Mayor Hunter and Pound led the way and were followed along the trail to the car by Beni, Simon, and Captain Colere as well as several of the curious freed people, and Mayor Hunter promised that he would return with supplies as soon as he was able. In the meantime, he instructed them that there were many pecan trees there in the forest where they would be able to gather nuts from the ground beneath. Beni had been silent up until this point, but she interrupted him during his speech.
“Mayor, there are many small animals in these woods to compete with for nuts. It would be in our best interest to see to it that supplies are brought to us as soon as possible,” she instructed in a bold yet amicable tone. Mayor Hunter did not see the use in arguing with her logic, and he promised to be back quickly with camping supplies and hunting gear.
“We can’t bring you all out from hiding and reveal you too quickly, or questions will arise. On my next visit, I can teach you to fish in the stream in the valley though,” he suggested, and Beni looked to Pound for an explanation of what fishing was. A young girl who had followed spoke up before Pound could get the chance.
“I love fishing. Will you bring chicken livers? Catfish really love them,” she told them all, and Pound explained to Beni the concept of using bait for fishing.
“I will if they don’t smell too bad. How’s that?” the mayor answered.
“Great!” the little girl replied. Beni seemed pleased, though she had grown quite hungry herself since their arrival, and this new world seemed to have a harsher climate than she was used to at home. The wind was cold, and she wished that she had the shelter of warmer clothing.
“Will you take us to the store before you go back, then?” Beni requested. The mayor pulled out his wallet and thumbed through the bills that were in the fold. He handed the princess a twenty dollar bill, and she looked at the paper money as if she did not understand the importance of such an item. “What is the purpose?” she asked as she took the money from his hand.
“That is the equivalent of a precious stone,” Hunter explained, and she held it up to the sun and looked through it.
“But I can see through it, and it has no beauty. How can you call this precious?” Beni asked, and Pound snickered.
“That is a twenty dollar bill, and it represents twenty dollars’ worth of precious gold hidden away in safe storage by the United States government. Among all of the other pictures and words, you see ‘United States’ written on each side, and the United States guarantees that this piece of paper is worth twenty dollars,” the mayor began to explain, and he could see that she was having difficulty with the concept. “Just trust me. The clerk at the store will know what it means and will accept it in return for goods.” Beni looked at Pound with wonder.
“Could we make more of these twenty dollars?” she asked them, and Pound really laughed at the suggestion.
“Oh, you could try, but then I would have to take you to jail,” Pound told her, and he explained to her who his employer was and how the Secret Service frowned on others printing money.
“No doubt. Hop in the car with me, Beni. This money will get you a few things from the convenience store to get you by before I return. It’s not much and would only account for a tiny sprinkling of gold dust, so please use it sparingly,” Mayor Hunter recommended as he opened the door to the backseat of the car. Beni got in first and sat down in the back seat. Instead of going around the car to the other side, Captain Colere, who considered himself to be the princess’ personal body guard, climbed awkwardly over her to sit on the other side of the backseat. Mayor Hunter knew that these two giants were fresh to earth culture, but he still thought that was a funny sight to see. Pound rode shotgun, and when Simon tried to climb into the car with him, he stopped the little primate.
“We need for you to stay here and keep an eye on things while we’re away,” Pound told his little friend. Simon’s eyebrows went up as if the little fellow did not understand. “We will be back,” he continued and closed the door of the car. Simon backed away and sadly ran up a tree nearby to watch them go.
The four of them made a quick trip to visit the queen of the flies at the convenience store where they bought a jar of peanut butter and a box of crackers. The mayor drove them back to the edge of the trail where Simon was still waiting, and he dropped Beni and Colere off to rejoin the refugees.
“Nice group of people you brought back, Pound,” the mayor declared as the princess disappeared into the woods.
“They’ll need your help, Mayor,” Pound replied. “Let’s get back to town. You’re hiding something, and you can fill me in on the secret along the way.” Surprised by Pound’s intuitiveness, the mayor exhaled with exhaustion as he threw the transmission in drive, and he started to tell the story of the obstacles Crush was running into back at his office in Franklinville.