I promised my employee that I would buy her some boards, since I can recall and she can't, and she hates lumberjacking. I don't blame her. I hate it, too. I have a backpack full of runes to all the carpentry and tinker shops. I buy out all of their supply of boards for Mairi and ingots for Joran, who hates mining, and finds it a bit hazardous to his health. I wish they started with thirty of the Raw Material Items and gained 20 each spawn. It would be better.

Since my runes are in this order in my backpack, I jump from Jhelom to Vesper to Minoc to Yew to Britain to Trinsic to Magincia to Serpent's Hold to Moonglow and then back to Skara Brae. Then I begin again. It was on the second round of shop jumps that this thing happened to me, and it happened in Yew.

William Aybara was there at the Yew carpentry shop when I arrived. He wasn't there for boards; he was there for a house deed. We chatted for a while... about how I finally am the owner of Best Dressed Britannian, the lack of spaces to build houses, and the huge influx of new citizens over the holiday weekend, among other things. In fact, there was a new citizen in the shop with us.

I tried to buy boards, and the shopkeeper told me: "I'm sorry, but you can't afford that!" Ugh. How embarrassing. I had forgotten to pick up more money when I was in Skara Brae last. I excused myself from William and the New Citizen, explaining that I needed to walk to the bank, and started for Empath Abbey.

I suppose I should say... that when I go Shop Jumping, I wear no armor, and carry no weapons. I keep myself as light as possible, since boards are so heavy. I carry nothing but my bag of runes, fifty of root, pearl, and moss... and my town outfit: A Monroe Green fancy dress.

I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around, but there was no one there. I thought maybe the footsteps were made by a bandit who heard where I was going, and was going to accost me on the way back.

When I arrived at the bank, I pulled money out... and a bow. Unfortunately, I didn't have any arrows in my box. I hoped that the sight of a bow would be enough to scare my attacker off. Oh! How I wished I was Glorious, so he would know that I was a Master Archer!

I started on my way back. I paged through my spell book to see if there were any offensive spells in circle Four or less that used moss, pearl, and/or root, but nothing else. I thought about Tracking him... but figured that was silly, because you track something when you *want* to meet up with them... not when you don't.

I heard the footsteps again, just south of the Abbey. Once more, I turned around, and once more, I saw nothing.

Further down, when the woods got a bit thicker, I heard it: "Psssst."

I paused. Nothing. I started walking again.

"Psssst!!" It was a bit more urgent that time.

By now, I was getting a little irritated. I turned around and said, "Oh for *crying* out loud! What!?"

"I like your dress," the voice said.

My brow crinkled. "You like my dress?? That's IT? That's all you wanted?"

"No," the voice said, "There is one more thing." I saw the bushes rustle, and I drew my bowstring to my chin. I saw a man rise behind the bushes. "There is no arrow in that bow. Put it away. Don't be foolish."

I looked at my bow... then looked at him... the string still drawn to my jaw. "Yes there is," I said, not quite believing what I was saying. "It's an invisible arrow. It is a *magic* arrow that can kill you and six others in a half a millisecond, and so I beg you to keep your distance, for I won't hesitate to use it should you come closer."

He laughed at me. "Silly girl, do you not recognize me?" I looked at him. Hair matted and muddy, shirt torn, and coal-faced, he held out his hands to show me that he was unarmed. "We have met before."

"If we have... I don't remember it. You'll just have to tell me who you are."

"You are *The* Janey, aren't you? The famous one?"

"I'm not famous," I told him, matter-of-factly, "It's just something they made up. Now... Say your name!"

Slowly, He took a step towards me and out of the bushes. I aimed my arrowless bow directly at him. That's when I saw it. Tied around his leg, over a jagged hole in his pants, was a bandage. A dark green bandage. A *Monroe* green bandage. I dropped my bow to my side, and my jaw to my chest.

"Monroe?" I said quietly, "Is that you?"

"Yes. Tis I." He tried to bow.

"MONROE!!!" I yelled in excitement. He ran over to me (well, limped, really) and clapped his left hand over my mouth and his right behind my neck.

"Shut up!" he hissed. "Shut... UP! They think I am dead. They cannot know I am here!"

"Yes... I heard you were dead. You have been missing for quite some time. Where have you been?"

"I'll tell you another time," he said. "Do you want to know, now, the other thing I wanted?" I nodded. "You may not want to oblige me, which is fine. It could be dangerous for us both, and you may not want to be involved. I am in need of somewhere to hide."

I thought for a moment. "I have a place for you to hide. It's not very pretty... nor is it very comfortable... but it will be safe for you. It's yours for as long as you need it."

He smiled. "If it is more comfortable than a rock against a tree, I'm sure I will love it."

