Edges of the Map: Part 1.5 - The Greatwood Forest

Important note 1 - The events described below occur between Part 1 and Part 2 of Edges of the Map. I added this in to give a more homey feel to Whistlethrush Island, to describe it more, and to give the readers a sensation that Whistlethrush is the known world for Ashe and his friends.

Important note 2 - I changed the character of Cynwreg. Here's his new description/story: He is still Isaac's uncle, but he has been a sailor or merchant all his life. He was visiting the other Hawkin's when they were evicted from their land and took them with him on his trading rout.  He is getting ready to continue his journey to another port when this story opens.

_______________

Edward Butterworth lifted his head from his drawing to look at some figures he had written down. He was sure that this would be a map included in every text book on Whistletrush Island from there on out. By now Edward had forgotten that he had let Ashe go down to visit the Hawkins on their boat and that Cynwreg, a merchant and sailor, was readying for a visit to the mainland to sell some Whistletrush flugar, a delicious flour used for preparing desserts.

He glanced over at Ashe's side of the attic. He noticed a little miniature chest laying on his bed. This was a strange sight indeed, for it never left Ashe's pocket. Ashe had never let Mr. Butterworth see inside, but Edward wasn't sure Ashe could even open it.

___________

Meanwhile, Isaac, Ashe and Iona were playing a heated game of Kittimbi - a game Cynwreg had brought back from one of his travels - on the Hawkins' ship.

"No, you've already moved your nine pawns, drawn your toll card and played your special cat, now it's my turn." Ashe was new the the board game, but had caught on quickly and was certain Isaac had no idea how to play

"Yes, but if you roll an 8-and-a-half you get to move an extra pawn and claim a marker in the Jagged Cliffs Zone, plus remove a tumblebunny marker from the other player's bonus board." Isaac's normally calm, quiet, thin and freckled face was slightly construed with irritation.

"Well, Ashe, I think Isaac might have a point. Here, let me find the paper that Mr. Cynwreg wrote all the rules down on." Iona was trying to sooth the argument, which Ashe had kept fueled since the game started. She was a young, beautiful teenager with regal composure and well kept hair.

Suddenly a voice thundered down the hatch that went up on deck, "If you kids want, we might have something better for you to do than argue." Jack was a quiet man with a sense of sarcastic humor and commanding authority. 

The children all came up on deck, Ashe wielding a formidable frown. Cynwreg spoke, "As you might know, I'm planning on going to the mainland to tradeWhistletrush flugar, juneberry starch and most importantly, silk form Truggit." Cynwreg's golden eyes shown and his wide jaw spread into a grin. "I am told Truggit is the city on the north side of the island. I need Jack and Isaac to go and retrieve an order of silk from Truggit."

"We were wonderin' if you lil' one's might like to go with me," Jack joined in. Isaac was pretty sure that if Ashe changed emotions any faster than he did, he would suffer a stroke. Ashe was now bounding up and down instead of angrily frowning, all in the span of about 2 seconds.

"Well, of course I'd like to go." Isaac said.

"Oh please may I go! Please!" Ashe was positively ecstatic.

"Ok. We'll leave early tomorrow morning. Just make sure Edward says you can go." 

________

Isaac glanced up and down the misty streets on the northern edge of town. No figures were in sight. Only Jack, Martha and Isaac stood on the dirt path. Suddenly, someone grabbed Isaac's shoulder.

"Surprise!" shouted Ashe, and everyone jumped

"That's not funny." Isaac said in a serious tone after regaining his composure.

Jack's voice rang out in the misty morning, "Alright everyone. Let's get goin'. It'll take us 'bout a third o' the day to get to Truggit, so we better get started. By the way, did Edward say ye could come, lad?"

"Yeah," replied Ashe, but he quickly changed the subject, "Ms. Martha! I didn't expect you to come!" Ashe exclaimed without a second thought to the fact that his comment might have been rude.

