Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [39]
The man reads the letter and then hands it back to James, saying, “Very good, all seems to be in order. Hope you enjoy your stay here in Arakan.”
Everyone visibly relaxes as James takes the letter back. “Do you have a carpenter here in town?” he asks.
“We do have a blacksmith who doubles as our carpenter in emergencies,” the official says. “You’ll find him further down the road and a little off to the right. You can’t miss him.”
Signaling Delia to get the wagon moving again, he says, “Thank you, sir.”
“You’re most welcome,” he replies as he turns to walk back to the building he came out of.
“A carpenter? What for?” Jiron asks.
“I want some shade to keep the sun off me,” he explains. Already the back of his neck, not to mention his nose, cheeks and arms are all beginning to turn red. He can feel the heat burning into them.
They go down the road and soon hear the sound of metal being hammered. Turning off the road toward the sound, they come to the blacksmith’s shop. They find him working under an awning, hammering some hot metal as he turns it into a horseshoe.
When he sees them approaching, he hammers the metal a few more times, inspects his work and then lays the horseshoe atop the anvil. He places the pincers he was using to hold the horseshoe on a nearby table and then comes over to greet them.
“What can I do for you today?” he asks.
“Was wondering if you might have some long boards and nails I could purchase?” James asks. “And maybe the use of a hammer for a few minutes?”
The man nods, and says, “Got what you need out back,” he replies. “But if there’s any hammering to be done, I’ll do it. Follow me.” He leads them around the side of the awning covered area to where he has piles of rough cut boards along with a pile of scraps. “What will you be needing it for?” he asks.
James gets down and walks over to him, “We’re not use to the intensity of the sun down here, so would like to create a framework above the wagons which we could secure some blankets to, in order to have some shade.”
He looks at the wagons and says, “I got the stuff for that, it’ll cost a gold and seven silvers.”
“Alright,” James says as he opens his pouch and takes out the money, handing it over. “How soon can you have it done?” he asks.
“About an hour,” he replies. “I have to finish the shoe I’m working on before I start.”
“Is there a place where we can eat while we wait?” he asks.
The blacksmith points back the way they came and indicates a two story building. He says, “You can find something over there at the Cracked Pot.”
“Thank you,” James says as he returns to the others. “It’s going to be about an hour,” he tells them, “so we may as well get something to eat while we wait.”
They get down from the wagons, Jiron and Tinok secure the horses to a hitching post near the blacksmith’s shop. They then walk over to the building the blacksmith had indicated and find an old pot with a sizeable crack running down the side hanging out front. Opening the door, they enter the common room and sit at a table near an open window through which a slight breeze is blowing.
Once seated, a girl comes over and starts to talk to them in the Empire’s language. James holds up his hand and says, “I’m sorry, but we don’t speak your language.”
“Sorry,” she says with an accent as she switches to their speech, “but we don’t get many who don’t speak our language.”
“That’s alright,” replies James. “What’s available?”
“We have roasted goat or sliced goat placed between chunks of bread,” she says. “The goat is a silver each, and the other is four coppers.”
“Sliced goat?” James asks to everyone. They all nod their heads and he says, “Okay, five of those please, and ale all around.” He digs out two silvers and hands them to her, “Will this cover it?”
“Yes sir,” she says, placing the money within a pocket. “I’ll have it out in just