Chapter 6
“Harry’s going to come with me and I’ll test him on his scribe-craft and get him to look at a couple of locks and see if he can fix them or make new keys for them.” Tavric said. “By then Joss should be by with the wagon, which means that Harry’s going to busy putting his things into it and getting it set up right.”
“And I still need to get feed for the ponies and food stuffs for Teddy and I,” Harry sighed. “Tomorrow’s going to be so busy.”
“And you have to be out of the city before sunset.” Sílor added.
“Yeah…” Harry sighed again.
“Well, a few minutes with will tell me how capable you are with your runes.” Tavric said. “And if Joss isn’t here, you can do a run to the markets and have your purchased delivered.”
~~~
March 15th 2920
Testing with Tavric was simple, the dwarf pulled four books off a shelf, opened them to random pages and had Harry read them.
“Not bad, lad.” Tavric said. “Your pronunciation and inflection are a bit different to what I’m used to, but that can be explained by location. Iron Hills, as opposed to Lower Gondor. I don’t think you’re ready for a Tarbûnel’s Craft-bead for scribe, but you’re not far off it. A little more numbers work and you’ll be fine. And that you’ll get, running your own business, I’m sure.”
Harry hadn’t even considered the paperwork side of a business.
“Bugger,” he muttered, “another thing to think about.” He blinked when Tavric laughed at him. “Sorry, didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
“No worries, Harry, I’ve heard far worse.” Tavric waved him off. “Now, have a look at this lock and key and see if you can work out why they’re not working. And I’ll go see to whatever it is, that my steward is swearing over. Be back in a few.” With that Tavric dropped a lock and key on the desk beside Harry and headed back out of the sitting room.
“Let’s check these out, huh, Teddy?” Harry gave the sleeping Teddy’s cradle a gentle push and watched as it bobbed up and down, rocking Teddy into a deeper sleep.
Harry put the key in the lock and tried to turn it, it only went so far before something blocked it. He pulled out a pocket knife and used it to push the not-quite-fused lead welds, back on themselves, before prying the faceplate of the lock open.
“Ah, there we are. The key-ward is bent over, I wonder how he did that? Possibly someone trying to use the wrong key? Maybe? Now, I need a bit of weight to straighten it.” He stood and headed to the fireplace to check out the wood there, but it was too soft, so he grabbed the fire-poker to use as a hammer and used his knife as a guide. A few gentle taps and the key-ward stood upright and when Harry tried it, the key turned the mechanism exactly like it should. “There we go.” He smiled and replaced the faceplate and pushed the weld edges back into place, tapping them down a little firmer. “Could do with a bit of solder, but it’ll do for now.” He muttered.
“Oh, nicely done, Harry.” Tavric speaking behind him, nearly caused Harry to spit out a stunning hex, but at the last moment, he managed to bite his tongue and stop the words from leaving his mouth. “All working, then?”
“Yes,” Harry heaved in a calming breath.
“Very good. Shall we see if Joss is here, yet?”
“Ooh… Yes, please.” Harry grinned, this was like Christmas. Kind of…
When it became clear that Joss hadn’t arrived yet, Harry decided to do a quick run to the markets and get some stationery and order in a few barrels of tea and some spices, for delivery later that afternoon.
~~~
Entering the street that Tavric’s house was on, to see Joss approaching the house’s gates from the other direction, made Harry glad that he hadn’t decided to visit the cheese shop, after all.
“Young Harry.” Joss gave him a wave. “I’ve brought ya wagon.”
“Oh, good timing, Master Joss.” Harry replied. Joss nodded and guided his horses into the lane that went around the house.
“Indeed, it is.” Tavric emerged from the house into the big courtyard.
“Where am I putting it? Jest remember that ya gots to get it back out, tomorra.” Joss reminded them.
“Round the back, please, Master Joss.” Tavric said. “Harry’s in a room beside the kitchen and near the stable yard.”
