Inside, steps are heard that are coming to the door. "Who is there?"
"Hello Granny, it's me Clara!"
The door opens a bit, then it closes again, a chain is removed and it finally opens. In the door stands an impressive figure. A woman, 5'8'' tall, upright posture, no nonsense look on her face. She looks down at Clara, then at her companions, up and down the street and then at Clara again. "Hello Clara. What are you doing here, and where are your parents? And who are those other kids?"
"Hello Granny!" Clara calls out and throws herself at the woman's leg.
"I think mum and dad are still in Oaksteadt. These are Jewel and Tarjun from Oaksteadt and Pierce from Rahadoum. We disappeared on an adventure, met a rich dwarf in a dungeon, then came to a city with ships where we wanted to travel back to Annesley, but got tricked and became pirates. Then I started a mutiny and became captain and now we came here."
"And now you need to tell mum and dad, that we are here, that they can come and pick us up."
"And I'm hungry."
Mrs. Johnson pats Clara on the head and raises a brow. Without taking her eyes off the other kids she tells Clara "Get in, sit down at the table in the kitchen."
Once Clara is on her way, Mrs. Johnson reaches for a bucket hidden next to the door and puts it in sight on the top stairs. "All weapons go into this bucket. If I find a weapon left on you, I'll kick you out. If I find you touching anything in the house that wasn't offered to you, I'll kick you out. This is your one chance for a roof over the head for the night. There are no second chances. Are we clear?"
Jewel stepped up to Mrs. Johnson (Sr) and nodded politely. "I'm Jewel Branston. Sorry to barge in on you like this, but Clara's words are true. Missing a lot of detail, but true. We've had a hard time trying to get back home."
"Oh. And I don't have any weapons. I do have a familiar though. Chirp is polite, and understands regular language. She talks too but most people have a hard time understanding her sounds as words." She calls Chirp to her hand. "Can I keep her with me? Or is there some place that she can safely perch? I had her hiding in the sails most of our time on the ships."
"I'd prefer the bird not pooping onto my furniture. How you manage that is your responsibility. And you look reasonable. You'll tell me all those details that Clara glanced over. Go in."
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Whatever giddiness Tarjun might have felt at the thought of finally getting a roof over his head and meeting Clara's grandmother is instantly drained by Mrs Johnson's sternness. He'd expected a sweet, old lady the way they're sometimes pictured in kids' books. Instead, he's getting a woman who wouldn't have looked out of place at the head of a small army.
He doesn't even see a resemblance with Gertrud. He assumes it must be Clara's grandmother on her father's side.
"We're clear," Tarjun puts his club into the bucket without much protesting. He clears his throat. "I kinda lean on it sometimes for my leg," he gestures at his quarterstaff. "It's... Just a piece of wood, really."
It's not exactly true that he does need it, but he's reluctant to get rid of all his stuff - and something's telling him he might want to keep it for reassurance.
Clara hurries into the kitchen and takes her preferred seat at the heavy wooden table. There she sits, feet dangling and waiting in a chipper mood.
Mrs. Johnson takes the 'nice stick' out of the bucket, weights it in her hand and without telegraphing it she makes it whistle through the air and over Tarjun's head in one smooth motion that ends with her using it to rest on.
"Your walking stick - what a waste of a good stick. Also I've read Lord of the Rings. No one smuggles a 'walking stick' in here. You can sit without it. Go in."
"That leaves you Pierce, a Rahadoumi? In Annesley?"
While the others were concerned with provisions and their animal friends, when he realized they were nearing the end of the ship's journey, Pierce decided to stealthily search the ship to find the log and other valuables that the captain would have hidden before the fateful battle that took his life. He sneaks off and turns himself invisible and goes over every inch of the captain's cabin, certain that he has seen at least one hidden compartment in the past. He doesn't know what he'll do with whatever he finds, or even how he'll carry it, but if they were going to abandon the boat he does not want to leave anything behind.
Though he would rather die than show it, he is very nervous about what will happen when the kids leave. None of the crew have any reason to think well of him, and if they plan to scatter, he reasons that they won't want a scrappy kid tagging along. If he reveals to them the treasure he's found, it's likely they will just take it.
Except the kids, particularly the goody-good Jewel.
So, when the day comes to depart, Pierce makes himself invisible again so that no one sees what he is carrying. He hopes no one is watching carefully, though maybe the rat can smell him on the boat. When they are off, he whispers to the other kids, "Don't scream, but I'm here too. Pierce. I'm hiding so that they don't see the treasure I found."
Unfortunately, his spell wears off by the time they get to Clara's granny's house. He shyly hangs back while they talk, nodding when she instructs them to put their weapons in the bucket. He looks startled when Mrs. Johnson addresses him directly. "They call me Pierce," he confirms, "I'm, uh, I'm a friend of Captain Cl-- uh, of Clara."
