” said Fenrick.

Sharampf jogged back to the door. “Sorry, excuse me. But how early can we be here tomorrow to start the job?”

“No earlier than dawn,” cried the voice.

“Thank you. Sorry.” Sharampf jogged back with a smile on her face. “That answers that. Come on, lets head back to the Cracked Cauldron and pay Glayda back what we owe her. We’ll take on some more jobs tomorrow.”

The team made their way back to the Cracked Cauldron and were greeted by jovial tunes that carried out into the night.

They entered the tavern to see a small crowd had gathered around one of the tables. At the table sat a tall female human and by her side on the table was a halfling male, who held a mug in his furry tail.

The woman wore a bandana with her hair coming down in thick plaits, adorned with large metal rings sectioned down her hair. A golden overcoat hung level with her knees, and she wore sturdy rubber boots with thick soles. Under her overcoat was a red shirt with shiny brass buttons and strapped to an arm was a small buckler. Hanging by a belt at her side was a slender, deep-red cane topped with a green crystal.

The halfling wore a simple orange, open, sleeveless vest and a pair of ripped shorts. Strapped to his back was an obsidian stone, double-headed axe.

“Looks like it’s gonna be a festive night,” said Bodwyn. He rushed in and joined the festivities.