It took Joss only a few minutes to situate the wagon in a position that would give Harry a good amount of privacy while loading, was almost directly outside his room so he could hear Teddy if he woke and once the ponies were hitched, Harry could drive the rig straight out through the stable-yard’s gates.
“Shall we have a look and finish our business, young Harry?” Joss asked, tying his horses to a hitching rail.
“Yes, please.” Harry nodded eagerly.
Joss undid the latches that held the wall/stepladder for the wagon and let both panels drop down, before explaining what things were and what they could hold. They started at the rear and worked their way forward.
“This here is yer pony area, there’s room fer a couple of barrels and pegs for they’s harnesses. Pegs on the corner posts to hang water and feed buckets, too. That there shelf, is for a molasses barrel and the basket is for brushes and ‘oof picks and the like. That peg is fer rope, ya said ya was going ter use rope ter make a yard to ‘old the ponies, o’night.”
“I will be, I still have to get the rope, but I’ll make a run down to the rope maker’s this afternoon.” Harry assured the man.
“Good, good.” Joss left the steps/ladder down and moved around to the side of the wagon and the stepladder there. “This here pole is fer hooking onter that rod. Unroll it and ya’ve got an awning that will come out ten foot and then down to the ground. These posts here are the uprights for the awning and they’s go inter these brackets, fer travelling, and these ones to stop em from sinking inter the ground. Rope ties, here and here, will keep the whole thing taut and stop it from collapsing in on ya.” As he spoke Joss erected the awning and Harry watched closely so that he knew what to do.
“Right, so, inside.” Joss said and climbed the stepladder into the wagon, with Harry right behind him and Tavric staying on the ladder. “Clockwise to the left ya’ve got the barrel race, we kept tha’ the same height fer all the benches, across the front of the wagon ya got a small bench, jest the right size fer the wee one’s bed. Then down the far side, we laid in another bench fer ya own bedroll, but we finished it early, it’s still five foot long but yer a dwarf not a man and ya dain't need a man-size cot. Tha’ gives a bit of space a’fore the shelving. Across the back, here, is ya shelves. Smaller ones above and larger as ya go down. Jeran built the lower shelves, ter fit the baskets ya had delivered to us.” He pointed out each section and waited patiently while Harry poked here and there.
“Under the benches there’s more storage, Jeran ordered more of the baskets, jest another half-dozen, and made the spaces to fit. We also put a pair of shelves above ya cot and a few around the window over the barrel race. We figured that as ya wanted the sides boxed in, we’d take advantage of the framing and put a window in, for light and a shelf or two on the walls, along with some pegs between the cot and the big shelves. Ya can hang yer weapons on em, have em out of the little-un’s reach and still have em close to hand.”
“That’s a fine idea, Master Joss. Thank you.” Harry gave the man a smile. “This is excellent.”
“It is indeed, Harry.” Tavric agreed. “There’s a reason you’re a Master of your trade, Master Joss.”
“Thankee, Master Tavric, Harry.” Joss flushed at the praise. “Yer pleased, then?”
“I am very pleased, Master Joss.” Harry agreed.
“Good, good.” Joss nodded to himself. “So to payment?”
“Of course.” Harry nodded and left the wagon. “What’s the damage?”
“Well, at Jeran’s suggestion, we decided to split yer account inter two sections, one fer the wagon and one fer the cart.” Joss replied. “I warned ya that the cost would be high and it is.”
“How high?” Harry sighed.
“I said about Ç15 for the pair and I was close. The wagon is Ç11, Š8 and I know the cart ain’t done yet, but we’re thinking it’ll be about Ç3, Š5.”
Harry rocked his head side to side as he thought about that. “Ç15, Š3. Well, I can’t say I wasn’t warned, can I?” He pulled out his purse and opened it. “I gave you Ç8, as a deposit. So, that’s Ç3, Š8, still owing on the wagon and the total on the cart.” He hummed. “If I give you Ç6, Š3, that’s the wagon paid in full and a nice even crown left on the cart. How does that sound to you, Master Joss?”