"I do enjoy a good hike now and then. Plus, I'll need to help pick out the silk." The gentle woman replied, knowing Ashe's question had originated from innocence. Her face was kind and patient, and her maple hair fell in curly locks over her shoulders. She was the youngest of her siblings and youth still flowed in her veins. Of course, Jack and Cynwreg were still healthy as lions and strong as bears.

But Ashe had already lost interest in Martha's answer and was questioning Jack, "How come Cynwreg isn't coming? What is Truggit like? Have you been there?"

"Well, I've never been to Truggit. In fact, this is my first time bein' on Whistletrush. Cynwreg couldn't come because someone had ta stay and take care o' the ship and the other lasses."

The morning passed slowly as they plugged along, with Ashe constantly asking questions, chasing Tumblebunnies or snacking on some Flabbit meat Mr. Butterworth had given him. The morning stayed foggy, just as Edward had predicted with a weather machine he invented. After about three hours they reached a fork in the road.

"How come we didn't just taken a wagon? It would've only taken an hour to get here," complained Ashe. 

Jack ignored him. "Left or right? I've plumb forgotten which way Cynwreg said ta go." said Jack, scratching his balding head, his wide jaw with red beard scrunched up to one side.

"We need to go right. To the left is the... umm.... what do they call it? The Greatwood Forest." stated Martha.

Ashe shuddered, "We definitely don't want to go there. That road is shorter, but it goes through the Greatwood Forest. I've heard daymares and scarytales about that place; that explorers were eaten whole by giant Slopmouths or impaled by swarms of Divecrows. Even the Hunter Kids don't go in there. The Flabbits¹ are the worst, they...."

"Well, I can see we don't what to go there, so let's go right." Martha cut him off, but she was promptly interrupted by a gasp from Isaac.

"Look, look down the road a little," he whispered. A figure's silhouette emerged from the fog.

"Who goes there? State the passphrase and we won't rip ye insides out," a young but savage voice came down the path the Hawkin's had intended to take. It was a child.

"Hunter Kids." gasped Martha. She had been on Whistlethrush Isle long enough to learn that the Hunter Children were a savage band of outlawed kids that loved to hunt, steel, pillage, and had a mission to disobey every rule ever made. Waylaying, robbing, and murdering travelers was their specialty. Jack drew a sword hidden in his clothes and Ashe's eyes widened².

"I suggest you don't come any closer! I got me a weapon and I sure know how ta use it!" Jack shouted into the mist. Four or five more figures appeared like ghosts.

"I suggest ya hand over ya weapons and loot 'fore we chop ya into little bits!" returned the Hunter boy.

Jack whispered to the others, "I could take one or two of 'em, but I've heard mighty powerful tales 'bout a whole swarm of 'em choppin' up a whole caravan."

"Uncle Jack, let's go into the forest just a little ways and hide, and since they won't follow us, they'll go away and we can continue." suggested Isaac, who was usually quiet, but he when he did talk he had something useful to say.

"Quick everyone, we'll do as Isaac said, now hurry!" whispered Jack, gesturing towards the forest.With a terrified look from Ashe, a nod from Isaac, and a scared look from Martha who was still staring at the Hunters, the Hawkins and Ashe vanished into the Greatwood Forest.

_________

 Ashe jumped. He had stepped on a stick and it jumped up out of the leaves. His heart had nearly stopped. The others, however, were not quite as scared as they had not grown up with the scarytales of the Greatwood Forest. Ashe glanced into the tree tops and spotted a familiar shape.

"Everyone, start walking around in circles and figure eights!" Ashe whispered to the others.

"Why?"

"Because, there's a Divecrow in that tree, and if we hold still, it'll impale you on its beak!" Everyone promptly began acting like deranged chickens. "Oh, never mind, it's just a clump of leaves." Ashe said nonchalantly. They continued there walk through the shaded, foggy forest, with scowls for Ashe. The Greatwood trees were so big they could not stand around them with their hand's touching, and their huge limbs spread out across the ground. 

"You know, if this weren't such a bad place, these trees would make excellent tree forts," said Martha, trying to cheer everyone up. Jack still had his sword drawn, and continually turned around to see if they were being followed by the Hunter children. Isaac could still hear them in the distance, and they sounded like they were getting closer. 

