The Portal: Doorway To Adventure: Chapter 3Home « The Portal: Doorway To

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Posted: March 10, 2005 - 01:37:37 pm



It was hard to ignore the women surrounding Sid in his English class; even the

instructor had joked that he was now surrounded by a harem. Sid, his voice deep

and rumbling, had answered that he was sure that it was purely accidental. The

statement had provoked giggles across the entire room. The giggles convinced him

to look around the room with a little more care.

When the papers were handed back, Sid stared at the B+ in a state of shock. Just

about every paragraph had editorial remarks about grammar and structure. He

couldn't believe his eyes, but he read it very carefully. Rather than complain,

he realized that it was his chance to improve. Others in the class were quite

vocal in response to their grades, not bothering to read to read the comments.

Sid was not surprised at the juvenile behavior.

The women in class held very little attraction for Sid. None of them held a

candle to Sally in terms of appearance and manner. Most of them looked like they

wore clothes that had shrunk in the washing machine. Their pants ended halfway

between knee and ankle as though they were expecting a flood. Their blouses were

short by a few inches that displayed bellies that bulged forth because their

pants were too tight. Unlike Sally's diaphanous gown their clothes made them

looked like clowns. Most of them walked like storks without the grace attached

to the birds, clomping about on shoes that were outlandish in their size. Rather

than settling gracefully into their chairs, they dropped into them like sacks of

flour.

After experiencing Sally, Sid understood why his uncle had never married or

acted all that interested in the women around him. Just a week ago, these women

would have held his attention with great ease. He frowned as he realized that he

stood a very good chance of being alone in this world.

History class was a repeat of English. His grades were lower than he had

expected and the women overly friendly. His dissatisfaction with life on Earth

grew. The time passed tediously, yet he remained alert and listened to the

instructors. He took detailed notes about all that was discussed in his classes;

knowing that he would refer to them often. Two more papers were due at the end

of the week, one for English and the other in his Business class.

Finished with his classes, he headed to the student center to get a bite to eat.

As he passed by the information booth, his English instructor called out to him.

He turned, surprised to hear her call him. She rushed up to him and said,

"There's a student position in the library that has just become available. The

job will cover your tuition and give you some money. I thought you might be

interested in it."

Sid was about to respond that he already had a job, but thought better of it.

This would solve several of his problems. It would give him greater access to

reference materials while saving him money since he wouldn't have to pay for his

security guard uniform or tuition. Finally, he would save time since he wouldn't

have to drive an extra hour to reach the job. He replied, "Sure, that sounds

good."

Professor Smith asked, "How's your uncle?"

Sid looked down at the floor, saddened by the reminder, and licked his lips. He

answered, "He passed away last week. His funeral was Saturday."

She looked at him in surprise and said, "You could have asked for an extension

on your paper. I would have understood."

Smiling, he answered, "No. I enjoyed working on it. It helped keep my mind off

my other problems."

"I understand. By the way, your paper was one of the best in the class." She

looked at the young man unable to define what attracted her to him. With his

rough features, he wasn't that good looking and his short military haircut

wasn't all that stylish. He wasn't that tall, coming in at 5'8". He looked fit

and moved with a cat-like grace. Perhaps it was his intensity that drew her

towards him. She was tempted to ask him to join her for coffee, but didn't feel

that would be a good idea.

He replied, "I really appreciated all of the comments you made on it. I can see

how to improve the quality of my papers tremendously. It's going to help improve

my grades in all of my classes."

It was rare for an instructor to get such positive feedback so early in the

semester. Usually, it took three or four poor grades before the student even

looked at the comments and even more before they took them to heart. Taken aback

by his comment, she replied, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied as he adjusted his notebooks so that they didn't

dig into his arm. Before the silence had a chance to become uncomfortable,

Professor Smith left after saying a simple goodbye.

He went to the library and after a very short conversation there, had a new job

shelving books. The new job would make the next two weeks rather busy since he

would need to give a two week notice at his current job, but he could handle

both jobs. He took his responsibilities very seriously and felt that all of the

forms should be obeyed. It wasn't that he needed to work once the insurance

money was paid, but for now it was necessary and he would continue working

regardless of need.

Heading home to study, he realized that he had pursued the opportunity to get a

new job without eating at the student center. His stomach reminded him of his

hunger so he stopped at a fast food joint on the way home. As he sat there

eating his meal, his mind kept returning to Sally. He wanted to join her in

Crossroads, but she had insisted that he give her time to prepare for his first

mission. For now, he was stuck here knowing that there was a gorgeous

intelligent woman waiting for him in Crossroads.

