The next morning, the trio decided to take the road back the distance they had come from. This time, they took the other path in the fork that was in the road.
Within just a few hours, they saw smoke billowing in the distance. Almathea felt excited down to her bones. She turned to Evy who was seated in the cart with Zingel. Zingel was fast asleep, his head lay on Evy's thighs and he had a smile on his face.
On seeing that Almathea had turned to her, Evy placed her index finger over her mouth in a shushing motion. "Shh. He has been keeping watch over us he whole night."
Almathea's eyes widened. She had no idea about that. Despite being a light sleeper, she never noticed that the wolf would stay up the whole night to ensure that they slept well. A small smile filtered onto her face.
"Then won't we have to ensure he eats more tonight. If we really are approaching a village, then it is possible that we won't have to sleep in the cart tonight.
Just the thought of it made Almathea very excited. She had long gotten tired of sleeping outside. Since they had encountered Zingel, she had given him the cloak that they used to cover each other when they slept since the only spare shirt that Thea had was too small for him. They were lucky that his waist was small enough to fit into the pair of spare trousers they had.
They walked a little further, and the bustling of people was evident. There was a small village up ahead.
Almathea's lips pulled up in a giddy smile. She ran in front of the cart, taking in the sights and smells of the town.
No one took big notice of the travelers who were walking in their town. It was not weird to see more than a few travelers come into the town, especially in the last few days. Unbeknowest to Almathea and her group, they had arrived at the town that was largely known for trade and its high education.
In fact, there was quite a number of children around the age Almathea and Evy were who were walking around the town. All of them had come here with one mission in mind, unlike the trio who were looking for a place to eat good food and have a goodnights sleep.
The loud town woke Zingel who was having a good dream
He rubbed his sore eyes and looked up at Evy who had not moved from her spot. She was, however, looking anxiously at Almathea who was running ahead of them. Almathea was very excited to finally have a chance to walk between these people that it was possible she would forget about them.
Zingel licked Evy's wrist before pushing himself up. Evy looked at him when he sat up. "Oh. You're awake. Did you sleep well?"
Zingel contemplated on her words for a few seconds before bobbing his head up and down, "Sleep. Sleep."
Evy was glad that the boy had began to recognize some of the commonly used words and would speak them once in a while. It was very much welcome from his insistent 'Zingel' every time he wanted something.
After a few minutes, Almathea ran back to the cart. "I asked, and there is a small inn a little bit ahead. They also have stable where we can keep our donkey. Shall we go there? That boy said that he would take us there." She pointed at a boy who was standing at the side of the street. His hair was disheveled and there was a blank look on his face.
Evy's guard immediately went up. "Did he say what he wanted in return for taking us?"
Almathea shook her head, "He said he is just glad to help us since we are travelers."
Evy looked at Almathea as if she was looking at a foolish person. Without a word, she dragged her into the still moving cart and jumped out of it.
Almathea was a little confused. However, Evy had already walked over to the boy. The boy had a smirk on his face, thinking that this one who had come was younger than the one before and therefore would easily be fooled as well.
Contrary to his expectations, Evy grabbed him by the ear once she was close enough. "Do you think that you can con us and steal our things? If I see you come close to that foolish girl," she pointed her thumb at Almathea who was looking over as if trying to hear what they were saying. "I will personally chop off all your fingers. Understand?"
The boy was frightened and took two large steps back. This movement caused his ear to be tugged further and he could not help but yelp out in pain. This dark skinned girl was obviously younger than the taller one. How was it that he was unable to fool her into following him? He already had the others waiting down the alley. If he went back alone, there was no doubt that he would be the one to get beaten.
He opened his mouth, ready to tell the shorter girl that he really was not trying to con them. However, the girl had let go of his ear so suddenly that he fell down. "Scram. If I see you again, I will be leaving with your ear."
The girl had an air around her that made him terrified. Without a word, he scrambled to his feet and ran in the direction where his comrades were waiting.
Likewise, Evy returned to their small cart. Zingel had taken Almathea's attention away as he sniffed her. He had taken her wrist and placed it over his nose, sniffing intently. However, unlike when he sniffed Evy, he had a frown on his face.
When Evy came back, he jumped up from the cart, and proceeded to sniff her. Evy grumbled something incoherent under her breath before turning to Almathea. "Do not follow strange people into strange places. Do you understand?"
Almathea nodded. "I won't." she turned her gaze to look where the boy had just gone. She had been preoccupied with Zingel for a few seconds, so she did not see what had happened to the boy. "Where did the boy who was to take us to the inn go?"
Evy felt her anger boil in her again. "Didn't I just tell you not to follow strange people. Why are you asking about strange people again?"
Almathea was confused, "I thought that he was taking us to the inn." She spoke in a low voice, making Evy resist the urge to smack her over the head.
"If I see you getting close to any weird people, I will bash your skull in."
She was wondering how trusting Almathea was. She understood that if it were not for Almathea's trusting nature, there was no way that they would be together. However, if she continued with this nature, then there was high chances of her getting tricked or conned. She had to be utterly careful to protect her from getting hurt.