Author's Note:33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlifs2lg3C
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXYnqymdiH
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUu55IeOlu
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMl7yJHCdKU
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxA8qdd945A
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0jDHrZTb1
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlJAzoBLUY
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjyYQzOG9kj
Zeph interrupted the clamor of dinner preparation. “Uuuh, do you have any clothes by any chance?”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLZOWrHeWi
The man didn't face him to reply, apparently addressing the kitchenware.“Nothing for nothing.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOJMf6FF63
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.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV672bNTNnW
“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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0PvBpmr6ya
The pot wiggled.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwC2piCIdKu
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPpa6Lmz3d2
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4JCTu9oYf
“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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kjgdDIGQ5
“Well, I guess I don't.” He spoke again. There was a long pause as the man intently listened to the toadstool.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmG2A7tQql
Zeph slapped both knees. “Welp, I guess I should be going.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoESg5VmqSB
He started to roll forward in his chair when the man continued raising an insistent hand for Zeph to stay put.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Fadd0J7PP
“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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidlWOAD729
“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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYIV7J48HU
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYbyvuxB5Xv
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZyB3kmGJqt
“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.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvcynufyET2
“Who’s Baker?”33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlevUssHYfa
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZDdu8yVfL
“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.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAM2AkKr9vI
Zeph caught a stare from the man as he pulled the ragged shirt over his head. “I don’t want trouble.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1vdQl4C7q
“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.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29lxWXXaX6
“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.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupMlAwEjUk
“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.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSh1vR3yoip
“It has to be a mistake! Dylan is a good boy!”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcbplKTMoTg
“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.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LHzlEOD2p
Zeph’s arms dropped.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡauJeNYKhmJ
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIKsOTjMdZ
“Which way is Baker again?”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8IPvIFWVBN
Mushroom man simply pointed and Zeph left once again.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJEQxyZAzT
“See you tomorrow,” he shouted after him and the mushroom pot jiggled in agreement.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOF4IupliH
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRW2GLe9i5D
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZtt06fRDUw
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlBBTs3iRE
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpTFD9IbNui
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZKTdu0Aggj
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkX5K5qGP3j
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1N5k5WvA5
Zeph interrupted the clamor of dinner preparation. “Uuuh, do you have any clothes by any chance?”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPg0Qqz0e6S
The man didn't face him to reply, apparently addressing the kitchenware.“Nothing for nothing.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2AiBIqHqKy
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.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDZcjpovqg
“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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZhkqC7est
The pot wiggled.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3bp4gqAWk
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6wTdrIO60m
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxEPZbeZfOw
“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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWjroNXvbU
“Well, I guess I don't.” He spoke again. There was a long pause as the man intently listened to the toadstool.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qikEKsvtI
Zeph slapped both knees. “Welp, I guess I should be going.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZdf9L7wMUl
He started to roll forward in his chair when the man continued raising an insistent hand for Zeph to stay put.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPdJxTZlJM
“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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSojiBryUWh
“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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyTKPMjt5s7
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3g3QY5H9U
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWUfK0jAkT2
“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.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCz6cBS3Sj
“Who’s Baker?”33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPGYLAUQfU
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyNoKzwaA83
“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.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVMwCZGtmk3
Zeph caught a stare from the man as he pulled the ragged shirt over his head. “I don’t want trouble.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYgJTuEnfXt
“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.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICAtrnmAkO
“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.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLvfi0aNAW3
“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.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvLDZiWiOQ2
“It has to be a mistake! Dylan is a good boy!”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLo6nFRBi8
“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.”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2btbmpdpT9
Zeph’s arms dropped.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7bgKR9CDl
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVRxx0xWHe6
“Which way is Baker again?”
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGiJfbWV6t
Mushroom man simply pointed and Zeph left once again.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQSRH7k5wx
“See you tomorrow,” he shouted after him and the mushroom pot jiggled in agreement.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVaMnlu2G6n
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.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKtuGzwd30R
Instead, he sprinted toward Baker, a middle of nowhere two to save Dylan from whatever horrible misunderstanding led to him being a wanted boy.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxc4YBzPRpy
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