Once he reached home, he decided to call into work and let his supervisor know

that he was quitting. When he called his boss and tendered his resignation, he

was shocked when he learned that tonight would be his last night. He had been

informed that there were three people waiting for work and that replacing him

would not be difficult.

He sat at the desk, staring at the closet with longing. It was time for him to

study, yet all he could think about was Sally. He chased the thoughts of her

from his mind and began to study. The first thing he did was to carefully read

all of the comments made by his English Professor. He had not recognized the

errors made in grammar or the structure of his argument. He wrote up a check

list of the errors that would be easy to spot, but the problems dealing with

structure were much more difficult to categorize.

He went to work on the paper for his business class. He would write a section

and then check it against his checklist. Every error that he found, he corrected

using the examples from his English paper. By the time it was finished, it read

very well. He printed up a copy so that he could read it over again at work. He

looked at the clock in shock. It had taken him much longer to write the paper

than he had expected.

He began to work through his Algebra homework. It didn't take long before he

realized that he couldn't solve a single one of the problems. He consulted his

notes, observing that similar problems had been solved in class. However, he

couldn't differentiate between problems that should be solved one way versus the

other.

He turned to the first page of his math textbook and started reading. For the

first time in his life, he actually read a math book. To his surprise and

delight, he found that he could understand the material. He worked through the

assigned problems and then worked through the rest of the problems of at the end

of the chapter. This was a revelation, just as great as any that he had.

The days passed slowly, filled with classes, work, and homework. Sid paid

attention and worked hard on his classes, but his desire was to be else where.

Finally, the day came when he could step through the portal. It was with a great

sense of impatience that he stepped into the closet.

Expecting a sterile white room, he was surprised to find himself in a richly

colored room. There were blue carpets on the floor, floral wall paper, and a

crystal chandelier. The door at the other end of the room was now easily visible

as a wood door. It opened as he approached.

The waiting room had been totally transformed. Persian carpets decorated the

floor, the coffee table was now made of a rich wood, and the chairs were covered

with leather. The walls were off-white with lamps spaced along the length. It

was a very rich looking room, with a strong masculine feel to it. Seated on the

chair, Sally watched him examine the room with pleasure. She asked, "Do you

like?"

Sid looked at her and answered, "I like it a lot. What a surprise."

The epitome of grace, she rose from the chair and approached him. Her movements

were smooth, hips undulating with sexuality, and the look on her face seductive.

Her gown, a pale transparent blue, barely exposed the treasure that was her

body. Holding his breath, he watched transfixed, unable to take his eyes off

her. Embracing him, she held him tightly. Whispering in his ear, she said, "I

missed you."

He wrapped his arms around her, crushing her against his chest. The end of many

days of separation came as a relief. He whispered back, "I missed you."

It took less than a minute for them to reach the bedroom. Sid undressed himself

as she released the gown she was wearing. When she lay on the bed, he moved

beside her and started kissing her lips. She responded with an eagerness unknown

to her prior to that day. He kissed her neck and then moved to her breasts.

Taking his time, he teased them until they were iron hard points. Her breathing

was deep as his left hand snaked between her legs. It was unbelievable to her

that a man could do this to a woman.

When his lips reached her cunt, she screamed in astonishment. The feeling of his

kisses drove her to sexual heights that were previously unknown. His tongue

tracing the nether lips produced one orgasm after another. When he touched her

clitoris, she locked her legs around his head. Her entire body thrashed on the

bed as an orgasm ripped through her body. The idea that a man should act so

aggressive in bed astonished and excited her. In truth, even a lousy lover from

Earth could have achieved the same results.

Sid entered her gently and thrust slowly. As his excitement built, his thrusts

became increasingly more demanding. Sally was defenseless to his passion. She

surrendered her body and then her soul. This was beyond anything that she had

ever fantasized. She started screaming, "I am yours, I am yours."

The moment of orgasm came to Sid without warning. One second he was thrusting

and the next he was pushing himself as deep as possible while his come shot out

the end of his cock. His orgasm was accompanied with a growl of a wild animal.

He collapsed almost as quickly as he came. With effort he rolled off Sally,

cursing himself for not being good in bed this time. His excitement and desire

had overcome his control and he had lasted only two minutes.