Joss beamed at him and nodded. “Tha’ would be grand, young sir.”
Harry smiled back and began to pull of the right amount of coins, while Joss pulled out a receipt book.
“Ah, I have to get one of those, too.” Harry muttered to himself. “Another thing to add to the list.”
Once Harry and Joss completed the transaction, the cartwright nodded to them both and told Harry that the shop-cart would be ready about mid-morning, the next day, then gathered up his horses and left.
“Well, Harry, I’d say you’ve got a busy afternoon in front of you.” Tavric laughed. “I’d recommend taking young Teddy back to the market and ordering whatever else you need to.” He paused. “And if you’re smart, you’d open your mouth to the shopkeepers about your shop-cart, maybe offer to buy any old locks or keys they may have, get a little bit of stock.”
“I’ve been doing that, already, Tavric. I figured that if I’m going to sell, I need to buy as well and buying here in the city, is going to be easier if I tell people in advance.” Harry replied.
“You’ve a good head on your shoulders, Harry.” Tavric commented. “Now, you’ve got about two hours, before close of business. Why don’t you see to some orders and then spend the evening, putting the wagon to rights?”
Harry just grinned and nodded, he ducked into his room and scooped up a burbling Teddy.
“Want a clean nappy and a feed, followed by a walk, cub?” He ticked a chubby foot and was reward by a string of nonsense sounds, from a happy baby.
Out in the city, Harry ordered bags of feed, bales of hay and barrels of molasses for the ponies and of course barrels to store it in. He planned to lay stasis charms on a box that tucked in under the rear stepladder, this would have shrunken bags of feed and bales of hay stored in it, as there was only a limited amount of space available in the wagon, itself. Then there were all the extra little things, like rope, axes, a portable camp stove, funnel for filling the water barrels, water and feed buckets for the ponies and one extra for the wagon, extra canvas to cover the ponies in bad weather and to tie to the ropes that he would use for the pony-yard, ledgers and receipt books, ink, quills. And the list went on…
Some, he packed into Tavric’s hand-wagon and some he paid extra to have delivered. He planned to leave the food purchases until morning, as he wanted everything as fresh as he could get it.
Back at Tavric’s, he had an hour before supper and his deliveries were being carefully stacked by the house-staff, most were placed between the wagon and the wall beside it, under the awning that Joss had erected and Harry hadn’t bothering to pull down. He settled Teddy in the portable cradle and made a note that he should try and find one that he could hang, from either the wagon’s roof-ribs or from a hook on the side of the wagon, for when Harry was working outside.
Then it was simply a case of casting a spell that Hermione had created, just before the snatchers found them. She called a HIPS or ‘Hide-In-Plain-Sight’. People could see into the area inside the HIPS, but whatever was there, or was happening there, wasn’t important. They saw it, but ignored it. It was ideally suited to a witch or wizard that was moving about in the muggle world. Muggles could see them, they just didn’t care. It allowed Harry to use magic to place all his purchases in the wagon and turn the big tin box that he’d bought the day before, into a stasis box for the wagon and a wooden box that he’d found in the market into a second stasis box for the ponies.
Once he finished, he settled down with Teddy on his lap and spent a bit of time recounting another story about Remus and Tonks. This time the story of his wild broom ride from Surrey, to London with Tonks, Mad-eye, Shacklebolt and Vance.
After supper he met with Sílor and discussed braids, beads and their placements.
The braids that held beads, could be either a simple three-strand plait or could be a braid that picked up hair in sections and sat flat along the side of the wearer’s head.
Family beads went on the left side of the head, from the temple. Father’s bead was highest, closest to the temple, followed by mother’s, then beads for any of their children, in order. This included the wearer’s bead. Then, much lower on the braid, separate from the family beads, was another copy of the wearer’s bead. If and when a dwarf married, their spouse's bead would join theirs, at the lower end of the braid. This meant that parents would commission a minimum of three beads, per child.
