I approached the dock and nearly all of the bigger boats had set off. I smiled and made my way along the shore and came to the dock. I went around it this time and tied my odd-looking flat bottomed boat in my usual spot. Only a few of the local boats were left and they were empty, so I wasn't worried about other people on the dock possibly wrecking my things.

I quickly transferred the crates to the dock, my strength potion still in effect, and I ran down the dock to get the hand cart. I had to be careful with it, because with my extra strength, I could easily break the thing. It was old and a little rickety, since it was used so much, and I brought it over to the stacks of crates. I loaded them up and took my time to get it all the way down the dock and up the road to the general store. Barely anyone was around and I hoped that I wasn't too late.

I opened the door and spoke. “Ho, the store!” I said a little loudly, in case Mack was working in the back.

“It's about damn time!” Mack nearly yelled as he came out of the back room. “You should have been here this morning! We've got sick people already and you know that winter is only going to make things worse!”

I ducked my head and winced as I waited to be hit. That always happened after I was yelled at. I was a little surprised when the hit didn't come.

“Well, I guess it's not your fault, is it, boy?” Mack asked and patted my shoulder.

“AH!” I jerked back and ducked my head even more as I rubbed the spot automatically, even though he hadn't actually hurt me. “I'm sorry it took so long. Really really sorry! I had to fix the boat and then I had to come all this way alone and...”

“You're alone?” Mack asked, pointedly.

_______________

You have a very crucial choice to make. I know what I would do. Will you do the same?

A) Lie. B) Tell the truth. C) Run. D) Attack. E) Yell for Diane. F) Rob the place. G) Burn it down.

What the hell kind of choices are those last ones? I thought, incredulous. There's no way I'm going to wreck everything! Where would I get supplies? How would I live all winter? I shook my head. I also can't tell him the Hag is gone, because I know he'll change the deal he has with her. Not only that, if they know she's gone, they might freak out and assume that no more potions are coming. So, I'm going to choose A.

_______________

“For this part of the trip.” I lied. “I had to take the smaller boat because a water beast ate the other one. I piled the crates into the smaller boat and she couldn't come with me.”

Mack looked at me rubbing my shoulder and he let out a sigh. “You have my sympathies. I haven't seen you use the small boat in years.”

“It was in a sad state.” I said and stopped rubbing my shoulder. “It took me all morning to fill the holes.”

“I bet.” Mack said and helped me carry in the crates.

“She was pretty angry about the boat, let me tell you.” I said and then whispered. “She cursed and hollered for an hour before she told me to get here as fast as I could and look for a new boat.”

Mack let out a sigh. “That damn Hag is going to ruin me.” He said and looked at me. “How much are the vials going to be this time?”

I let out a fake chuckle. “Well... that's the thing. She was so angry that she... ah... forgot to tell me if she was raising the prices.”

Mack gave me a look of disbelief for about ten seconds, then he barked a laugh and kept laughing. It lasted several minutes and I waited until he was done before I spoke again.

“She can't punish me if we use the same prices as last time.” I said with a weak smile.

Mack reached out to pat my shoulder again and I jerked and winced. His face went from laughter to sympathy and he nodded. “All right. I'll give you last spring's rates, so pick out what you want and I'll add it all up.” He said and went behind the counter. “Although her potions are the cheapest I've ever seen, especially compared to a normal mage's rates, it usually takes two or three doses of them to get the same effect.”

I was definitely surprised to hear that, because no one had ever mentioned that before. “I don't think you have to worry about that this time, Mister Phelps.” I said. “I only used the freshest ingredients for this batch.”

“You did?” Mack asked with a bit of a frown.

I nodded several times. “I always prep the ingredients for her. You know what she's like though. If she doesn't feel like brewing, she doesn't.”

Mack gave me a searching look. “She did this time?”

“As soon as I added the proper ingredients, they were infused with magic right away.” I said, truthfully.

Mack smiled and nodded. “Good. Good.” He said. “My customers will be happy about that.”

“You won't have to use two doses this time, I'm sure of it.” I said.

“We'll see.” Mack said. “I heard this winter is going to be a bad one, so you need to make sure you've got everything you need.”

“Oh.” I looked at the half filled shelves of things. “Maybe I better hold off on looking for a boat.”

