I wondered if this would be considered sane, talking to myself. I shrugged and didn’t really care as to whether this kind of behaviour was normal or not.
“What are you then?” I asked the crate, “You’re in an awfully big box … a ferret?” I tapped the top of the crate twice, lost in thought. To my surprise, whatever was inside the wooden crate gave two sharp raps against the wood in response. It had answered me. It answered? I raised an eyebrow, sinking back against the carriage wall warily. I tapped the top of the box twice again, and to my surprise the creature inside gave another two smart knocks against the wood. My eyes widened. This time I knocked slowly three times against the crate. I waited, not realising I had been holding my breath. Sure enough, after a few seconds, three slow knocks came from inside the wood.
“Hello?” I said trying to peer through one of the air holes. Of course, there was no response. I was being ridiculous, and there was no way I could see into this crate. I let my heart rate return to normal, and decided it was best to ignore the strange, responsive box.
Soon the sunlight was pressing against the windows, and shone weakly through the veil of clouds, yet the carriage did not slow down or show any signs that it would be stopping any time soon. I thought that Jefferson must be getting awfully tired and cold from being outside for so long. I hoped he hadn’t fallen asleep at the reigns. The thought was not reassuring. Somewhere in the back of my mind registered that at this moment my parents would be waking to discover that they were missing one daughter. I decided to ignore my worries and try to get some sleep despite the constant rocking.
My eyes closed thankfully, and to my great surprise, when I opened them again I found that it was already the evening. I had never fallen asleep so quickly in my entire life. As I adjusted myself the fullness of my bladder became very apparent. The morning had passed in the blink of an eye, and the bleary sun was now shining bravely in between the clouds. A chill lingered in the carriage. The windows were fogged up so I used the sleeve of my cloak to wipe at the misty glass.
We were passing a lush green field, and the dirt road we were on was full of potholes causing the carriage to jump and jerk as we passed over them.
I wondered if Jefferson had stopped at all to give his horses a rest, and to have a little nap himself. I was sure I would have woken up if we had stopped. I was slightly confused, yet a little impressed at the old man’s persistence. Perhaps he wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible. The idea sounded likely. I was dimly aware that this was the first time in a long while that I hadn’t had a single nightmare. The carriage remained completely intact. I smiled to myself, rather proud that I had managed to go over twelve hours without lighting something on fire.
I peered out of the carriage window again, and to my surprise I noticed that the land seemed to be passing by much more slowly. I blinked. Yes, we were definitely slowing down now. I straightened up in my seat, peering keenly out of the window. We were indeed coming to a halt. In the distance I could see what appeared to be a Tavern. A wooden sign hung out the front of the large stone building depicting symbols that represented food, beds, toilets, (hooray) and stables. This was a pit stop.
I peeked at the food I had left. There was definitely enough food and water to last me another two days, even though the bread was stale, and the water tasted like warm iron. It would have to do. I could not waste the gold I had saved on unnecessary spoils like roasted chicken covered with gravy … sparkling crystal water … wine … fruit platters …
My mouth began to salivate just as Jefferson pulled the carriage to a halt out the front of the tavern. Now we were closer I could see that the sign labelled it the Winking Dragon Tavern, and that it depicted a painting of a large black dragon with smoke emitting from its nostrils. One of its eyes was closed in an unmistakable wink. A subtle sniffing noise made my lips curve into a smile as I turned to see the little black nose sniffing hopefully from its box again.
A loud grunt from outside told me that Jefferson had hopped off the carriage. I fumbled with the handle of the door and staggered onto land. Quickly straightening myself up, I turned to face Jefferson.
“Toilets?” I inquired of him, asking which way for directions.
Jefferson walked me to the tavern door and pointed to a far corner where there were two toilet doors marked with signs. He was trying hard not to stare at me as I rushed off.
Once I was in the wash room and had taken care of business I stared at my reflection in the rusty old mirror which was hung crooked upon the wall. Black crusted my face where the lava tears had cooled and turned to tiny little rocks formations upon my skin. Washing them away was easy enough, as I had done it many times in my life.