Mourning beads went on a simple plait that started low on the head, behind the ear. They could be in any order the wearer preferred, were incredibly personal and only the rudest people… or children… ever asked about them.
Craft-beads went on the right of the head, again starting at the temple. The highest beads were the first ones the wearer earnt or started work towards. If someone was a Master, a Tarbûnel, they wore two beads or clasps separated by a series of small simple round rings. The first bead was that of the Tarbûn or Craftsman, someone who has completed an apprenticeship and is permitted to work at their trade but is not classed as a Master. The rings are to designate how many years it took them to progress from Tarbûn to Tarbûnel, copper is one year, steel is five years and black steel is ten years. The Tarbûn bead itself is simple with lesser metals like bronze, copper, silver and black steel as decoration, they also have no gems. While the utrab or apprentice bead is the simplest, it only has the design etched into it and no rings are added to it, it designates someone who was competent in the basics but hadn’t progressed beyond them.
The Tarbûnel beads are a different story. They have the same design as the Tarbûn bead but they are significantly more decorated. No lesser metal other than black steel and minor amounts of silver, mostly they have gold and mithril. And gems. Lots of gems. As an example? The scribe’s Tarbûnel Craft-bead, had a quill and inkpot on it, the body of the inkpot was black steel with mithril trim and gold for the feather, the mithril trim was inlaid with clear diamonds, while the inkpot had black diamonds to catch the light and the feather had yellow diamonds set into the gold.
Talk about bling…
It took a lot of thinking on, to work out the timing for each craft.
Scribe was easy, he started school at five, but some of the others were more difficult. Finally, he decide that it would be the first time he held a bow, which was when he was cleaning Dudley’s room. The knife-fighting and throwing were based on a time that Dudley cut him with a pocketknife and Harry had taken it off him and thrown it away. The sword handling was clear, second year and the basilisk. The others were just enough to camouflage his skill, there was no way he could say ‘someone sent me a memory and I inserted it into my mind’, not without looking like a nutter.
In Harry’s case, his first series of beads would be for scribe and as he had started school at five and was still technically only seventeen, he would have three rings above his Tarbûn bead, two copper and one black steel, indicating twelve years of study. Next would be Tarbûnel beads for knife-fighting, with four copper rings and one steel ring, for nine years. Tarbûn Archery beads with one ring of each copper and steel. Then swordsmanship, with a single steel ring. Hand-to-hand, knife-throwing, locksmithing and axe-throwing, all having a single copper ring above a Tarbûn. While his utrab bead for axeman-ship would have no rings, as he was still considered a beginner that was competent with the basics, but nothing more.
Thankfully, he could have multiple braids or add the beads/clasps and rings right from the temple all the way to the end of the braid. And he was even more thankful for the fact that he had magic and could simply flick his wand, to add the ornamentation to his hair. Perhaps it was cheating, but he had things that he considered far more important, than playing with his hair.
A bath for both he and Teddy, followed by a bottle for Teddy and the pair settled down for another night in an unfamiliar land, that was now their home.
~~~
March 16th 2920
Waking to Teddy’s whimpers, two days in a row, tore at Harry and he hoped that the boy was only crying because of his empty stomach or full nappy and not the lack of his parents. But that didn’t stop Harry from talking about Teddy’s parents and his unofficial aunts and uncles, stories that were told to Harry and things that he was directly involved in.
With a clean nappy and dressed in simple but warm clothes, Teddy was ready to start the day. Harry stumbled through getting himself dressed and the two of them into the kitchen.
“Another early morning?” Tavric asked.
“Teddy wakes early.” Was all Harry said.
“Ah.” Tavric nodded. “What’s on your day’s agenda?”
