"The far side," Jocelynn said carefully as she listened to Charlotte talking about people finding work in the storehouses at the opposite end of Otker Canyon. "That's where the barges are? On the DuCoumont side of the border?"
"On the Keating side, yes," Charlotte said, nodding. "The canyon itself is impossible for river traffic. The rapids and the waterfalls make it too dangerous for anything larger than a canoe, and even those tip more often than not. Everything has to go overland through the canyon before it's loaded onto barges on the far bank for the journey downriver into Keating Duchy and DuCoumont County."
It was painful for Charlotte to see people who had built their whole lives in Otker Barony turning back to Keating just to find work. Already, familiar faces were vanishing at an alarming rate, and no matter how much her father insisted that it was just a few old folks looking to retire somewhere where life was easier than the frontier, Charlotte knew better.
