Chapter Eighteen

 

Yawning as he woke up, Doc chuckled when he looked to the side to see the ever-present Rosa staring at him. “Creepy Weed. Good morning.”

 

“Good morning, Voice,” Rosa giggled. “They were eager to welcome you back.”

 

“You can say that again,” Doc murmured, thinking about the hours he’d spent with Ayla, Sophia, and Sonya in the bedroom. Lia had only intruded to bring them water, then to have them come eat food. She’d joined in after dinner, which ratcheted the night up even further.

 

“They were very eager to welcome you back.”

 

Doc rolled his eyes. “It’s a saying, not a request, Rosa.”

 

Her snicker was his answer.

 

“Oh? Someone just wanted to poke me, hmm?”

 

“So you might poke me in return,” Rosa whispered, her eyes glowing brightly.

 

The door opened, and Ayla came striding into the room. “I see Rosa has you awake, already.”

 

“I woke up on my own, but now she’s being a brat, hoping for attention.”

 

“Like she does,” Ayla smirked. “She had enough of you last week. If she’s lucky, I’ll let her clean me up afterward.”

 

Rosa lowered her head. The bright glow of her eyes was at odds with her meek tone, “As my mistress wishes.”

 

Doc patted the bed. “Coming to wake me up, my dear banker?”

 

“Yes. We’ll all be waking you twice before Lia adds back into the mix. She suggested it since you were gone for a week instead of a few days.”

 

“She wants to make you all feel better.”

 

“Of course, just like we would for her if our places were reversed,” Ayla said as she worked on taking her shirt off.

 

“I have the best wives the world will ever know,” Doc murmured.

 

Ayla gave him a soft smile as she slid her skirt past her hips. “While we have the most amazing husband.” She quickly got her underwear off, then climbed into bed. “But right now, sir… please… show me again your love.”

 

Doc reached down to her. Hand lightly tracing her cheek, he smiled at her. “As my sweet wife needs.” He gripped the back of her neck, pulling her up to him. “Come here. I need a pliant toy this morning.”

 

“Thank you, sir,” Ayla whispered in joy, doing as he directed her to.

 

~*~*~

 

“Breakfast is almost ready, Doc,” Sonya said from the kitchen. “I went with potato cakes, eggs, and sausages.”

 

“Smells delicious, Sonya.”

 

“Some coffee, husband?” Lia asked from her spot at the table.

 

“Yes, please. I missed that all of last week.”

 

Sophia was bringing the platters with breakfast to the table while Sonya finished up the eggs, the last thing to be cooked. “Good morning, Doc. We still need to cover what we were up to while you were helping the tribes.”

 

The front door opened as Harrid came walking in. “Ahh, good. Breakfast’s almost done.”

 

“Were you gone all night?” Doc asked the dwarf as he took his seat, accepting a cup of coffee from Lia. “Thank you, dear.”

 

Lia just gave him a smile, because Harrid was already talking, “No. I came back late, thankfully late enough to be able to sleep. I just felt that checking the property this morning was a good idea.”

 

Rosa giggled. “We did get loud.”

 

“Sorry, Harrid,” Doc winced. “I’ll do better about that. We didn’t keep the noise down during the pau-wau, and well… I didn’t think about it this morning.”

 

Harrid looked uncomfortable. “Thank you.”

 

“Breakfast,” Sonya said as she pulled the scrambled eggs off the stove. “Everyone, sit.”

 

The only talking during the meal was compliments to Sonya, or people asking for the coffee to be passed. Sonya was all smiles, happy that her breakfast was well received.

 

Doc sighed happily. He was full of good food and had his family around him. “I’ll say it again: thank you for the meal, Sonya.”

 

“It was my pleasure. I think Ayla is cooking dinner tonight. Since we don’t have a staff, we’re rotating the work around us.”

 

“I could cook dinner,” Doc offered. “It’s been a while, and it’s not like I’m healing people all day.”

 

“I wouldn’t mind,” Ayla said. “Before we get sidetracked, though, let Sophia and me tell you about the last week.”

 

“I’m all ears.”

 

“What an odd saying,” Sophia snorted. “We managed to get the rights to tie into the existing railyard here. That’ll make it easier for the growth you want based out of town. Our correspondences with the Uta governor and Salton’s mayor were positive, as well. Salton will be the hub you wanted it to be for the big branching railroad you spoke of. Trade and Luck Conveyance, an offshoot of Trade and Luck Communications, is founded and ready. David will make sure the paperwork is signed off when it gets to him.”

 

“Good. We want to keep those names in front of people. It’ll make it easier for them to accept the goddesses later that way,” Doc said. “I can say that my world did teach me one thing: name recognition is a key to good marketing.”

