by Jamie Davis
Cari didn’t notice anyone to wait on her, so she started wandering down one of the aisles at random.
A rack of two-handed broadswords stood to one side against a column. Cari reached out to pick up one of the swords.
“Don’t touch that.”
Cari jumped.
A strange little man stepped out from behind a stack of portable propane stoves.
He had to be the oddest person Cari had ever seen. He wore baggy cargo shorts held up by rainbow-hued suspenders. Below the shorts, he sported socks pulled up to mid-calf and secured by black men’s garters wrapped just below his kneecaps. On his feet, he had what looked like a waterman’s duck boots from back home. From the waist up, he wore a khaki shirt under the suspenders, and on his head, there sat an honest-to-God pith helmet.
Cari found herself standing in the aisle with no other thought but to stare at this guy.
The oddest thing was, he took one look at her and stared, too.
“You!” he shouted. “Do your parents know you’re here?”
That surprised her. It wasn’t what she’d expected at all, and she didn’t know how to answer. She’d never seen this guy before in her life.
“How do you know my parents? How do you know me?”
“I felt the portal, but I figured it was your father checking in on Kareena in secret. She’s so old now and I’ve heard how ill she’s become. I doubt she even knows he does it.”
“Stop. I don’t care what my father does in his spare time. Answer my questions. How do you know who I am?”
“Because I helped create the game that brought you here. I’m Colin and I own this shop. I know who your father is, too. I can see the resemblance in your auras. I know you can see the menus just like he and I can. Only people from our world can do that.”
“So, are you stuck here, too?”
“No, of course not. I only pop in when someone special comes into the Outfitters; otherwise, my regular employees handle things.”
Cari was afraid to ask the next question because she didn’t know how she’d react if he said ‘yes.’ Her lips trembled, and her eyes got all misty.
“Can you take me home?”
It was the first time she’d admitted she wasn’t sure she wanted to stay. Now that she knew she could go back somehow, she had to face her feelings.
“Unfortunately not. The portal I have only opens for me. You have to go see the Empress herself. If you’re here, she must have found a way to bring you here. Either that or you stumbled onto your father’s portal. I’ll bet she used some artifact and thought she’d get your dad.”
“That isn’t helpful at all, Colin.”
“I don’t make the rules, Cari. I can only help you get the things you’ll need to beat them. Tell me why you’re here.”
“I have to get to the Duke’s country estate. He and Prince Timron went there earlier this week to go hunting, and there’s an assassin brought to the city by raiders. He’s bent on killing the Prince.”
“Hmmm,” Colin mused. “Are you walking or going on horseback?”
“Horseback. I meet my guide in an hour at the Caravan Gate.”
Colin glanced at his watch, staring at the hands of the cartoon mouse on the old-fashioned analog dial. It was the first timepiece like it she’d spotted since arriving in Fantasma.
“You’ll need a lightweight kit either way. Come with me.”
Cari followed the little man while he wound his way down the aisles, occasionally grabbing something off the piles and handing it back to her to hold.
Before she knew it, she had returned to the shop’s entrance with her arms full of all sorts of gear.
“Set that pile down on the table there and open this pack,” Colin said, picking up an ordinary leather satchel with a shoulder strap.
“I’ll never get all this in there. You call this the lightweight kit?”
“I’ve been able to code some new enhancements in an update for people like you and me. That’s not a normal bag. Stick your hand in and touch the bottom.”
Cari opened the flap of the black leather satchel and reached her arm in, expecting to hit bottom right away. Soon, she was armpit deep in the bag and still hadn’t found the end.
Dumbfounded, Cari peered around the exterior of the bag toward the bottom. All she saw was black leather. Her arm should have been waving at her, but it wasn’t.
“See, I told you.” Colin cackled. “Now load it up or you’re gonna be late meeting your guide.”
Cari didn’t know how it worked other than to say it was magic. She tucked in a tent, a sleeping bag, a small metal box with flint and tinder, and two large bricks of what looked like some sort of fruit bar, scored so pieces could be broken off for meals. And that wasn’t all.
She stuffed everything inside and still had room on top.
“Colin, I can’t reach the bottom. How do I get anything out?”
“Think of what you want and reach inside.”
Cari thought of the fruit bar bricks and reached through the top of the pack. Her hand closed on one of the bricks and she pulled it out. It had been right on top.
“That is handy.”
“Exactly. Now get your pack on, and I’ll let you take the tunnel out to the gate. You’ll get there faster if you go that way.”
Colin tugged at a panel in the wall. A rack of spears and pikes swung back, revealing a long tunnel lit by torches.
Cari started to step inside and then stopped. “Wait, how much do I owe you?”
“Call it a favor for your dad. It’s the least that I can do. And, now that I know you’re here, I’ll keep an ear out for you and lend a hand when I can.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that. I’ve been feeling kind of alone since I’ve been here.”
“Well, not anymore. Now git, girl. You’re already late.”