“Meet with Sílor about beads. Then off to the market. I left all the fresh produce until today. I need to stop in and see Dafid, the pony trader and pick up the ponies, I’m thinking two trips, there. Joss will be bringing the shop-cart by in a few hours, but I’m not sure that I’ll have time to set that up, before I need to be out of town.”
Tavric nodded and began to talk. “About four miles from the city gates, headed north, the road crosses two streams, all within about fifty yards. Cross the first one and turn right, follow the track through the woods and on the far side, you should see an overgrown track, back to the left. It curves back around the woods and opens out into a small clearing, about the same size as stable courtyard, here. Camp there for a night or two. Empty both the wagon and the cart and sort out what you want to put where. It’s also a good place to empty your water barrels, flush them out and refill them. Pet the mares, brush them, get them familiar with you and your voice. You’ll find that they’ll be calmer if they know your voice and can hear you talking as you drive. There’s a trader down on Sidehill Lane, that dries fruit. If you can spare the coin, get some, the ponies will love you for it.” He paused as he filled a teapot with boiling water.
“Mills are on most decent streams and if they won’t sell you grain, they’ll point you to someone that will. Most dairies will sell you milk, butter and cheese. By common law, if a fruit tree is outside someone’s fence, you can take fruit from it, but try not to strip it bare, you aren’t the only traveller who could benefit from it. Same goes for berry bushes. If you want to hunt for game? Rabbits and the like? It’s a common courtesy to ask a famer, if it means going over their fences. Public ground is open slather, as are streams and waterways. Most villages have a few shops, but if you don’t see what you’re after, ask at the watch’s office, they’ll know where to find everything, locally.”
He sat down at the table and sipped at his tea. “The watch will also know where to find a farrier, or a horse healer, if one of ponies is injured, ill or throws a shoe. Steer clear of the taverns in the afternoon and evening, you’re too young for drinking and that’s pretty much all that goes on there, then. Most villages have a market on Highday, although men tend to call it Friday. In case it’s slipped past you, today’s Wednesday. But marketplaces usually have a few stalls every day, travellers are good for business.”
Harry meanwhile, had pulled out his ever-present notebook and pencil and was scribbling away, taking down the snippets as Tavric spoke.
“If a town or village has a gatekeeper, they’ll have a town hall and a governor’s office, if need be, you can change money with them. Most villages have what they call a common, you can camp there, but it will cost you, usually a florin per person or pony, depends on who you speak to and where it is. The Horse Fair is at Black Rock, if you’re going to deal with them, plan on staying a night or two, there, they have an area set aside for customers.”
Tavric buttered himself a steaming warm slice of bread and bit into it, taking nearly half the slice in one mouthful.
“Take your time getting to Edhelland, don’t hurry, you’ve a long way to go, best not take risks. In Edhelland, you can leave the ponies at either livery-yards or stables, the difference is cost. In the yards, it’s up to you to see to feed and water, the upside is, you can stay in your wagon in the yards, but not if you use the stables. If you stay in the yards, you can often get a pen right beside the road, if you can, you can open up the shop-cart right there.”
“Hmm…” Harry nodded and underlined that in his notebook. “Handy.”
“Very.” Tavric said. “And don’t forget that the smaller villages aren’t likely to have a permanent locksmith, so don’t hesitate to ask if you can set up shop for an hour. Buying and selling at these little villages will let you get comfortable with dealing with customers. Always keep a weapon visible, it might unsettle the more timid customers, but if you get a village bully-boy it should be enough to deter them from harassing you. Your age and Teddy will be your best defence, so use that to your advantage, speak to the watch and be polite to the little old ladies, they’re the ones that rule the small villages. Everyone listens to their grandmother, even the bully-boys.”
“Good to know.”
“Anything else, you really need to experience to learn.”
“Got it.” Harry nodded. “You’ve given me more than I ever expected to get, not just in time and information but in understanding and expectations. And made me realise I can do more than I thought I could.”
“You’d have figured it out, sooner or later.” Tavric assured Harry.
