Morning.
The first beams of light crept over the roofs of the caravan, chasing away the night in favour of a clear, fresh morning. Beasts and people alike slowly woke and begun with their morning routines. Thin threads of smoke rose from the wagons and colourful tents, low voices started to fill the camp.

Some were up earlier than others. At the animal pens a sizeable, bearded man was looking over the beasts, giving them water, food and checking their health with a practiced hand. The man’s name was Beal Eastley.

There were unusually many beasts for such a small caravan, and there were not only kensers, but horses, moa and, surprisingly, even a great golden suba. Beal, however, didn’t seem to find this unusual at all, and treated all the beasts equally lovingly.
The last thing he did was grooming all the kensers, horses and the suba. The moa preferred to clean their feathers themselves.
After almost an hour he was done, and after a last glance over the beasts and checking the fence once more he went back to his own quarters.

The man arrived at a huge carriage. Before entering he bent down and inspected a pregnant banderwolf lying under the cart. She wagged her tail when he approached.
The litter wouldn’t come for another three weeks; it was more of a habit than of necessity. It came with the job.

He swept aside the cloth hanging over the door and entered. Inside he was met by his daughter Emeline cooking up some breakfast.
She turned to the door while cleaning her hands on a kitchen towel. “Mornin’ da, how were the beasts doing?”
Beal smiled. “Hesta Emeline. They be benny good, shines like polished apples, at least for a while now.” He stamped of some dust on the doorway and sat down on a chair at a small table that despite its size still barely had any room.

The wagon was filled with drawers, colourful cloth and was an organized chaos of various items. Somehow three beds had been squished in there as well. In the smallest bed one could barely make out a white-haired boy with his head on five huge pillows and tucked in with at least three blankets.

A small-voiced “Mornin’ da...” could be heard from the little pile.
“How are you doing Sid? Feeling any better?” Beal sat down at the bed’s corner, adjusting the tug and checking the boy’s temperature.
“I’m feeling little better, thanks.” Sid smiled up in his father’s face with the big hand on his forehead.

“You’re not as warm as yesterday. That’s good. You’re probably up and running any day now.”
Sid yawned.“Yea. Up and running...soon.”
“I’ve washed him and gave him some breakfast earlier.” Emeline said while she cleaned some dishes from the day before.
Beal nodded. “Good, good. I’ll give him some herb-tea to speed his recovery.”
Emeline wrinkled her eyebrows slightly. “Just don’t make it too strong. He’s not a kenser, you know.”

Beal smiled while he opened small drawers on the wall picking out herbs of different kinds. “I’ll just give him some watered out peppermint tea, don’t worry sweetie.”
Quietly he muttered “Need to buy more purple coneflower soon, this is all mouldy...”

“Talking of horses, weren’t you gonna sell two of the mares tomorrow?” She leaned against a chair and glanced at her father. “You’re famous for those beasts over half of Anaxas, you’re bound to find a costumer.”
Beal shrugged. “We’ll see how it goes.”
Emeline angrily rose and put her hands on her tights, glaring at her father. “Well at least try. Remember when you could have sold those four moa to that noble for a scandalous amount of money, and you just chickened out?”
Beal snorted. “He was some royal galdory brat; I could see from miles away he would have ridden those poor birds to death, one after the other. Believe me, I know the type. I won’t sell to them if they don’t take good care of them, Em. That’s my way.” He soaked herbs in some boiling water and held it up in a mug.

He handed the mug to Sid that begun to sip the drink.
He then sat down at the table, took out a couple of leather straps and begun to lubricate them with a greasy piece of wool fabric. “That’s the kind of man I am.”
Emeline sighed heavily. “I guess you are.”
Sid smiled tiredly.

((This is an extract of the past where I wanted to show who the two most important characters in Sid's life are and what they are like, especially his father. This was planned like part one of two "chapters", and if I have the time I will post part two another time. Hope its not a boring read!))