A World Apart The Jake Thomas Trilogy - By Steven A. Tolle Page 0,61

pointed it at the girls and Maxis. He took a picture of the three of them, then showed them. Cherise clapped with delight, grabbing Hailyn and pointing.

"I need to shut it down for now." Jake said as he closed out of the pictures. "I am not sure how long I can keep it charged." He powered the phone down, wrapping the earbuds around it and putting it back into his pocket.

"Thank you for sharing that, Jake." Hailyn said warmly. "Do you want to continue on?" Jake nodded.

"Where to next? It is your tour." Hailyn asked Cherise.

Cherise grabbed Maxis' leash and they made their way down the street, with Cherise pointing out the various shops. There was a clothing store, a general store and a tavern. At the end of the buildings, there were several stands set up selling food and drink. They stopped at a vendor selling a fruit drink and Hailyn bought them all a cup. Jake found the drink to be cool and delicious. After finishing their drinks, the little group continued on their way.

After the stands ended at the next cross-street, the shops gave way to more homes; these were closer together than the area around Cherise's house. When they reached the cross-street, Cherise asked if Jake wanted to go see her father's smithy.

He said yes and they made their way through the neighborhood of homes. After passing several blocks of homes, a group of larger buildings appeared ahead, lining both sides of the street. These buildings were made of wood and stone, with both entry doors and large wide doors for deliveries. Jake could see several wagons and horses in the street and groups of people standing on the buildings' porches, talking. Smoke rose from chimneys on a couple of the buildings and they could hear the sounds of metal ringing on metal, wood being sawed and hammering.

Cherise led them to the building on the far side, where the sound of banging metal was coming out of the open doors. As they entered the shop, Jake's nostrils stung with the smell of burning coals and he saw a slight smoky haze hanging in the air. Cherise took them past racks of knives, metal fixtures and stacks of raw metal into the rear of the shop. The next room opened up into a large yard with a couple of smaller outbuildings. The room had several workstations along the walls, with grinding stones on the desks and hammers, tongs and other tools hanging above them. In the center of the room was a large pool of water surrounded by several anvils. Each anvil had two barrels next to it. A brick furnace with a large leather bellows was in the back corner near the yard. Jake could see a couple of boys his age, dressed with heavy leather aprons, working with glowing hot metal rods at the anvils, supervised by an older man with a stern face. The older man saw Cherise, the sternness fading into a smile, waving her over.

"Hello, Cherise." The man said loudly over the sound of hammering metal. "What brings you to the smithy?" He took in Jake and Hailyn standing behind Cherise, a curious look in his eyes.

"Hello, Helman." Cherise replied happily, giving the man a quick hug. She gestured back at Jake. "I just wanted to bring Jake over to see where Father works."

"Well, he is the back yard with a couple of guests." Helman said, pointing out into the yard. His gaze drifted back over to the boys working at the anvils. "You should go out and say hello. I am sure he will be happy to see you and your friends." He gave Jake and Hailyn a nod and walked back over to the anvils.

The little group headed out of the smithy into the yard. The yard, covered in short grass, was surrounded by a low stone fence. A gate was built into the wall that led out to another street. Near the back of the yard, a couple of small wooden buildings were pressed against the back wall. Jake gave a little start as he could see Norlan, along with Dominic and Jonas, standing near the front of one of the buildings quietly discussing something. Dominic noticed the group approaching and the conversation ceased as they turned to face Jake and the girls.

"Hello, Jake." Norlan said with a smile. "I see that Cherise has you out and about exploring the city." Maxis ran up to him. He reached down