“Maybe, but I’m glad it was before I started, I don’t want Teddy to suffer, because of something I stuffed up.”
“As long as you keep that in mind, Harry, if it happens, if won’t be for lack of effort on your part.” Tavric patted Harry on the shoulder. “Now, pop along to Sílor and get that over with, before the market opens.”
“Probably a good idea.” Harry ginned and got to his feet, he washed Teddy’s bottle and made up a fresh pot of tea and took that with him to the sitting room that Sílor had claimed as a temporary workroom, citing it had the best light for setting gems. Meaning that Tavric finally got his office back.
“Morning.” Harry said brightly as he tapped on the open doorframe.
“Good morning, Master Harry. How is the little one this morning?” Sílor barely glanced up from whatever he was doing.
“Doing well.” Harry answered. “Sucked down his breakfast and was eyeing off mine.”
“I think he’s still a little young, for you to need to worry about him stealing your food.” The beadsmith chuckled.
“Maybe, but it’s going to happen, one day.” It made Harry breath hitch, the knowledge at Remus and Tonks were missing out on Teddy’s life.
“I’ve finished your Family beads, you can put them in whenever you’re ready, the utrab and Tarbûn beads are done, too. But I’d wait until the Tarbûnel is done before putting your Craft-beads in, you’ll only have to take them out to add it. The Mourning beads are ready for me to set the gems in and I’m in the process of that, right now. Young Teddy’s Family and Mourning beads are also ready to go. Three maybe four hours and I’ll have them all done.”
“Excellent.” Harry grinned. “I meant to ask after the cost. I know you said that it would depend on what of my gems and gold, mithril, etc, that you used. Do you have any idea, yet?”
“Well, now. Let’s start with your Family Beads. You went with silver clasps for eight beads with gold wirework, black steel inlay, diamonds and a touch of mithril for brilliance. You provided the all the materials, bar the black steel. Material cost one sovereign, labour… let’s leave it at one crown. As for your Mourning beads? I’m surprised and distressed at how many people you’ve lost, so early in your life, Harry. You provided the materials, I’ll provide the labour free of cost. You need someone to back you, but you’re headed north and I’m staying here in the south, so the most I can offer you, is my time.”
“Oh… I…”
“Don’t say anything.” Sílor held up a hand for silence. “Your Craft-beads? And utrab is usually provided by a Master when he takes on a student. Cost is ƒ5. Tarbûn are the utrab bead with the wirework embellishment added, in lesser metals plus the rings, one steel, one black steel and four copper. Cost one crown, per set. Tarbûnel beads are a different story, but again, you’ve provided most of the materials. Cost will be Š6. One utrab, six Tarbûn and one Tarbûnel. Total cost is… Ç6, Š6 ƒ5. But…? If you’ll part with some of your mithril, I’ll give you better than the assay cost and not charge for the beads, at all.” Sílor offered.
“How much are you thinking? For how much mithril?” Harry asked.
“The assayer’s offices will give you Ç20 an ounce, I’ll give you Ç25. A filled sceptre for two ounces.”
Harry knew that he had far more than that, still tucked away in his pack, so selling two ounces wasn’t going to be an issue, and the dwarf was giving him the equivalent of a genuine identity.
“I can do that.” Harry nodded.
“Don’t short yourself, Harry. If you’re not comfortable with that, don’t.”
“It’s fine.” Harry said. “I have a little more, tucked away.”
“Good, that’s good.” Sílor nodded. “Give me a moment and I’ll get the coin for you.”
“Leave it for now, I can pick it up at lunch, or whenever you finish up the other beads.” Harry waved him off.
“Alright. Here’s your Family beads, knowing that some of them are for young Teddy, I’ve put them in a bag, you can leave Teddy’s in there for storage.”
“Thank you.” Harry said quietly. “It means a lot to me.”
“I know how I’d feel if I lost my beads and almost all my family, at the same time.” Sílor sighed. “But the market opens soon and you still have a lot to do, you’d best get to it.”
