Chapter 3Alissa

  The merchant district was alive with activity as Jonah neared. The business men and women were busy setting up their shops with a seemingly inhuman speed, getting ready for the day. Everywhere that Jonah looked, bright colored banners were on dispy showing the names of the stores and booths that they represented as well as listing some of the more popur items that were within. The result was a garish csh of colors that would make the head ache when they were made to gre intensely in the sun at high noon.

  Jonah swam through the sea of people and color, hoping the trader known by the name Rasheed had not left town yet to make the long trip back south to New Babylon. Looking around for the face of someone that could tell him if Rasheed was still in the city, Jonah waded through the crowd, ignoring the calls of the merchants who were already trying to draw him in to view their wares.

  Soon, Jonah spotted a young darkly tanned boy named Basheer who Jonah knew to be one of Rasheed’s children. Calling the boy’s name loudly in order to be heard over the noise of the active market pce, Jonah waved his hand, indicating for the boy to come to him.

  “Hey Basheer,” Jonah asked the boy as he approached. “Where is Rasheed set up at today?”

  “Hello Jonah,” the boy said bowing deeply. “Daddy is set up not far from here. Go north two streets then turn west. He is in the mouth of the first alley to the south.”

  “Thank you, Basheer.”

  Jonah dipped a hand into his pouch pulling out a shiny silver coin and tossed it to the boy. Basheer's eyes widened as he deftly caught the coin and made it disappear quickly. Giving the boy a wink and a smile, Jonah headed off, following the boy’s directions.

  It always amazed Jonah when he saw the variety contained within the merchant district’s rge marketpce setting. As he weaved through the streets on his way to Rasheed's little spot in the madness of the market pce, Jonah spotted a variety of cloths, foods, spices, medicines and even holy symbols of faiths he did not recognize. His sense of smell was assaulted by everything from the delicious smell of cinnamon to the odoriferous odor of manure.

  At one point Jonah had to catch the hand of a small child as it attempted to dip into his pouch in a feeble attempt to pick his pocket. Bending down while holding the hand he had caught, Jonah looked at the small, underfed boy, who looked back at him eyes filled with fear. Jonah leaned in whispering some instructions into the ear of the boy, then once the boy nodded to indicated he understood, Jonah stood up and continued on his way whistling a merry tune as if nothing had happened. After a few minutes, he felt a tug on his pouch that was much lighter than the one that had tipped him off to the earlier attempt. Reaching back, he caught the small hand that was pulling a silver coin out of the pouch. He pulled the boy off to the side and spun him around to look him in the face.

  “Just like that,” Jonah told the boy. “Only be just a little lighter when slipping your hand in, okay?”

  The boy nodded and started to run off, but Jonah caught him by the colr before he could get away. Reaching over the boy's head, Jonah plucked the coin from the boy's hand. The young d turned around with disappointment on his face until Jonah waggled his fingers making the single coin disappear only to be repced by two coins. Jonah handed the coins to the boy with one st word of advice.

  “Once you have your loot, don't carry it in the open, hide it about your person until you can either get somewhere safe to spend it or store it.” He said with a wink before ruffling the child’s hair.

  The boy smiled and nodded in understanding once again before disappearing back into the crowd as Jonah sighed and shook his head, hoping the boy could stay out of trouble. Jonah turned around and continued onward until he finally arrived as Rasheed's spot of calm within the swirl of madness that engulfed the streets of the marketpce.

  As he approached the booth that was set up in front of Rasheed's cart, Jonah marveled at how much calm and order there seemed to be surrounding the booth as opposed to anywhere else in the marketpce. The people that were gathered around seemed to stand in a line patently waiting their turn as if the hustle and bustle of life in the marketpce didn't exist. Jonah got in the line that had formed to calmly await his turn at the booth. After he had been in line a couple of minutes, an extremely beautiful young woman who looked to be about eighteen to twenty years of age with jet bck hair and light caramel colored skin approached him. He recognized the gorgeous woman as Rasheed's daughter, Alissa. As she approached him, he gave her a courteous nod of his head and greeted her.

  “Hello Jonah,” she replied, softly fluttering her long dark eyeshes at him. “Are you here to see my father or are you here to browse the goods?” She waved a hand in front of her body as if showing off an expensive product while giving him a coy smile.

  Jonah gave her a look that said “I bet you would like to check out my goods” and Alissa giggled, as she always did whenever he gave her that look. Ever since he had first met her, Jonah had not been able to figure out if she was just teasing him or if she was actually interested in him. Certainly, she flirted with Jonah every time she saw him, but whenever he tried to flirt back or show attraction, she would giggle and turn away, just as she was doing right now. Jonah sighed and was about to turn back to face forward in the line when he noticed that Alissa was motioning for him to follow.

  She led him behind the booth where curtains were hanging up, blocking view of the alley from the street. Swinging the curtains to the side she stepped in and Jonah followed. It led into an area that gave the illusion of being a room due to another set of curtains just a few feet beyond the first set. Alissa stopped suddenly and turned on her heel to face Jonah. Wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close, she reached up and guided his mouth down to hers, kissing him deeply. Jonah gasped in pleasant surprise as she kissed him, the sweetness of the taste of her lips and smell of jasmine on her skin instantly making his heart beat faster. She pulled back suddenly and, seeing the look of shock on his face, gave him a wink before pushing him through the second set of curtains to where her father waited. Jonah stumbled through the curtains, shocked at what had just happened, only to find himself face to face with Rasheed’s jovial face.