"Ok, I think this is a good spot to hide, let's just stop going deeper in. How 'bout that?" Ashe suggested, in the same tone a child caught steeling cookies would give instructions to himself on how to put them back in the jar. 

"Might as well." Jack plopped down next to the others. 

Just as Ashe began to relax, a loud crashing sound came from behind them. Everyone spun around. Through the underbrush came a monstrous Slopmouth. It was a chubby creature with a wide mouth and two beady eyes in the center of it's forehead, and it resembled a whale on legs. It was a moldy-green color, and it's giant mouth leaked acid saliva and bore moss, twigs, and other slimy things straight out of a nightmare.

At this sight, Ashe promptly fainted of fright, Isaac jumped up to climb the nearest tree, Jack thrust he sword forward, and Martha began thinking of what type of flowers she might like at her funeral. Roaring with immense volume, the creature trampled a few more trees as acid spit dissolved a sapling under it's mouth. Even Jack trembled. Isaac wasn't a vain 17 year old, but he certainly didn't want to be remembered this way.

"Oh my oh my oh my! I do give my apologies. Get down boy, get down!" An antiquated and bearded man teetered from the wood, "Do forgive me, this wasn't a very good welcome. Now, let's..." He was cut off as Jack tackled him.

"Watch out for that monster! I'll save ye!" As Isaac's burly uncle collided with the frail old man, the knobby fellow's eyes bugged from his head and his wind left him. As the Slopmouth turned towards the commotion, the two figures rolled into the underbrush. Unfortunately, this seemed to anger the monster and it lumbered in Jack's direction.

"Down I say, down!" the man regained his composure and crawled out from under Jack, "There, much better, now sit." Obediently, the hefty Slopmouth sank to the ground as Ashe regained conscientiousness. "Sorry everyone. This here is Sloppy, and I'm, well, I'm umm... Oh dear, me forgots me name..." the man spoke with a quaking voice as he trailed off. Ashe, seeing the Slopmouth still there, and very close at hand, fainted again.

_________

"You see, Greatwood forest is really quite a nice place," feebly, the old man was guiding the group of friends through the forest. Sloppy, who was clearing a path in front of them, and Jack were still wary of each other. "the problem is, everyone's afraid of these here animals."

"But aren't these creatures a terrible menace? What about all the stories?" questioned Isaac.

"Legends. The truth is, everyone's afraid of this place, but the things they're afraid of are actually quite tame. Sure, the Ankleterrors gnaw an ankle off now and then, but the Slopmouths are docile and the Flabbits don't even have teeth. Except, of course, for the toothy ones." The man, who had eventually identified himself as 'Tu', replied. Widening his eyes, Ashe was obviously not comforted. Casting a glance for the billionth time at the monster ahead of them, Isaac curiously inspected it. No one had ever described a Slopmouth to him, and he of course had never seen one. He was quite enthralled.

Soon, the company arrived at the edge of the forest. Truggit was in sight. It larger and far more crowded than Clagtown and lay on the opposite shore of the Truggit River.

"Well everyone, I'll leave you here." said Tu as he waved his hand. "Oh, and by the way, the Hunter Kid's passphrase is 'who needs phassphrases?'"

Martha was positively appalled, "How do you know their passphrase?!"

"Oh I used to be a Hunter Kid 'til I grew up. And they always tell me their passphrase 'cause I let 'em go through the forest. It's quite an ingenious trick, but don't tell 'em. They will positively not hurt you or steel from you if you say the passphrase. So long!"

Jack gave Tu a hearty handshake, apologized for trying to save his life, and escorted his family and friend down to the Truggit River Bridge.

1 - Ferociously Large Rabbits, although they resemble giant bunny-rabbits, bear nasty razor teeth and a hop that can overtake a carriage in two bounds. They are known as one of the most feared predators on Whistlethrush Island. Ancient Whistlethrush residents learned to tame them, but that knowledge has long been forgotten.