 

“We took the projected routes Rosa showed us and laid out what we’ll need to convince the governor of Vedana of. We already have the rights to push for the mines south of here, but since you want to expand the railroad, we’ll need his approval,” Ayla joined in.

 

“Rosa sent word back to the clans about what I need. Once we get the initial group of miners in, we can go off to Kitson City to speak to the governor.”

 

Doc chuckled again at the capital of Vedana. The fact that it was “Kitson” instead of “Carson” would always make him laugh. He found it even more amusing that there’d been a Carl Kitson who sounded like the analogy to Christopher “Kit” Carson. “Sorry,” he apologized at the look his wives gave him.

 

“When we get there, we can finish the work for Vedana,” Sophia said, but she had a small smile on her lips. “Where are we heading after that?”

 

“Golden Bay. We need to secure the rights to rail there, too,” Doc said.

 

“The government just named it the capital of the Califia territory five years ago,” Ayla said.

 

“Califia?” Doc asked. He hadn’t heard the name for California before, but it did sound familiar for some reason.

 

“Based on the Iberian story featuring Queen California,” Sophia said.

 

Doc started laughing. Everyone looked at him with questioning gazes, except Rosa, who giggled, too. It took him a minute to control himself. “Sorry, sorry. Queen Califia ruled California in a story in my world. It’s just flipped here.”

 

“Hmm? Do you know it?”

 

“No. I just know the name and that it was what led to California being named what it was,” Doc chuckled. “I know you would love if I could recall more stories from my world.”

 

“Yes, but it’s okay.”

 

“We went off-track again,” Lia said.

 

“Right…” Ayla shook her head. “Doc does that. After we get things settled here in Vedana, we can go to Califia and work on things there.”

 

“After that, we’ll head north into what was Oregon and Washington on Earth. We’ll grab a ship there, then go up to Pale River,” Doc said. “We’ll do what we’ve done here: secure rights for the railroads and get the tribes we meet a shaman. The church will likely be actively looking for us by this time next year, which is fine… if they leave Fiala alone.”

 

“If anyone shows up in Furden, we will know, Doc,” Rosa said softly. “My sister will tell me. She and Fiala are getting along well. I will talk with her again tonight.”

 

Doc stroked her tangled, blue-tinged green hair. “Thank you, Weed.”

 

“It makes us all breathe easier that we’ll know if trouble comes,” Harrid said.

 

“The mines will pull in the money we need for all this, but do we have enough for the initial push?” Doc asked Ayla.

 

“Yes. We’re fine for now. If the mines are what you hope, we’ll be well ahead.”

 

“Oh, it will be,” Doc chuckled. “The ones to the south are good, but the mine in the northeast of the territory is even better.”

 

“I will check with my sisters in Furden about the clan sending dwarves. Also, I will speak with Ambrose, as she and Posy are back in Deep Gulch now,” Rosa said. “That will give you the timetable you are hoping for.”

 

“Perfect. We can make firmer plans once we know,” Ayla said.

 

“Is Clyde doing okay in town?” Doc asked Harrid, as the conversation seemed over to him.

 

“Fine. He is wondering if he’ll be needed, though. You’re mostly planning to take the existing trains.”

 

Doc chewed his lip in thought for a moment. “I had thought we’d need to head out to the mines, but with Yucca here to help as a go-between with the tribes and the clans, I don’t think we will need to.”

 

“We haven’t purchased a wagon and horses yet,” Lia said, “so it would be easy enough to send him back to Fiala.”

 

“Another solid ally beside her, since he knows more than the others,” Sonya added.

 

“If we’re not going to use a wagon until Pale River, it makes sense,” Sophia said. “I can drive one well enough. Harrid can ride shotgun with me if we do that.”

 

“Hmm…” Doc murmured before sighing. “I’ll go talk with him and see how he feels about things. If he’s good with it, I’ll get him a ticket home. However, if he wants to stick with us, I’m not against it. He’s a solid ally, and we could use him later even if he’s not vital then.”

 

“That makes sense,” Ayla said. “We’ll see you when you get home. Are you going to cook dinner?”

 

“Yes. I’ll swing by the butcher after talking with Clyde. We’ll have a few quiet days until the clans get here. Might as well enjoy them.”

 

“Ready to go,” Harrid said, getting up.

 

“See you all soon,” Doc said as he got to his feet. Rosa got up, and Doc waved her down. “Stay here. I’ll be back soon enough.”

 

“Yes, Voice,” Rosa murmured, smiling at his thoughts of her having fun with the others. Her eyes started glowing. “I will if they ask.”

 

That earned some laughter from Sonya, who figured it out first. “I’ll make sure she’s distracted.”

 

“Thanks,” Doc grinned.