  “Jonah! My friend,” Rasheed said loudly, a huge grin on his face. “How are you this fine day?”

  Jonah looked at the short rotund man who always seemed to be happy about something and managed to stammer out a brief greeting.

  “I-I... am well thank you for asking Rasheed,” He replied hoping the surprise from what had just occurred didn't show on his face too much. “How is business?”

  “Oh, you know how it is these days my boy,” the portly man responded. “Business is booming, demand has never been higher and I can't seem to keep enough of the medicines I procure from Ib in stock.

  “Bringing those medicines was the best idea I ever had. I just need to watch myself when people ask me where they come from, nobody would want to buy them if they knew they were made by the Ibians. I don't care what people think about the leather backs, the medicines they make are the best out there.

  “In fact, I was thinking that instead of taking a ship back to New Babylon, I would be better off going by way of nd, passing through Ib and picking more medicine up to see how it sells down there since most merchants still seem scared of the pce. I just need to find something here in New Cardeth that I can take to Ib and hopefully make a profit on.

  “Any ideas? Normally I would load up on food and scrap iron since you people have that in abundance up here. Food usually will sell just about anywhere so that may be a safe bet but the iron won't do in Ib, they have plenty of metal there for manufacturing...” The older man trailed off thinking to himself.

  “Sorry Rasheed,” Jonah said. “I'm not familiar enough with Ib to help you, but, speaking of Ib, maybe you can help me.”

  “Hmm?”

  “I was thinking about traveling there to see the city since I have never seen it before and, since you have been there several times, I thought you could tell me of the city and the safest route to get there.”

  “There is no safe route to get there, d. No matter how you approach Ib, you have to travel the wastes to get there. Also, it's much safer if you have people to travel with, you know, safety in numbers. But since you want to head that way and I'm thinking about heading that way soon, why don't you travel with me? I could always use an extra set of eyes to watch the wastes for threats and it will make it easier for you to get inside the city since I am already known there.”

  “I appreciate the offer Rasheed, I do, but-” Jonah started to say but was suddenly interrupted as Alissa burst through the curtains.

  “He will be honored to travel with us Father,” she said quickly giving Jonah a mischievous look with a twinkle in her eyes. “You will, won't you Jonah?”

  “Err, well, as I was saying to your father, I'm not pnning on hanging around more than a couple of days and I would hate to see him cut his time here short and lose money due to trying to accommodate me”

  “Oh that?” she replied. “We are sold out of everything that he could really make any money off of here as it is. If Daddy will get off his butt and gather stock for our next stop, we should be able to leave in a couple of days.” She looked at her father expectantly.

  “Well, I suppose,” Rasheed began. “That I could just pick up a rge variety of produce and see how that does in Ib, the only other thing New Cardeth has of value when it comes to trading is their steel and iron. Like I said before, the Ibians have no use for those, so I guess food is the next logical thing to try. Normally, I would be coming up to Ib from New Babylon with the textiles that they produce down there.”

  “Well, if you think you can be ready in a couple of days to move on to Ib, then I guess I will be coming with you and your family Rasheed.”

  Alissa almost glowed as Jonah said that, making Jonah wonder if this was a good idea after all. He found Alissa to be extremely attractive but until today she had only teased him. He did not know if this was all part of some grand game she was pying or if she was finally tired of toying with him. To make matters worse, if she was finally wanting to get serious about expressing herself to him, it would just be awkward with her father there where he may potentially kill to protect his only daughter's honor. Jonah’s head swam from the imagined scenarios of what would happen if Rasheed caught Alissa and him kissing or even touching.

  “Well d,” Rasheed said spping Jonah hard on the back, snapping him out of his daze. “If you are going to travel the wastes with me and mine, I suggest you shop for a good sidearm for yourself, since you more than likely are going to need it.

  “And you, young dy,” he said looking at Alissa who was beaming with joy. “Wipe that silly smile off your face and go tell your mother to close shop, time for us to get packing and I have some business to take care of before we go.

  “Pardon me,” He said to Jonah and Alissa then proceeded to walk out toward the street.

  Jonah looked at Alissa and she smiled happily back at him before giving him a tight hug pressing her body next to his so that he could feel every curve of her soft shapely body. She broke contact and skipped out while gncing teasingly over her shoulder at him before the curtain closed behind her, leaving Jonah standing in shocked silence.

  What have I gotten myself into, He wondered as he regained his wits before walking to the street.

  #

  Jonah spent the next two days gathering what supplies he needed for the trip including as hefty revolver with a pressurized air ejection system that would auto eject all eight shells after the rounds had been spent. He also purchased a leather belt with an attached holster as well small loops to store extra ammunition right there on the belt for quick access. In addition to the gun and gun belt, he purchased one hundred rounds of ammunition, not knowing how much he would need, the extra rounds that would not fit into the loops on the belt he fit into a pouch that he stored in the pack he wore on his back that kept all his supplies.

  On the morning of third day since Father Mallory had died, Jonah was sitting on the back of Rasheed's heavily den cart with Alissa sitting next to him as they pulled out of the gates of New Cardeth onto the road leading to the west, where the wastends, and finally the metal city of Ib, awaited them.