Mack laughed. “I have a better idea. Why don't you go over to the boat builder and tell her you want to order something for the spring?”

“I can do that?” I asked, surprised.

“You've been coming to this village for years and you still don't know some of the basic things going on around here?” Mack asked and shook his head. “Go on. I'll load up the cart with your normal order and you can pick it up on the way back to your boat.”

I nodded and went to the door.

“Make sure you're back here by tomorrow morning with the rest of those potions.” Mack said.

“Yessir. I'll be here.” I said and left the shop. I went over to the boat builder and went in through the door.

“Hi, David!” The blonde girl with a ponytail said with a beaming smile from behind the counter.

“Hi, Shelly.” I said and returned her smile. Even though my face was still damaged with permanent snake bite scars and my ear was a bit mangled because of the Hag, Shelly was always nice when she saw me. She was twelve now and pretty as a picture.

_______________

You're in a slightly dangerous situation. What will you do?

A) Tell the truth. B) Ignore her. C) Laugh. D) Cry. E) Pee your pants. F) Run. G) Flirt. H) Yell for help.

I shouldn't have complimented you before about giving me great choices. You've given me crap since then. I thought and read them over. I might be an adult now; but, she isn't. I'm not sure what...

A timer popped up and I had five seconds to choose.

Ah, dammit. I'll choose A.

_______________

“You're so nice and you're pretty as a picture.” I said.

Shelly giggled and covered her mouth with a hand as she blushed.

“What did you just say to my daughter?” Michelle Powell asked as she came out of her office. The door had been open and she looked a little angry as she walked over to me.

“She's nice and pretty.” I said and withdrew a little as she approached. “Please, don't hit me.”

“Hit you?” Michelle asked and her eyes roamed over me and saw my defensive state. She let out a sigh and crossed her arms, as if to show me that she wasn't going to. “You shouldn't say things like that to her. She's only twelve.”

I blinked my eyes at her for a moment. “I'm not allowed to tell her she's pretty?”

Shelly giggled again.

Her mother glared at her and then looked at me. “You're an adult an she's not even a teenager.”

“Um... the Hag told me it was my birthday in the spring just passed and said I was an adult.” I said.

“Yes, and?” Michelle looked at me with slightly hostile eyes.

“She didn't tell me how old an adult was.” I admitted.

“You don't know how old you are.” Michelle whispered and I shook my head. “Someone is considered an adult when they turn seventeen.”

“Really?” I asked and lifted my hands and started counting. “One, two, three, four...” I flipped my fingers and kept counting. “...fifteen, sixteen, seventeen.” I looked at my hands. “Wow! That's over three hands worth!”

Shelly giggled again. It didn't earn a glare from her mother, though.

“Shelly is just over two hands worth, so until she's over three hands worth, I don't want you talking...”

“Mom!” Shelly said loudly. “We're friends! Friends talk!”

Michelle glared at her daughter that time and received a glare back. “Fine.” She said and looked at me. “What do you want?”

“Mack told me that I can order a boat for next spring.” I said. “How do I do that?”

Michelle's eyes widened. “What happened to the other boat?” She asked. “That should have lasted for years.”

“Water beast.” I said and didn't explain further. “I had to fix the little boat and came here in it.”

“The little boat?” Michelle asked and walked over to the large opening in the building that led out to the water. “That thing must be wasted away by now, considering when the Hag... OH MY GOODNESS!” She yelled and braced herself on the edge of the wall. “You came here in that?”

“I patched the holes and used the waterproof potion.” I said.

“David, you are either crazy or the luckiest young man in the world.” Michelle said, her face flushed white as the blood left it. “I honestly don't know how that thing is even floating!”

I shrugged. “It got me here.”

“Lemmie see!” Shelly ran over to the spot and ducked under her mother's arm. “HOLY COW!”

Michelle hugged her daughter and turned around to take her away from the water. “All right. I'll build you a boat.”

“I have a couple of ideas...” I started to say and she waved at her office.

“We can discuss things inside.” Michelle said. “Shelly, go ahead and close everything up. I have a feeling this might take a little while.”

