Pendragon’s Bank

Episode 20

With only a few pendracles left in her pockets, Sonja was a little worried about how she would pay for the last two items when she found them, so she decided to visit the bank and see if she could “float a loan.” Pendragon’s bank was on the second floor of a three-story building. It looked like any other bank she had ever been in with a large safe and 2 teller cages. What she did not see were any loan officer’s desks so she went to the teller and asked, “How can one go about getting a loan?” “Loans are upstairs” exclaimed the teller. “Go right up. He’s not busy at the moment.”

With some trepidation, Sonja climbed the stairs to the third floor. She was shocked at what she found there. Instead of conventional desks and chairs, there was a large machine through which someone was feeding sheets of gold. As the machine was punching the gold into pendracles, the operator turned to ask Sonja why she was there. He was the most frightening looking character she had seen yet in Spirit Hill. He had a large dragon-type head with many large teeth. His hands had gnarly fingers with long nails that she was sure could maim or kill her instantly should they choose to. He was dressed in a long purple velvet gown. “My name is Alex Pendragon,” he stated. “I’ll help you if I can.”

Sonja related her situation to Mr. Pendragon. But, when he asked about collateral, she had to state that she had none. He thought for a minute or two before he spoke. “For some reason, I don’t know why it is, but I want to help you get home. So, if you operate the pendracle stamping machine for me while I run over to the Grapes of Wrath and get something to eat, I will give you twenty-five pendracles. That should give you enough to buy the last two items on evil Igor’s list as well as admission to Center Court for the spell casting demonstrations tonight.”

She immediately shook his hand in thanks and started operating the wheel to stamp out the coins. The floor was covered with sacks of coins with some empty sacks in the corner. The job was not as easy as it looked. It took quite a bit of force to turn the wheel and Sonja’s muscles tired quickly. Beginning to feel that she could not go on with the job, she sat down on the floor and started to cry. She was lost, scared, and unable to find the last two items on Igor’s list. She was also sure that someone or something was watching her at all times.

Suddenly the words of the wizard with the red ring popped into her mind. “Burn this incense when you feel that you can’t go on. You will be pleasantly surprised” he had said. So, Sonja got the incense from her bag, propped it up in a bag of coins and lit it. The room began to fill with a haze and a most unusual smell, not unpleasant just unusual.

Out of the haze came a little forest fairy that walked up to the pendracle stamping machine and punched all of the stacked gold sheets into pendracles in just a few seconds. When he was done, he walked back into the haze and was gone.

When Mr. Pendragon returned, he was shocked that Sonja had been able to stamp out that many pendracles. He counted out her twenty five gold coins and thanked her for her hard work.

She quickly left as it was nearly time to walk to Center Court, but she still had a few stores to visit.