Astonished at the strangers’ sight, Alan couldn’t help to wonder exactly where he was. It wasn’t only the cave or the “kettle-cart”, but now a gentleman with elegant but peculiar clothing, weird gadgets and an educated accent which he had never heard before, was right in front of him. After a few seconds, he finally answered.
-Hah! I believe giving a surprise heart attack to an unexpected victim, lacks elegance too.
The elegant gentleman stopped for a while to look at allan from every angle, took a weird pipe from one of his pockets and after lighting it up to smoke a bit, he said.
-Well little one, you’re obviously not from around here… i know every corner of New London and it`s surroundings, yet never before in my life have i seen someone with your peculiar clothes… and let’s not talk about your unique accent.
Alan was very cautious around the stranger, but his curiosity took the best of him. And after looking at his surroundings one more time, he asked the gentleman
-New London? What kind of place is that? And first of all, who the hell are you? You look too fancy to be from a small town, unless it’s a very classy town.
The gentleman completely astonished by the questions, couldn’t help but to chuckle and wonder.
_-Hahaha... ok, so you’re definitely not from around here, eh boy? Probably everyone in New London knows about me and without any doubt anyone who lives around here would know where we are right now.
He took a brief pause to smoke, then looked distressed at his pocket-watch, and finally he offered noble-like reverence to invite Alan inside his cart._
-Come inside young one… if your questions were honest, then we have a lot to talk about... i’m usually pretty busy you see, but you’re lucky today… i’m currently waiting for my apprentice to show up, but i sent him towards the woods hours ago to look for some trinkets and he haven’t returned yet.
Without any more words, he entered his cart first, almost as if he was trying to show the boy that he was a trustworthy person. Alan still stunned by the whole situation, decided to follow the gentleman inside. As soon as he was in the cart, he was speechless at the sight of a lot of weird trinkets and gadgets all around the place.
-Wow… this is pretty amazing… it looks like a custom made workshop… by the way, where in this tiny cart do your apprentice and you sleep, sir?
