Author's Note:84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡew9soE5O9f
Thank you for getting this far into the story! I promise that that a lot of your outstanding questions will answered in time. Hang in there.
Inside the tiny shack was just as simple as its owner. A wooden chair hugged a small table across the room and a sheet hammock hung slack behind it. To his left at the entrance stood a wood burning stove with an iron skillet resting atop it. A light layer of desert dust coated the room, apparently free-flowing from the window whenever a light wind would visit the home.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCroJGmXs7U
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UC1SjimDj
In the center of the room was an upside down clay flower pot, spot lit by the rays pouring in from the gap left in the shutters on the window.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4GSpHYVzqa
It was small, with enamel glaze or flowers on the outside that looked to be painted by a child. It rested on the dirt floor with a long crack down the side and paint that chipped at the edges. Still, Zeph decided to carefully walk around it and sit at the table.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTZH4yu7b0
Only moments passed before the man pushed open the shack door and took a few steps into the room. He spared a look at Zeph, sitting bare-cheeked in his only chair, before wordlessly shaking his head and setting down his things.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPV5Y1XHDYZ
Zeph impatiently bounced his leg, watching the man set his basket on the ground next to the table and move around a pot and some utensils as if he was preparing to cook. He was rough looking; a thick raggy shirt draped from his shoulders and thicker pants clung drying mud to the fabric around his knees. He bore an unkempt, mostly grey beard and matching long grey hair that hid his aging face, leaving only his dark brown eyes and sun-spotted nose exposed to the elements.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKa4mhEc77
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnFoF6RY6m
Zeph interrupted the clamor of dinner preparation. “Uuuh, do you have any clothes by any chance?”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerYKyqiZWY
The man didn't face him to reply, apparently addressing the kitchenware.“Nothing for nothing.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAcKtQj0VG7
It took a longer moment than Zeph would like to admit before he understood the man’s meaning before responding,“I have nothing to give.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2PMeo2SKah
“And you get that in return,” but just as the man finished his sentence, movement caught Zeph’s eye from the center of the room.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzDziJfOs8T
The pot wiggled.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeiXhSmSZA
The man spun around, quickly slicked back some droopy curls from his forehead and dropped to all fours, his head mere inches from the flower pot. With a free hand, he gently lifted it from the ground revealing a tiny, pinky-capped mushroom.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4oGa9r1299
The man drew his face so close to the mushroom that he nearly touched it with his nose, eyes crossed as he watched it. He listened to it. He paused for a moment before he spoke.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjGMQbysPKJ
“Well sure but he isn't a ‘somebody’, neither.” The man addressed the fungus, straining his eyes to maintain focus on it. Zeph watched the man speak to the mushroom in the middle of the room and began to wonder if entering this shack was a mistake.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJtYJZp8iWx
“Well, I guess I don't.” He spoke again. There was a long pause as the man intently listened to the toadstool.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFXmw5npnH
Zeph slapped both knees. “Welp, I guess I should be going.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDkn6k5V6G
He started to roll forward in his chair when the man continued raising an insistent hand for Zeph to stay put.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uMpLx8M1V
“I guess that's true.” Seemingly satisfied, the mushroom man stood up, leaving the clay pot next to the mushroom. He turned around to fetch a small cup full of well water from a bucket in the corner.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmpY1kDivL7
“Go ahead and grab my spare garment from the chest behind you.” He sprinkled water and bone dust on the soil around the mushroom and replaced the clay pot.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzCPrhNVWS
It took a moment for Zeph to realize the man was talking to him now. He looked behind the chair and found a small wooden chest on the floor. He retrieved the only set of clothes inside.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYcS5omXnJ4
While Zeph was busy getting dressed, the mushroom man skirted around him to his favorite and only chair. He spared a moment of still reprieve before bringing himself to use a small cloth to wipe the dubious shapes Zeph left behind in the dust with his naked rear.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡawZ4eZk0S3
“Baker,” the old man began. He pinched out the rest as he sat, enduring the creak of his old bones, “hadn’t been so busy before late.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeVnhqKGYH
