The Ash Inn - Tuesday

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Here's the next chapter of the Ash Inn

Title: The Ash Inn
Author: Me, Jade
Genre: Fantasy
Ratings: G for six chapters, PG for the seventh
Characters that are seen: Brad, Ryan, Colin, Wayne, Greg, Tony, Chip
Characters heard but never seen: Mike, Josie, Niall, Paul
Summary: When Chip leaves Brad to run the Ash Inn for a week, it's business as usual.

 

Tuesday

 

Brad stifled a yawn as he unlocked the front doors. Yesterday business had been a bit lazy in the morning. Hoping today it would pick up, Brad glanced at the clock and saw it was half eight. Give them twenty minutes and they’ll be in, he thought. He stretched his wings, threw back his head and let out a hopefully-not-that-shrill hawk cry. Being a hawk hybrid was fun most of the time, but two of the traits weren’t – always waking up at dawn and letting out hawk cries at unexpected times.

 

He took the chairs down from the tables while his eyes kept darting at the clock. Five minutes passed … ten minutes … fifteen minutes … twenty minutes … still nobody … thirty minutes … they’ll arrive, he thought …

 

Brad went back behind the bar and polished the already-gleaming surface pointlessly. There was nothing else to do – the place seemed a lot less fun without Chip. Brad hadn’t forgotten that Ryan was asking for a job – he had made a mental note to ask Chip about employing Ryan before anything else.

 

He reached out for a bottle behind him just as the left door opened and a group of customers came in with their bags packed. After a quick check out and payment, the group left. Several seconds later the door opened again and Ryan came in. The first thing Brad noticed was he was no longer wearing his blue boots; this time he was in a pair of coffee brown boots which were made of dragon hide again. Brad couldn’t help staring at them even more – he was sure Ryan had said they were his ugliest pair of boots.

 

“Ryan, didn’t you say those boots were your ugliest pair?” asked Brad as he reached for a bottle. “The usual?” he added before uncorking the bottle. Ryan nodded.

 

“I did say that, yes,” said Ryan softly.

 

“What breed did the hide come from?” asked Brad as he poured out the drink.

 

“A Sicily Brown, one which I didn’t kill,” replied Ryan. He looked down at them. “I exchanged my old bow for the roll of dragon hide. I reckon the trader was a dragon slayer – he had a heavy scimitar with him, and his cloak was made from dragon hide,” added Ryan, seeing Brad’s quizzical face. Brad slowly nodded.

 

“There’s a glint in your eye which feels like you adore your boots or something,” said Brad. “It’s that same glint you had with your blue boots … Ryan, your boots are lovely, but I advise you not to get too fond of them.”

 

“I know I shouldn’t,” said Ryan sadly. “I can’t help it, it’s just – what’s that noise?” They went quiet and listened intensely. It seemed to be a kind of zapping noise. At once Brad and Ryan glanced at the windows and saw a dishevelled Colin furiously pointing his sceptre at something much shorter than him, sending blasts out of the end of it. He seemed to have caught his target because he made a run for it and entered the pub, slamming the door shut behind him. He pointed his sceptre at the handle and muttered something. There was a gentle clicking sound.

 

“Colin, what –” began Ryan but Colin shushed him. There came a loud bang as an enlarged fly hit the pub door. It began to furiously bang against the glass, its wings buzzing speedily.

 

“Sorry guys,” said Colin as he approached the bar. He waved his sceptre at himself and his appearance tidied up at once. “I accidently engorged the fly and somehow I can’t put it back to normal. It’s now got this mad … desire, if you can call it … to ambush me as much as possible.” He sighed. “I’ll have the usual.” Brad grabbed a bright yellow bottle, uncorked it and handed it to Colin.

 

“So what’re you going to do about the fly?” asked Brad. “You can’t keep here, in case you haven’t noticed. You’re not doing business any favours keeping the door locked. Either you go and find someone who can help, or you let it in and deal with it.”

