My Summer Visit at Many Rivers

I sat outside in my garden the other day, eyes closed, basking in the hot summer sun, and wondered if I wanted to spend this season in Alburnium…. where would I be?

Oh, I know the perfect place to spend the summer months. Care to join me? Well then, read on and let's pay dear Marya the Healer a little visit. She won't mind. She always enjoys when company stops in. 

Let's go!

Marya's cottage is just outside of Many Rivers. If you've read Illuminated, then you know this is where Alyra stayed for a couple of seasons during her travels through the White Road Chronicles. Marya is a Healer and offers a safe haven for those needing respite. Her home is surrounded by the King’s Highway, which passes her front door. Behind her cottage is a stream of the freshest, sweetest-tasting water that flows from Aloblase through underground aqueducts. 

I’m sure I’ll be given Alyra’s cozy loft room with a wonderful view of the pines surrounding the cottage and the river the flows behind the house.

Marya wakes up early to greet the sunrise and takes care of the gardens around her cottage. Her front yard is adorned with vibrant flowers and vines growing around the porch and windows. Whenever she opens the windows, the fresh scent of jasmine and wild rose wafts inside, freshening her home.

A sketch of Marya's cottage from my travel journal.

​I grab one of her large woven baskets and follow her outside. We’re to fill several baskets with ripe vegetables to take to the market: green beans, tomatoes, okra, and many other delectables are ready to be collected. I try to learn as much as possible about growing and caring for crops. My gardening skills are quite basic and I struggle to keep anything alive through our hot summer. She has seen many seasons and knows a thing or two.

While Marya sorts through all the produce we picked, I head out to feed the chickens and ducks. As I cross the yard, I spot several trees laden with ripe peaches. Oh, how wonderful! I must collect some of those, too.

A rooster crows. Remembering my task, I hurry toward the coops. The yard is dotted with pink, yellow, and blue wildflowers their scents permeating the air. Goats meander about munching on the grass. 

I grab the feed bucket and scatter the kitchen scraps Marya collects for them. I check for eggs and find six brown and tan speckled ones. I love the speckled ones most. Sometimes they are too pretty to eat. However, Marya insists on making a hearty meal before we trek into town to sell our bounty at the marketplace. I slip the eggs into my apron pockets and head back inside. 

Upon returning to the cottage with the eggs and a bucket full of peaches from her small orchard by the river, the scents of fried eggs, ham, and biscuits permeate the kitchen. I cut up some tomatoes and a couple of the peaches, then we sit to a fine meal to start our day. Marya says the trip to town will take about an hour in the pony cart, so we need to build up our strength for the busy day ahead.

Marya smiles while sipping her tea, a twinkle in her eye as she anticipates the fun adventures awaiting us today.​

Pickles is ready to visit her friends in town.

​After a hearty breakfast, Marya and I load the pony cart with baskets of extra produce from her garden. She has a bounty of cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, and the peaches I picked this morning. 

Marya’s mare, Pickles, is ready to go. The brown mare loves trips into town where she gets to visit the other horses, and creatures, who are notorious for slipping her sweet treats. 

I’m looking forward to visiting Many Rivers, especially the bakery where I’ll be sure to get a few sweet rolls to snack on. I may also visit the boot maker because my shoes from back home won't hold up well under all the traveling required to get anywhere in Alburnium. 

Soon, we are headed down the woody road toward Many Rivers. The elms mixed with sparse pines sway in the warm breeze. Birds sing to us as Pickles trots along, her hooves clattering over the rocky path.

On the road to Many Rivers

I lean forward as we come to the bridge where Issah met Lotari and Alyra after they’d escaped the fire set by Darnel's henchmen. Do you remember the water splashing as Issah and Lotari wrestled in the river? Or how Alyra’s fear of the strange man abated some after he healed the burns she’d gotten while running through the burning brush to safety? 

I smile and sit back in the cart seat. Marya is also smiling. She’d heard the story, too. 

“Almost there,” she says, giving the reins a flick. Pickles picks up her pace. Time is a wasting and there’s much to do today.

Soon, the thick growth of trees opens upon a bustling village that has grown more than I’d anticipated. Pickles hurries toward the town center, stopping before the two-story Meeting Hall. My eyes, wide in amazement, look over the white stone building that glistens in the late morning sunlight. They’ve made improvements since I last visited.​

Sketch of Many Rivers township from my travel journal.

One of the side walls has been moved out to make the general meeting room larger. They now have creatures from the surrounding woodlands attending weekly lessons and readings from the King’s Book of Letters. Not to mention, the population seems to have nearly doubled as more cottages and businesses line the main street that circles around the center gathering grounds. 

“Let’s get these baskets over to the Market, girlie,” Marya says as she hops from the cart. One of the town’s young boys has come to remove Pickle’s harnesses. Soon, she cantering off toward the stables to visit her friends. 

“Oh,” I exclaim, eyeing a new business where rows of bookshelves show through the front windows. “A bookstore? I–”

“After we unload the goods,” Marya chuckles. “Then you can explore to your heart’s content. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to see how far we’ve come over the past few years.” She turned in a circle, hands on hips as she sighed. “It does my heart good to come here. I do believe I’ll check out that bookshop with you, dear.”

We soon have the cart unloaded. Marya takes me around, introducing me. Folks are kind and gracious. I suppose being a Story Catcher is fascinating to them. Trips like this help me find new stories from the World of Alburnium to share will all my readers back home. Coming here does my heart good and gives me the creative boost I need to continue my work. 

Before I know it, my travel pack is full of small bags of of homemade candies and small cakes, bottles of fresh juices from the apple orchard, and other oddities that people share with me. 

When the bootmaker heard I was passing through, he insisted I stop in for a fitting. He was sure that he had something that would make my travels more comfortable. 

The people of this Kingdom town have always been kind and generous. 

Marya heads for the common grounds where many were already cooking up a grand meal to celebrate the end of summertime. The passing seasons help remind us that in each situation we face only lasts for a certain time. Just as Summer passes into Fall, and Fall into Winter, so our trials and tribulations shall pass, as well. From each, we learn that we can gather what provisions and blessings each time offers, and grow in knowledge and wisdom as we travel our life’s path.

Such is life, don’t you think? Such is what I’ve learned during my travels through Alburnium. My hope is you’ll pick up precious nuggets along your own journeys too. 

I did make it to the bookstore, along with Marya. She found a book on gardening, saying that there was always room to learn something new.  She also picked up an adventure tale about a pirate ship. I laughed at the way her eyes sparkled over the promise of another exciting read. 

As for me, I picked up a history book that had a rather large section about elf lore. I might need that sometime soon. Oh, and I also picked up a blank book to use as a travel log to document the places I plan to visit next. For you see, my next destination is Rodonal because I heard their fall festivals are spectacular. 

Care to join me?
Be sure to check out my next Story World Newsletter coming in November.