I awoke early the next morning, just as the reflection of the sun on the water shone into my eyes. I was exactly where I remember going to sleep, leaning against one of the carts, but rather than being next to Maddie, she was resting her head on my lap. I felt my heart pound in my chest when she stirred in her sleep, slowly opening her eyes sleepily as she propped herself upright.
"Good mornin' lovebirds!" a voice from the side shouted. It was Mr. Smith. He was smiling, and when Maddie saw him, she looked at her hand, and then looked at who she was leaning on. She flinched her hand away as she turned red, frantically trying to explain herself.
"Wh- wha- what! Him, no way! We're j-just friends."
I stood up and sighed, "Mr. Smith, stop messing with Maddie so early in the morning. I doubt she's as used to your bad jokes as I am."
"Ya make a good point Prestin. Sorry 'bout that Madeline, I tend to joke around with people, despite my old age." He says with a smile.
"Old? You're old?" Mrs. Smith butts in, "We're about the same age! If you're old that means I'm old. Am I old?"
"Oh shit," I heard Mr. Smith mutter under his breath before saying, "No ma'am."
"Ma'am? Call me by my name! I'm not an old lady. Call me Jane."
"Yes Jane."
"Now say you love me."
"I love you, Jane."
After this Maddie and I started walking away, and once we were a distance away, I started laughing.
"What's so funny?" Maddie asked, "Shouldn't we stop them?"
"Maddie, Mrs. Smith is getting back at Mr. Smith for messing with you."
"Wha—"
"Yeah, I've seen this happen once before. Mr. Smith is deadly serious when he's working on something, or when talking about something important, but when he's not he has a habit of messing with people, and Mrs. Smith despises it. He'll get an earful now, but in an hour they'll be fine."
"Oh." Maddie said as we walked toward where everyone else had gathered.
Bravo, Liam, and Conner were helping Jack with clearing the land near the cave entrance, while Diane and Troy were investigating the stones in the cave.
After a bit of chatter amongst ourselves, Mr. Smith, looking drained, followed by a smiling Mrs. Smith, came up to us to lay out the plan for the next few days.
"Ahem. Ok everyone. I know y'all're tired after the long journey, but there's things to do. So let's get to it." Mr. Smith said, "First things first, while I was put in charge of this mission, I don't have the know-how to run a town. Instead, my beautiful wife Jane will be in charge of the laws and such of the town once it gets up and runnin'"
"Wait, slow down, town? This is just supposed to be a mining operation?" Bravo asked, "I'll need to get back to Riverhold to help my father with security soon."
"Don't worry, the Captain knows what's goin' on." Mr. Smith said, "But yes, we are going to be starting a new town here, and your father sent you, Conner, and Liam because you were the best of the best in the Riverhold guard.
"Bravo, you are the Riverhold guard vice-captain only because your father has more experience. He told me that you have better decision making and leadership skills than he does, and that your dedication to protecting the people is steadfast. It's by his recommendation that I appoint you as the guard captain of the new town."
Everyone was shocked to see Mr. Smith speaking so formally, but I guess things like this happen every so often, especially for something this important.
He continued, "Conner and Liam, the both of you are the most skilled in your field. Conner, your accuracy with a bow is second to none and would provide perfect covering fire for those at the front lines. Liam, your sword- and spearman-ship is exceptional, you have a solid defense and offense and are able to keep cool in chaotic situations. By the approval of the Captain, I appoint the two of you vice-captains of the new town's guard squad.
"This praise here is the words of John, when you see him next, you better thank him for the recommendation to come with us here."
Conner and Liam looked over at Bravo, and he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, before opening them with a smile on his face showing a newfound determination.
"Mr. Smith and Madame Mayor, I, Bravo Styx, son of John Styx, herby accept the position of guard captain and accept both Conner and Liam as my vice-captains."
Everyone applauded his appointment, and after it subsided, Mr. Smith continued, "The new town will be producing stone and metals from the cave here, so we'll need people that know what's what while we're mining. Diana, you'll be in charge of the mines, overseeing all activities goin' on in there."
"Sir, yes sir." Diana said with an exaggerated solute. She then looked over at Troy and said, "You better know what his means kiddo!"
"Yes ma'am." Troy responded with a deep breath, "I'll help in any way I can."
"Good, 'cause your training's gonna kick into high gear now!"
Troy looked defeated as Diana said this. I wonder how intense his training could be, it's only stonework.
After a disgruntled sigh from Troy, Mr. Smith continued, " Jack'll be in charge of housing and town planning. We'll build a large building to serve as the town hall first. Everyone'll sleep there until we get more houses built, and Jack, you'll be in charge of where it is and what it looks like. I know you're up to the task."
"Yessir," Jack responded, "I've built half the houses in Riverhold, including yours Paul, I'll do an even better job on this town than I did back home."
Paul? Jack called Mr. Smith Paul? I guess that's his first name. Looking back, the guard captain called him that before, but I never made the connection.
Mr. Smith moved on again to Jack's wife, "Holly, I'll need you to build a large garden in the town so we have a steady supply of food. Madeline, you'll need to go hunting to supplement our food supply with meat from the forest. Can the two of you do that?"
Holly responded first, "Of course! It won't be too difficult." Turning to Jack she said, "Babe, you can build me a nice fence for the garden, right?"
"O-of course honey." Jack responded, his face turning a little red.
Finally, Maddie spoke up, "Of course I can hunt us some meat. Who do you think I am?" before smiling a confident grin.
"Now as for Prestin and Jake," Mr. Smith continued, turning to face me, "your job is done. You were a navigator for the journey, so you're gonna be helpin' a little bit with everythin'. I know you can cook, fish, cut wood, and clean, so I'll have you do those as well as helping around as needed. Same goes for you Jake," Mr. Smith looked like he was just about to say something more to Jake, but stopped. He then stepped back and addressed the group.
"From now on the Misses is going to be calling all the shots," he said gesturing towards his wife, his tone shifting becoming more formal after relaxing it earlier, "so anything she says goes. Without wasting any more daylight, let's get started."
With that, everyone went around to begin their assigned tasks. Jack asked Jake to help him draw out the floor plans for the town hall, and Maddie and Holly were talking about dishes to prepare for the next few days, and I was left to think. I went over about 15 minutes east towards the ocean, sat down, and began to fish off the rocky coast. I took in the salty scent of the sea, and my attention was drawn to the endless waves pulsing against the shore, sending foam into the air, the sunlight making it sparkle as it returned to the sea. I caught a dozen fish throughout the day, of varieties I've never seen before. As the sun began to set, Maddie came down to fetch me as they were about to start with dinner. She helped me carry the fish back to the fire. The flavor was subtle but enjoyable.
Sitting up in a tree, after everyone had gone to sleep, I was reminded of the amber stone in my pocket. I took it out and studied it in detail. I still had so many questions about this world, but knew I was working towards the answers as I put the stone back in my pocket, gazed at the stars above the mountains, and drifted off to sleep.