He reluctantly holds his rapier over but has trouble letting go of it. "Do you promise to give it back? Only that's the only thing I have left that's mine." Her iron look cows him and he drops his heirloom weapon in with a muttered "Yes'm."
The interior of the house is rustic. The furniture all made of oak. From thick heavy boards. Tin plates are stacked on the corner of the hearth and tin mugs hang at nails on a board at the wall. At the wall are also two really nice axes, and you get the feeling they are not made for chopping wood. On the middle of the table stands a clay vase with some field flowers and a bowl with apples.
"I only don't want any of you do something stupid. Of course you get your stuff back when you leave."
Mrs. Johnson puts the bucket back to its place and closes the door after Pierce is in and follows to the kitchen. She puts five mugs on the table and a large jug with water. "Take an apple if you like."
She takes a seat. "Now again, why are you here without your parents?"
She doesn't have to ask Pierce twice, he grabs an apple immediately. The look on his face suggests it's been ages since he's seen fresh fruit, and he isn't quite sure how to eat it so he stows it on his person.
Clara pours herself a mug of water and drinks it. Then she takes an apple and takes a bite.
With still a half full mouth she starts over again. "We sat in the field around the well we dug and I wished for an adventure while throwing a pebble into the well. And next thing we knew, were us sitting in a dark dungeon, next to a huge pile of treassure with a grumpy dwarf. "
This time Clara tells more details about the mansion they ended up in when leaving the magical dungeon, the escape through the wood, the arrival at the town and how expesive saussages are there. How they found a ship to Annesley, which was then a pirate ship, the pirating of the ship they found Pierce on, and how the crew got split. And of course in every detail, how brave Clara started a mutiny - leaving out the part that she was boozed up and almost burned down the ship - and as a result became Captain Clara!
"And from there it was a breeze to sail to Annesley and come to your house."
Mrs. Jonson listens to the story, carefully watching one kid after the other, to see their reactions. Sometimes she looks at the door. Like she is waiting for Gertrud and Randolf to burst in, calling 'April's Fools'. and everyone starting to laugh.
The story is ridiculously unbelievable yet still the kids are sitting here. After thorough interrogation of all kids to convict them of lying she gives up. She buries her face in her hands. "I'm too old for this s~~#."
She gets up, walks to the window to look out, comes back and states "Let's make supper."
"Outside is a wooden vat. Clara, you get water to fill that vat. Tarjun, Pierce, you dig out potatoes for us five and wash them in the vat. Then you peel them. Knives are over there. Jewel, you make a fire in the hearth and set up a large pot with some water for soup. Wood is behind the house."
Mrs. Johnson leads the way into the vegetable garden behind the house and points everyone in the right direction. Then she goes to collect some additional vegetables for the soup.
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Tarjun makes a face, but doesn't protest when his staff joins the other weapons in the bucket. He goes to sit at the table sullenly. Clara's attitude makes him pretty sure he'd best not try anything.
"She ain't very nice," he whispers in Jewel's ear, taking a seat by her side. "Also, what's the Lord of the Rings?"
He munches on an apple while Clara recounts the whole story, all too happy to let her deal with her grandmother herself. The woman seems more like an evil stepmother than a loving granny at this point.
He sighs heavily as Mrs Jonson orders them around, but goes to the vegetable garden without complaining. At least it gives him an opportunity to be alone with Pierce. He looks left and right to make sure they're not being eavesdropped on, then asks hurriedly: "Did you find any treasure?"
Jewel nods as Mrs. Johnson mentions her concerns about Chirp. "Oh. She won't make a mess. She's not like a normal thrush. Being my familiar made her smarter than a normal bird." She tells Chirp to stay on her shoulder for now.
She listens to Clara's re-telling of the story, this time with details. She only speaks to clarify events, possibly adding details like the big tuna that they had caught and pulled up, and the meal she had made with it....
"I still don't understand some of it. How could tossing a pebble into a well make a wish come true? And do all wishes put the person using them in danger? I was worried for our lives with some of the things we faced! That big jelly cube, and the lord of the castle with his strange servant. And of course the pirates! Mr. Plugg was the meanest man I've ever heard of!"
Hearing the instructions for preparing food she nods and moves toward the hearth. "Clara? Do you have your spell prepared for making water? If not, Tarjun or I could fill the vat." She sets kindling in place and casts her spark cantrip until the kindling catches, then sets more wood in place to build the fire. Finding the large pot she moves it into position and casts create water to fill it.
Jewel stifles a giggle at Tarjuns comment and question. "She is to nice! She just wasn't expecting us to arrive unannounced at her home. And with quite the odd story. And the Lord of the Rings is a really good story. You should read more!"