Sally lay upon the bed shaking as her body refused to return to normal. Sid

looked at her in concern, afraid that he had hurt her. This had been almost more

than she could take and it took almost a full ten minutes for her to recover

enough to respond to Sid's gentle questioning. She looked at Sid and said, "That

was amazing. I didn't believe it could be better than last time."

The words were meant to comfort, but Sid understood that his desire had been too

strong for a great performance. Thinking she was lying to spare his feelings, he

said, "Next time, I'll last longer. It was just that I missed you so much."

Sally sat up and asked, "What do you mean? That was outstanding."

Frowning, Sid confessed, "I didn't last long at all."

Laughing as though he were telling her a joke, she said, "You can't be serious.

Are you teasing me or something?"

"I'm very serious," replied Sid. He added, "I wouldn't tease you about something

this serious."

Eyes wide with wonder, she said, "You can do better than that?"

"Much better, I think." Sid looked at her and realized that she was telling the

truth. He asked, "What is sex like on Cassandra?"

"The men are very passive. Occasionally, one will participate with a little more

enthusiasm than others." She looked sad as she thought about the men and their

lack of interest in sex. To compensate, the woman had become very orgasmic. She

added, "The women are much more active. I always preferred women there. Usually,

we just grind our private parts together. I always came that way."

Sid said, "It doesn't sound like the men are much of anything in bed."

"I guess that is true. They've never been the same since the Great War a

thousand years ago," replied Sally.

Curiosity drove Sid to ask, "Why is that?"

The Great War had destroyed the people and culture of Cassandra. An exchange of

artificial viruses had turned men into weaklings with very low sex drives.

Worse, their bodies produced a protein that destroyed sperm with X chromosomes.

The women had proteins that destroyed sperm with Y chromosomes. Many of the man

and women were sterile since they were affected with both proteins. A very few

men and women were able to breed with each other, but the children resulting

from such coupling tended to be sterile. Very few children were actually

fertile.

The race was quickly dying out until they had discovered the portal to

Crossroads. Investigations had led them to discover that the sperm of men from

Earth were resistant to the enzymes of the women. When they tried to import men

from Earth, the equipment of Crossroads would not allow it. Further

investigation revealed that there were rules that had to be followed for the

equipment to function. The man must save the woman from dire circumstances and

the rescue must take place on a planet named Chaos. Without the rescue, the

woman from Cassandra would never get to couple with the man from Earth. The

children produced by such a union were often fertile and able to produce

children of their own. It wouldn't be long before the population of Cassandra

reached a half million once again.

Sally looked at him for a minute as she debated about telling him the truth. It

was forbidden to tell him the whole story, only enough to keep him satisfied and

coming back. She said, "I can't tell you."

Sid asked, "Are they going through the whole damsel thing so that they can

experience an Earth man in bed?"

The question was close enough to the truth that Sally had no problem answering.

She said, "Yes. The damsel will expect the hero to have sex with her."

"Won't you be jealous?"

Sally looked at him in puzzlement, not quite understanding the word jealous. She

asked, "What is jealous?"

Sid was smart enough not to pursue that question. Instead, he said, "Never mind.

When do I go?"

Sally answered, "First, I have to train you in the culture of Chaos so that you

can function there. Then, we have to pick a mission. Finally, we have to decide

how to go after that mission."

The next week was spent learning the culture of Chaos. It was a very in-depth

study covering the economy, social structure, relationships among people, and

the infrastructure. The time spent studying was interrupted for meals, sleep,

and sex. The sex only got better, a fact that totally amazed Sally.

The next week was spent examining three missions of which he was to pick one.

Sally laid out each mission in considerable detail. One element that Sid felt

was the most important was how much trouble the maiden was facing. If she was in

serious trouble, he wanted to know about that mission first. Sally argued that a

mission should be undertaken based on the ease with which it would be completed.

The first mission she presented to him concerned rescuing a woman that had been

taken by a small gang of three men in an isolated area. This maiden was in

serious trouble because the three men had forged papers of indenture. They were

taking her to a city to sell her and would arrive at the city in three days. If

they managed to sell her, then she would become an indentured servant regardless

of the validity of the original papers. Since she was an attractive woman, it

would mean at least five years in a good brothel. As prostitution took its toll

on her body, she would move to lower and lower class establishments over time.

She'd be an old hag in less than ten years.