2 - Ashe was probably shocked by Jack's sword because an early king of Whistlethrush Isle - King Sharpsword III - outlawed weapons in Clagtown and Truggit. 

Whistlethrush Island

Here is a map of Whistlethrush Isle, the island where Ashe, Edward Butterworth and a few more characters from my Edges of the Map series live. Dash line is a well traveled road, dotted line is a less traveled path.

© 2014 www.curious-robot.blogspot.com, all rights reserved

Edges of the Map: Part 2 - An Injured Wayfarer and a Furry Secret

Last time, we met Ashe, an young boy who lives in the seafaring city of Clagton. Ashe met Isaac, Isaac's uncles Jack and Cynwreg, Isaac's aunt, and Iona. They met when Isaac, an older boy of 18, and his family dropped the anchor of their little ship in Clagton's harbour. We rejoin our story about 2 weeks later and the Hawkins have integrated themselves into Clagton's society. They still live on their boat while a small house is being built on the outskirts of town. 

_________

Ashe climbed the stairs to the loft of Fredrik's Inn. Fredrik had come down to the main area of the Inn and told him that Mr. Butterworth wanted to see him. 

Ashe had come to Edward Butterworth when he was very little when his parent's had died, and had lived with him in the attic of Fredrik's Inn ever since. He was a very kind man of the spindly and absent-minded sort; he was always experimenting or sketching or mapping. He had a narrow face with chestnut hair and maple eyes, and he seemed obsessed with always keeping his brown leather vest buttoned around his torso at all times, whether or not it was cold. 

The boy stepped into the attic, the third story of the Inn, and looked around. It was rather cluttered, with a bed on both ends of the room with a large chest, various objects of unknown origin, and many gear, coils and tools scattered on the floor.

"Ah, there you are Ashe! Come here, quick, I want to show you something!" called Mr. Butterworth from the corner were a rickety desk sat. "This piece of paper that lies before us is a map of our island, the Isle of Whistlethrush. I just finished drawing it after charting and recording the whole island by myself. See, here's Clagton," he pointed to a clump of carefully drawn buildings that sprawled across the landscape in the south-eastern corner of the island, "and up on this hill is the Royal Castle, with the prison next to it. Anyway, here's Bill's Bay and..." Mr. Butterworth droned on.

Ashe would much rather be down at the docks visiting Isaac on lunch break. Several day's ago, Isaac had been employed at a sea-side shop that sold rope a other equipment to the ships that harboured in Clagton. He wanted to hear the men talk about the alchemist who could supposedly turn objects into pure gold. Without a doubt, the King had greedily imprisoned the poor man to make gold for him about a week ago. Ashe also wanted to hear more about an attack on the outskirts of town. Allegedly a homestead had been attacked in the middle of the night but the Hunter Children. The Hunter Children were a group of fierce orphans that had banded together against the outside world. They were deadly accurate with throwing knives, bows and arrows, and weren't afraid to use them on man or beast.

Ashe floated back to reality and his ears tuned-in to Mr. Butterworth's station, "Ah yes, and here's Whistlethrush Mountain. When explorers landed here in the Third Epoch, they named the island and the hill after the many whistlethrushes that darted about in the air." Mr. Butterworth gazed off into the distance and Ashe remembered that whistlethrushes, those annoying birds that flew about and made high pitch whistles, where once revered in Clagton. "Someday," Edward continued, "I'd like to sail the open seas and discover new lands. Lands like the Jungles of Ru that were described by the great explorer Charles Boniferious. Or the Krib Archipelago navigated by Chris Columbia!"

The boy watching Edward dreamily talk also wanted to go adventuring across the open seas himself, but at that moment, he would rather go down to the market and docks. Isaac had promised he would show him a secret, a very unbelievable secret

"Ahem. Can I go visit Isaac now? He wanted to show me something." Edward tore his eyes away from the round window and turned to Ashe.

"Oh. Oh yes! Yes, that Isaac. Of course. Just stay safe. I'm going down to the Hawkins' ship to show Jack some of my navigation and topographical equipment. I'll be on their ship. I'm spending the night to show them how to navigate by the stars." Edward replied, but Ashe was already down the stairs. Ashe had a secret to show Isaac himself, so on his way out he grabbed a little box and his coat.