Clara fetches wate rthe old way. Operating the manual pump, she fills the bucket and fills the vat with it.
"Granny is the coolest. She would have lopped off the head of Plug in one cut." Clara comments between rounds with the bucket.
On her final round she brings some water inside for the pot. Then she joins the others at the vat and helps peeling. "I don't know what your issue is. She let all in and we get something to eat."
"You have the all work, no fun parents. How is your grandma?"
Pierce quietly follows Tarjun out to dig the potatoes, with several anxious looks back over his shoulder on the way. He watches the other boy to figure out how to do the task, since he's never dug up a root vegetable before, and looks startled and guilty when he whispers the question about treasure. Looking about to make sure no one is near enough to see, he nods quickly. "Most of the valuables from the ship got took by the other pirates, but I found a bag o' old doubloons and a couple of gems that the captain hid where they couldn't find 'em. The ship's log was there too, but it was too bulky for me to carry, so I added a line that the ship got attacked by pirates and that the captain is dead now. It's probably silly, but I felt like I owed him that."
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"Awesome!" Tarjun whispers back to Pierce excitedly. "Should we hide them or somethin'?"
""I don't know what your issue is. She let all in and we get something to eat."
"You have the all work, no fun parents. How is your grandma?"
"It's always the same with grown-ups," Tarjun grumbles. "They let you in, but they make it darn clear they're not happy 'bout it. They're more worried about their stuff getting stolen by a buncha kids than about what we're going through and all."
"Never met our grandmas. We had one grandpa when Jewie and I were young, but he wasn't all clear in the head. Never knew what he was like 'cause of all the nonsense."
Jewel nods at Tarjun's comment. "Clara's Granny at least talks to us. Not at us or around us like we aren't here. And she doesn't babble nonsense. We all work and we get dinner. That works for me!"
With the water in the pot heating up Jewel looks around the kitchen for spices. "Mrs. Johnson? Where are the spices? I see salt and pepper but what else do you have for the soup?" She mutters something about magic and making things better....
"If you know what you're doing, there are some fresh herbs in the garden. I don't have any fancy spices."
She puts down the carrots, a leek, an onion and one piece of celery and two hands full of green beans. "You want to prepare it? Fine with me. Smoked bacon, or garlic saussage?"
Jewel looks at the potatoes and takes them back out to the vat to scrub them properly. "The may grow in dirt, but I don't want to taste any of that!"
Jewel immediately starts to cut up the vegetables for the soup. At the mention of fresh herbs her eyes light up, but then she bows her head and shoulders. "I'd like to prepare it. And I'd love to have anything better than just salt... That's about all that was available on that ship. I even tried to make a passable soy sauce, but the ingredients available.... But I don't really know how to use the fresh herbs. Mom has her own herb garden, but she hasn't explained.... Well, I have to be honest and admit that I wasn't that great of a student. I was more focused on my Father's lessons about Erastil, and the other Gods of course." She thinks about the meat option and calls out, "Guys? And Clara? Smoked bacon? or garlic sausage?" She grins and whispers, "Pretty sure Clara will vote for the sausage. She loves sausage."
"Garlic saussage!" Clara shouts back
Turning to Tarjun she replies "Thanks, but no thanks. I don't want a granny who's all worried and treats me like a baby. How about you ask my granny about fighting lessons. You won't win, but you might learn something."
Jewel feels a pulling at her clothes. And a whispered "Why ask her, I got that covered."
Pierce makes a face at Tarjun when he hears Jewel shout. "Garlic? Bleh! Does she think we're vampires?" He starts to reply, then hears Clara shout from the other side of the house. He hesitates. "You've got a loud voice, don't you?" he asks Tarjun.
"We still want to get home. So I guess tomorrow granny can tell us how to get to Oakstedt and then we're on our way."
"You can't please everyone it seems." Mrs. Johnson comments "Now it is up to you to make a decision what goes into the soup and what not." She pats Jewel on the back and leaves going upstairs.
Jewel feels and hears Remy and smiles. She whispers back. "Remy! I wasn't sure whether or not you were listening. You've been so quiet I thought perhaps you were napping. So you recognize herbs and can guide me? I wanted to be polite, but I'm fine with any help. I don't remember how to identify the herbs, or how to cut them properly for a vegetable stew. Let's go outside and you can guide me."
She heads outside to the herb garden but calls back, "Bacon it is then! Clara. If you want a sausage with yours you'll have to cook it yourself...."
"Next time I visit my granny without you!" Clara replies to all those bacon lovers and sticks her tongue out at Jewel.
"She had a business guarding caravans through Varisia. With several employees. Mercenaries. She was the head of a small army for hire."
"Wicked!" says Pierce, impressed. "You think she'd want to teach us how to fight better?"
