Chapter Five

X.

It was an unusual job request, to be sure.

Initially, it seemed simple enough -- take the girl for a few days, just until another caravan could come pick her up. As for what those people intended to do with her after that, Baraba thought it best to not ask any questions, since the pay was good – really good – and that was all he cared about.

In hindsight, he might have let his greed cloud his better judgment.

"Idiot!" he yelled at himself, knocking something down in a rage over his own foolishness. It was a stack of books, mostly fairy tales, that Typhon had left behind. He'd buy stacks of them in town, to read in his spare time.

Baraba sighed. If only we lived in the world of one of those damned kid's stories.

It was at this time, as Baraba was pacing and seriously pondering the situation by the candlelight, that Elias burst into the tent, brimming with cheer regardless of the overall dire mood in the camp.