Wolves Bane

The Trading Route

 I looked at Milo and smiled brightly, while gently rubbing my stomach. Being cooped up in the little house only making a blanket for our sweet little baby made me miss the outside. William was building the crib and small little toys. Milo would glance at me and smile before he placed a hand on my belly. Our baby kicked and Milo chuckled.

"Sounds like someone's getting fussy."

"We're here little one, no need to beat up mommy."

The baby slowly stopped kicking and settled down. I smiled at Milo as he jumped down from the carriage and swiftly jogged around to help me down. He offered his hands and I gladly took it, carefully stepping down and onto the ground. He smiled through his beard and gently kissed my head.

"Have you decided on a name for our baby?"

"I was thinking, if they're a boy, Loki and for a girl, I was thinking Yvette."

"Both names are perfect."

I smiled and kissed his cheek. I then walked around the carriage and grabbed a basket with some fresh bread, a couple bottles of milk, and three bars of goat's milk soap. Hopefully someone is willing to trade for some supplies for our baby's blanket. Milo wanted to see if he could trade some feed for meat or trade some bags of flour for feed. I walked to a fabric stall and gently laid down my basket.

"Winifred! You look great, how the little one?"

"Growing slowly. Do you have any thread I could trade for?"

"I got some black thread and I got some white. I'm willing to trade for a nice bar of goat's milk soap."

"Well you're in luck, I brought three bars with me this trip."

The lady smiled as I pulled out the three bars. She happily took a bar and handed me a spool of white thread. I thanked her and made my way through some different stalls. That's when a little stall caught my eye. There was a man with curly brown hair and golden eyes, dipping a feather into a pot of ink and scribbling down on a piece of paper. Then, out from behind the stall was a little boy with tannish hair. He looked to be about four years old and ran around the stall. When his eyes turned to me, he smiled and waved happily. I waved to the boy and slowly walked over. He had just about the brightest smile I had ever seen on a small lad like him. Thinking about it, I don't think I had ever seen him before. Perhaps they are setting up shop here.

"Ah, hello my lady, a lovely day for trade."

"It is quite lovely out. May I ask what you are trading kind sir."

"I am a humble artist, I have traveled to many different parts of this world, and my discoveries are breathtaking."

The man then pulled out a large book of leather and metal. He opened it and there sat exquisite drawings of mountains, rivers, lakes and a beautiful waterfall. In the backs of the drawings, were detailed writings of how the man discovered and described the beautiful colors that he witnessed.

"I'm willing to trade a bottle of milk for one of these."

"I have a couple. Willing to trade two pictures for both bottles?"

"I would be most grateful , take whatever pictures your heart desires."

I pulled out both the bottles and handed them to the man. I looked through the many beautiful pictures and chose a mountain and a beautiful lake with a bountiful river with some fish jumping up the waterfall. The man smiled and thanked me. I thanked him back and left his stall. Only two bars of soap and three loaves of bread were left. I then walked past a few more stalls and traded the rest of my supplies for fresh beef, beets, snap peas, spring onions, shallots and a few carrots.

"Alright little one, let's find your daddy and show him our goodies."

I gently rubbed my belly some more and wandered around until I found Milo chatting with a clean shaven man. I gently placed a hand on his shoulder and as he turned to me, he smiled and introduced me to the clean shaven man.

"I'm Winnifred, we live in the village just past that hill."

"I'm Louis, I came here to trade for herbs to help make my remedies."

I nodded and then showed Milo the goods. He smiled and gently patted my back. The good man then bid us farewell on our journey home. Milo wrapped his arm around mine and we walked back to the carriage. That's when I had the strangest feeling but it was quickly taken away but severe pain. I looked at Milo and suddenly realized that our baby was coming!

"Milo, it's time!"

He immediately scooped me up and carefully placed me into the carriage and we sped off to our home. The pain started to grow as my breathing became labored. The pain shot through me as tears started running down my cheeks.

"Come on buddy, we gotta get to Elena!"

The horse huffed and charged up the hill, racing for our village. I dug my nails into the wood as the pain intensified. I wanted to scream from the pain, it felt like I was being ripped in half. It felt like we were going at a snail's pace but I knew the poor thing was trying.