“Who’s Baker?”84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FKabclvNx
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJia5hEy5yF
“Aint a ‘who.’ Baker’s a town about 3 miles north from here,” he scratched some dirt free from his beard before continuing, pointing a weathered finger in various directions as he explained. “First, some dead Laudendales two nights back. Then a poor farmer’s family there on one side of town, same night. Wuddn’t but last night that the banker, Crock, and his wife on the other side turn up dead in the most heinous. Lotta dead folk. Lotta strangers.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhB8XPY79Xh
Zeph caught a stare from the man as he pulled the ragged shirt over his head. “I don’t want trouble.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlq3m1aRD3k
“Trouble ain't something you bring along with you. I got a feeling trouble is sumin’ you gon find,” he took a visual inventory of the oversized clothes cascading over Zeph’s body. “Stranger.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkldEiTMpy3
“I’m trying to find a lost boy. He’s the one in trouble. Is there anyone else new to town? It would have been last night, I think.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oUv61vTX9
“Well, it wuddn’t no ‘last night’ but they say a stranger came from the forest. A boy, but he’s wanted by the sheriff.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqfA0bC1Wvq
“It has to be a mistake! Dylan is a good boy!”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhvvo4XlAb
“Well, if’n you know the boy, you oughta get to town and state a case for ‘em. Though, he might get hanged ‘fore then.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemMJmAfGRH
Zeph’s arms dropped.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMjV9M2JNb
Without a word he sprinted out the door back into the savanna. The man looked down introspectively until the sound of footsteps came back to his door as quickly as they left. Zeph came bursting back through the door.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡswPv4JD3L6
“Which way is Baker again?”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SbO1JvqOZ
Mushroom man simply pointed and Zeph left once again.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwsJxdSJZdd
“See you tomorrow,” he shouted after him and the mushroom pot jiggled in agreement.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRlpxVDiC7
Zeph heard it but dismissed it for the crazed rambling of a dessert loner. If he found Dylan, he has no intention of staying here. Wherever here was. He doubted he would ever see that little shack ever again.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVD4PRh0gsT
Instead, he sprinted toward Baker, a middle of nowhere two to save Dylan from whatever horrible misunderstanding led to him being a wanted boy.
Inside the tiny shack was just as simple as its owner. A wooden chair hugged a small table across the room and a sheet hammock hung slack behind it. To his left at the entrance stood a wood burning stove with an iron skillet resting atop it. A light layer of desert dust coated the room, apparently free-flowing from the window whenever a light wind would visit the home.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOpwb4BHwz
In the center of the room was an upside down clay flower pot, spot lit by the rays pouring in from the gap left in the shutters on the window.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnXUtGmNFw
It was small, with enamel glaze or flowers on the outside that looked to be painted by a child. It rested on the dirt floor with a long crack down the side and paint that chipped at the edges. Still, Zeph decided to carefully walk around it and sit at the table.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJBkpIwfGl
Only moments passed before the man pushed open the shack door and took a few steps into the room. He spared a look at Zeph, sitting bare-cheeked in his only chair, before wordlessly shaking his head and setting down his things.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmLCrsLXEE
Zeph impatiently bounced his leg, watching the man set his basket on the ground next to the table and move around a pot and some utensils as if he was preparing to cook. He was rough looking; a thick raggy shirt draped from his shoulders and thicker pants clung drying mud to the fabric around his knees. He bore an unkempt, mostly grey beard and matching long grey hair that hid his aging face, leaving only his dark brown eyes and sun-spotted nose exposed to the elements.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYlzwP5dXv
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKoku1PEf7
Zeph interrupted the clamor of dinner preparation. “Uuuh, do you have any clothes by any chance?”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTdQo73IA8P
The man didn't face him to reply, apparently addressing the kitchenware.“Nothing for nothing.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0w1jCjcNj
It took a longer moment than Zeph would like to admit before he understood the man’s meaning before responding,“I have nothing to give.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTpGc7HMaQ
“And you get that in return,” but just as the man finished his sentence, movement caught Zeph’s eye from the center of the room.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXN12IBC4uG
The pot wiggled.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQzxXkgOHa
