We had a nice little service for the old man. The crates still sat there next to his cart and I couldn't see inside of them which seemed strange. They definitely had air holes but were eerily silent so I wasn't sure what to think. I would've felt even worse rummaging through the man's possessions before his service.

Shamus told me that the old man hadn't had any family that he knew of. Barnie had just visited the town about once a year and the kids all loved him. He brought at least one fun animal for them to play with every time he visited. Shamus said I could help myself to anything he had since I was the last to interact with him and no one else had any claim.

"Looks like we'll be taking a horse-drawn cart up North with us," I said to Barry who was standing near one of the crates trying to see inside. I would have to get to the bottom of that. They must be magical or something because they almost felt empty. This did explain how the old man lifted the crates so easily. The crates were only about thirty-inch cubes so they couldn't contain very large animals.

It was the moment of truth. I kneeled by the first crate and pulled on the wooden door that made up one side of the cube. I opened it just a crack and spoke to the animal inside.

"I'm a friend. Please come out calmly and we will figure out what's next," I said hoping that I had chosen a good introduction. After all, I didn't know what kind of animals would be coming out.

When the door opened fully a large, black oval expanded in front of the crate and a cow poked her head out. I questioned the use of the word exotic, but I liked cows.

"Come on out girl," I said gently to the cow. When she was all the way out I noticed a little calf followed behind her. "Aw, so cute."

Behind the calf was a bull. He was calm, but I still knew bulls were powerful so I talked to him about them being safe and that he could stay relaxed. The crate was like a clown car, but for cows. An entire herd came out of that little crate over the next twenty or so minutes.

"Any more in there?" I called into the black oval. I waited a minute and then closed the little wooden door which closed the portal also. I picked up the box and was surprised that its weight felt exactly the same as before. I tried adding it to my inventory but it would go in. It must be some sort of dimensional space and I probably can't put a dimensional space into another. That was the only explanation I could think of. I briefly thought about asking Mae, but I remembered I had sent her away and moved on.

Shamus ran over to join us about midway through the bovine conga line.

"He had a whole herd of cattle in one of his special crates. That is amazing," Shamus said watching the animals move out of the portal and over to a nearby field of tall grass.

"Looks like Roseglen could become a major dairy provider," I said.

Shamus looked over wide-eyed. "What? You're planning on leaving the cattle here?"

"Sure, why not? You have the fields and the space and you could use a big industry to help the town grow," I said casually.

"You realize that this is a good-sized fortune in front of us. This was probably Barnie's retirement plan and it was sure to make him a wealthy man," said Shamus.

"Could this benefit the whole town and make everyone here better off?" I asked him.

"Of course, this would set up Roseglen for great success. Not only for us but for generations to come and everyone we trade with," he said still staring at the mass of animals.

"Then they now are the property of you and the town of Roseglen." I gave him a pat on the back. He then turned in shock and I grabbed his hand and shook it. "It's official."

A huge smile grew on his face as tears started to well up and he pulled me into a bear hug. Nina must have heard the cattle and seen the odd exchange between Shamus and me and walked over to see what was going on.

"Herd of cattle! This man is now your owner. He and the residents of this town are good people. Please, listen to them and I know you will have good lives," I shouted out into the herd. They all seemed to hear and I figured that was all that was needed. Nina heard my words and understood the implications for the town. She joined her husband in celebrating.

"From this day forth I consider my brother. You are the greatest benefactor the town of Roseglen has ever seen and we will never forget you. I will do anything I can to help you in your journey," said Shamus putting his hand over his heart. The two of them then ran off to tell the townsfolk and get to planning. My guess is that they needed to build some more barns and facilities for their new industry.

I was now even more excited about what the other crates could contain. I opened the next crate and said the same thing as what I had said with the first crate. A single penguin that stood about three feet tall came out of the crate. I waited for more but they never came. I asked him if he wanted to travel with me to the North Sea after teaching him the yes and no signals and he said yes. He didn't want to go back in the crate so I just gave him a fish and he waddled next to me wherever I went. He didn't have much going for him combat-wise but I remembered my promise and told him I would take him home up North.

The next crate had a couple of dozen brightly colored birds and I asked them if one of them wanted to stay with me and be my stereotypical pirate parrot. I promised to figure out a special snack to give them on a regular basis. One did decide to stay. She was a beautiful grey parrot with a bright red tail. The most exciting part of our new friendship was that she could actually say 'yes' and 'no' and already had a fairly extensive vocabulary. She perched on my shoulder as I opened the last three crates.

Next was about half a dozen small monkeys. I sent them off into the forest to live their lives in freedom. I had no interest in having an animal with me that flung its poo even if it could be an offensive weapon. It was a little too offensive for my tastes.

The second to last crate held a small herd of mountain goats including some tough-looking rams. I didn't think they would be good for an ocean voyage so I sent them off as well. Both of the last groups should be able to thrive in the local environment and were probably better off without me.

I stared at the last crate and hoped that it was something good. I wasn't sure what would be good but maybe a quadruped that could wear a little saddle and would be okay at sea. I wasn't sure if there was such an animal, but I had an open mind. Before I opened the crate I said a little half-witted prayer for the last crate to have something special for Hubert to ride.

The portal formed as I opened the door and after about a minute a turtle of some sort popped his head out and looked up at me. He slowly waddled out and looked up at me. He looked almost like he was smiling up at me. I taught him the communication signals and asked him some questions. I wasn't sure where I could release him for him to thrive so I needed some input from him.

"I'm trying to figure out where I can release you so that you can have a good life. I'll ask you some questions and you just answer yes or no," I said after taking a knee in front of the turtle that was about a foot and a half wide.

He tapped in the affirmative.

I asked him a series of questions to find what kind of environment he preferred but he just tapped 'yes' to everything. I explained the yes and no conventions again to make sure he understood and then asked him a question I was sure he would answer 'no' to just to test him.

"Can you quickly climb that tree?" I pointed to a tree about ten feet away.

He tapped 'yes' and started moving toward the tree. When I reminded him that I had included the word 'quickly' he noticeably sped up to a speed I hadn't thought possible. When he got to the tree he just casually started climbing it like it was nothing special.

"How are you doing that?" I asked him. He climbed back down and came over to me. He lifted one of his front appendages and little hook-like claws popped out of them.

"That's amazing. Can you do anything else with those front feet?" I asked as the claws seemed to have come out of nowhere.

He lifted the same foot up and it formed into more of a fin for swimming. Then it formed almost a hoof-type shape. I was amazed at how adaptable this little guy was and I started to have a wild idea.

"Show me how fast you can run," I said to the impressive turtle.

He took off almost too fast for me to follow. I picked my jaw up off of the floor as he sped back over to me and stopped directly in front of me. He wasn't winded in the least and he looked like he was smiling again. Maybe my prayer was answered. I had only one more question to ask him.

"Would you be against wearing a little saddle?"