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k_a_webbLucille hadn’t be given any specific task when she was asked to visit Quiar and she was grateful, because it gave her a chance to explore. She knew that once she returned she’d probably be asked to write yet another report for the Council. Very few Walkers ever felt connected with a world full of strange humanoid animals, but she loved it, and she knew that it was likely that Quiar would be one of her permanent worlds. No one else ever seemed to visit, or even know much about the world, apart from her mentor, so it would be strange if she wasn’t made a Walker of Quiar.
Sheepshank was a town that hadn’t been visited in over a decade and Lucille decided that she would visit. She probably wouldn’t be needed there, because very few of the Quiaran people ever seemed to need a Walker, but it would be a good place to write a report about. It would show that she was exploring the world, paying attention to what she was told, and give her a chance to see somewhere she’d never been before. According to her information she would have to enter through the landward gate, so that was where she headed.
As Lucille walked towards the gate she noticed several pairs of Quiarans. They watched her pass without saying anything, although she did notice a couple of them take a second look when they realised she was human. She knew she wasn’t in any real danger, not like she would be on the other continents, but she knew she was going to have to be careful. Not everyone was friendly, as she’d found out on a couple of previous visits, so she’d keep an eye out for any possible trouble, even though they’d seemed more fascinated by her than like they were about to jump her.
It wasn’t until Lucille was close to the gate that she realised what they were they for. A sheep walked towards a wagon, the wagon stopped, and then a cornsnake followed. She kept walking, trying not to pay too much attention, but she watched the cornsnake search the wagon out of the corner of her eye, before stepping away. They were the inspectors she’d heard about, who did their best to make sure than no counterfeit charms entered Sheepshank. From what she’d heard Sheepshank was the place to go if you wanted to buy any charms, but she’d only be able to use them on Quiar, unless she got a merchant’s permit and she was almost certain that as a Walker she was banned from getting one.
Once she was thought the gate Lucille found herself unable to stop looking around. She thought she was used to Quiar and the races that surrounded her, but it seemed like it was something she was never going to get used to. Especially the cornsnakes. To her they were sort of like centaurs, only with a snake half instead of a horse half, and she loved watching them move. A couple of times she had been tempted to walk up to one and ask if she could stoke its snake half, but she thought it might be bad manners, and the last thing she wanted to do was say something wrong.
For the first time Lucille allowed herself to do a little window shopping as she walked towards the town hall, wanting to check in at the Moonjumper Bureau. It was sad that she would never be able to own anything Quiaran, unless she earned enough to be able to buy her own little house there, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to buy things. Thankfully she could buy one of the little pastries that caught her eye and by the time she’d finished it all she wanted to do was buy another one. Whenever she visited she made sure to try all the local delicacies, so she gave in to the urge and bought a second, knowing that she never had enough time on Quiar, because she had to return to Athare and the Council. As she nibbled she walked.
The Moonjumper Bureau wasn’t at all what Lucille was expecting. She entered the Bureau, expecting a larger office, but it appeared to be nothing more than a broom cupboard with a bureau within it and a disgruntled mouse sitting on a chair behind the bureau. For a moment she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.
“Good morning,” Lucille said, feeling guilty when the little mouse jumped almost a foot in the air. “I’m Lucille.”
“You’re a Moonjumper,” the mouse replied, looking at her with awe in his eyes. “I never thought I’d ever meet a Moonjumper, especially not an offworlder.”
Lucille smiled. “Did your predecessor meet a Moonjumper?” she asked, stumbling a little over the word because she wanted to say Walker.
“No.” The mouse smiled back, looking much happier than he had. “I’m the first of our Bureau to meet a Moonjumper in a century. We have a record of the last visit and now I can record you visit.”
Still smiling, the mouse rummaged around in the bureau. Lucille waited patiently, happy to have made the little mouse smile, even though she really wanted to leave the Bureau. If she had a chance she was going to make certain that they moved the Bureau into a bigger room, with a window.
“There it is.” The mouse pulled a book that was bigger than he was out of a drawer and placed in on the desk part of the bureau, flicking though pages as he did. “If you’d like to have a look at the record from before you can.”
“I don’t need to see it,” Lucille replied. “We have our own record of the last Moonjumper to visit Sheepshank.” She bit her lip. “Did he say anything about the Bureau?”
After a few moments the mouse shook his head. “It doesn’t look like it. He didn’t visit Sheepshank for long and then I think everyone forgot about us.”
“I’m not going to be here long either, but I promise I will come back.”
Licking the tip of a quill the mouse nodded, seeming distracted. “What is the purpose of this visit?”
“To visit Sheepshank and eat your lovely pastries.”
That made the mouse smile even more. “How long do you expect to be here?”
“I think probably a couple of days. Do you need me to let you know if my plans change?”
Silence followed. The mouse looked at Lucille, almost as though he was lost for words, until finally he replied, “It’s not a requirement, but it would be nice if you could.”
“I’ll make certain that I do.”
No more questions followed, so Lucille watched the mouse write in the book with his little quill. The same part of Lucille that always wanted to stroke the snakes wanted to pick up the little mouse and give him a cuddle, but she was certain that was going to be seen as bad manners, no matter how cute she found him.
“We’re having some problems at the moment, easily dealt with so nothing to worry you, but it has been causing some tension,” the mouse said, looking at Lucille again, “and I suggest you’re a little more careful that you would be normally. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Thank you for the warning.”
