The merchant insisted that the girls ride with his bodyguards. "I'd rather not waste any time," he said. "It'll be quicker if we all ride." For the next hour, each sister rode with arms wrapped around the armored bodies of the guards. It would be generous to say that the trip was uncomfortable.
As they rode, the party passed several more people on their way back from the bridge. For many, it was impractical to simply wait for a repair job, so they would try another route.
As they rounded a bend in the road, the first thing they noticed was large groups of onlookers gathered on both sides of the fast flowing river. The bridge, a metal span which normally sat upon a number of concrete beams, hung loosely down from the near side into the torrential waters below,.
The bridge had already been in disrepair and full of holes for a number of years, but now it had finally fallen to time and neglect. It was a miracle that nobody had been killed or injured, considering the large amount of people present.
A small group was gathered further down the river, attempting to ford across. The effort was short lived, as the adventurous individuals gave up shortly after a bundle of cargo was lost downstream. They made their way back to the banks, cussing and swearing at themselves for only getting cold and wet for their troubles. Mand shuttered to think how frigid the river must be at this time of year.
As the merchant's party grew closer to the crowd, a well dressed man waved them down.
"Terry," the merchant acknowledged.
"Portham, I'm surprised!" the man grinned. "I thought you would be half-way back to Bishop's Forest by now."
Terry looked over to the two girls, who sat still clinging to the bodyguards, "And you've brought company," he said raising an eyebrow.
Portham motioned his head back towards the girls, "These two claim to have the gift and said they can get me across. I thought it was worth a return trip."
"Ahh," said Terry knowingly. "So they think they can fix it."
"I'm willing to gamble a little bit of time to see if it can happen."
The other man regarded the sisters for a moment. Much like Portham, he was wearing fine clothes which indicated he was a man of wealth and status. The difference between the pair was that Terry was much younger and much more well groomed. Somehow, his clothes seemed pristine despite the muddy conditions. He strolled up to Mand, who was still perched upon the back of a horse, and looked at her with very vibrant green eyes. "I am Terry, " he said extending a hand to help Mand dismount.
Mand accepted the gesture, very thankful to be off of the large animal. The horse was very tall and Mand was not. It had been a struggle to get on the horse in the first place.
"Thank you, Terry," Mand said. "I'm Mand." Although she was grateful for the help, she offered nothing else in conversation. For some reason, something about this Terry made her uneasy. If the man was offended by her coolness towards him, he didn't show it.
Val, ever energetic, had dismounted by herself and made her way over to her sister. She thrust out her hand to Terry, "I'm Val."
Terry shook Val's hand energetically. Portham rolled his eyes and sighed. "Terry, please don't keep us. Time is money after all."
"Now now Portham, I'm only being polite," said Terry. "Besides," he smiled "If they truly have the gift, then these girls and I have something in common."
Mand eyed Terry. He was probably in his late 30s or early 40s. About thirty years ago, metalmancers, or those with ability to mystically affect metals in various ways, mysteriously began to be born into the world. He was probably too old to receive the gift when it began to appear, but it was possible that Mand was misjudging his age.
"You're a little old for metalmancy aren't you?" asked Mand.
Terry was taken aback, seemingly cluing in to the fact that Mand was being somewhat cold to him, "Ah yes, I must have a few more wrinkles than I thought," he attempted to joke. "My son, Ronnie, discovered that he had the gift only a year ago. This will be his eight summer."
Mand relaxed a little, Terry had a family, which probably meant that he was in fact just trying to make polite conversation.
Val piped up, "Oh wow! He found out that he had the gift when he was seven? What can he do?"
Terry smiled, relieved that he had found some common ground. "Not much yet, but he's really good at heating up metal. It's quite useful, saves me a fortune on wood for the cooking stove."
Val continued to banter with Terry about his son while Mand looked at the bridge. She frowned, she didn't realize that the damage to the bridge would be quite this extensive. There wasn't a lot of material for her to work with. Rusted rebar was scattered about the remains of the bridge and she might be able to convince a few travelers to give up some of their pots and pans. Portham's guards were wearing armor, but she doubted they would be too thrilled to give it up. It would be a tough sell.
Width and stability were also an issue. Even if she could forge something long enough, it probably wouldn't be very wide, and certainly not strong enough for anyone to cross safely, let alone a fully laden horse carrying a rotund man.
A boat perhaps? Horses were famously skittish and she saw that ending in disaster. She wished she had the material that they had while making the dragon, and subsequently the pony, but that stockpile of metal belonged to the farmer and her family. She had considered making them a pack golem several times, but the strain of operating the creature, along with the strain of traveling would be too much at her current skill level.
No, there had to be something HERE that she could use. She looked about, starting to feel anxiety well up at the thought of not being able to come through on her promise. If she couldn't do this, they would miss a big payday.
"Trouble?" Portham asked as he came alongside her, still on horseback. "Please don't tell me I wasted my time in coming back here! It's too late to return to Bishop's Forest before nightfall."
Mand shook her head and looked up to Portham - she was about to tell him the disappointing news when Val and Terry came along
"I couldn't help but see you looked a little perplexed," said Terry. "Something the matter?"
Mand shrugged and looked to Portham, ready for the verbal blast she knew she was about to receive.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think the damage was this bad. There just isn't enough metal on this side for me to create a stable span across the gap."
Portham turned red as a cherry tomato. He opened his mouth, about to chastise the girls for wasting his valuable time.
Terry held up a finger to the larger man, silencing any tirade before it could begin.
"How much metal do you need?" asked Terry. "I may be able to help."