The Expedition

(releasing the first two chapters. Enjoy!) 

Chapter one -- The Tavern 

"Oh, small lad, what will it be?" a smooth calm voice with pep belonging to a tough-looking man with brown pilot goggles sitting on his head asks.''Good evening sir, I'm not sure what it will be today, being that I don't know where I am." A young-looking boy, a teenager, brown hair, dark green eyes, and one little freckle on his right cheek, with a face of confusion and awe. He is not too short, possibly around 5.7 or 5.8. The boy sits down on a brown cow skin leather stool by the bar, setting his satchel down on the counter in front of him. "What do they call you son?" The man behind the bar slings his white cloth over his shoulder and rests his elbow on the counter. "They call me Mav sir, short for Maverick."

The man turns to Mav. ''Well Mav, a pleasure to meet you, they call me Boey, you say you are unsure of your surroundings, yes?" Mr. Boey picks up a mug from the back and wipes it with his cloth. "Yes sir, I don't think I have been here before, And I am not sure how I got here." Mav looks around at the walls decorated with bottles, colored rocks, stones, and books with no names. "Please, you can call me Mr. Boey." He turns around and fills the mug with a drink from a machine that says 'beer' engraved on the front. He slides it in front of Mav. "Thank you kindly, Mr. Boey, but I am only 16." Mav respectfully declines. "Oh but only when a boy has his first beer he becomes a man." Mr.Boey leans close and whispers to him "But do not worry, it is only bubbly cider." Mr.Boey and Mav chuckle. Mav takes a sip. "So newcomer, it seems like you're looking for answers, and I for sure got em'. I'm the only owner of this joint, have been for years" Mr. Boey picks up a big dusty beaten book from a cabinet and plops it down on the counter. "Yes, I was in my home one minute, fell asleep, and here the next." Mav explains still sipping the soda. "Well my friend, you have arrived at Boey's Tavern, It's a place of wonder and mystery, but most importantly, adventure, only the bravest end up here. This place is not anywhere on our earth, it simply, exists in-between time and space" Mr. Boey casually flips through the book as though he's looking for something. And Mav's eyes go wide. He has never heard of such, a place that doesn't have a location? It seems impossible. But he just assumed Mr. Boey was a bit different. "Say, what are those goggles you got there?" Mav asked. Mr. Boey chuckles and points to them, "I am a veteran my boy. It was different times than ill tell ya." Mr. Boey continues, "You see, I have a brown holster to carry my most important potions and gadgets." Mr. Boey points to his holster around his waist with small bottles and tools sitting inside. He has a red bandanna tied around his neck. He's short, but not under 5 feet. "Let me fix you a pastry!" Mr. Boey insists, already preparing the ingredients. If there is one thing Mav has noticed about Mr. Boey, is that he loves talking and baking. "Thank you, but I still do not know why I am here. This seems like a dream" Mav mentions, his eyes following Mr. Boey walking frantically back and forth making a scone. "Ah yes! You're a scout! And this is not a dream my friend." Mr. Boey, still baking behind the bar counter. "Scout? I don't follow." Mav seems unsure. "Yes, yes, they are the first step." Mr. Boey grins and the oven dings. "First step? To what?" Mav asks. Mr. Boey takes out the scone and sets it on a wooden plate. "To become a master adventurer of course. These are the people that have been working with me for years and have experience, most of the time they do their job correctly and quickly" Mr. Boey sifts some powdered sugar on top of the scone and places it in front of Mav. "Master adventurer? But why me?" Mr. Boey looks at Mav and smiles. "Well because you have potential, and it was set in the stars.Your destiny, if you will" Mr. Boey's cheery tone makes things make sense somehow. The bell on the top of the door dings, a tall man walks in, slim and sophisticated. Brown khakis and a red long sleeve polo. "Ah! Here is one of my master adventurers now!" The man hangs his brown hat and coat on the hooks and sits down. "Good evening Mr. Monty, how was it?" Mr.Boey begins preparing a coffee. "It was splendid as always, almost ran out of the M5, but otherwise, it was enjoyable." Mr. Monty responded cheerfully. "Oh yes, we are running out of stock in those, but we are getting a new shipment next weekend." Mr.Boey hands Mr. Monty the black coffee. "What is an M5?" Mav interrupts the conversation, millions of questions sit in the back of his mind. "Well my boy, it is a type of potion, it is the one that enhances your instincts. Your senses get stronger. Makes ya' feel like a superhero" Mr. Monty chuckles and pulls out the almost empty bottle of light pink liquid to show Mav, who takes the bottle and closely examines what's inside. "You see here, the good ole M5 got its name by the letter and number system, so things stay in order. The K3 is my favorite, and there is the E2 and the Y1, those are good as well, we have thousands of potions." Mr. Monty explained. Mav continues to explore the strange liquid sloshing around in the bottom. "This here, a scout?" Mr.Monty asked Mr. Boey. "In fact he is! Maverick is a bit uneasy about his first day." Mr.Monty grabs his hat and coat to go home for the rest of the week, "Hey, I don't blame you for being a bit skittish, I was the same way my first time. You'll get used to it, It's quite fun traveling the world" He puts his hat on his head and tips it to say goodbye, then exits the tavern. Who knows how he got home, only Mr. Boey would. Mr. Boey rips out a page in the book he previously had. "See this here lad, your first assignment." Mr. Boey leans over the counter and points to the page stained and old-looking with coffee stains, it's a map. "Now because you are but a scout, you will get an easy assignment first. England, 1950. You need to locate a golden box." "How would I get there? Is it not even 1950?" Mav looked puzzled at the thought of going somewhere so far, and not even in their timeline. "Easy, you see that telephone booth right there?" Mr. Boey points to the left side of the tavern next to a painting of a man in a plane wearing the same goggles Mr. Boey wears. Mav nodded. "You insert the year on the phone, and it'll get ya there in a jiffy," Mr. Boey said while snapping his fingers to the old pirate shanty playing on the record. Mr. Boey pointed once more at the map and showed Mav what to do, "Just follow this map and you'll be just fine, but don't lose it" Mr. Boey looks at him, nods his head towards the telephone booth. "Well go on then, no time to waste my lad." Mav folded up the map, tucked it into his satchel, and walked over to the phone. He looks back at Mr. Boey with a concerned expression. Mr. Boey just smiles and waves his hand to go on. Mav picks up the phone and dials the exact date he was going to. He puts the phone up to his ear with a shaky hand and types in the year he was assigned.