Lucille smiled one last time at the little mouse before leaving the Bureau with a sigh of relief. When she had some idea of who she needed to talk to she was going to get the Bureau moved, because no one should have to work in such horrible conditions. Shaking her head she found herself thinking about pastries, but she knew she shouldn’t eat any more. Instead she would do some more window shopping, maybe buy herself a single use charm to see if they worked the same way charms worked on other worlds.
As she walked through Sheepshank Lucille thought about the problems the town was dealing with. It wasn’t a surprise the mouse hadn’t told her what they were, because no one wanted the Walkers to get involved in any problems, no matter how big they were, but it was unlikely that anything was happening that would interest the Council. They stuck by the rule that no Walker should get involved, unless the matter was something that might affect another world, which didn’t happen very often, although there were those who thought the rule should be changed slightly. Some Walkers found it difficult not to get involved if there were problems, especially if it was their home world, while others felt that the Walkers needed to be something more than just watchers who tried to keep track of the history of every world that existed. Lucille didn’t get involved in the arguments. She didn’t have enough experience, but it was on her mind whenever she visited a world.
There wasn’t anything noticeable. No one had blown a big hole somewhere or created a magical barrier, which were both things Lucille had seem before, so she wasn’t too worried. If something was going on she was pretty sure she’d be able to get back to Athare and let the Council know before anything big happened. Although there was a group of young horses looking at her strangely. She knew very few people in Sheepshank would have met a human before, but it was obvious she wasn’t a Quiaran. If they did anything then she wouldn’t be able to stop them, because she had nothing magical on her, and she should have picked up a charm.
Breathing deeply, Lucille tried to act normal. It seemed unlikely that they would attempt anything until she was somewhere with less people, but then they started walking towards her. On any other world she could see someone coming to her rescue, because they respected the Walkers. Quiar was different. They’d had to deal with things that other worlds hadn’t and the Walkers hadn’t helped them when they should have done. She wasn’t going to get respect from the Quiarans, she was going to have to earn it, and she hadn’t had a chance.
“Do you think we can squash her, like a bug?” one of the horses asked his friends, causing them all to laugh.
“I suggest you don’t try,” Lucille replied, trying to stay calm. “It’s not something I’d appreciate.”
“It speaks,” another horse said, grinning at her in a way she really didn’t like. “I think that’s something we should put at end to.” He pushed her in the direction of one of the shops. “We don’t want humans here, let alone humans that speak.”
“I’m a World Walker, with the Council. If you touch me again I’ll have you all arrested.”
The horses all laughed again. “No one is going to come to your aid, human.”
Lucille believed them, so it was a surprise when a sonic blast caused the horses to scatter and one of those annoying dwarves with hammers to take up residence in her skull. She’d only ever heard one used once before and that was too many times, but she was grateful that someone had come to her rescue, even if that rescue was causing her massive amounts of pain. Forcing herself to ignore the pain she turned, smiling, to see who it had been.
“Thank you,” Lucille said, as her gaze landed on another mouse and a raven.
“You’re welcome,” the mouse replied, smiling back at her. “It was Betram who did the hard work.”
“It was nothing,” the raven said, also smiling. “I’m sorry if I caused you any pain.”
“They would have caused me more pain than your sonic blast did and the headache will fade.”
“That’s very true.” The mouse bowed to her. “I’m Peric and I’m with the town council. This is Bertram, my P.A. and best friend.”
Knowing that Peric was on the Council was helpful, but it wasn’t the time to talk about the Bureau. “I’m Lucille,” she replied. “It’s very nice to meet you both.”
“What’s been happening here?” a cornsnake asked, slithering up to where the three of them stood, flanked by two other cornsnakes. “We had a report of some horses looking like they were about to attack a human. Was that you?”
When Lucille’s eyes met the cornsnake’s she knew she wasn’t going to get any sympathy from him. “It was.”
“What are you doing in Sheepshank?”
“I’m visiting. As a World Walker I have the right to visit any town I wish to and not be attacked by anyone.”
“Then there was a sonic blast.”
“Yes, that was Bertram, rescuing me from the horses.”
“You were lucky there was someone there to rescue you.” The cornsnake glared at Lucille. “It’s not safe for humans to walk around believing they have some sort of right to be here just because they have magical tattoos.”
“It should be safe and I want those horses arrested.”
“What good will that do?”
“They will learn a lesson and it will teach others that they can’t just attack a World Walker,” Peric said, his voice cold. “We don’t know what the Council would have done if Lucille had been hurt here, so I want something done about those horses.”
The cornsnake looked at Peric for the first time and there was a moment of silence. “I didn’t realise you were here, sir,” it replied, respect filling its voice. “If you think that arresting the horses would do some good then I’ll do as you advise.”
“Thank you, officer. We want Lucille to return to the Council with a good report of Sheepshank, don’t we?”
Nodding, the cornsnake took a notebook out of a pocket in his jacket. “Can any of you describe the horses to me?”
Lucille shook her head. She hadn’t been paying enough attention to what the horses looked like to describe them, but thankfully Bertram came to her rescue when he started describing each of the horses in detail. Shaking her head wasn’t a nice sensation and all she wanted right at that moment was a pain relief charm, even though she was even more grateful to Peric and Bertram. They’d rescued her from horses, the town guard, and without Bertram she wouldn’t have been able to give the cornsnakes a description of the horses. From somewhere she managed to summon a smile for Peric, who smiled back.
Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.