Read Preserving Hope for Free Online Page B

And then we assemble that knowledge here and teach ourselves to do the same.”
    Will laughed. “So you’re telling me that there are people here, in this village, who can fly?”
    “No, but the Travelers have seen it with their own eyes.”
    “So you have your own people return and tell you stories, and you believe it? Even though no one yet has flown, here, in this village?”
    Arthur’s eyes flashed, and Will could read his anger. This was a man who did not like being challenged. “Our Traders are quite skilled at what they do, and they seem to be able to accurately sense emotion and thought, beyond what mere chance or good fortune could explain. The information collected by our Travelers indicates that these abilities are the gateway into the more impressive feats of legend.” He looked uncertain, though only for a moment. Will suspected that he wasn’t quite as convinced of what he was saying as he seemed.
    Will nodded. He could do everything mentioned, of course, though he’d not had much time to practice flying and only knew the basics of the theory from his studies with Adam. But he could see that this is where it all began, and decided he needed to show interest lest he seem in any way unusual. “I see. Those skills would be incredibly useful for a Trader. You’d know when to push for a better deal or when to stop, for example. How do I learn to do these things? It would certainly help me contribute.”
    Arthur clapped him on the shoulder. “You can be part of the community effort to learn from the bits of knowledge the Travelers bring to us. That’s the purpose of this community. It’s a place where we share information so that we can all grow to be the most powerful people we can become.” He nodded to Will and headed toward the open door. “You’ll want to get some rest. Eva will likely be here shortly to prepare you for your first Trading mission.” Arthur shut the door behind him and left.
    Will reclined on the small bed, arms folded behind his head, eyes closed. He could sense Elizabeth’s Energy in the room next door. As sensitive as he was to Energy at this point, it was as if she was shouting at the top of her lungs. His tracking senses picked her Energy up as a clear flute-like sound, a beautiful tone that he committed to memory and to his heart. He’d be able to track her easily with such a recognizable tone.
    A knock at his door startled him, and the faint waft of Energy — with a harp-like sound — told him it must be Eva. He strode to the door and opened it, confirming his suspicions. “Will, we have a Trading mission starting tomorrow morning, and must prepare ourselves throughout the day today. Come with me.” She turned and walked away, clearly expecting him to follow. Will smiled. She was a strong woman in a time where women were expected to be subservient. He imagined that caused Arthur no end of grief, and his respect for a woman he’d only just met increased as a result.
    Will caught up with Eva, who began speaking without preamble. “Our carpenters ensure we have enough wagons to allow one per Trader, and that enables us to carry the maximum amount of material into each city. We obviously had no idea you’d be joining us, so you’ll ride with me this time and we’ll use that time to teach you our approaches. We rotate cities and towns randomly, because they’ve all started to figure out that we’re quite skilled at what we do. The longer we can go between visits, the better. It’s been at least a year since we’ve visited this particular destination.”
    Will noticed that the village had come to life during the time he’d spent walking to Eva’s room and resting in his own. The craftspeople worked the various shops to full capacity, with much more noise emanating than during his previous pass. He watched as carpenters assembled components into wagons that could haul large amounts of material. “We’ve found that the wagons take up a large amount of space, and