Through the streets of Clagton he walked. As he began to imagine what Isaac's surprise could be, he quickened his pace. Usually he did the talking and Isaac with his brown hair and green eyes would listen attentively while he worked even though they were almost 6 years apart. Ashe wondered if he listened just to be nice or because he was interested.

_______

Meanwhile, Edward Butterworth collected his navigation tools, his mapping equipment, and an extra change of clothes for the next day. Most men wore the same pair of clothes for several days, but Mr. Butterworth believed in staying clean at all times. With great effort, he closed the latches on his two trunks, drug them of the bed, and descended the stairs.

When he reached the first floor of the Inn, which was a sort of restaurant, he saw Fredrik talking to Cynwreg, Jack's brother. Fredrik giant mustache, protruding nose and plump features were animated as he told some sort of story. Edward meandered over to them and intended to procure a trip down to the Hawkin's boat, which he wanted to see again since last time he had been down there. Edward joined the conversation. Without warning, the doors to the tavern and inn flew open and a ragged old man stumbled through.

"Please, help." The man began coughing hysterically. Cynwreg, being the compassionate and helpful man he was, came forward and the injured man fell into his arms. "Please, they're coming. Help me." The man convulsed and continued coughing. Standing in shock, Edward noticed that the man's upper arm and forehead was bleeding, along with his wrists, which were rubbed raw.

"Quick! Fredrik, get a wet cloth for this man's wounds! Hurry!" Cynwreg sprung into action.

Fredrik quickly returned with the cloth as the man fell into unconsciousness. Even after the attentive care of Cynwreg, Fredrik, and Edward, the man didn't get any better. His frail body was still limb, bloodied, and white.

"We need to take him down to my ship. Martha has some special herbs that will be more effective." A stretcher was prepared, Mr. Butterworth grabbed his suitcase, and Cynwreg, Edward and Fredrik headed down to the docks."

_________

"I haven't told you were we came from?" Isaac looked surprised. He and Ashe had been talking for some time.

"No, you haven't. I've been wondering why you came over here on your own private ship instead of as passengers." Ashe replied. He had already told his friend Isaac Hawkins all about the imprisoned alchemist and the attack by the Hunter kids.

"Well, we used to live in a far away land, in a little village on the coast. My mother died when I was born, and my father died when I was 2. I don't remember them. But my Mom's siblings took me in. Anyway, one year we had a drought that lasted for a long time. Our farm failed and the livestock got a disease and died, too. We couldn't pay the debts, so we had to find something to do. My uncle Cynwreg, he's the oldest of his siblings, used to be a sailor or a pirate, and he still had a small ship named the Explorer. In the middle of the night we got on board with all or things and left our home behind."

"That must have been hard." Ashe imagined.

"It was. Anyway, we sailed for a week or two and stopped in Frankville. Iona, the girl you met the day we arrived here, and her mother also lost their farm in the drought and would have had to go the debtor's prison if we hadn't have taken them on as cooks. We got a good deal on that juneberry starch, came to Whistletrush Island and sold it here." This was the most Ashe had ever heard Isaac say at one time.

"Wow! Your uncle was a pirate!? What was your old home like? Did you have any siblings?" Ashe peppered him with questions.

"If you stop asking all these questions I might show you something really neat..." Isaac interrupted Ashe's interruption with a grin on his face.

"Oh, yes, please show me your secret!" The two boys, one almost a man, marched into the back of the shop. In an inconspicuous corner a giant coil of rope lay covered by a canvas.

Isaac beckoned the little boy closer as he threw back the canvas, "Ashe, I'd like you to meet Lock." Inside the coil of rope lay a yellow ball of fur. Ashe recoiled with horror when the creature, which he assumed was an exotic species of dog, lifted its oddly-shaped head, stretched out it's clawed for-feet, and produced a sulfurous yawn from its jaw that jutted outwards.