The second mission she presented to him concerned rescuing a maiden that was

being held by one man in the middle of the city. It was his hope that she would

fall in love with him and eventually marry him. Her situation wasn't desperate

in the sense that he meant no immediate harm to her. The mission wasn't all that

difficult, basically a snatch and flee. The man holding her wasn't an expert in

weapons, so Sid could easily overcome him.

The third mission she presented to him concerned rescuing a maiden who was being

held for ransom. She was safe until the gang holding her decided that they

weren't going to get any money. This was a rather large gang that was well armed

and knew their business. Since he hadn't yet acquired any money in Chaos, that

meant he would have to make his own weapons or go against them unarmed.

The choice was clear to Sid, only the first mission fit all of his parameters.

Sally argued for the second mission since it would be the simplest and could net

the greatest gain financially. Both agreed that the third mission was beyond his

resources for the time being.

Dressed in the leather pants, vest, and boots that were common on Chaos, Sid

stepped to the portal and paused to look back at Sally. It was hard for him to

believe that this beautiful woman had entered his life. One more step and he

would be on another world with its own laws and customs. Fixing her image in his

mind, he stepped through the portal to Chaos.

He found himself in a small wood paneled room about the size of two old

fashioned phone booths placed side by side. Turning, he unlatched the door and

stepped into a hallway that led to a bank lobby. Everything was just as he had

expected. The portals were connected to rooms in a worldwide chain of banks. No

one noticed that one more person left the bank than had entered.

Leaving the bank, Sid found that he was on the main street of the town and took

a moment to examine his surroundings. This was the town of Pottsville, a town

with a population of about four thousand people, which made it a fairly

respectable sized town for Chaos. Across the street from the bank was the

headquarters of the Potters Guild. Horse-pulled wagons with their loads of

charcoal or clay were driven down the dirt road to where the pottery factories

were located.

Up the street, there was an inn with a sign that showed a bed, mug of ale, and a

roast under a large pot. From what Sally had told him, it meant that they had

rooms, tavern, and restaurant under one roof. The large pot represented the name

of the inn. Considering the fact that he didn't have any money, it would be ages

before he could stay in such an expensive place.

It took him a few minutes to get oriented and then he headed south out of town

towards the river. The woman that he was to rescue was being brought north

towards the town and was about three days away. The plan was for him to walk a

half a day south and to work at an apple orchard picking apples for the

remainder of the day. He would work the next day at the orchard and then tackle

the three slavers in the middle of the third day.

Taking his time, he walked down the road checking out the sights. The women were

dressed in conservative dresses, but not so conservative that they weren't

showing a little skin. Most of the men were dressed in the same manner as he,

but they were armed while he wasn't. A couple of men looked at him as a likely

target for a mugging. He smiled at them as if to invite them to try. The

invitation was regarded as a hint that targeting him might not be such a good

idea.

Sid was not upset that he was not attacked, but it would have been a good way to

get a weapon. There were rules to this game and he had to play by the rules.

Sally had emphasized that a winner of a fight had the right to the spoils of

battle. If someone attacked him and he knocked them unconscious, then he could

take everything and anything that he wanted. If he were to attack someone for

any criminal reason, then he would violate the heroic code and would not be able

to return to Chaos. He didn't see any problems with the rules of the game; they

were fair as far as he was concerned.

Leaving the town behind, he came across the quarry where two dozen dirty men

were hard at work. Several men were loading wagons with pale gray clay in large

earthenware pots. As a product of twentieth century Earth, he had never seen

anything like the mining process in which they extracted clay from the ground

and prepared it for use by potters. He watched as men dug out the clay with

short handled hoes and placed it into a basket. The clay was then dumped onto a

drying area to dry. Once the clay had dried, a number of men broke the chunks of

dry clay into a fine powder and sifted it to extract any rocks. The dry clay was

then carried over to an area where it was placed in earthenware pots and mixed

with water. He noticed that these earthenware pots were delivered to the wagons

to be transported into town. He wondered if he had observed the entire process

or if potters applied their own treatment to the product.

He followed the road to a wooden bridge that spanned a muddy river. Stopping on

the bridge, he looked down at the sluggish river that flowed below him. A couple

of men were fishing using hand woven nets. Each man stood in the river, the

water coming to his knees, and tossed a large net out into the deeper water.

