“Tell me again why we’re dragging these carts up a rocky trail,” Piper asked, leaning into the straps that held her attached to a brightly painted cart.
“Well,” Jax replied, “the short story is that you and I were the only ones who weren’t doing anything useful.”
“Yeah, I get that,” she said. “We need to trade for more minerals at Olaf’s. But why the carts?”
“That was my idea,” Jax said. “We can haul more weight on the carts than we can in our packs, with less effort.”
“We can’t take these carts on the shortcut,” Piper said. “So we won’t be collecting any more nuggets… or my shiny gold.”
“I still don’t understand your fascination with that gold,” Jax said.
“I don’t either,” Piper confessed. “I have a strong feeling, though.”
“I have a strong feeling too,” he grinned. “I have a feeling it’s lunchtime.”
“I have a feeling you’re right,” she laughed. “Let’s find a good place to stop.”
A few days later, they were standing outside Olaf’s store.
“Well, the door is open, so I guess he’s open for business,” Jax said, climbing the steps up onto the porch.
“Olaf! You taking customers today?” he shouted with a grin.
“Only ones who pay in copper nuggets,” a voice shouted back. “Come inside, my friends.”
“It’s good to see you again, Olaf,” Jax said. “You look well.”
“And you look well cared for,” Olaf replied. “The beautiful Piper here is taking good care of you. You’re fortunate to have her.”
“I tell myself that every day,” Jax said, smiling at Piper.
“Okay, okay,” Piper said blushing. “Let’s get down to business. Show him the list.”
“List?” Jax acted shocked. “I thought you had the list.”
With Piper giving him a dirty look, he said, “Oh, wait, here it is,” spreading the list out on the counter.
“I suppose the main reason for this trip is for processed lime,” Jax said. “We’re going to be using a lot of whitewash at the village.”
“So you want fully processed, not just treated at high temperature,” Olaf said. “That’s good, the fully processed stuff is much safer to work with. Have you worked with it before?”
“I’d never heard of it before a couple of days ago,” Jax said. “Any advice for us?”
“Well, anytime you’re working with powdered minerals, you should tie a cloth over your nose and mouth. The dust is bad for your lungs. Other than that, just try not to get any of the whitewash on you for very long. If you do, just wash it off, and you’ll be fine.”
“I don’t make this stuff myself,” Olaf added. “I get it from a family in the village who specialize in making it. How much do you need?”
“We figured we might as well make the trip worth it. How about two bags, fifty pounds each?” Piper said.
“You’re kidding, right?” Olaf said incredulously. “I don’t even think your friend Baxter could carry that much.”
“Well, he might be able to handle one of the bags, but not much more,” Piper replied. “But we have help. We’ll show you when it’s time to load up.”
“Okay, so a hundred pounds of processed lime… what else?” he asked.
Looking down at the list, Jax said, “Next, we’re looking for a variety of pigments.”
“It’s not whitewash if you color it, you know,” Olaf grinned.
“Good point,” Jax said. “And an interesting idea, but actually, we’re trying to recreate some ancient drawings, so our artists want to create their own paints. Probably a pound of each color we choose.”
“Okay, colors by the pound… what else?”
“You’ll like this one,” Piper grinned. “We want some colors that you can’t see.”
“I’d like to help you, but my entire supply disappeared as soon as I set it down,” Olaf said, trying not to laugh. “I haven’t seen it since.”
“Okay, then, let’s go see if we can find it,” Piper said, pulling out her shiner.
“Oh, I see, more of your magic,” Olaf said, serious now.
“Speaking of which,” Jax said, “have you sold any of the shiners we left with you?”
“I sold them all the first day,” Olaf said. “I hope you brought some more.”
“Oh, we did bring a few,” Piper said. “but let’s finish with our list before we get too distracted.”
“Okay, let’s go back to the storeroom so you can pick your colors,” Olaf said, waving them to the back of the store.
