Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #15 June 2015 | Page 95

and wanted to keep the pup safe as she had promised.
Sighing, she knew she was going to need to ask Grey
for help. Gently, she placed the mother’s head on the
ground and pushed herself up, scooping up the pup
into the crook of her arm.

Angwenth hadn’t come very often, choosing the life
of solitude over that of buddies with ale. She had met
Mills enough times throughout her life that he gave
her a friendly wave and shouted out to her. “Angwenth! What brings ya to my little paradise?”

The sun was setting by time she got home. Thankfully
the beasts in the forest seemed to have hidden from
the sound of the crying troll. Smart creatures. The
pup had woken a few hours prior and was running at
Angwenth’s heels, seemingly oblivious to the loss of
its mother as he chased butterflies.

Angwenth greeted him with a warm smile. “Hail
Mills! I’m here to see Grey.”
She scanned the room and saw him in the back corner,
flirting with a lady that looked too young to be in the
tavern, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Mills let out
a small chuckle and nodded. “Well, you know where
to find him. Don’t be a stranger, haven’t seen you
since you were a young’n. Do you remember?”

When they did arrive home Angwenth sighed and sat
on the bed. With a small whine, the pup scratched at
her feet to get help up onto the furniture. She smiled
and lifted it onto the sheets. “I need a name for you,
pup. I’ll think of a good one first.”

Letting out a warm laugh of her own, she nodded respectfully. “I remember being too young to be in here,
sitting on my pa’s lap, listening to stories I was too
young to understand.”

He tilted his head at Angwenth and barked playfully.
Angwenth grinned and ruffled his ears before getting
up. “I should go find Grey. I’ll be back little guy.”

Mills ran his fingers through his curly hair and
smirked. “I kept it clean, no worries.”

The pup whined and barked at the edge of the bed,
being too high to jump off. Angwenth smiled with a
shake of her head and headed outside. It didn’t take
her long to find Grey. He was at the his usual hangout,
the Old Mills’ Tavern.

“It wasn’t you I was worried about.” She glanced over
at Grey again, who seemed to be making friends with
the young woman’s lips. “Speaking of clean. Excuse
me.”

The tavern was built in a sturdy grey stone on the
outside, but the inside had lovely wooden arches decorating the ceilings and the walls. There were beautiful
hand carved tables with matching chairs arranged
around the room. Someone had spent a lot of love and
time on this tavern, and it showed in the friendships
that were built inside these walls.

Angwenth walked over to the couple, pulling up a
chair and making herself comfortable. She stared
pointedly at Grey and the young woman. When they
were getting into the kissing, Angwenth smirked and
cleared her throat. Grey jumped and spun around,
blocking his face from the expected punch. “She said
she was single!”

No one was quite sure if Old Mills was the man
behind the counter, or his great grandfather. Either
they all looked alike or everyone who ever entered the
tavern promptly forgot if Mills the bartender, had a
family. He was a plump older man, with greying short
curly hair. Mills’s smile always seemed genuine and
his interest was always held when anyone told him a
story. He was the first to laugh at a joke, and the first
to offer an ale in times of celebration or sorrow.

Roaring in laughter, Angwenth shook her head as she
watched Grey’s face turn red. The woman stood up
in anger and smacked him across the cheek before
storming off. Angwenth was having problems catching
her breath.
Grey muttered something under his breath and
slumped down in his own chair. “Are you done?”
It felt good to laugh after the day she’d had. Wiping

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