"I don't know. Maybe? It has been a while since we visited Granny, and she wouldn't let me play with the knives and stuff, telling me that I'm too little and will learn it later. Maybe now is later?"
Clara turns and calls inside
From inside you hear Mrs. Johnson shouting and you hear hurried steps coming halfway down the stairs.
Then the steps continue calmly. Once Mrs. Johnson reaches the stairs the kids are sitting she inquires "Why would you want to learn that?"
Jewel finds quite the selection of herbs in the garden. Basil, Rosemary, Oregano, lemon verbena, parsley, sage, french tarragon, thyme, chives, mint, ciltrano and dill.
There are also bell peppers growing, fennel, garlic, tomatoes and several kinds of root vegetables.
Jewel looks over the herbs. Surprisingly she does recognize most of them and she discusses them with Remy. She pauses at the lemon verbena but doesn't remember a use for it as a spice.
Once they'd chosen she carefully cuts dill, basil and rosemary, looks for a couple tomatoes and carrots, and returns to the kitchen and the dinner pot. She quietly discusses with Remy how the fresh herbs need to be chopped/crushed and what quantities need to be added. She also looks around for salt, using just a small amount as a flavor enhancer for the stew.
"To split the head of the evil guys like a log of wood!" Clara proclaims while jumping up and raising her fist into the air.
"You should have seen Pierce! How he stabbed Plugg! And you can keep stabbing much longer than I can whack someone with magic over the head."
Remy is at a loss what to do with all those herbs. "I love those powdered spices. These different kinds of grass look interesting, but I don't know most of them. As for how to cut them - small if you want to leave them in, or not at all if you want to take them out again after cooking. Take a bite. If you don't want that felling in your mouth, then take it out at the end."
Pierce, generally hesitant to speak up for himself, listens to the other children explain their thoughts, and then adds "The sailors on The Man's Promise were teachin' me how to fight before the pirates attacked. I wish I could've stopped them before they killed the cap'm. Then maybe we could've been the pirates, and they could have been the ones that got killed!" He shrugs. "That's mostly why I stabbed Plugg. So he couldn't kill me!"
Jewel nods to Remy for the advice. "Right. The ones that look like powder are ground up, not just chopped. I forgot that. Now, I'll just cut some parsley sprigs to top it as a garnish. It makes it look good, and can be eaten if the person wants to, or put aside if not!"
Once the stew is ready she sets the table and struggles to move the pot to the table. Realizing that it is very hot she looks for protective gloves and a hot pad to set it on. "Soups on! Come and get it!"
"That is a reasonable approach when it comes to killing people." Mrs. Johnson replies to Pierce. "You Miss Johnson, are definitely too chipper when talking about taking soneone's life. That is a slippery slope you shouldn't tread on."
"The only things you should work on with knives and axes are plants. Chopping wood and cutting vegetables."
As Jewel calls for supper Mrs. Johnson suggests "Let's move the talking inside."
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Tarjun shares a disappointed look with Pierce. "She really ain't fun," he grumbles.
As they sit down for dinner, he makes an attempt to press the subject. "Okay, maybe not to the death -but don't ya think it'd help us out to learn how to fight good and proper? I thought you used to order a band of mercenaries around and stuff!" You could help us survive!'
"Sure, if you want to learn how to use your 'walking stick' properly I can show you." Mrs. Johnson replies.
"But don't be mistaken. Weapon training is no fun. It is hard work and a long series of disappointments, as it will open your eyes to all your current shortcomings."
"But it is highly preferable to finding out about your shortcomings in a real fight. So it is a worthy endeavour."
Pierce preens slightly when Mrs. Jonson compliments his reasoning. After they sit down to eat he takes his bowl of stew in both hands and begins drinking it, almost burning himself on the hot broth. "Yeaowch!" he cries. He doesn't even think to use utensils until he sees others spooning out bites, and then he handles his a bit awkwardly.
He looks hopefully at Mrs. Jonson when Tarjun presses his request to practice fighting, and looks back at his stew with a satisfied smile when she relents. "Why did you learn to use weapons?" he asks curiously. "Ma'am," he remembers to add when she looks at him.
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"Sure, if you want to learn how to use your 'walking stick' properly I can show you." Mrs. Johnson replies.
"But don't be mistaken. Weapon training is no fun. It is hard work and a long series of disappointments, as it will open your eyes to all your current shortcomings."
"But it is highly preferable to finding out about your shortcomings in a real fight. So it is a worthy endeavour."
"Hard work and disappointments? That sounds just like life,"Tarjun answers without missing a beat. "When do we start?"
In spite of his bravado, deep down he hopes the lesson will at least be interesting. Surely something that involves whacking bad guys with a stick can't be too boring?