"Wha... What is it!?" Ashe backed away with disgust, uncertainty, and terror. The creature, or Treble, cocked its head at Ashe and stared with its deep blue eyes.

"Don't be afraid!" Isaac said with a laugh, then more seriously, "and don't let anyone see him. If they do they'll try and hurt him.

"Is it an Ankleterror?" Ashe said with fear.

"One of those deranged little mammals that eat peoples' feet? Of course not!" Isaac began laughing harder. "He's a little miniature dragon! See, he has little sharp purple scales down his backbone. And his teeth stick up from his lower jaw."

"But, but, he's so little for a dragon, and he's furry!" Ashe was beginning to relax.

"He's a rare breed. And he's not fully grown yet. I found his egg when I was 12, and plus, dragons take forever to grow to the behemoths you've heard about." Isaac explained. Lock climbed out of his coil and sniffed at Ashe's pant leg, then he seemed to choke on something and coughed up a cloud of smoke.

"Can he breathe fire? Were did you find him? Did you have giant dragons at your home? Can Lock fly? Where are his wings?" Ashe was back to his normal self.

"He's hasn't gotten old enough to breathe fire yet, but he sure does cough up smoke a lot. He hasn't grown his wings yet, either."

Ashe was now petting the intelligent little creature. "Wow. He's so soft. Does he do any tricks?"

"Tricks!? Of course he does tricks! Dragons are the most intelligent creatures next to humans. Here, since it's time for me to go home anyway, why don't you come back to the ship and I'll show you what he can do." And with that, Isaac snuggled Treble into a sack to prevent anyone from panicking and the boys set off for the docks at about mid-afternoon

________

"Will he be alright?" Edward Butterworth dabbed at his balding forehead with a handkerchief.

"Well, I think so. The wonderroot paste on his wounds should do the trick, and the cream of treebledee soup will warm him up." Olive, Iona's mother, reported. Martha, Iona, and Olive, had just come up on deck. "Yes, I think he'll get better. I just home his family isn't looking for him." Olive was a very chatty person and was intent on reporting every detail or concern.

Jack turned to Mr. Butterworth. "You know, I really don't like how they made us move to the end of the docks to make room for the other, larger ships. It's quite a ways to shore. By the way, thanks for coming and showing us your equipment. I'll have to look into purchasing a sextant."

"Mother, look, here come Isaac and Ashe coming down the docks." Iona turned to Olive. The boys soon boarded and the story of the injured wayfarer was told.

Suddenly, the quiet Martha interrupted, "Oh my! What do you suppose that is!?" she pointed to the shore and there came a cloud of soldiers stampeding towards their boat, along with a angry group of fierce-looking children. They appeared to be battling.

"My word. What do you suppose it could mean?" Jack hurried to the railing with the others.

As the mob approached, a booming voice silenced the others, "In the name of the King, surrender at once or we shall blow your ship to smithereens!"

Edges of the Map: Part 1 - Newcomers

This is the first installment in my new short story series (more like a book broken into segments) called "Edges of the Map". It follows the story of a group of people who meet through very unlikely circumstances and journey to the edges of the map and beyond. A few things (OK, a lot of things) have changed since my last post on this subject, so I hope you enjoy.

______________________________________________

Ashe wove in between the tightly packed crowds in the streets of Clagton. His caretaker, Edward Butterworth, needed some carrots, onions, potatoes, a bag of flugar and some lubricant. The young boy of about thirteen dodged donkeys, horses and Clagtowners who had eaten one too many sugarpies in their life with the nimbleness and speed that only accompanies years of living in one place.

With a glance down the street, Ashe came to a sudden halt. Bumping our the road and scattering pedestrians a horseless wagon rolled down the street. Ashe had heard of these machines which were common on the mainland but still and rare sight in Clagton. Furiously, a man, or the driver, pedaled with great effort and the gears and cogs inside the vehicle magnified his energy and powered the wheels. Ashe was thoroughly thrilled. After the unwieldy contraption passed, the curious boy continued his errand.

