From the Third Cache to The Old Frontier Road

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 56718

Astra and Hesht quickly progressed through the gullied lands of the Tenge, stopping once at the sixth cache to pick up some more food and water. Trees, ponds, and grass started to become more abundant as they headed west.

During the ride, Astra spoke. "Hesht, how are your legs?"

"I think that they are whole now. They did not f- feel heavy when I was getting the blocks of Tenge pudding. And you?"

"I have not been off this horse lately, but I think that I can walk normally. So those little blocks are called Tenge pudding? Is that another product of the alchemists' workshops?"

"In p- part. The flavour is ... comes from the farms. The ones we ate earlier, I think they used gooseberry."

"I have never heard of them, at least not called that. I thought I tasted something stronger, like rum."

"Yes, yes. Probably a muscadine wine. Muscadines will grow on poor land, so they get used a lot here."

"Is a muscadine a kind of grape?"

"I think so. I have n- never seen grapes. Th- they grow them in Calife, I think. You might find them in Corona."

"No, thank you. I have had enough of Corona. I want the ones from home." Changing the subject, Astra then asked, "So the alchemists don't make the taste, but they make something else."

"Yes. The pudding part. When I add water to the dry block of pudding, something in the pudding heats it up while it thickens."

"Hmm. Why not sell the blocks while we are making our way to Petrona? If I were a ranger, or a traveller, I would pay for warm food that I could make without a fire."

"We are n- not supposed to do that. As a c- courier, you put as much in the c- caches as you t- take out. It would not be r- right if I took it all."

"Somebody is the breaking the rules. They took an item that was not theirs."

"Yes. Hmm. That worries me. Somebody has found the cache."

"Could have been anther courier?"

"M- maybe. But I don't think it was one of ours."

"Who else could it be?"

"I don't know."

Hesht thought, "I fear that it might be Nohz's men. I know that Ghermiz has trouble with them. If that was true, then they could be around here. And whoever stole the thunderstone, might have lost a horse ... or they might have killed its owner and the horse ran away. But enough! There are any number of less dangerous reason why the horse appeared and the thunderstone disappeared. To the border!"

Astra dropped the subject. Hesht had to live in this world, and there were codes of conduct and factions that she would never understand. By nightfall, she would be free of Hespan, and on her way to Petrona and home. Astra wondered what the missing item could have been. The alchemists produced some interesting material. Tenge pudding, whatever heated that spring, the weird material that acted as a sheath for the knife (which she wished she still had.) And Hesht did not think any of it was especially noteworthy.

Astra could not resist asking. "So what was missing?"

Hesht answered, "Just a br- brick of s- something v- valuable. The l- less you kn- know the b- better." He felt that this was not a good answer, and he tried to explain, without telling Astra what it was, "It's ... it's not bad. It's j- j- just th- that the King, would not like it if he kn- knew."

"I am not telling anybody. Trust me. I was just curious if it were gold, or silk, or what?"

Hesht incautiously answered, "No. No. Not like that. It was a dark stone that Ghermiz makes. I- it is j- just that the pr- price that you can g- get for it outside the k- kingdom is huge. And a c- courier g- gets three tenths for d- delivery." Hesht knew that he had said too much, and went silent. Astra quickly changed the topic.

"Oh. I am sorry to hear that someone stole it, but if it is just a brick of some dark stone, that sounds boring. I promise I will not tell anyone about it, if people are going to start asking questions about it. I have noticed that I am seeing more trees and fewer gullies. Are we near the border?"

"Yes. We are nearly at the Old Frontier Road."

"Good. Once we are past the border, would it be possible to encamp ...."

Shhhhh.

Astra was surprised to have Hesht cut her off. She looked around, but could not see anything. Then Hesht whispered, "Something has happened. Ease into the bush, and then keep still."

Astra did the best she could do with the horse. What did Hesht notice?

Hesht looked up, and around. To Astra, everything seemed perfectly still. She heard the usual sounds of the forest - squirrels chatting, birds calling, and insects buzzing. Hesht then whispered, "There are people on the road. And they are not traveling. They are waiting somewhere near the junction of this trail and the road."

"How do you know?"

"From the s- sounds of a s- squirrel sc- scolding them.

"So what do we do?"

"We have ... to go through. The brush is too thick for us to sneak around the junction."

"Do you have anything in your bag of tricks that might help us if they are unfriendly?"

  1. "Yes."
  2. "No."

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