Welcome Home – 2

I was beginning to think I wasn’t dreaming after all.

Two weeks had gone by since my sudden arrival in this strange place, and I was still here. Every time I went to bed for the night, I expected to wake up back in the real world, but every morning I was still lying in my bedroll in my tent.

I hadn’t been idle during those two weeks. Every day was filled with physical labor, leaving me physically exhausted and too tired to consider following up on my encounter with the mayor’s daughter.

Breaking stone for foundations, cutting down trees, clearing brush, sawing wood into lumber, all the various tasks that went into constructing a building were new to me. The townsfolk from Bening were immensely helpful. Whenever I had a question about something, or needed advice, I could find someone who knew the answers.

And, after just a short two weeks, my house was starting to look like a house. It had four walls, a doorway and two windows. The doorway didn’t have square corners and the windows were different sizes, but for my first efforts, I was pretty proud of the outcome so far.

In my trips to town, I met most of the people that lived there, and I found I was able to trade the various resources I had discovered on my wood lot for goods and basic services. I wasn’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but I had enough coin stashed away that I could eat a professionally cooked meal when I wanted one and keep my tools sharp and in repair.

Rafter-raising day came and went, and before I knew it, I was on a ladder hammering home the final row of shingles on the roof. I climbed down the ladder and stepped back to admire my work. The rows of shingles were straight, but they were close enough together to keep the rain off. Good enough.

“Well done, Mr. Jack.”

I had an audience. I turned around and saw a stately woman standing at the end of my path, leaning on a cane. She had a haughty look, her perfectly coiffed hair piled high on her head. She was dressed in brocade and fine leather, and I recognized her from the de***********ions I had overheard.

“Ethel, how can I help you?” I asked politely. Ethel was the magistrate, the mayor’s wife, and the mother to the delightfully fuckable Kitana. I had a brief flash of nervousness. Had Kitana told her mother what I had done to her? Was Ethel here for retribution or revenge? I didn’t see angry villagers with pitchforks behind her, so I assumed her visit was benign.

“This is a tradition,” she said, and picked at a fleck of dust on her fur wrap. “I must come by and see how your progress is advancing. You have a roof on, very good, but a roof doesn’t make a home, Mr. Jack.”

“One step at a time, right?” I quipped, quoting some of the villagers who had given me encouragement not to give up.

“Quite right. And your next step is to get some furniture in your house. See the local shop. I believe Tina has a line of low-end furniture to get people like you started. Once you have enough to properly live in, I’ll send a representative around to inspect. I believe you have met my daughter, Kitana?”

I cleared my throat. “Uh, yeah, she was kind enough to show me to my plot when I first arrived.”

Ethel sniffed. “Demeaning work, climbing up into these hills. Well, someone has to do it, and she’s young enough to not mind getting sweaty. I’ve shown the flag, as it were. I don’t imagine I’ll be making the climb again. Welcome home, Mr. Jack.”

The magistrate turned around and walked off, using her cane more as a prop than a support. I couldn’t help but compare mother to daughter. Both had the same sway to their hips. Thirty years ago, Ethel had probably been a total fox. Now, she was a bit too shriveled for my taste.

The prospect of having Kitana alone at my property once more inspired me to get moving. If furniture is what I needed, then I’d get on that right away.

I’d seen the furniture shop in my many trips to town, but hadn’t ever ventured inside. The interior smelled like wood shavings and varnish, and it was laid out in nooks, displaying complementary items together.

My hopes that I would be able to afford a full set of furniture right away vanished the moment I walked into the door. If I spent all the money I had, I might be able to purchase a single chair. Definitely not enough to entice Kitana to visit.

I wandered around the store until I heard a cheerful humming coming from around a kitchen display. I found the hummer on the other side, a petite blonde girl, slim and pretty, with her hair pinned to the side with a jeweled flower. The pale purple skin of her face was dusted with freckles and her nose was a cute little button. She had a leather apron wrapped around her waist, and she was powdered with fresh sawdust. If I had to peg her age, I would have placed her in her early twenties.

“Are you Tina?” I asked. “Hi, I’m Jack.”

Tina gave me a brilliant, welcoming smile, and her bright blue eyes twinkled. “Hi Jack! I heard you might be coming to my store. How are you enjoying Bening?”

“Idyllic in every way,” I said truthfully. Including this cute little woodworker. She had an air of cheerful innocence that gave me an instant desire to corrupt her. She didn’t have as many curves as Kitana, but I had a thing for tiny girls.

“Isn’t it?” she gave a happy sigh. “So, you’re here to pick out furniture?”

I nodded reluctantly. “I am, but I have to admit, this is all out of my price range.”

“Oh, my. Of course. You just arrived, didn’t you? And you’ve been busy with your house. No time for collecting bugs to generate some coin.”

“Bugs?” I quirked an eyebrow at her.

“Oh, yes. Bugs can be very lucrative. Auni can tell you all about it. You’ve probably seen him. Little kid, carries a pack twice as big as he is.”

I nodded. I had seen that kid around. He even delivered the mail. “I just finished my house, so I guess I can look into that.”

“Perfect! In the meantime, I’ve got a set of furniture blueprints around here somewhere. You’ll have to put them together yourself, but it’s far more affordable than the goods in my shop!”

I followed Tina to the back of the shop and eyed her ass as she bent over to fumble around in a drawer. Her loose skirt did a good job hiding her assets, but I could tell she had a cute little butt.

“I appreciate your help on this,” I said.

“Ah, here they are!” Tina came up with a stack of hand-pressed paper drawings. “Let’s see, you need a bed.