“Okay, mom.” Shelly said and gave me another beaming smile, then she ran out of the front door and slammed it shut. She put out the lamp and there were several loud thumps as she shut the shutters on the windows.

“Right this way.” Michelle said and led me to her office and we sat down. She took out a piece of paper and she drew out a basic flat bottomed boat. “So, what are the ideas you have?”

“I'm always worrying about tipping, especially with crates of potions in the boat.” I said. “Is there... like... I dunno what they would be called, if anything. I was going to add flat wood pieces to the sides to make it harder to tip. I didn't because they would catch on everything in the marsh.”

Michelle nodded. “Tipping is always a danger with such low boats with nothing underneath for weight.” She said. “I doubt we could get away with anything too wide, especially if you want the boat itself wide for carrying the crates.”

I nodded and she used some odd drawing things. I was completely fascinated as she changed the flat bottomed boat into something with two half ovals on the sides.

“It's not a perfect solution, since if the water is rough or the cargo balance is off, it's always going to tip.” Michelle said and I nodded. “But in the calm waters of the marsh, I think you can jump on these things and the boat should only wobble.”

“That's great.” I said as smile grew on my face. “What about a covering over the middle, or maybe the back?” I asked. “There's lots of things in the trees that can drop on me when I travel.”

Michelle nodded several times. “I think we can add a main support here and here in the middle.” She said and did a quick sketch. “We might be able to get away with smaller wooden poles at the four corners, angled to take the weight, and drape a nice big canvas from the main supports to them.”

I looked at the boat and my mind liked it. It liked it a lot.

“I think you like it.” Michelle asked and I looked at her smiling face. “It's going to be damn heavy, especially with the canvas spread out.”

“Don't worry about that.” I said. “Is the canvas removable?”

Michelle nodded. “We can either use the eye hooks and attach them by hand or I can set up a nice pulley system.”

“For all four of them?” I asked, surprised.

Michelle chuckled. “I can even set it up so that you only need one winch to do it.”

“Wow.” I said and stared at her for several seconds and her face flushed a little red.

“Well, this is going to be an interesting build, I must say.” Michelle said.

_______________

You have an interesting choice to make. You see what I did there? Yeah, you did.

A) Ask how much it is. B) Barter right away. C) Joke. D) Compliment her. E) Try to kiss her.

Considering how she reacted to me just talking to her daughter, I think I better chose C to be safe.

_______________

“Does interesting make it cheaper?” I asked as I widened my eyes and raised my eyebrows.

Michelle looked at me with surprise for a moment, then she laughed. “I think it will.”

We negotiated a price, which to my eyes was quite expensive. As if she knew what I was thinking, Michelle showed me the cost of new boats that she made for other people. I didn't even consider complaining about the deal she was giving me, even though it was going to cost me half of this shipment and all of the next shipment, assuming I kept the shipment the same size.

I would need to work my ass off and probably go deeper into the marsh to get more ingredients. That meant I had to do two things. One, I needed to buy more crates and vials from Mack. Two, I needed to visit the blacksmith. There was no way my trusted knife was going to be enough with some of the other creatures that lived deep in the marsh.

I thanked her and she reached out to shake my hand. I hesitated for a moment, then carefully took it and shook. She saw my hesitation and I wasn't sure what the look was that she gave me. She held on to my hand for a bit longer than normal and she smiled at me before she let my hand go.

“See you in the spring.” Michelle said and I nodded and left her office. I walked over to the door and Shelly was nowhere to be seen. I opened the door and shut it behind me, then suddenly a blonde haired girl jumped me. I tried to jump back out of the way and hit the side of the building with a thud instead.

“You called me pretty.” Shelly said to my surprised face as she leaned against me. She looked into my eyes as she reached for my face. Her index finger touched the small snake fang hole in my cheek and she smiled as she traced around it. Her hand then went around my neck and she pulled me down to her height, then she gave me a quick kiss, right on the lips.

I stared at her in shock and she giggled.

“You're mine in another hand's worth of years, David.” Shelly said, giggled again, then disappeared around the side of the building.

I stood there, frozen, not really knowing what had just happened. W-w-why did s-he just act like the Hag? I asked myself, almost in a panic. I heard the bolts on the door lock a minute later. The sound made me jump and it shook me out of my shock.

Then I ran.