Foundling Wizard (Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

entered. He had no idea where he was going to find a place to sleep that night. He wandered the streets for a while, taking in the strange sights of the closely packed and carefully ordered buildings. The businesses and shops congregated along the main thoroughfare. He saw none of the rough hewn log structures that made up the homestead, these were crafted from brick and roofed with shake shingles.
    Down one street, there were carts arranged in a line extending for almost two blocks. Lorit walked slowly down the street, taking in the sights as the proprietors started closing down their carts for the night. There were carts where food was cooked, steamed or roasted. They filled the air with strange and pleasant smells. Some carts held mounds of vegetables, fruits and nuts. Some held strange spices and a few held even stranger potions.
    “You look lost, son,” cried out one old woman. “Where you going?”
    Lorit looked at the old woman standing behind her cart piled high with nuts and dried berries. Small vials of colored liquid lined one side of the cart. Each was adorned with ribbons or heavy paper bearing strange writing that Lorit didn’t understand.
    She waved to him and called out. “Come on over, sonny. I’m not going to hurt you.”
    Lorit made his way through the thinning crowds of late hagglers trying to get the best deal of the day just before closing. The old woman wore a heavy woven scarf around her neck and a homespun wool dress much like his mother’s. She had dark, almost black hair shot through with streaks of gray. Her face was slightly smudged with dirt and one eye seemed a little lower than the other. It gave a lopsided look that marred her otherwise pleasant appearance.
    Lorit approached her cart and pretended to be interested in her wares. He picked up a few of the nuts and examined them carefully before putting them back and addressing her. “Yes?” he asked.
    “You look lost,” she repeated. “A farm boy like you, out this late in the evening?” She gestured towards the hills. “You should be headed back to the homestead where you belong, not wandering the town like you are.”
    “What makes you say that?” Lorit inquired. He moved closer to the cart and stood directly beside the old woman.
    “You saying you’re not a farm boy? That be some story.” She laughed at her own wit.
    “I’m not saying that.”
    “Why you wandering the town by yourself, farm boy?”
    “I left the homestead,” Lorit explained. “I want to make something of myself. I don’t think the homestead is the place where I want to spend my life.”
    The old woman reached inside the cart and pulled out a lantern. She fumbled inside her heavy shawl and retrieved a match, striking it on the side of the cart. She carefully lit the lantern and held it close to Lorit. She examined him for a moment, before hanging it from one of the posts.
    “Where you heading, farm boy?”
    “I’m not sure,” Lorit replied. “I only just got here. I haven’t decided where I’ll stay or what I’ll do next.”
    She pointed down the street. “Go three blocks down the way, then turn left. Go four blocks, look for an inn with a sign of a boar and quiver. There be a stable behind the inn. Ask for Nenddar, tell him Shandyl send you.”
    “Thank you kindly,” Lorit replied. He reached in his pocket, to find a coin for her.
    “Keep your coins, youngster,” she said, holding up a hand. “Get off the streets and stay warm. The nights are getting cold. A farm boy like you needs a nice warm place to sleep.”
    “You have my gratitude nonetheless,” Lorit replied. He turned and walked down the street as she'd indicated.
    The Boar and Quiver was a dilapidated inn surrounded by buildings slightly more run down than those on the main thoroughfare were. The sign was so badly faded that Lorit almost missed it in the gathering gloom. He found the stable behind the inn, just where she’d said it would be. There were eight stalls in the