Chapter 2: Part 2

Passing by one of the vendors a shiny metal object caught my eye. Gazing at its bright metallic shine I saw that it was a metal bow staff. Oh, I could use something like that. I walk over to the vendor and ask, “How much for the bow staff?

The vendor looked me up and down with shifty eyes, “Oh, you have taste, I see. This here staff is of fine quality, it's gonna cost you a mighty high price.”

“How much?” I say almost impatiently.

“The cost is five gold coins.”

“Make it three, and we've got a deal.”

“Three gold coins? What do you take me for, a fool? I know the worth of this staff and its five coins, no lower.”

“Fine then, I’ll just take my money elsewhere. Good luck finding someone who knows how to use that thing. Come on you two, let’s go.” I grab the kids and turn them around. Just as we had almost walked out of earshot, I heard the vendor run up to us and say,

“Wait, here take the bow staff for three gold coins.”

“There, that’s better, see, aren’t you happy you made a deal?” The vendor swipes the coins from my hand and walks away muttering something under his breath. “See, kids, and that is how you bargain,” I say, grinning. Now let’s go back to Miss Sarah’s, it’s time to eat.”

“Hey, Mr. Jasper? Why did you buy that stick?” Noah asked.

“It’s not a stick, Noah, it’s a bow staff, it’s what people use as a weapon.”

“Why do people need to use a weapon?”

“Well,” I pause, trying to think of how to explain this, “They use it to protect themselves and the people they love.”

“Oh, well, do you think you could teach me to use a weapon someday? I want to always be there to protect Meesh from the bad guys.” She says with a desperation in her eyes.

“Hey, I can protect myself!” Meesh interjected. Turning to glare at her.

“Guys!” I say as I kneel in front of them and place each hand on their shoulder. “I can teach you both how to use a weapon so that you two can protect each other.” They both turn to each other and nod their heads in agreement. “There, problem solved, now let’s eat. I’m starving.”

As we head back to the small dirt house, the hairs on my arms began to stand up. I got a sinking feeling that we were being watched. I turned around to check if anyone was following us. Nothing. Stop being paranoid. I turn around and head back in the direction of the house.

Walking in, I place the items on the kitchen table.

“Good, you all are back, and I see you bought a nice trinket.”

“Yes, thank you. By the way, I appreciate the gift.”

“Don’t mention it, now everyone have a seat, the food's nice and hot.” We all gather around the small wooden table as Sarah begins to lay the food down. There’s a savory yellow curry filled with soft white chicken breast and carrots that smell heavenly. The dish next to it looked to be a wild type of rice with some garnish on top, and to top it all off, there were some homemade fresh rolls. The kids and I fill our plates to the brim with everything on the table. I take my fork and gently savor every moment of every bite, knowing good and well it would be a long time before I would have a nice hot meal. The taste of the meal, coupled with the company of my companions, made me think remarkably of the home I had before. A certain type of warmth that was hard to explain began to spread throughout my entire body as if it had a mind of its own. This felt good. It’s been a while since I felt this good.

After dinner, I helped Sarah clean the kitchen and made sure the kids got cleaned before they went to bed. I go into the room that I was staying in and pick up the bag of supplies I had packed right by my bed. With my bow staff in hand and the bag of supplies swung around my shoulder, I walk out to where Sarah is and am immediately greeted with a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. I return the favor and wrap my arms around her torso and accept her warmth into mine. After a few beats, I take a step back and hear a loud pounding on the door. Suddenly, Sarah’s smile fades as she says,

“Who is it?”

“It’s the local guard, open up!”

“Ok, give me a minute.” She turns to me quickly, “Jasper, get the kids and run, they are here for me, they don’t know that I have been harboring you three.”

“What? I can’t take the kids; you said you would take care of them. Besides, where are we even supposed to go?”

“Listen, I know what I said, but the local militia has been on my tail for some while now, and they have just now caught up with me. There is no way I can bring those children down with me. Please, you must take them with you.” I turn my head and suck my teeth in frustration, but as I look into her eyes, I see the begging eyes of a mother. I nod my head in agreement. “Good, head out the back and take them to the New Promise land. There you three will be safe.”

The second round of pounding sounded more forceful and urgent than the last. “Go now!” Sarah urged. I run into the room and wake up the children.

“Come on, we need to go.”

“What about Miss Sarah? Is she coming with us?”

“Noah, we don’t have time for this. Let’s go.” I could tell that she sensed something was wrong. Quickly, the children got out of bed and grabbed a few of their things. We slipped through the hallway as we made it to the back of the house, where the other door was located. I could hear part of the conversation that was going on in front of the house. Sarah was stalling. I turn back to the kids, “Stay close to me, we are about to run.” With that, I took off in a jog and could hear the kids following close behind. By the time we had gotten a few yards away, a bloodcurdling scream rose up from the direction of the house. With my eyes closed and fists clenched, I kept running into the night without looking back.