Chương 128: Chapter 124 – Ron’s River Runners

Brightwater Valley Day 5 of Grainworks Initiative Mark and Sarah met for breakfast and decided they would meet just after lunch at the stables to start their trip upriver back to Beaver Crossing. Sarah was excited for today and also for the trip home, as she really wanted to learn more about the system-sanctioned school and wanted to see it in action. Mark, of course, was all business; he needed river runners, and that was his plan for the morning, and he did not have a lot of time to do it.

When Mark got to the docks, he found the spot he was sent to, and it had a barge with 5 men on it and two pairs of horses and a barge with nothing on it. But they did have a big sign that read "Ron's River Runners" advertising their business, though everyone was just sitting on the barge, none of them working. Which made Mark's day. Not that they did not have work, but if they did not have work, he was pretty sure he could hire them.

As Mark approached the dock that the barge was tied up to, one of the men saw him and tapped one of the others on the shoulder, and when he saw Mark, he headed over to him and stuck out his hand to shake. Man said, "Hello, my name is Ron, and this is Ron's River Runners. I am hoping you're in need of some cargo being hauled." Mark smiled and said, "Yes, I do need some cargo hauled in a way. My name is Mark, and I came from way, way upstream past Sunvine Farms."

Ron said, "I have been up to Sunvine many times, and there is nothing past there." Mark said, "Well, I am glad to hear you have been up there, but I am here to tell you that there is another zone up north at the top of the river; there is a lake, and I represent a village near there that is looking for trade gear. And most specifically, we are looking to hire and/or partner with someone to haul cargo for us and help us train more people to run the river." Ron said, "That sounds like a good deal, I guess, for you.

But if I teach you how to do the work, that would just put me out of a job, and there is right now a shortage of work and an excess number of river runners." Mark said, "I see that you have four horses are those to pull your barge upstream?" Ron said, "Yes, they are. They are the Best hauling horses in the area. But going upstream is slow, as there are not enough horses to swap them out regularly, and we have to stop often and rest them." Mark said, "What about Oxen why not use them?"

Ron said, "I wish there were oxen. If only someone had them; I would do about anything in the world to get a pair of them to haul for me." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Mark said, "That is a deal then." Ron said, "Wait, what? You mean you own some oxen?" Mark said, "Personally not me, but the village has 8 of them, and we are breeding more and purchasing even more than that from another area northwest of us."

Ron said, "If you're serious, I would trade a pair of oxen for the use of me and my boys to drag a barge of goods up to your lake and then stay a week or so to help you equip a team and train them on barge work. And while we're at it, can we sign a long-term contract for service also? I would give you a great deal in trade for those oxen and access to more later."

Mark then was introduced to Ron's team, and the group helped Mark find a cargo broker that would sell Mark a full load of items to take north on the first run. Mark was happy that he had not spent much of his system credits, and he was sitting on a huge pile of them so that he could afford this first trip. And would have to get the village to reimburse him when he got back for the expense.

After the trades were done and his cargo was getting loaded on the barge, he asked about travel time and was told for a full barge it would take about 3-4 days to get to Sunvine Farms. And since there were no towpaths past that point, it might take that amount or more to go the last length. Mark let them know that he would hurry back and make sure work crews were breaking trails as fast as possible and that he would also get a pair of oxen headed south to meet them.

They agreed that the west side of the river would be best, as the east side of the lake was a swamp and would be terrible for the tow teams to go around that side of the lake. Mark was excited; he had gotten way more than he had hoped for, and Dale would go crazy with all the stuff he was sending up on the barge. Mark himself wanted a good cherry pie and had what he was told were some of the best pie cherries in the stuff he was hauling back with him on the mule.

When Mark left the group, they were still loading but said they would be heading north within the next few hours. And Mark went back to the stable to wait for Sarah. Sarah met with Elizabeth, who was the teacher here in River Bend Trading Post, and she set out to watch Elizabeth. The first thing Elizabeth did was show Sarah how to interact with the school interface, which was similar to the village interface.

She was instructed to accept the first two lessons and then was shown all the other various abilities it had for both students and teachers. Sarah spent the next couple hours in lessons with Elizabeth and three other students. During her few hours of class, she learned three new skills, one of which was a skill called "learner," which helps you to learn other skills quicker. She also leveled up again and got a teaching skill with her level up.

Because she had been a teacher before she came here, the learning came quickly and the skills were quickly earned, and she was able to complete the two lessons, which is what pushed her over the top for her level. She finally realized that it was later than she thought and thanked Elizabeth for all she had taught her and promised that she would come visit again some day and told Elizabeth that she would love for her to come and visit here in Beaver Crossing any time she was available for it.

Mark was impatiently waiting when Sarah returned. She apologized for being late but excitedly told him about the skills she gained and the level that she got. Their plan was to head north as fast as they could so that Mark could get the wheels rolling to get materials and workmen to make the path to the side of the river and get a pair of oxen down to help pull their load up the last little bit.

Mark assumed if they didn't stop to explore anymore, they would be home by dinner tomorrow night, and they set off to Beaver Crossing.