Conveniently for Ashe, Clagton's Central Market was conjoined to the seaport. Even though Ashe knew Mr. Butterworth needed the groceries soon, he still wanted to go down to the docks and talk with the sailors that came on ships about ever other day. Clagtown was not a bustling metropolis, but it was not a remote village, either. So even though the city of exactly nine-hundred ninety-two permanent residents was always busy, large trade ships did not visit the island which Clagton was built on with overwhelming frequency.

Before Ashe loaded himself with the supplies Mr. Butterworth needed, he paid a visit to the docks. A small ship had put into port just that morning, and he wanted to see who had arrived. Usually small ships like this one carried passengers instead of cargo, and forgetting his errand with his usually carelessness he hoped he could make some money helping to unload the passengers' luggage. Ashe spotted a girl of about fourteen or fifteen getting ready to disembark. As she saw that Ashe was coming toward her ship, a look of dismay crossed her face.

"Greetings! Could I help you unload your things for a small wage?" asked the eager boy. It was not often that he got to make some money unloading cargo. When the girl realised he was only looking for a job, she seemed relieved.

"I'm sorry, but we have no thing for you to unload or money with which to pay you." replied the girl with an elegance in her voice Ashe had never heard.

"Aren't you passengers? You must have something of yours. You can't be a sailor, you're a girl." Ashe questioned further

"Well I am a sailor. This man here" she pointed to a burly, lightly bearded man that had just appeared "has taken me on as a cook." Ashe envied the girl who was able to sail the open seas while he was stuck on dry land.

"Could I help you?" called the man from the deck.

"Well, I was wondering if you could hire me to help unload or something."

The man thought for a moment, "Let's see, we just bought some juneberry starch from the mainland to sell here. You can help us unload that." After agreeing on a price of 3 coins for every sack he unloaded, Ashe boarded the ship. "My name is Jack and this is my nephew Isaac. You can help Isaac, my brother and I unload the starch from down below." While the sun rose higher, Ashe's separate pile of juneberry starch sacks did not seem to grow nearly as fast as the other pile. They finally finished about noon.

"Thank you very much." Ashe said as he excepted his pay.

"Thank you." complemented Jack. "Say, do you know of a good place to stay. We're quite tired of the cramped quarters on the ship."

"I live in the upstairs part of a hotel that a friend of my caretaker owns. It's the best inn in the whole city." replied the exhausted boy, although his maple brown eyes twinkled.

While the girl Ashe had first talked to and her mother carted the juneberry starch to the market Ashe led the men through Clagton towards the inn - Fredrik's Inn, to be exact. The smells of refuse, perfume and fruit was quite confusing to anyone's nose. Eventually they reached the Inn. In the main room men talked and ate, and the newcomers were warmly welcomed. Fredrik, the inn keeper, ruffled Ashe's sandy, curly yellow hair and turned to the men. They soon struck up a conversation.

"Did you know that a man has actually been able to turn metals into gold! As soon as word got out, the king had him taken into custody and now he's locked away." gossiped Fredrik.

"No, I didn't know that. We just arrived. But I do believe that is quite an injustice. Why, the man might not have even been able to do such a thing. Personally I think it's impossible, but to be locked away in the royal dungeon just for that? He deserves to be liberated." Jack's sister, Martha, added her opinion, to which her brother's agreed.

"Say, Isaac, could you go to the market and retrieve Mrs. Staben and her daughter; the ones we took on as cooks?" commissioned Cynwreg, Jack's brother. With a dawn of remembrance, Ashe decided to go with him to show him the way, and complete his original errand.

"So how have you come to Clagton?" questioned Fredrik.

"Well, we've been sailing for quite some time. We're just a family without a country. Our name is the Hawkins, by the way. We sail to towns like these and stay for a week or two to gather supplies and make friends. Then we set sail again." replied Jack.

With that the Hawkins began their several week stay in Clagton. Ashe soon became friends with Isaac, who was about seventeen, very strong, with a gentle disposition and brown hair with green eyes.

In those weeks many things happened to Ashe, Mr. Butterworth and the Hawkin's which would eventually effect more than just Clagton.