I was finally able to dump the last of the sand from my shoes this morning as I began my treck across the plateau. The trees began as mostly pine, but have given way to more hardwood trees. I was really surprised at how the road has almost entirely disappeared, but it was nice to walk on grass and pine needles rather than sand dunes.
I am still a few miles from the farm of my friends, but I'll tell you a little about it and them before we arrive.
I met Diana when I first came to Darkan from the east. She was a pretty little lass that didn't speak much, but was firm when she spoke. We courted a little while I worked with the king on some matters of state. It was a lovely summer full of short trips, surveying, and lots of planning meetings.
It turns out that she also met another friend of mine that summer, and he won her heart. They had a harvest wedding and spent most of the winter cloistered away at his fathers hunting cabin up in the mountains.
When the snow melted away it was time for me to continue west. They arrived from the cabin only the day before I was to leave. Since they were headed west to find some farmland we hitched our wagons together and had a couple great days climbing into the hills west of the city.
We found a wonderful spot of land off the beaten way. It had a spring right in the middle of a grand clearing in the woods that would be perfect for a house and a small field to get the farm started. Once we found the site, I spent a couple weeks helping them build a temporary hut to live in and exploring the surrounding area.
It was during those weeks that we discovered their clearing was actually a shallow swamp during parts of the year, and had a good laugh as we dragged their little hut up out of the ankle deep mud.
I haven't seen them since I was here last so I am hoping things have turned out nicely for them. I can almost hear them laughing again.
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