I awoke the next morning to knocking on my door.

"Salis!" Ferret yelled through the door. "I have a carriage outside waiting for us! Come out! Wake up!"

I sat up in my bed and looked at the small window above my head. I found there was no light coming through and that it was probably before dawn.

"Excuse me, miss…" I heard the innkeeper, albeit muffled, "Please do not bother the other patrons."

"Oh, sorry," I thought I heard Ferret.

I lay back down on the bed and pulled the blanket over my head, trying to ignore the next few knocks on the door.

A few minutes later I got out of bed. I was wide awake now.

I changed into a new set of clothes and left my room.

I peeked up and down the hallway to see if Ferret was hanging about and when I saw she was not there; I went into the check-in area.

"Good morning, Miss," The innkeeper said when he saw me, "I sincerely apologize for the disturbance earlier."

"I pretty much expected it," I replied.

"I see. Thankfully, she just left with all of her belongings and will most likely not be a bother again."

"Do you have any books?" I changed the subject.

I wasn't planning on leaving for another few hours and I couldn't think of anything better to do at the moment.

"Books? Why yes, I do have several. Were there any subjects, in particular, you were interested in?"

I wondered if he had any fiction, but I had seen almost no fiction books in Flaern other than the recordings of folk stories and such. I wanted to read some good real fiction. It had been years.

"Any with interesting stories?"

"Certainly. I have several my wife used to read to our children."

Oh, great. Children's stories. At least they wouldn't take long to read.

The innkeeper entered a room behind the counter and came back a minute later holding several small, worn books.

"Since they are so worn and unsightly I will not charge you a copper to read like I normally do," He handed them to me, "No need to bring them back until you check out." He finally added. "My wife will bring you your morning meal in about an hour."

I nodded at him and took the books back to my room.

I read two of the books by the time the innkeeper's wife came with my morning meal. I dropped the book I was reading and ate. The meal was better than I had expected and it left me feeling satisfied.

I turned off the small crystal light stand and looked back out the window. Light was coming in now.

I decided it was now a good time to leave and left the inn.

Normally I would have been perfectly fine walking across the city to where the wagons left for Porra-Kel but I had my chest to worry about so I looked for a carriage.

It turned out that the building the men had come out of last night was one of the storage buildings for carriages and I found one and, in no time, was on my way to the northern side of Stutra.

The ride was quick and uneventful and I was soon at the staging area for the trip up the mountain.

I looked around the staging area for Ferret. I had been fully expecting her to be there ready to ambush me but I saw no signs of her. I wouldn't be surprised if she had gone on ahead without me or, hopefully, had headed straight to her hometown of Darro.

I decided I would find out when I got there. It wasn't worth it to me to ask around.

I looked around and saw that there was hardly anyone here. There wasn't a wagon either. I would have to wait.

A half hour passed before I saw an outgoing wagon pull up to the horse changing area. I immediately went to it and sorted things out. I also found out the driver remembered me, which also meant he knew not to talk to me unless necessary.

Not much later I was on my way up the side of the mountain.

I gave the mountain one long look. It had been a long year, and it felt strange thinking it had been not that long ago that I had nearly starved myself walking down it.

I also noted the winding course of the river. Thanks to following it, I had taken days to descend instead of hours and cursed myself for sticking to it instead of going straight down.

My view was cut off by the forest that started at the base and I resigned myself to sitting in the back of the carriage and pretending to be like Helnion and watch for anything that moved or looked out-of-place then stare at it for longer than necessary.

It was late afternoon when the wagon pulled into Porra-Kel.

"Think the boss will mind if I make a stop at your house?" The driver asked me.

I didn't need to answer as he had already turned down the road where my family lived.

"Salis!" Ferret and Mama Eliz yelled, running out of the house to meet the carriage.

Papa Garen and the children followed soon after.

"I am so glad to see you safe!" Mama Eliz pulled me off the wagon and hugged me tightly.

"Me too!" Ferret joined in the hug.

Papa Garen laughed, "Still as stoic as always, Salis. You two look like you are hugging a dead fish."

"I'm not a fish," I said.

The two put me down.

"Are you still speaking like that?" Mama Eliz said. "I was hoping they would teach you to stop you mashing your words together like that."

"Oh, they tried," Ferret said, "It drove Instructor Nila crazy at first from what I heard."

"So even the teachers at school cannot force Salis to do something she does not want to," Papa Garen didn’t look the least bit surprised.

Papa Garen's attention was caught by the carriage driver as he approached and the two began unloading my chest.

"Oh my," Mama Eliz saw the chest, "What did you put in there to make it so heavy?"

"I earned a bit of money," I replied, "Thought I should show you my thanks for taking care of me."

Everyone followed the chest into the house.

"Exactly how much money is in here?" Papa Garen said as he let the chest onto the floor.

"I best get back to work," The wagon driver looked interested in the chest but he shook his head and left the house.

I opened my small chest and pulled out the key.

Everyone gasped as they saw the money.

"Should be about five hundred gold pieces," I quickly pulled out the sack I had put the crystals in.

"Five hundred!" Papa Garen, Mama Eliz and Ferret all said at the same time.

"Where did you get this much money?" Mama Eliz asked.

"She tells the school stuff from Terra and they pay her," Ferret replied, "But I did not know it was this much."

Everyone, including the older children, crowded around the chest and looked inside.

"Are you sure you are fine giving us all the money you earned?" Papa Garen asked me.

"I kept enough for my needs," I said.

"Thank you, Salis," Mama Eliz gave me another hug, "Now we can get proper clothes and food for your siblings."