“Oh, yeah.” Harry laughed and after slipping Teddy into his carrier, stood and left the office. A lot to do was an understatement.
For the next three hours, he pretty much ran the route between Tavric’s house and the market, every twenty minutes. With a fully laden hand-wagon, too. Flour, vegetables, meat, yeast for bread, honey, dried fruit for he and the ponies, dried peas and beans, grains. Ordering pony feed was interesting, Harry decided to order and have one load delivered and sneak that load into his feed stasis box and on the way out with the wagon, pick up another load. And if he could swing it, he’d get feed whenever he passed a mill. Two barrels of tea was being delivered before lunch, as were barrels of salt, pepper and sugar. He’d topped up the spices, now each container was full and he had that much again in a dry goods stasis box. He had one stasis box full of just shrunken rolls of toilet paper, coarser than he’d like but still… Bog rolls are good, he didn’t fancy having to use leaves or worse, a cloth.
All he needed was milk, cheese and butter and he was fully stocked.
Teddy’s nappies were all washed, not all dry but the steward had said that the house would replace any that weren’t clean. Wet, he could deal with, they’d dry if hung up. Thank heavens for the memory that Hermione had asked the goblins to send, it had a heap of cleaning charms, suitable for baby care. Cleaning nappies by hand would have been… gross…
~~~
Getting on towards late morning, Joss arrived with the shop cart and after a quick look and a demonstration of how to access everything, Harry paid the man and in thanks for the work that he and his sons did, in such a short amount of time, on his last trip to the market he paid for a barrel of ale to be delivered to the cartwright’s.
Then it was time to collect the ponies.
Dafid greeted Harry and explained what had been done to them, checked that Harry knew how to harness and unharness them, knew how much to feed them, how to check their hooves and how to groom them. He was especially pleased, that Harry had gone out of his way for buy treats for them, nodding approvingly as Harry explained what Tavric had suggested.
It took two trips, as Harry didn’t want to struggle for control if something spooked them and he figured that he should be able to manage two at a time. Thankfully, nothing did spook them, on either trip and he got back to Tavric’s with no problems.
He'd put a few things in the shop-cart but left most of it in the wagon, as he planned on following Tavric’s advice and stopping and doing a complete re-sort. Taking the time, early on, would hopefully mean that he could avoid wasting time later, when he didn’t need to.
Hopefully.
He’d found a cradle that could hang from a hook above the wagon’s drive-seat, or pretty much anywhere that Harry could put a large hook. It would allow him to have Teddy with him but keep his hands free for the reins.
Lunch was both a celebration and a sombre time. He was about to embark on the trip of a lifetime, or rather... The trip to a new life, but he was also going to part from new friends. After lunch he took Teddy to the bath-house and made sure that they were both clean and ready for their departure. For Teddy, that meant a clean nappy and a full belly. For Harry it meant having to put all the beads in hair, something that he wasn’t really sure he wanted, but for all intents and purposes he was a dwarf now, and beads were a part of his new culture. He’d just have to suck it up and wear them.
Harnessing the ponies was like a smack in the face, this was it, once he left here, he was on his own. With a baby. But that was going to be his life now.
He paired the grey and the lesser black mares and harnessed them to the wagon, hooked up the shop-cart to the back of the wagon and tied off the other two ponies to it. Like him, the ponies seemed both eager to move and reluctant to leave the stable yard.
But finally, Harry couldn’t put it off any longer, it was time to go. He said his farewells to Tavric and Sílor, giving both dwarves bows and wrist clasps. Then he climbed up onto the wagon’s drive-seat and picked up the reins, he might not be the most proficient pony driver, but he knew the basics and like Tavric said, he would learn the rest as he went along. As he left the stable courtyard and emerged onto the little back-street, he wondered... How Tavric would react to what he'd left for the dwarf, on the cot in the room he'd used?
~~~