The man spun around, quickly slicked back some droopy curls from his forehead and dropped to all fours, his head mere inches from the flower pot. With a free hand, he gently lifted it from the ground revealing a tiny, pinky-capped mushroom.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FJjkNnUvM
The man drew his face so close to the mushroom that he nearly touched it with his nose, eyes crossed as he watched it. He listened to it. He paused for a moment before he spoke.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUW11qZbdTE
“Well sure but he isn't a ‘somebody’, neither.” The man addressed the fungus, straining his eyes to maintain focus on it. Zeph watched the man speak to the mushroom in the middle of the room and began to wonder if entering this shack was a mistake.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTiPX1eKOA2
“Well, I guess I don't.” He spoke again. There was a long pause as the man intently listened to the toadstool.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfQfJ4hVb5H
Zeph slapped both knees. “Welp, I guess I should be going.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRyNjCvdh4
He started to roll forward in his chair when the man continued raising an insistent hand for Zeph to stay put.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLtfcoMdZBc
“I guess that's true.” Seemingly satisfied, the mushroom man stood up, leaving the clay pot next to the mushroom. He turned around to fetch a small cup full of well water from a bucket in the corner.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxjaAFpxI5r
“Go ahead and grab my spare garment from the chest behind you.” He sprinkled water and bone dust on the soil around the mushroom and replaced the clay pot.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNzUPxfj6px
It took a moment for Zeph to realize the man was talking to him now. He looked behind the chair and found a small wooden chest on the floor. He retrieved the only set of clothes inside.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXKUqn4X3S
While Zeph was busy getting dressed, the mushroom man skirted around him to his favorite and only chair. He spared a moment of still reprieve before bringing himself to use a small cloth to wipe the dubious shapes Zeph left behind in the dust with his naked rear.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL4xiHHVVEb
“Baker,” the old man began. He pinched out the rest as he sat, enduring the creak of his old bones, “hadn’t been so busy before late.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ534pZ59Wo1
“Who’s Baker?”84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpCjyOoiLk
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLS1Q3paszE
“Aint a ‘who.’ Baker’s a town about 3 miles north from here,” he scratched some dirt free from his beard before continuing, pointing a weathered finger in various directions as he explained. “First, some dead Laudendales two nights back. Then a poor farmer’s family there on one side of town, same night. Wuddn’t but last night that the banker, Crock, and his wife on the other side turn up dead in the most heinous. Lotta dead folk. Lotta strangers.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdSPVei6WZ
Zeph caught a stare from the man as he pulled the ragged shirt over his head. “I don’t want trouble.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG6zEleeviE
“Trouble ain't something you bring along with you. I got a feeling trouble is sumin’ you gon find,” he took a visual inventory of the oversized clothes cascading over Zeph’s body. “Stranger.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHLR0lpaOfH
“I’m trying to find a lost boy. He’s the one in trouble. Is there anyone else new to town? It would have been last night, I think.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbORIFrTOq
“Well, it wuddn’t no ‘last night’ but they say a stranger came from the forest. A boy, but he’s wanted by the sheriff.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiTn6UYn1W
“It has to be a mistake! Dylan is a good boy!”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD7T487OPQw
“Well, if’n you know the boy, you oughta get to town and state a case for ‘em. Though, he might get hanged ‘fore then.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo43LeoQzEP
Zeph’s arms dropped.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoqlgA8Ifrx
Without a word he sprinted out the door back into the savanna. The man looked down introspectively until the sound of footsteps came back to his door as quickly as they left. Zeph came bursting back through the door.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4BWDkmjmx
“Which way is Baker again?”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ181f7VGBAC
Mushroom man simply pointed and Zeph left once again.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZdFToYBh95
“See you tomorrow,” he shouted after him and the mushroom pot jiggled in agreement.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwoaLb5RQg3
Zeph heard it but dismissed it for the crazed rambling of a dessert loner. If he found Dylan, he has no intention of staying here. Wherever here was. He doubted he would ever see that little shack ever again.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTsKm9qTPN
Instead, he sprinted toward Baker, a middle of nowhere two to save Dylan from whatever horrible misunderstanding led to him being a wanted boy.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yxDjnCFf5
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