Page 65 of Hallow Hill at Halloween: Part Two

Trebiel smiled. “How thoughtful of you! I will certainly have that in mind.” She gathered the box that contained the bracelet she’d just purchased, then said, “How long will you be away again?”

“I depart day after tomorrow and will return in ninety days. I will hold some of the best pieces aside from auction for mybestcustomers.”

“Why, Skaresh. Are you saying you think of my as one of your best customers? I had no idea.”

“Indeed, I do.”

“I’m honored and will look forward to seeing what bounty you claim on your trip. Where are you going again?”

He stretched to his full height and smiled. “The human world.”

“Oh my. Aren’t you, er, anxious? I mean, I’ve heard the stories. Anything can happen in the human world.”

He shrugged with a nonchalance he didn’t feel. “Actually, I’m looking forward to it.”

Not knowing that Skaresh was more bravado than brave, Trebiel saw something mildly interesting in him that she hadn’t noticed before.

With a coquettish grin, she said, “I’ll look forward to hearing about it. And perhaps you’ll bring back a new song to sing for us.”

Skaresh’s heart absorbed that sentiment like she’d just declared her devotion. He vowed that he’d return a changed man, a fascinating man, a man about to relieve the upper crust of noteworthy chunks of their wealth. He pictured his own treasure overflowing and began to believe three things. He would be accepted by society. He would court Trebiel. And he would be her last husband, not the next in a parade of sad sacks.

One of the features of Skaresh’s Good Trek Tour journey was that they would be using human transportation. Exclusively. That, alone, promised to be a set of experiences that few fae could boat about.

They crossed into the human dimension near the border of Romania and Greece and boarded a train. Skaresh had paid extra by half because he was traveling alone and, when he saw the size and configuration of his sleeper cabin, he imagined that everyone on board wished they were also traveling alone. After giving his things to the attendant, he took a window seat in the passenger car so that he could see everything as the large machine pulled away from the station teeming with humans.

The train sped across the isthmus to Istanbul, where the tour guide said there’d be a stop for three hours followed by lunch on the train.

Istanbul was eye-opening. It had been a cosmopolitan city for longer than Skaresh had been alive and was resplendent with human history. Naturally, he was most interested in theGrand Bazaar, which the guide said was one of the oldest covered markets in the world dating back to the 15thcentury.

Anticipating the chance to shop, Skaresh had brought a carpet bag that had been warded with spells to make sure it couldn’t be stolen or opened by anyone but him, and a messenger bag to be worn on excursions such as this one.

He was overcome with delight when he saw the number and variety of unusual items in the marketplace. He’d had no idea that humans could be so imaginative when it came to jewelry. When the tour guide was talking about history, Skaresh was busy buying what he thought of as alien artifacts.

Back on the train, they were treated to a luxurious lunch. While many of the passengers retired to their cabins for a nap, Skaresh sought out the tour guide. Notebook in hand, he asked the guide all sorts of questions about Turkish monarchs, noblemen, and figures of interest. She was so pleased that one of her tourists was interested in her wealth of knowledge that she provided Skaresh far more than he hoped for. Armed with names, dates, exploits, etc., he placed the day’s purchases into one of dozens of linen bags he’d brought and deposited the notes he’d taken in the same bag. He’d pair notes with pieces at his leisure once he was back home.

The experience was everything Skaresh hoped it would be. Day after day he soaked in strange panoramas from the windows of trains or planes or boats. He traveled through the ancient territory of Persia to India where he recognized people like those he’d seen outside his shop. From there he visited ancient capitals of southern Asia and China before returning flying to Madagascar, and Brazil. They made a single stop in North America, to see New York City. It was his least favorite stop and the only place where he bought nothing.

That was alright because he’d be going home with far more than he could have imagined. That included, the prize he’d claimed from the Persian shadhavar.

One day the tour had taken a foray via bus to skirt the Hyrcanian forests on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Passengers were provided with a picnic lunch and free time to explore should they choose to do so.

Skaresh took his lunch and ventured a way into the forest. Not so far that he couldn’t find his way back, but far enough to enjoy some time alone. He began singing to himself as he opened his lunch box and was about to take inventory when he realized he wasn’t alone.

A shadhavar had emerged from a dense part of foliage and stood waiting for Skaresh to say something.

“What do you want?”

“How strange it is to be spoken to. Most humans make a show of running away.”

“I’m not human.”

“I gathered that.”

The shadhavar was a creature thought by many to be mythical. It has an elk-like body, a rust-colored hide with big white spots and, in this case, forty-two antlers.

“I thought we might have a chat,” it said.

“About what? I was just getting ready to have lunch and I only have enough for one.”

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