Chapter 27: Book 1: Chapter 11 (Part 4 of 4)

Once we were back on the road, which soon became dirt tracks as we detoured, I was surprised at how many houses were still dotted along our route. We weren’t in a hurry any longer and checked several of them out. It was always a bittersweet sensation when we came across the bodies of those who happened to have the misfortune to live on the outskirts.

We were run off a few properties by still living owners, usually armed with a shotgun or swinging a bat threateningly. Quixbix kept encouraging us to teach them a ‘lesson’ but I managed to pre-empt any attempts of his to turn the situation into a ‘Who’s the Boss’ quest.

I had no issues with offing a few assholes, but homeowners threatening trespassers on their property didn’t really qualify for that epithet.

We didn’t see any sign of the orc threat from Pewamo, so they must have been keeping close to the town, for now at least. That had been one of the deciding factors for me to press forward tonight rather than fall back. It would give the Jenson’s less time to establish a power base for themselves.

We rode into Lyons just after seven in the evening. By which point, even my legs had begun to feel the strain. We stopped at the Lyons podium and I used a little of the extra Gold we had found to change up our boots from the Shoddy ones to Poor.

“What do we do now? Where can we stay?” Shana asked as we finished at the podium.

“A good question. I hadn’t thought about where we would bed down,” I admitted.

When using the podium, I had checked the information for Lyons. The place remained law-abiding. I scanned the surrounding buildings and analysed them. The feedback I got was that they were all owned.

If we forced our way in or squatted without permission that could trigger a quest in the town. Despite it being unlikely anyone who sought to cash in on such a quest would be successful, I didn’t want the hassle.

I had sexy plans for Shana tonight and preferred not needing to watch out for the locals if we could avoid it.

I decided to try the old school method and approached a few of the people that walked past us and asked if they could recommend a place for two weary travellers to rest their heads. After a few rude dismissals, finally, somebody pointed out there was a Bed and Breakfast in the northern part of the small town which might take us in.

We strolled a few blocks up Higbee Street as we’d been directed and found the B&B easily enough. It was a brick building with an orange tiled roof and a big wooden sign out the front, proclaiming the place as Lyons Pride. I chuckled at the pun and rapped on the door. The place still had an owner, one Mrs Pritchard, so I pushed the door open and stepped into the foyer of the building.

The room had a plush brown carpet and mahogany desk positioned at the base of a staircase. Coming out from a door under the staircase wielding a double-barrelled shotgun was a short woman with mousy brown hair, Mrs Pritchard. She hefted the weighty gun up and pointed it at us in a less than welcoming manner.

“That’s quite far enough, thank you,” Mrs Pritchard announced.

We stopped in our tracks and put our hands up placatingly.

“What do you want,” she said impatiently.

“We were looking for a room. This is a B&B isn’t it?” I questioned, with a hint of surprise.

She snorted a barking laugh through her nose. “Yes, but it may have escaped your notice but we’re in the middle of a national crisis. There is no power and plenty of unsavoury types sniffing around.”

The contemptuous glare she aimed at me left me under no illusions that she considered me as one of the unsavoury types she alluded to.

I beamed a pleasant smile at her. “I understand that. My wife and I are making our way to Grand Rapids. My wife has family we can stay with there and we figured it would be safer in a bigger city. It’s getting late and I don’t think it’s safe out after dark. We didn’t want to break into someone’s home and a helpful passer-by suggested your establishment as an alternative,” I lied smoothly.

Persuasion check successful. Mrs Pritchard is now more inclined to accommodate you.

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As the prompt supplied by Quixbix faded, Mrs Pritchard lowered her shotgun, and we dropped our hands.

She grunted by way of apology and then harrumphed. “Yes, well. I won’t have you in the house you understand, but I have a guest lodge out back you can rent for the night. There is no gas or electric and the breakfast bar is closed. No discounts on account of the act of God circumstances, you hear.”

If this was her being more inclined to accommodate us, she must have been on the verge of blasting us with the shotgun before.

“No power means no card reader, so that will be one hundred and fifty dollars, cash,” she said, with narrowed eyes.

“I don’t suppose you would accept the new Gold standard?” I asked forlornly.

Mrs Pritchard’s withering gaze was her only reply. This could have been a problem but then I remembered Victor’s wallet was in my inventory. I put my hand in my jeans and summoned the wallet, before pulling it out and opening it.

Mrs Pritchard was giving off the vibe that she hadn’t really accepted the Darkwyrlds apocalypse was upon us, so I figured it was best not to remind her by summoning items directly into my hands.

Luck was with us as good ol’ Vic had been carrying close to four hundred dollars in bills in his wallet. I pulled out a hundred and fifty and stepped towards Mrs Pritchard to hand it over.

“Ah, ah,” she said and raised the shotgun again. “Leave it on the side table, right there.”

She pointed to a circular table with a rack of tourist attraction pamphlets on it by the door with the barrel of the shotgun. I smiled brightly and placed the green bills down. Mrs Pritchard lowered the barrel again and reached beneath the reception desk and pulled out a key which she threw across the room.

Shana deftly caught the key by its red fob.

“Thank you very much,” Shana beamed pleasantly.

We stepped back carefully and as we cleared the door Mrs Pritchard shouted out. “Be out by ten tomorrow or I’ll treat you like any other trespasser.”

“What a charming woman,” I muttered under my breath.

Shana giggled conspiratorially and put her arm through mine and leant into me. She had a happy little smile on her face. Referring to her as my wife must have had an unforeseen, but welcome, positive effect on her mood.

We hopped down the porch steps like that and wandered around the back, where we spotted the lodge. The building backed onto a clump of trees which wasn’t ideal considering there were monsters roaming around, particularly at night. I swiftly unlocked the door to the lodge and Shana wheeled her bike in and I locked the door behind us.

There was no hot water, but enough pressure that we could fill the bath and we took turns washing ourselves. My Frost Harmonisation came in handy again, so we didn’t suffer the usual frigid effects of bathing in cold water.

It must have been about eight in the evening when we were finally settled, and I left the bathroom with a fresh towel wrapped around my waist and strutted around the small lodge searching for Shana.

She wasn’t in the living space, so must have been in the bedroom or had gone outside. Noting the time, I checked my character sheet and confirmed my Mana pool had fully recharged. I quickly created and stowed a second scimitar with higher durability.

I continued my search and found Shana in the bedroom sitting demurely on the edge of the king-size bed, buck naked. With a huge grin on my face, I discarded the towel to the bedroom floor, it was time to have some long overdue fun.

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