Chapter 7
The road into the city was very crowded with people and carts that morning. Thaddeus had to once again try not to get hit while staying on the edge of the road.
There were all sorts of vendors selling things. Most were selling food but some were selling jewelry or clothes. Thaddeus made sure to check the jewelry carts to make sure nobody had any little clay amulets.
The Town was very crowded as people made their way to work. It was hard to find the right building. After asking several people and getting lost multiple times he came up to it just as the doors swung open and Galen came out. Two guards escorted him out of the building and down the street.
“Galen, where are you going?” Thaddeus asked when he caught up with them.
“Oh, hey little kid, how was your night? Did you find the scientist?” Galen said, trying to free his hands from the handcuffs he was wearing.
“Yes, and he made up a plan for me to get home. We have to go to the Bell Forest.”
“Bell Forest? That’s far.”
“We have to take a cart. The scientist said that there is a lady in this town that can take us.”
“Yeah I know who you mean. You’re going to have to find her, I’m sort of leaving town for the last time.”
Thaddeus went up to one of the guards leading Galen to the edge of town. “Excuse me, can we stop by the cart lady first?”
“No.” The guard grunted. “We have to take this menace out of town.”
“Menace?” Galen sounded bewildered. “Did you call me a menace? I’m no more a menace than you are thin.”
The guard sneered angrily. “I can’t wait to never have to see you again.”
Thaddeus went up to the other guard. “Can you tell me where this cart lady is? She uses a horse and takes people on cart rides.”
The second guard looked around. “I think she’s down there, oh yeah, I can see her house. It’s the one with the little stable attached. You see it?”
“Yes, thank you.” He turned to Galen. “Wait for me on the road to the scientist’s, I’ll get the cart lady.”
“I don’t have any place else to go.” Galen said sadly. “Just hurry up.”
Thaddeus ran down to where the little stable was and knocked on the door of the adjacent house. No one answered. He peeked into the open door of the stable and saw a woman tending to one of the horses. She looked to be about the same age as Galen.
“Excuse me, ma’am.” Thaddeus began. “I was wondering if we could get a cart ride.”
“Where to?” She asked without turning away from a large brown horse.
“The Bell Forest.”
“The Bell Forest? That’s far.”
“I know, how much would that be?”
She thought for a second. “I’ll take fifteen gold. You got that much?”
“Yes.” Thaddeus said, unsure if Galen or the scientist actually had however much that was.
“Good. Give it to me now and then we can go. Is it just you?”
“No, I’m with a friend. And how about I give you half now and half when we finish?”
She looked suspicious. “Eight now and seven when we finish.”
“That sounds good.” Galen reached into his pocket and took out all the coins he had left and handed them to the cart lady.
“Six pink? I thought you said you had half?”
“That’s not half?”
“Not even close.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Thaddeus ran out of the stable, looked around, and then ran back in. “Which way is the north side of town?”
The lady pointed over her shoulder and Thaddeus ran out again.
He found the north entrance to town with some difficulty and set out looking for Galen. He found him at one of the carts that sold bread.
“Galen, we need fifteen gold to get the cart.”
“Fifteen?” Galen shouted through a mouthful of bread. “What’s so important in the Bell Forest that I need to shell out fifteen gold?”
“The scientist said that I might find a magic amulet there that can lead me home.”
“A magic amulet, really? Is he still going on about that stupid flower? I seriously think he was always a bean bag and just forgot. By the way, how was that shock? I guess I should have told you.”
“He says it’s the only way for me to get home. Unless you can think of something better.”
Galen shook his head. “No, I was just going to take you to the scientist. He’s really the only person around here who knows anything. I only know anything because I used to work with him. And I would rather not know, that’s for sure.”
“So what about the money? I need eight gold now.”
“Alright. I think I have eight gold with me. Before I left town they let me withdraw everything from the bank since I wasn’t coming back. Let’s see,” He took a little pouch from his pocket and emptied it into his hand. “I have some pinks, some greens, aha, here are eight gold for ya. We’ll have to stop by the lab and get the rest from the scientist. It is his idea after all.”
Thaddeus took the money and went back to the stable, once again getting lost on the way. When he finally found it the lady was outside with a horse already on the cart.
“Here’s eight gold.” Thaddeus said out of breath, handing her eight gold coins.
“Thank you very much.” She dropped them into her pocket and got on the cart. “You’re lucky I haven’t given a cart ride in a while or I might have charged twice as much. We should get there sometime tomorrow. You should tell your friend that they’re going to have to let us stay the night somewhere, Chrissy here doesn’t like the night much.” She gestured at the horse.
“That’s fine.” Thaddeus said, getting into the cart. This one had four wheels. “My friend is on the road outside of town to the north. We have to pick him up.”
The cart lady, who said her name was Margy, steered Chrissy the horse to the main road and started for the north entrance. The road wasn’t big enough for people running with carts and for a horse pulling an even larger cart. The runners shouted things and gave them dirty looks as they ran by.
They found Galen at another vendor cart where he was trying different kinds of cheese. He jumped in the cart when they came up. It only took a few minutes to get to the lake.
“Here we are.” Margy said. “First stop.”
“That’s you, kid, head on in and get the rest of the money.” Galen said, hanging his legs over the edge of the cart.
“Are you coming?” Thaddeus asked.
“Nope. I haven’t seen the crazy man in years and I don’t plan on seeing him now.”
Thaddeus jumped out of the cart, got in the boat, and rowed over to the lab. He went in and found the scientist climbing up the ladder to the loft.
“Do you need help?” Thaddeus asked, running over to the ladder.
“Maybe just a push. Did you get Galen?”
“Yes, and the cart is waiting outside. We were wondering if you could give us seven gold to get to the Bell Forest.”
“Seven gold? That’s it? Sure, by all means. I keep all the money up here.”
Thaddeus pushed the bean bag man up the ladder and then went up himself. The money was kept in a large pouch on a table all the way in the back of the loft. He counted out seven gold coins.
“Thank you. We’ll be going now. You’ve been really nice to me, sir.”
The scientist plopped down in a chair and smiled with his printed on face. “It was a pleasure to be of service. I don’t mean to sound mean but I hope I never see you again.”
Thaddeus laughed. “And I hope I never see you.” He started down the ladder.
“Try to convince Galen to come back and see me sometime. It’s been a while.” The scientist called down.
“I’ll try.”
A few minutes later Thaddeus got out of the boat and jumped into the cart. He handed G
alen the money and they were off.
Thaddeus Minnow sat in the back of the cart and watched the world go by. The trees lessened and large fields and rolling hills took their place. Far in the distance he made out a little village. That appeared to be where a lot of the people running with the carts were coming from.
The morning faded into afternoon as small cliffs sprang up all around. Chrissy climbed a gradual hill. The top gave a wonderful view of valleys with little rivers and occasional buildings.
For the first time Thaddeus allowed himself a brief few minutes to think over his situation. He was wary that over analyzing or thinking about it much at all would be very frightening. He imagined that he had fallen into one of those fantasy books with the colorful covers he always wanted to read but was never allowed. Those characters always figured a way out in the end, didn’t they? All he knew was that the heroes ended up in strange made up worlds, he never found out if they got out. They would have to. What writer would leave someone in a strange world? No, they all got out, he was sure of it.
His eyes began to well up at the thought of his parents giving up hope of ever finding him. He shook it from his mind and looked out at the beautiful sights all around. This area was very familiar to him. It was west of where he lived. His grandparents lived out that way. That gave him just enough comfort to dry his eyes and think about finding amulets.