Cari picked up the new pack again, marveling at how light it felt given all it contained. She laughed as she thought about what her mother would do with a purse like this. It always seemed as though she carried everything in the world around with her. Cari wondered if this was how she did it. Would such a magic bag work back home?
She ventured down the passage while pondering the question. She picked up speed to make up some time. Colin had told her the tunnel led to the gate, but beyond that, she had no idea what to expect at the far end.
Five minutes later, the passage ended at a plain stone wall. She found an iron bar bent into an “L” shape and twisted it. The lever worked just like a door handle, and the wall swung back. The sounds of the city washed over the silence in the hidden passage as noise of the crowds at the gate erupted from the other side. She stepped through the opening and found herself standing along the city wall beside a large set of gates.
A click sounded behind her, and Cari turned around. Nothing but solid stone there. She ran her hands over the space through which she’d just stepped. There were no detectable seams.
Cari wished she had time to examine the wall longer, but a familiar voice sounded behind her in the street.
“Where did you come from? I was scanning the crowd for you and then turned around and you were right behind me,” Lieutenant Claridge said.
Cari smiled at him. “A girl never gives away all her secrets. All I can say is you should pay better attention. Shall we go?”
The lieutenant clearly didn’t care for her answer, but he didn’t seem to have anything to say about it either. He shook his head and pointed to two horses tied up at a post nearby.
“Here’s your horse. You can tie your pack on the back of the saddle. There are straps there attached to the saddle for that purpose. Is that all you brought? Don’t you have a bedroll or a tarp or something?”
“I’ve got all I need. Don’t worry.”
She finished tying the pack in place and then reached up and grabbed the pommel of the saddle. Now was the moment of truth. She’d seen this done in holovids and adventure flicks. How difficult could it be to ride a horse?
It took her two tries to pull herself up and get her feet situated. As soon as she did, she realized something wasn’t right. The straps holding the stirrups were sized all wrong. Cari’s toes barely touched the metal stirrups once she was seated. They were sized for someone much taller than she was.
Lieutenant Claridge rolled his eyes as she tried in vain to stretch her legs to fit the saddle’s adjustment. She had to give him credit. He didn’t say a word. With nothing more than a stern stare, he climbed down from his mount. A slight smile graced his face as he adjusted the straps on her stirrups until they were sized properly.
He met her eyes only long enough to let her know he knew she’d lied about riding a horse earlier, then remounted. Cari refused to look away, her stubbornness getting the better of her.
“We’ll take it slow at first since you’re still used to a ship under foot rather than a horse,” the lieutenant said, offering her a face-saving excuse. “It shouldn’t take you long to get used to riding again, I’m sure.”
“Thank you,” Cari said, swallowing her pride. He deserved that much.
Together, the two of them rode out Tandon’s Caravan Gate, heading north. Cari worried about what was happening two days ahead of her. She had no idea if her friends and Timron were safe or not.
Cari hoped she’d make it in time.
Chapter 30
After riding for three hours in the deepening shadows of late afternoon, Lieutenant Claridge pointed to a copse of trees beside the road up ahead.
“It’s getting dark. We should stop for the night. The trees will offer us some cover if it starts raining.”
“I want to keep going. It’s imperative we push through to the Duke’s home as fast as we can.”
“You said before it’s important. What is so urgent that you have to get there right away? It would help if I knew.”
“I think the Prince is in danger.”
Cari’s mind raced as she concocted a story to explain how she knew this.
“I ran into some raider trouble on the way to Tandon. We fought them off but, in the process, captured information about an assassin sent to Tandon to kill a noble there. It didn’t say who, but I believe it’s the Prince.”
“It’s still better to stop for the night. I know of a way we can cut across the hill country rather than follow the road through lowland farms. It will take maybe twelve hours off our trip, but it goes through some rough country for a new rider.”
“Don’t worry about me, I’ll keep up.”
“Good, then we stop and get rested tonight for the long slog tomorrow. You’ll thank me for it later.”
Cari decided he knew best. She imagined riding through the dark, trying to avoid tree branches and the like while they cut across country. He was right: better to stop for the night and start fresh early tomorrow.
The cluster of trees featured a small open area in the middle where they set up their camp. The lieutenant pointed to a place where two trees grew right next to each other.
“I’ll use my tent canvas to rig a lean-to for you over here so you have some shelter.”
“I told you I’m fine. I have everything I need in here,” Cari said, lifting her pack from the saddle.
She untied the flap and reached inside while thinking of her tent. When she pulled her collapsed tent from the bag, the lieutenant’s mouth opened, astonished at what he saw.
“How did —”
“I guess it’s magic, for lack of a better explanation. This bag is bigger on the inside than it looks.”
“Wait, you’re telling me you have more in there?”
Smiling, Cari pulled out one of the pressed fruit ration bricks, broke off a sectioned bar, and handed it to the lieutenant.
“I have enough in here to get us to where we’re going. Now finish your dinner and then help me get this tent set up.”
While the two of them erected the campsite, Cari decided she needed to know her travel companion better.