If I was to escort Monroe to his hiding place, I was going to need ammunition other than my invisible arrows. I found William Aybara still at the Carpenter (Monroe hid behind a Yew tree while I went inside) and bought all of the arrows I had money for - one hundred and fifty of them. Surely enough to get us to where we were going.

Monroe and I walked south, then south west. We avoided Rivendell; we avoided the crossroads. We even avoided the Wandering Healers. If we heard footsteps, we hid. We used no lanterns, no torches, and no magical spells - and tried to walk quickly but quietly between the trees.

While we walked, Monroe told me about his journey from Papua through the teleporter to Moonglow, where he had been hiding for more than a week. Then he stowed away on a ship to Vesper, then trekked across the continent to Yew. He was headed to Skara Brae to look for me, but I had found him first. "My first lucky break," he commented. I had a feeling he was leaving quite a few holes in his story on purpose.

When we arrived at Best Dressed Britannian, it was just short of midnight. I rushed Monroe through the door and into the corner room. I opened an armoire, and told him to climb in.

"An Armoire?! I'm not hiding in an *Armoire,* silly girl!" I heard footsteps outside.

"I know you're not!" I whispered. "Get in, and I'll close the doors." The front door of the shop opened. "Do it, man!" I hissed as I began to shove him into the closet.

When Monroe was safely inside the armoire, I flew through the door to the back room and blurted, "Welcome to Best Dressed Britannian!"

"LOL," said Davian. "It's just me... I'm alone. You don't have to be nice any more."

"Nice to see you, too." I crinkled my nose at him. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean by that?? This is my shop too, you know."

"Right. Yes... I know. You're just... not usually here. That's all."

"Well... I wanted to see if you wanted to go kill some Titans with me."

"That sounds like fun... but I've got some things I need to do. Tomorrow, okay?"

A <Kathunk> came from the corner room.

"What was that?!" Davian exclaimed. When I told him I had heard nothing, he went on, "Well I did. Somebody has climbed onto the patio and is breaking into our shop! I'll kill them! I'll have their heads!"

"No they're not. Davian... calm down. It was nothing, really."

But it was too late. Davian was already headed for the corner room, with his sword drawn. I went through the other door. Davian was busy walking over every step of the room to see if he could bump into something invisible. When that didn't work, he started opening containers. Armoire... empty. Armoire... empty. Armoire... empty. Then... he went to the Armoire that Monroe was in, and opened the door. I cringed. Then... I saw. Empty. I sighed a huge sigh of relief.

"Really, Davian. I had a bag of runes on the table and it probably fell off onto this crate. That's all." I pulled the bag of runes out of my backpack and quickly laid it onto the crate while he was turned the other way. "See? I'm an idiot. Sorry."

Davian grimaced at me. "Janey... be more careful, will ya? You're going to give me a heart attack."

"Yeeees, Davian. I'm sorrrrrry, Davian." I teased.

"I'm going hunting," he said, and left. I watched him walk through the door, then tiptoed over to the window and watch him walk away. Once he was out of sight, I recalled to Skara Brae.

I bought Brett and Percival out of chicken legs, Bread, and milk. I bought Migon out of grapes, apples, and corn. I bought the Belita and Cullen out of yellow potions. I bought Nastassia out of lanterns and fuel, and still more fuel from Brendan. I bought five bolts of cloth, a pair of scissors, and two sewing kits from Ara.

I Recalled back to the shop.

I walked into the corner room, and opened the armoire I had shoved Monroe into. I shoved myself inside this time, and drew my backpack full of food and supplies on top of me. I struggled to close the doors around me. In the dark, I found the thin rope hanging above my head, and I pulled.

The bottom opened abruptly, and I fell the three feet onto the hay below. I crept down the five stairs, and poked my head around the corner.

Monroe was sitting in my washtub, with suds to his armpits, and suds in his hair. I blushed, not realizing I would find him in such a state. "I brought you some... uhhh... food." I dropped the backpack near the washtub and walked behind the wall leading to the other room.

"They're suds, girl. Suds shouldn't embarrass you." He held up his hands full of soap. "So... you have a basement?"

"Yes. When they built this place, they asked me whether I wanted a slab or a basement for a foundation," I told him while I tailored him a robe. "At first I said I wanted a basement, so they dug the hole. Then I decided I wanted a slab. The contractors never filled in the hole - too much work, I guess - they just made it *look* like a slab foundation. So I made a trap door in the armoire. It's good for hiding people, anyway." I dropped the robe near the tub. "You realize that there are two who will need to know you are here, yes?"

"Can they keep their mouths shut?"

"Of course they can."

"Alright. Bring them down here tonight, then, and I'll tell you the whole story." I nodded, and left Monroe to wash up by himself.