Retrieving the net, the man would untangle any fish in it and add them to a

woven basket on the shore. Most of the fish were small, but occasionally there

would be a larger one. From the distance, he couldn't tell what kind of fish

they were.

Glancing up at the sky, he realized that he had been moving rather slow and that

he needed to pick up the pace if he were to get to the orchard in time to earn

dinner. He walked past small farms growing different kinds of crops.

Undoubtedly, they would sell the crops in town. Their proximity to the town made

it possible for them to deliver their goods fresh and early in the morning.

As he moved, he observed how the land had been cleared of trees for making

charcoal with the subsequent use of the land for farming just an added benefit.

He stopped and studied a small farm, watching the farmer take care of his crops

using manual tools. The farmer and his children were out in the field working

the ground with hoes, removing weeds around the bean plants.

Once again, he realized that he was moving too slow to make it to the orchard in

time. It was time for him to increase his rate of travel. He stopped and

stretched to loosen up his muscles, undoubtedly providing the locals with an

unusual sight. He broke into a distance-consuming jog in order to make better

time. His pace was such that he could keep it up for a long time before getting

tired.

An hour passed as he jogged down the dirt road. The air was cool and the sun was

warm so that it felt good to be moving. He slowed down to a fast walk and then

to an even walk once he was approaching his destination. Sid recognized the

place by the large number of people working around the trees picking apples.

According to his briefing, they would work here for the next two days and then

move on to the next farm. In two weeks, there wouldn't be a single tree within

miles of there with an apple remaining upon it.

Sid stood by the side of the road watching the activity around the orchard. It

didn't take him long to identify the person in charge. He watched the owner of

the farm work for several minutes getting a measure of the man before

approaching him. On arrival, he waited for the man to finish giving instructions

to one of the overseers. In a polite voice, he said, "Sir, I need work for a

day."

The man turned to examine Sid, taking in his clothes and posture. He frowned at

the lack of weapon. Even migrant workers carried clubs or knives. The fact that

the man was wearing clothes of reasonable quality was in sharp contrast to his

unarmed state. There was only a single explanation that made sense to the owner,

Sid was a professional fighter who had recently been defeated in a duel. The

owner believed it wouldn't be good to irritate the man standing before him. He

asked, "What were you expecting to do here?"

"Pick apples, sir," answered Sid pointing towards the people working in the

orchard.

The answer was not what the owner had been expecting. Surprised, he said, "Okay.

Get a basket and get to work. I pay one pinch per basket."

Sid took a minute to figure out how much a pinch per basket was worth. A pinch

was the lowest unit of currency. Four pinches made a single quad. A low-end room

at an inn cost two quad. Four quads made a shell, which was a normal day's wage.

He'd have to pick sixteen baskets to make a normal day's pay. He wasn't sure if

that was a good wage, but he nodded his acceptance.

Sid went over to the stack of baskets and grabbed one. The paymaster was

watching over the baskets and asked, "Are you just starting?"

"Yes, sir," answered Sid in a respectful tone of voice.

"Grab a ladder from over there," said the paymaster with a grunt. He examined

Sid for a second trying to figure out why he was picking apples. Giving up, he

added, "You can't pick apples if you don't use a ladder."

"Makes sense to me," commented Sid with a grin. He imagined that a person who

only picked the apples that were within reach wouldn't be very popular with the

other pickers.

Before heading over to a tree, Sid paused to watch how others were working. He'd

never picked apples before. Apples appeared magically at the grocery store in

his world. It was actually pretty simple. One set up a ladder and then picked

apples placing them in the basket. When there weren't any apples within reach,

you climbed down and moved the ladder. Satisfied that he could do the work, he

went to a tree, set up his ladder, and started picking apples.

What looked simple was more work than he thought possible. The basket was larger

than a bushel basket and when filled was very heavy. The ladder wasn't very

stable and he had to work to hold the basket, pick apples, and keep his balance.

The apples did their best to keep from being picked. His first basket took

almost an hour to fill. He realized that he would be doing good to earn a quad

and a half by the end of the day.

He carried the basket up to the paymaster. The man looked at the basket for a

second and said, "Fill the basket level. Don't pile them on, they'll fall off."

Sid looked at the other baskets and realized that he had put more apples in his

than others had put in theirs. The paymaster moved the overage into another

basket before handing him a single pinch and the partially filled basket. Sid

walked away while studying the pinch. It was a small glass disk with a few

barely perceptible flakes of gold embedded within it. It didn't look like much,

but he put it into his leather coin purse.

