-----The horse immediately sees Sol and, hearing its name, trots over to the young warrior. It raises its head once in a spirited fashion and then in recognition begins to put its nose as close to Sol as it can.
-----"Sir, you have come back!" comes an excited, but bright friendly voice. Looking over, everyone sees a young preteen girl. She stands up on the bottom part of the fence boosting herself high enough to look over the fence at Sol. She wears a plain dull gray dress and her dark black hair hangs down her back.
-----A pleased smile has grown on Sol's face as he finishes inspecting Thunder. "He's well." The warrior mentions to Raven. Then as if he's only just heard the girl, Sol turns to her and cocks his head to one side, "I've come back? Well, I've never actually been here. But..." Sol stops momentarily, then narrows his eyes slightly. He keeps his statement friendly, but Sol is obviously going through some effort to keep his voice level, "When did ye last see...'me'? An' what direction did 'I' leave in?"
-----"Why, you were here just before noon, sir? Why do you ask me these questions?" the girl says getting down from the fence. Her expression looks a bit nervous.
-----Just then a medium-sized man wearing a straw hat comes from around the side of the barn. The man's frame is strong though not overly so. His tanned skin reveals the amount of time he spends out of doors while his blue eyes show some concern.
-----Seeing Sol standing close to Thunder, he approaches and stands beside the young girl, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He glances about at everyone standing outside the fence and then he looks back at Sol.
-----"Sir," he says to the young warrior, "was there some problem with the deal we made earlier?"
-----Sol shows the girl a friendly smile, intent on not worrying her. Looking up at the man he assumes to be the girl's father, he says, "There may well be. Whoever ye spoke t'earlier wasn't me. Rather someone who seems t'be posing as me. My companions and I..." Sol gestures to his friends, "...are on th' trail o' some thieves, an' whoever is pretending to be me is a part o' that group. Must be a really good disguise if ye think we look th' same. Though we sound different, apparently. What th' thieves stole were several horses, including Thunder here."
-----The Gorian then smiles oddly and adds, "This must seem a little odd t'ye, but I'm not lying t'ye. Can ye please tell me everything that this man said t'ye, who he was with and which way they left? Also if ye tell me about yer deal with them, I'll sort that out so that yer not left out o' hand."
-----Sol frowns, a little concerned about the prospect of the thieves leaving another group of people, this time honest farmers, in some sort of trouble.
-----Raven walks up to stand besides Sol. "He speaks the truth. Was there an odd looking halfling with the group that dropped off the horses? We've been after these thieves for days."
-----Raven looks over to Sol and then back the man, "Yes, what kind of deal did they make with you?"
-----The man looks curiously at Sol and Raven and then answers in a friendly tone, "Well, the deal was to trade this warhorse and the two other horses for two of my horses and a pony." The man waves his hand toward Thunder and the horses that Raven and Rinda originally had. He continues by saying, "In exchange for the warhorse, a cart was added to the deal."
-----The man turns his head and says to Sol as he looks him over, "Yes, you're right. You do talk differently than whoever it was that was here earlier."
-----Turning to Raven, the man says, "No, whoever was here was alone. I saw no group or halfling."
-----A bit of concern crosses the man's face as he says, "I understand you wanting your horse back, but I must have some kind of trade or payment to maintain my teamster trade."
-----A nod of understanding accompanies Sol's offer, "Well, how about this. We'll exchange two o' our horses fer those other two that ye traded before. They belong t' Sir Greene, so I'll probably have t'pay fer them when I return t'Oakwood next. As fer Thunder, I originally paid 100 gold plus a trade for an older horse. Would 150 gold paid now suffice?" Sol asks.
-----Raven says to himself, "A cart? That will be easy to track and it will slow them down." Raven turns to talk to the man, but then waits until the man replies to Sol's offer.
-----Sarah is deep in thought. She is lost in her own little world; she says nothing.
-----The man's expression brightens. "Yes, sir!" he says, stepping forward to shake Sol's hand, "That is more than fair."
-----Sol then asks Bradley to count out 150gp from the saddlebags, so that Sol can pay.
-----As he does, the man offers to Sol, Raven, Sarah and the others, "It is a shame that we both were duped in such a manner. Would all of you wish to wait around here? In a couple of hours, my wife will have a splendid supper made."