Human and Stars by Hana Smith - HTML preview

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Chapter 5

 

There aren't a lot of choices here when it comes to finding a place to stay. There's so many pubs around here that have too many psychos running around.

“Do any of these places look remotely decent to either one of you?” I say to my two mates with me. I'm having second thoughts about sleeping on the ship while repairs are being done. It's usually not the best idea to do so during repairs.

“Not sure I want to stay a few nights in this area. The people are somewhat sketchy to me.” Shibba replies awkwardly.

“We can't be too picky. It's only going to be for a few days. As long as we're allowed to bring our firearms inside with us, we'll be fine.” comments Giggs. That is true. It would be really great if we're allowed otherwise we're going to have to sneak them in. I'm not staying at a place like this unarmed. Of course, me personally, I prefer my hands. Now I can shoot, but I have difficulty fidgeting with the flint lock on my pistol due to my hands being so darn big. Kuron can handle pistols a lot more easily then I can, but I'm still a good shot. However; when I do have to fight with some sort of weapon, it's usually with my sword or a pike. I can use those a lot better and have a lot more affect with them.

While walking a little further; my nose begins to wrinkle. This place smells a little bit funny. The food, heated metal, animals, plus God only knows what else makes for a funky perfume. There are officers everywhere, plus little kids. Argh! My foot catches on to something causing me to fall. I catch myself just in time and look around to see what it was. What the? Stupid birds, I just tripped over a darn chicken. A small flock of them begin to draw closer as I get back on my feet. I go to take another step when I fall again. One of the hens shrieks sending the others in a mad scurry. This time I get up and stomp at them.

“Shoo!” I yell. Man, I hate these things. I watch as the navigator and cook begin to shoo them away as well. Why in the world are these things even following us? Looking off to the side I notice that one of them refuses to move so to make sure it does, I begin to run towards it kicking up clouds of dirt as I do. “Go on, get!”

“Be careful Corshawl. Those things are mean once you tick’em off.” Giggs warns. Finally, the chicken decides that it's best not to follow anymore. I watch it as the lonely bird squawks then falls back in with the rest of the flock.

“Why can't people keep a fence around those things? They don't do anyone a bit of good being let alone to roam around like that.” I rhetorically ask. Giving no response, my companion just shrugs. Looking back around me, I notice that our cook is missing. “Hey where did Shibba go?” Before Giggs can answer, we hear our fellow crew member's voice from around the corner up ahead.

“Corshawl! Giggs! What about this one?” both me and the navigator head over to find Shibba standing in front of a small brick house with a small sign hanging from it.

“The Duchess's Delight?” Giggs asks somewhat bewildered. The building itself appears to be decent enough. Looks like a coat of fresh paint has been put on as well as a remake of the sign done. Also, it's located in a secluded part of the street. None of those drunkards appear to be roaming around here.

“Let's check the place out.” Shibba suggests starting to walk towards the entrance. I give a small nod and begin to follow.

“Hopefully we don't have to pay that much. We're going to be dangerously low on finances after repairs are done.” I say causing Giggs to remark

“We'll manage. I'm sure we'll find something to raise our funds. There's a lot we can do.” Seeing how I'm still not fully assured as to where the money is going to come from or what we're going to do about it, my companion gives me a pat on the back just before we enter. Once inside, the three of us begin to gaze around.

“I'm not sure we can afford this. This place might be a little pricy.” Considering that there's eight of us and we're staying for three days, maybe four, I think we should try elsewhere even it means staying in one of those pubs. I know Kuron isn't in favor of those places, but from the looks of things we might not have a choice here.

“We still have to find out the price Corshawl. Who knows they might not be as pricy as we think.” our cook says. I'm not sure I want to know the price of this place. As far as I'm seeing, like the well furbished furniture, the elegant vases full of flowers, and the counter itself, yeah I don't want to know the price of this place.

“Welcome to the Duchess's Delight. How long is your stay?” Turning our heads, Giggs, Shibba, and I see someone standing behind the counter staring at us.

“We plan on staying for three nights, maybe four.” answering I while drawing near to the desk. “What's the price for at least one room?” I then ask. The person or rather the man gazes for a moment at me before replying.

“For one room and one night’s stay, it'll be at least a hundred fifty. How many rooms are you planning to occupy sir?” I take a moment to think. Can we get away with just one room? So far we're looking at six hundred for just one room for four nights.

“Are we able to see how big the rooms are before we decide?” My question causes the man to step out from behind the counter and motion us down a hallway. We follow passing one or two doors before the man stops again. Then taking a key, the door is made unlocked and we're shown inside. What we see is two beds along the wall facing out with a small table in the middle of them. On the table is a single lamp. Looking further, we find a decent enough washroom occupied with a tub and a chamber pot. There's more, but I don't want to describe everything in the room. I send a look at Giggs and Shibba. “We can't stay here.” Whisper I quietly. Looks like it's to the pubs we go. Now how do I tell the owner that we're not interested anymore?