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nice to see you healthy and busy in your new assignment My Lord. I promise to return with more gifts sponsored by Governor Talton and High Priest Simon. They are sending aid to their neighbors to the north who have taken in so many refugees. Governor Talton made a waiver from the crown’s travel restrictions to send these provisions.”
    After Michael’s goodbyes, he walked into the darkness and transformed into a Giant Ki Eagle and was back in his apartment in Southport in time for breakfast.

Chapter 4
     
    For two extremely busy weeks, Michael oversaw the preparations for the forty wagons of supplies that would move north, and his partner Timothy saw to the purchase of everything that would be sent in those wagons. Diana was often with Timothy and his wife Carolyn assisting with the purchase of provisions. Michael was impressed with her immediate grasp of business. It was common for merchants in Southport to have their wives as full partners in all their business enterprises, and Michael usually deferred to Diana’s opinion on business matters.
    Diana and Michael discussed both the business and relief progress each evening before bed. The apartment sales had gone better than expected, and they added another thousand in gold crowns to their donation so that some luxury foods could be added to the provisions; Diana purchased palm sugar, dried mangos, nut-stuffed dates, pistachios, almonds, spices, and dried coconut to add to the shipment.
    One night before Michael’s departure, as they ate dinner Michael commented, “My love, you know that I can make more golden crowns using dwarfish magic, but I fear that if we donate too much and spend too much, it will raise questions about how we get all this money.”
    Diana explained, “There’s always heavy secrecy about business matters, but already people are talking about our wealth. Our apartment is one of the largest and most elegant in the city and our donations to the relief effort are widely known. Having this aura of success and wealth is actually good for our business efforts. Of course, Timothy and Carolyn think one of your Snowport ship captains discovered a chest of ancient gold coins on a wreck in the Southern Sea. The story you created last autumn seems to satisfy them, and the acceptance of the most important banker and merchant in town goes a long way to covering our tracks.”
    “I’ll defer to you about that. Just in case, I’ll make another five thousand gold crowns before I leave. You may need money for other relief supplies or business opportunities.”
    Since it was winter, wagons were not needed for the harvest, and many plantation owners had volunteered to send their wagons and drivers along for the trip north. The success of the apothecary shops in Southport had given the gentry confidence that their employees would not return with the plague. In addition, the year had provided a bumper crop, and the plantation owners were happy to have a large buyer to keep their prices up.
    The plan was to stop first at the makeshift settlement at the roadblock at Green Mountain Pass. The soldiers manning the pass reported that about five hundred people were camped in cold wet conditions hoping for a chance to enter Southport province. The two apothecary wagons would treat everyone before they were allowed to move down into the warmer conditions at the major refugee camp at Wellington Tea Plantation. After clearing the pass, the wagon train would move on to the crossroads at Marigold Meadows. After seeing to the needs of the locals, fifteen supply wagons plus one of the apothecary wagons would head east to Swamp Ford, and after making a delivery there and treating the sick, ten would move on to Oxbow Narrows and Azure Falls. After all fifteen were unloaded, the wagons would return to Southport for a second load of food and supplies.
    Twenty-five wagons and ninety guards, of the one hundred total guard detail, would move on to the much larger city of Broken Arrow