They chose the basics, bright red, blue, yellow, and green, then a deep rich purple and a light blue, plus white and black, then it was time to use Piper’s shiner.
With Olaf opening bag after bag of his minerals and Piper leaning in to see if any reacted to her shiner, they worked their way through his entire storeroom.
“Well, that was… enlightening,” Olaf said with a big grin, bringing a groan from both Jax and Piper.
“Well, actually, that was pretty good,” Piper said. “I’m going to use that when we get home.”
“So how many ‘invisible’ colors did we find?” Jax asked.
“I counted an even dozen, and they glow in amazing bright colors,” Piper said, “A couple looked the same though.”
“Those were pretty similar minerals,” Olaf said. “So, I guess it’s no surprise that they reacted the same.”
“So, are you going to tell me what you’re using these for, or is that another of your secrets?”
“I tell you what,” Jax said, “You need to come and visit us at our village. We’ll show you everything. Bring your wife, too.”
“You know, you have me curious enough, I think I will.” Olaf said considering, “I have to finish with a few orders and talk to the wife, but taking a few days off sounds pretty good.”
“I guess it’s time to add everything up and check your accounts,” Olaf added. “Oh, and before I forget, I have a few items that Cisco commissioned.”
He went back to his workshop and returned carrying a small bundle. “Tell him there are a few extras in there. No extra charge. Let me get my accounts book, and we can settle up.”
“Okay,” he said, turning to the right page, “here’s the credits earned from selling your shiners and the value of the copper left over from Cisco’s order. How many shiners did you bring to drop off?”
“We brought four bundles of a dozen shiners each,” Piper told him.
“The amount from selling those will bring in will more than cover the cost of what you’re getting today,” Olaf said, adding up the figures in his book.
“I have to say, though, I was hoping for some more of those shiny copper nuggets.”
“Well, we always want to keep you happy,” Jax grinned, dropping a small pouch of nuggets on the counter. “Just add this to our account.”
“Any time I’ve dealt with someone from your village, I’m always left smiling,” Olaf said, holding the pouch of nuggets. “You’re good people.”
“In a strange sort of way,” Piper said, “we already think of you as one of us.”
“That’s a nice thing to say. I’m looking forward to meeting the rest of the cats at your village,” Olaf said, rounding the counter and heading for the door. “Let’s get you loaded up.”
“That was fun,” Piper said, pulling her cart at an easy pace. “I like Olaf, what a nice guy.”
“Yeah, he’s someone you can always depend on,” Jax agreed.
“I’m glad we took the extra time to get our carts balanced just right,” Piper said. “It makes them so much easier to pull.”
“I like the extra padding that Suki added to the waist belt,” Jax added. “It makes it so you don’t even think about it.”
“Once we get enough carts built for our own use, I think we could start selling these things.”
“We still need to get going on setting up a trading post at the Golden Oaks Ranger lodge,” Piper said. “And we need to bring in more Rangers to run it.”
“Yes, but do we really need Rangers to run it?” Jax posed, “It might make more sense to have someone from Golden Oaks run the trading post.”
“I see your point,” Piper said. “There are only so many Rangers, and ideally, we want most or all of them at Mystic Village.”
“I agree that we want the Rangers based at Mystic,” Jax replied. “But we still want to keep a roving presence in the territory. We need to maintain good relations with all the tribes and keep an eye out for any unusual groups that might have been the source of trouble in the past.”
“That, and we need to start talking to the healers in all the tribes to have them watch out for signs of the plague and let them know that we’re working on the cure.”
“We’ve got a long way to go,” Piper said. “Sometimes it’s a little overwhelming.”
“I know what you mean,” Jax agreed. “Luckily, we’re surrounded by good people with the right skills.”
“And that includes you and me,” Piper said, “I feel like we’re the right cats for the job.”
“You’re right,” Jax said, “I think we’ll get the job done… if we don’t run out of time.”