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As he rides into town, the people on the street pause as they call out a greeting or wave to him as he goes by. Ever since that situation at the estate in the forest, he’s become some sort of celebrity around here. He waves back cheerfully, taking it all in stride.

He pulls up in front of Alexander’s shop and ties his horse to the post outside. Going in, he finds the same guards as had been there the last time. One opens the door to the back and tells Alexander he’s here.

James moves to the window in the wall and Alexander’s head appears just as he gets there. “Ah, James,” he says. “I take it you’ve heard back from my brother?”

Pulling the letter out, he hands it over to him.

Taking but a moment, Alexander opens the letter and reads the contents. “Seems you still have quite a sum here,” he says. “Do you wish to have the same type of account you had last time?”

“Yes, that would be fine,” he replies. “Could I have a hundred golds of that broken into smaller coinage?”

“Not a problem,” he says. “Just give me a moment and I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” replies James as Alexander ducks back inside. He waits there only a couple minutes before he reappears at the window with two bulging sacks of coins.

He sets the sacks of coins down on the window’s counter along with several papers. “Here,” he says. “I just need your signature on these and we’re all set. After taking out what I’ve already loaned you and the hundred you’re taking with you, you still have three hundred and ten golds left.”

Nodding, James takes the offered quill and signs where he’s told to. Once done, Alexander takes the papers and says, “You’re all set. In the sacks there, I put 60 gold coins and 397 silver and 600 copper. That almost wiped me out of what smaller coins I had.”

“Sorry,” James says.

“Don’t worry about it,” he assures him. “I still have plenty.”

“Thank you,” he says to him as he bends down to pick up the heavy sacks. The guard takes one and escorts him back out to his horse. Alexander says, “Come again if I can help you with anything further.”

“I will,” he replies as he exits the shop. Securing the sacks behind his saddle takes some doing but with the guard’s help, he manages.

He tells the guard thanks for his help and then mounts. So as not to over tax his horse, he takes it slow all the way back, the sacks of coins jingling behind him.

Once back at The Ranch, he goes to the main house and removes the sacks from his horse and takes them into his bedroom where Hern’s old money chest sits. It’s barely large enough to accommodate the coins but he manages to get the lid closed and the lock secured. Hern had only had two silvers and a handful of coppers in it when he found it.

He’s going to have to have Delia acquire him some writing materials so he’ll be able to keep a ledger of his spending. It would also be nice to be able to keep notes about his experiments with the crystals.

Sighing, he knows he should go back out to his workshop and try to figure this out. As he passes through to the back door, he finds Ezra there in the kitchen baking bread for the evening meal. The aroma smells good.

Arkie is sitting in a highchair he bought for him. He’s got a piece of bread in one hand that he’s happily gnawing on. His cup is resting on its side on the floor, the milk within it spreading in a pool.

He gives Ezra a nod and pats Arkie on the head as he leaves through the back door. The sound of wood being chopped reaches him from over where Roland is splitting them into the proper size. He can see he’s already accumulated quite a pile since he left for town.

Tersa is out in the garden they planted when they first arrived. He can see many shoots coming up out of the ground. He was worried that planting so late in the season wouldn’t yield much, but he left it to their judgment. Ever since pulling the new shoots out of his aunt’s garden when he thought he was successfully weeding it, he’s known he has no clue about gardening.

Back in his workshop, he reaches