Chương 118: Chapter 114 – Ava's New Horse

Mark said hello to Brian as he headed out the door of the inn. He had talked to David last night about horses and had found out that even though they had the start of breeding stock on horses, they were far from ready to provide the villages' needs. They had decided that Mark would visit one of the breeders here and buy some more horses for the village. He had scheduled to be picked up at the inn just after breakfast and be taken out to see what was available.

The ride out was nice; it was quite a ways out from the village, going north and west of town. They ended up at a ranch of sorts with dozens of horses in the field, being ridden, or taken care of in the stalls at the barn. Mark was taken to the barn to talk to the breeder whose name was Alix. Alix said, "Hello Mark, thank you for visiting us today. David told us you're looking for more horses. Anything specific we can help you with?"

Mark said, "Yes, I realized on the way here with the amount of travel I am doing that I really need a horse. I also have a close friend I wanted to get a horse for and want a couple extra so when I travel, there will always be mounts available." Alix said, "Okay, you're looking for riding horses rather than ones for the wagons; that makes a huge difference in what we would like to suggest. So from your description, you need four horses today, right?" Mark said, "Yes, correct.

I would also like to place an order for at least eight more horses and two to three more wagons for Beaver Crossing." Alix said, "We can help with the horses and arrange a contract for the wagons for the wagon builders for you. Let's go see if we can find you the perfect horse for you and three other acceptable ones to leave with today." Alix and Mark spent the next couple hours going through and first learning about horses.

Alix taught him how to identify a good horse for riding versus what would be a good work animal to pull wagons. He talked about heights, breeding value, feed, and how to care for the horses. They went over how to hobble the horse so when they stopped to rest or camp, they would not end up losing their horses. When Mark was done, he sat atop one of the most magnificent horses he had seen so far. This one would be great, and he loved it.

Alix had found him a saddle that no one was needing and threw it in as part of the deal. Mark was shocked at the cost of the four horses he was leaving with and what the wagons and the other eight horses would cost him. He regretted transferring over the funds but knew it was in the best interest of his future village and him. Mark hired one of the hands to travel with him to Beaver Crossing and help guide the three extra horses Mark had since he was still really clueless about riding a horse.

He also, while there, paid for an advanced riding lesson so he could maybe get a horse-riding skill to help out with his control and handling of the horses. When Mark was finally ready, they headed back towards Beaver Crossing, and with the help of the man he hired, the trip was very pleasant. When they arrived at the inn, they tied up the horses, and Mark wished the man a pleasant trip home. He was about to go into the inn for dinner when Ava ran over. Swoop had let her know that he was back and had horses.

Ava said, "Mark, what's with the horses?" This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Mark said, "You are exactly the person I wanted to talk to. I was in Northridge and bought some horses, and one of them I bought for you." Ava said, "You bought me a horse?" Mark said, "Out of all the people I know, I knew you would just love to have your own horse." He then walked over and pointed at one of the horses.

"This is the one I bought for you." Ava looked at the horses. Then she walked around each petting them and talking to each of them. She finally came back over and pointed at one. She finally came back over and pointed at one.

"Thanks, Mark, but that one." She pointed at his horse.

"That one is mine." Mark said, "No, that's my horse." Ava said, "Not anymore; it likes me better." She then took the reins of the horses and headed toward the corral they had in town to go rub them down and take care of them. Mark just stood there stunned. He really liked that horse, the first he had ever bought, and he no longer owned it. Just then he saw Brian rolling across the bridge heading into town in his wagon, and he went over to talk to him.

After a short conversation with Brian, he grabbed his painting and headed to his cabin. He asked Brian to stack the other boxes that were his by the inn and told him he would be back in a few minutes to take care of them. Mark then headed to his cabin, where he hung up his painting and then looked around. The place did not yet look lived in. He had hardly spent a couple days here. That would change, and he needed to find more personal items to add to it. He then went over to the inn and went in.

He saw many of the kids playing in the back of the room and on the stairs and trying to slide down the banister. He then hollered to get everyone's attention. When they were finally looking at him, he said that he had been out of town and brought some things that they might like and asked for a few volunteers to come grab some boxes. Four of the children followed him outside and picked up the boxes he had and helped him bring them into the inn.

He then opened the boxes and started handing out the toys he had bought. There were twenty-four of them, so it went fast. He then set down at a table and ordered some dinner. While eating, he heard a group talking about the regional project and was surprised that the news had traveled from the western zone so quickly. He finished his meal and headed to find Dale in the kitchen. Sarah grabbed his arm just before he entered the kitchen.

"Mark, what were you thinking bringing 24 toys home with you and handing them to 42 children to fight over? I think you should be the one that has to fix this mess you started." She then stomped off and pulled two kids off each other that were fighting over one of the toys. Mark mumbled, "Oops, my bad," then entered the kitchen. Dale said, "About time you showed up; everyone is going crazy over the regional project." Mark said, "Why is everyone so worked up about a regional project in the western zone?"

Dale said, "What are you talking about, western zone? We all got an announcement almost a day and a half ago that we needed to vote on which project to pick." Mark suddenly realized that he missed something huge. He opened his interface and brought up the zone interface. All three zones, Forest region, Wheat Fields, and the Silvermere region, had blinking messages with a countdown of just over 5 days remaining to choose their regional development project.

His eyes went wide; He had thought only the Western region, or what the system called Silvermere, had a regional project. He was wrong. All three zones whose interfaces he could access had projects. He briefly glanced at the Silvermere and Forest tabs and their options and finally opened the option for Wheat Fields. [Regional Development] Wheat Fields Project Options: • Grainworks Initiative • Livestock Development Program • Frontier Trade Network"Five days," Mark muttered.

"I am going to spend the next five days in meetings."