“I don’t know your name,” Cari said, breaking the awkward silence between them.
“Yes, you do. It’s Claridge. I’m a lieutenant in the Duke’s guard.”
“Not your family name, silly. What’s your given name? I can’t keep calling you Lieutenant all the way to the Duke’s estate.”
“It’s Stefan. Technically, my whole name is Stefan Claridge, the Viscount of Wimple Cote.” He laughed a little as he continued, “Lieutenant Claridge is so much better, don’t you think?”
“Stefan is nice, too,” Cari said, grinning at the ridiculous-sounding title Stefan held.
“What about you? I can’t keep calling you Captain Dix all the way to our destination.”
“It’s Cari.”
“Seriously? Like the Lost Princess?”
“Don’t make fun of me.” His tone irked her, so she blurted out a retort without thinking. “Maybe I am the Lost Princess. You don’t know.”
“Then you’d be like a hundred or something.”
“Well, I could be magical, like my father before me, so much so I’m younger than anyone thinks. Remember, no one knows where Prince Hal and his family went to when they left.”
Stefan started to respond but closed his mouth instead and shot Cari a sideways glance, then stared at her magic backpack for a long time. He opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind again and closed it, ultimately answering her with only a shrug.
He turned and went back to work, hammering in a tent peg then tying off a corner of his tarp to it.
Cari wondered if she’d been too clever. She’d done a good job of keeping the people who knew who she really was to just Chance, Colin, Harley Denne, and maybe one or two others who suspected something but weren’t entirely sure.
She feared Stefan was now in the latter group. She’d tried to hide her identity because she didn’t want to become the equivalent of a local celebrity everywhere she traveled. If she was a princess, no one would let her go anywhere by herself or do anything approaching the type of adventure she’d experienced so far.
It was better if she was just Cari, a young adventurer named after a princess and nothing more.
Stefan defused the momentary tension by changing the subject. “Are you feeling more comfortable on horseback now you’ve ridden for a few hours? I made sure to pick you a docile mount. You know, even for adults, the first time riding can be a little, um, challenging.”
“It takes a little getting used to,” Cari admitted. “How did you know I couldn’t ride a horse?”
“I guessed.”
“I didn’t mean to mislead you. Once we started arguing, I didn’t want to give you any reason to think less of me.”
“You’re a ship’s captain, the youngest I’ve ever seen. That’s quite an accomplishment for anyone our age. I figured to get there you spent most of your life at sea rather than on land, that’s all. You didn’t have to hide it from me. I wouldn’t have a problem telling you I had no idea how to sail a ship. It’s the same for you.”
“Since that’s out in the open, can you answer a question for me?”
“Sure, what?”
“Is it normal to be this sore after just a few hours in the saddle?” Cari rubbed her backside without a hint of shame. Her aching muscles needed the attention.
Stefan laughed. “Wait and see what you feel like after we cut across country tomorrow. I think it will redefine the meaning of ‘sore’ for you.”
Cari suspected, to say something like that, he’d never been stabbed in a fight or shot by a pistol before, but she let the matter drop. It would invite too many questions she didn’t want to answer. How many girls her age had been hit by a pistol bullet or stabbed in a fight, not once, but several times?
It had been a long day. Cari pulled back the flap of her small tent and started to climb inside, then she turned back to Stefan.
“See you in the morning?”
“I’ll be up before dawn,” Stefan said as he banked up the wood in their fire to keep it bu
rning safely into the night.
“I’ll be up, too. I want to get back on the road as soon as possible. Lives depend on us making the best speed we can. Good night. See you in the morning.”
“Good night, Princess,” Stefan quipped as he slipped under his own tent’s tarp.
Cari ignored the reference, assuming he was just trying to make a good-natured joke. She pulled the flap closed and wondered if their plan to cut across country would help them make up enough time to overtake the assassin. He or she couldn’t be more than a day or so ahead of her, maybe less depending on when they left Tandon to pursue the Prince.
She pondered what would happen if the dragoons were caught unawares by an assassin. Were they good enough bodyguards to sniff out the plot before it was sprung? The thoughts swirled in her mind, making it tough to fall asleep, even given how weary she was.
Sleep did eventually come, though, and Cari’s worries were lost in the world of her dreams, where she envisioned being at home in her own bed with her parents just down the hall.
Chapter 31
Cari rolled over and groaned. She ached in muscles she’d never known she had before.
“You alright in there?” Stefan chuckled. He was already awake, packing up the camp.
“I’m fine.” Cari opened the flap of her tent and crawled out into the early-morning chill.
Stefan had saddled the horses and was in the process of tying his tent and blanket roll behind his saddle. After finishing, he turned back to her.
“Here, let me help you break down your tent.”
Cari smiled at the gesture, and together, they quickly finished packing up the camp. Within a few minutes, everything was stowed away in her magic satchel and they were back in the saddle, heading up the side trail off the main road.
“I figured we can eat on horseback,” Cari said, handing Stefan another section from the ration brick. “I’ve got these yummy trail rations, after all.”