I Built This City Chapter 32: Chapter 32

Read chapter 32 of I Built This City by ThePudding on NovelPedia.

Village Ellen Ellen’s home was near enough the city that while autumn was a busy time, it wasn’t quite as busy as it was out here in the frontier. The village was frantic in storing various root vegetables and a few imported fruits from the Merriweather market in each household. Minor repairs of the houses kept the craftsmen busy… not to mention the ongoing additions to the inn. She hadn’t realized how a small community like this really worked until now. Merchant Ellen—or ‘Trisha’ as she was known here—had offered to help pay for the expansion, but she’d had to spend less than expected. In a small community like this, a bigger inn directly benefited everyone… and the entire village pitched in to erect the new wing. The foundation had been dug out and laid almost immediately, with a sort of haste that worried Ellen at first. One of the villagers had explained to her that they had to get the foundation’s mortar mostly-cured before framing the addition, but she’d only grasped the essentials there. It was interesting, but she had no real plans on using the knowledge. She saw Mason Ellen and Carpenter Ellen occasionally, asking their questions to the people doing the work in their not-subtle way of fishing for relevant knowledge. She couldn’t yet tell them apart on sight, guessing only from their interest in whatever task was being done at the time. She wasn’t sure how the villagers couldn’t tell the difference between those two and Merchant Ellen, though. They were so wildly different it was obvious. Merchant Ellen liked to wear one lock of her hair forward over the shoulder instead of back, and had a slightly wider smile. Not to mention a slightly shorter stride. It was plain as the nose on her face that she was nothing like either of the girls that sprang from Builder Ellen. They really shouldn’t press their luck by showing up looking so different from Merchant Ellen. Ellen was certain that eventually the villagers would notice the overwhelming differences and start to ask uncomfortable questions. She’d have to talk to them more about that, but it felt awkward approaching the Ellens who came from her ‘sister’ that way. At least they were more approachable than Hunter Ellen. That one had grown cold and serious, not to mention looking even more different. She never came into the village any more, but didn’t seem to want to. That worried her. How had she grown so distant? She broke herself off from her thoughts as she slid a plate over to one of the guests, the bodyguard of a merchant passing through. This guest was a woman, which was unusual for a guard profession, but if the Guild vouched for her, few would object. Merchants were a very number-focused people. “Here you are,” Ellen offered with a smile. “It’s supposed to be cold tonight, will you need an extra blanket?” The woman looked up with a frown, her dark eyes glancing over Ellen, then off to the side. “No, I have my own.” She stabbed at the roasted potato with her knife. “Is that your sister over there? What’s she doing?” Ellen glanced over to the table nearby, where Merchant Ellen was deep in discussion with three of the townsfolk. Pauley was there, so it must have been something serious. She tilted her head to listen, then shrugged. “That is my sister, it sounds like they’re talking about the borders of the village and where they end,” Ellen answered honestly. “Where it’s safe to hunt and fish and so on. I just try to keep this place running, it’s not something I know anything about.” Which wasn’t quite true. Merchant Ellen kept her abreast of what was going on with all of that, but she wasn’t involved in the decision-making. The woman listened and chewed, then swallowed as Ellen wrapped up her brief explanation. One look at Merchant Ellen, then back to Ellen herself, and she frowned thoughtfully. “I’ve been through here before, and it is much more lively now. Are you new here? I’ve heard some strange stories…” It wasn’t the first time this sort of thing had happened. El