 

“Colin, let it in,” said Ryan. He was stringing his bow. “It’s just a fly, it’ll be dead easy to kill.” Colin pointed his sceptre at the door and muttered something. At once the double doors burst open and the fly flew in, aiming straight for Colin. Brad anxiously watched Ryan move his bow to follow the fly; if Ryan missed, he would damage their property …

 

“RYAN!” shouted Colin as he backed away as much as he could. His sceptre was still in his hand – if Ryan missed, Colin would have to repel the fly, which would give Ryan time to string another arrow and have another go. However Ryan seemed to have difficulty getting his target accurate; the fly was buzzing closer and closer to Colin … Colin shut his eyes, getting extremely worried … He opened an eye and, instead of expecting to see the fly’s face, saw the open front doors of the inn. He looked round and saw the fly lying sideways on the floor, an arrow sticking out of it.

 

“Sorry if I gave you a fright,” said Ryan. “I think its dead, the arrow went in pretty deep.” Colin kneeled down and nudged the fly with the tip of his sceptre. It didn’t move. Feeling relieved Colin magically pulled out the arrow and sent it flying back to Ryan. He caught the arrow by its shaft and placed it back in his quiver. Colin waved his sceptre again and the body of the fly vanished.

 

A sudden burst of customers coming in meant that Brad couldn’t get a chance to talk to Ryan and Colin. They saw the door open and close so many times they completely lost count. However when Tony came down to get his meat they noticed how all the customers jumped away from him (two actually left the inn with half empty cups). Tony looked rather glum as he went back upstairs with his meat.

 

“Poor fellow,” said Brad when he had finished serving. He was obviously talking about Tony. “Rejected everywhere because he’s a troll hybrid, or a half-breed if you want. I can’t blame him for staying here long term. Chip’s probably the only person being really friendly to him – he knows Tony’s father.”

 

“Has he always been part troll?” asked Ryan curiously as he drunk from his cup.

 

“No … he was actually born human,” replied Brad. Ryan choked and slopped his drink down his front; Colin looked startled. “Chip knows what happened, but made me promise not to tell anyone. If you want to know, you’ll have to ask Tony.”

 

“Wayne’s a bit late,” said Colin, glancing at the clock. He spotted Ryan looking at him. “Oh sorry.” He waved his sceptre and at once Ryan’s shirt was dry.

 

“You’re right, it’s not usual of him to be late,” agreed Brad, his eyes also on the clock. “He’s normally in around now.” They waited for him. They kept talking, but even conversation was wearing thin. Midday came and Wayne still wasn’t there. Greg came down, looking tired, and drunk his Potion before heading out of the inn.

 

Five minutes later the door bursted open and in came Wayne looking ecstatic, a crumbled piece of paper in his hand. He rushed over to a seat next to Ryan.

 

“Have you been having too much sugar Wayne?” asked Brad as he went to get a bottle.

 

“I’ve been promoted!” cried Wayne importantly, unable to contain his excitement anymore. Several people were glancing at him. “I’m now officially a Leader – that’s one rank under General, but each Leader is assigned to help a General, and I’m assigned to General Merton.”

 

“Merton … Merton … that rings a bell,” muttered Brad thoughtfully. “Where have I heard it before?”

 

“Maybe he was a guest?” suggested Ryan. Brad agreed and checked the book for names. He went furiously fast backwards through the book until he landed on what he was looking for.

 

“Of course, Paul Merton … he was here two weeks after I started working …” said Brad. “Oh, I remember now … it was a cloudy night and there was thunder and rain outside, and I remember he came in about nine ... he looked awful, his armour was badly damaged and he was injured … Mike and Josie were still working here when he turned up … he was almost unconscious when he arrived, it was lucky Chip was here, he was the one who took care of Paul the most, we were busy with our bartender duties … he stayed for a week before going back to the army … that was the first ever exciting thing to happen while on duty … and I've got a feeling there's going to be lots more to come.”