"This should last us years," Papa Garen sifted his hand through the coins, "Even if I stopped working in the mines."

Papa Garen patted me on the head.

"Maybe you could move to Kein," Ferret said, "Then Salis can live with you."

Papa Garen and Mama Eliz looked at each other but then turned to Ferret and smiled.

"We have lived here our whole lives," Mama Eliz said, "Living somewhere else would be too strange."

Papa Garen nodded, "All of our family is here. We cannot just leave them like that."

Ferret returned their smile, "I completely understand. I cannot wait to finish school and go back to Darro and live near my family again."

"Oh, that sounds nice." Mama Eliz said. "Are you going to apprentice under someone there?"

Ferret nodded, "The captain of the Patrician guard for Darro has already agreed to apprentice me."

"Ferra, you must be very good if someone of that position will take you in," Papa Garen had a new respect for Ferret in his eyes.

Mama Eliz turned to me, "Salis, have you decided what you will do for your apprenticeship?"

I shook my head.

"I think someone in Flae will take her in. Probably some boring old man that records everything he can," Ferret rolled her eyes, "Although she has gotten good at fighting too so if she gets as good as me I bet some grouch from the King's Guard will take her."

"Do you really think so?" Mama Eliz said.

I noticed my oldest brother tug on the hem of Ferret's sleeve.

"You can use a sword?" He asked her.

"I sure can!" Ferret puffed her chest out, "Do you want to see?"

My brothers nodded excitedly.

Ferret went to a corner of the room where her bag was sitting and untied it. She then pulled out two practice swords and tossed one to me.

"Come on Salis, let us put a show on for them!" Ferret began heading toward the front door.

I looked at everyone in the room. Aside from the younger children everyone was looking at me expectantly.

I decided it was worth it and left the house behind Ferret, with the others close behind.

"Ready?" Ferret said when I had positioned myself in front of her and everyone else had found a spot to watch.

I nodded.

Ferret held her sword in front of her in a defensive stance, waiting.

I knew I had no chance at beating her, but this was Ferret so she would go easy on me for a while so those spectating would have a nice long match to watch instead of one that would most likely end in a matter of seconds.

I stepped forward and prodded at her with my sword. She knocked it out of the way easily enough and then countered lightly. I deflected her counter and then lunged at her, hoping to use my strength against her.

We did this for about a minute before Ferret went into flashy mode. She was still not trying to defeat me and instead began to show off her more advanced techniques, even if she exaggerated the movements.

"That should do," Ferret knocked my sword out of the way and put the tip of the sword in front of my chest.

Papa Garen and Mama Eliz clapped.

"That was amazing you two," Mama Eliz said.

"Yes, it was." Papa Garen said. "And to think you have only been doing this for less than a year, Salis."

"Of course she is!" Ferret put her arm around my shoulder, "She trains hard every day. Not to mention that extra Terran strength she has."

Ferret poked me in the arm with her sword.

Papa Garen looked at my arms closely, "And I thought she had just gotten fat."

He poked my arm.

"That certainly is muscle."

Mama Eliz slapped him on the back of the head.

"You should not speak about her like that!"

Papa Garen rubbed the back of his head and grinned.

"I wonder if all Terrans are short and wide like her." Ferret looked at me. I could tell she wanted me to answer.

"I'm not fat," I said.

"I wonder what a fat Terran looks like," Ferret grabbed my cheeks and stretched them.

I pushed Ferra away then turned towards the house and headed inside.

"Wait, Salis! I am sorry!" Ferret yelled.

She didn't follow me and stayed outside.

I couldn't wait to get to bed.

I looked at the sun. There were still a few hours until the sun went down.

I should have waited longer before coming up the mountain.

"Is it really safe for her to sleep up there?" I heard Ferret saying as I woke up.

"She has not fallen out of it once." Mama Eliz said.

"I would be too scared to even try." Ferret said.

"Me too."

I sat up in my hammock. I had been happy to see that they had not thrown it out.

"Did we wake you?" Mama Eliz didn’t look sorry.

Did I even have to answer that?

Ferret laughed, "She always liked to sleep in on days off."

"Really?" Mama Eliz said. "She was always up before the other children."

I pulled myself out of the hammock and hopped to the floor.

"Why a hammock Salis?" Ferret asked me.

"Easier to keep clean of fleas and lice," I began taking the hammock down.

"Oh! Smart!" Ferret said. "I guess no one lives here that knows how to use magic to remove them?"

"There is no reason for a skilled magic user to stay here, though some do come from time to time." Mama Eliz said.

"I bet Salis spent all her money on them when they came." Ferret said.

"Oh yes. She always did her best to keep herself free of lice, but she always got them back, eventually."

I scratched my head. The thoughts of becoming infested with lice again made my head itch. I would have to visit someone in Flae that could remove them just in case.

"How long are you two planning on staying?" Mama Eliz asked Ferret and me.

"I should leave in an hour or two," Ferret replied, "I need to catch a carriage for Darro in the morning. My family will get worried if I take too long to get home."

Both of them turned to me.

"Soon," I said.

"You will not stay the summer?" Mama Eliz asked.

I shook my head, "I have some things to take care of in Flae."

"What are you going to do in Flae, Salis?" Ferret asked before Mama Eliz could.

"I'll come back if I have time," I said.

I sat down at the dinner table. Food had already been spread out, and I started eating.

"I wish you would not evade questions like that Salis," Momma Eliz said but shrugged and sat down on her work stool.

"I will try to fix her of the problem when we go back to school," Ferret said.