Returning to the tree where he had left the ladder, Sid went back to work. Sid

persevered and soon found that there was a knack to removing the apple from the

branch. His second basket took a little more than half an hour to fill. He

dropped it off at the paymaster and collected another pinch and an empty basket.

It was during his third basket that he found a way to remove the apple very

quickly by giving it a short jerk and a twist. That basket took about twenty

minutes to fill. He carried it over to the paymaster and set it down. The

paymaster frowned and poured the apples out onto the table. With a look of

surprise on his face, he put the apples back into the basket as he said, "You're

fast."

Sid didn't comment as he accepted his third pinch and an empty basket. He

returned to work taking note of what worked well and what didn't. Soon he was

strategically placing the ladder to cover the most densely packed areas of the

tree. He had finally picked the tree clean and set down his basket to move the

ladder over to the other tree.

When he returned to his basket, another man was getting ready to walk off with

it. Finding it incredible that someone would try to steal his apples, Sid asked,

"What are you doing with my basket?"

The man looked like he lived at the very bottom of the economic ladder. His

clothes were worn with holes that hadn't been patched. His face was unshaven.

When he opened his mouth to speak, Sid could see that he had lost a number of

teeth. After pulling out a knife, the man said, "It's mine."

"I don't think so," replied Sid as he positioned his body to respond in case he

was attacked. According to the rules he had to follow to remain a hero, he was

justified in taking direct action against the thief. He examined the knife and

saw that it could barely be considered a knife. It was nothing more than a thin

sliver of metal stuck between two pieces of wood that were tied together to

serve as a handle.

"You're unarmed," said the man as if Sid might not be aware of that fact.

"I see you can't count. I guess that proves that you're as stupid as you look,"

commented Sid with a smile. He hoped to provoke the man into attacking.

"I can count."

"You said that I was unarmed."

"You are," countered the man. He felt that Sid was making fun of him somehow,

but he couldn't figure out how.

Raising one arm and then the other, Sid said, "One. Two. I count two arms. I'm

amazed that you can't even count to two. It seems that counting to one is even

beyond you."

A crowd had gathered and Sid's comment caused a number of the people watching to

laugh. Angry at being made the butt of a joke, the man jabbed his knife towards

Sid's stomach. Expecting the move, Sid caught the hand and twisted the arm.

Lifting his left knee, he used it to bend the arm in a direction in which it was

never meant to bend. The result was a loud snap as joint gave way. Releasing the

hand, Sid gave a short hard punch to the side of the man's head. The man went

down, unconscious before he even hit the ground. Sid took a quick look at the

man and knew he wouldn't be getting up soon. The crowd gave forth with noises

that suggested they were surprised and pleased by the results, but might have

enjoyed it more if the fight had lasted a little longer.

Ignoring the crowd, Sid picked up his basket and returned to the tree where he

had carried the ladder. He set the basket down and positioned the ladder where

he wanted it. As he was bending down to pick up the basket, the paymaster said,

"This is yours."

Sid turned to see the man holding out the knife and a worn coin purse.

Surprised, he said, "Pardon?"

"You won them in a fair fight and in front of witnesses. These are yours," said

the paymaster surprised that Sid hadn't claimed them as soon as the fight had

finished.

"What are they?"

"Clem's weapon and money."

"Thanks," replied Sid as he recalled the rule that covered spoils of battle in

this world. He took the knife and the coin purse. After tying the coin purse to

his belt, he slipped the knife into his belt. Satisfied that he wouldn't cut

himself on the knife, he bent to pick up his basket.

The paymaster stared at Sid for a minute and then asked, "Aren't you going to

quit?"

"Why would I quit?" answered Sid surprised by the suggestion.

"You got a weapon and some money," replied the paymaster.

"Oh," replied Sid looking over at the paymaster. The comment about having a

weapon reminded him that the knife wouldn't serve his purposes. He looked around

and noticed a branch of an apple tree that had been broken by one of the other

pickers. Pointing at it, he asked, "Could I get permission from the owner to

remove that broken branch from the tree? I'd like to make something out of it."

The paymaster looked over at the branch for a minute. He had a good idea what

Sid would do with the branch. It had a nice straight section that would make a

nice short staff. He said, "In two days, you'll get paid a pinch to trim that

tree."

Shaking his head, Sid said, "I need it tonight."

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