by Allan Joyal
I nodded. "Possibly true, but I've stumbled quite a bit myself."
Elizabeth gave a bitter bark of laughter. "You still stumbled in a direction, and you did help. I don't know where you got the coins you've spent, but right now those do more for the group than my skills. And I know we have to travel more. This village can barely feed the current inhabitants, and there is no way they can feed all of us. Besides the only occupation is the mine."
I wanted to say more, but just then Galmin stepped out of the tavern. He had a dirty cloth he was rubbing his hands in. "Yes?" he asked in his most obsequious voice.
Elizabeth gave me a cold stare and then turned to the man. "I asked to talk to you here because I didn't want to cause a major scene. It's my understanding that you have used illicit and illegal methods to force Kariy into indentured servitude."
"My lady, I have no idea what you are talking about. Her papers are properly signed by Versil, the mayor of the town."
"But not by the dwarven representative, nor by a properly accredited merchant or guildsman who takes responsibility for ensuring that the terms of the indenture are properly kept. I look at this girl and see her wearing clothing that even by the much looser standards of my homeland are hopelessly indecent. She doesn't even look people in the eye. It is my understanding that there is an expectation that any indentured servant is to be provided with no less than two new outfits a season, and treated with the respect of any paid retainer."
"Well, I guess there are rules about that, but we could not obtain the signature of the dwarves. They haven't had a representative here in more than five years, and no guild maintains a hall here. We would have had to send to Linktrum to obtain a guild signature. And they would have demanded that Kariy be sent to them to ensure her indenture was properly recorded and monitored. I needed the help here, and Versil understood that."
"But you are still in gross violation of the rules. How long has Kariy been indentured?"
Garmin stood silently, his face slowly turning red. Finally he looked to the left and whispered. "Twelve years."
Elizabeth nodded triumphantly. "And by the laws of the dwarves who own this territory as well as the guilds who first established a system of indenturing people, the limit was eight years. Now what costs have you incurred other than her daily maintenance?"
"Huh?" Garmin snorted. "What do you mean?"
"Did you have to pay some cost to bring Kariy in from outside the village? Did she require any special equipment to perform her job? Did you pay to send her through any special training or school?"
"She was an orphan! Her parents died when she was seven. The indenture was to pay for the costs of raising her!" Garmin shouted.
"Which is illegal, per dwarven law on indentures. Indentures are to be used when the owner of the indenture assisted in paying some extraordinary cost. Kariy being an orphan and you bringing her up does not justify you forcing her into indenture. I'm sure if I was to bring this to the attention of the dwarves, they would be very unhappy," Elizabeth said.
"Ha! Like I said, it's been years. Besides the last two times a representative was here, he said nothing about that."
"Did anyone inform him?" Elizabeth said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I understand that the dwarves have a permanent embassy in Linktrum. I imagine they would hurry up here to check if someone was to inform them. And from what I hear, the penalty should they decide it's an illegal indenture is to be enslaved and forced to work in the most dangerous tunnels in their mines until you die."
Galmin paled visibly. "You bloody tart! You actually think anyone here cares about the dumb bitch? Most don't even remember her father! And it would be your word alone!"
I spun the spear and slid it forward so that the blade ran up Galmin's shoulder. In the process, some metal touched his neck, and a faint line of red appeared as Garmin's face lost what little color had returned during his rant.
"I think you'll find that all of us will be quite willing to speak against you in Linktrum and, with Hencktor coming with us, we'd have at least one villager willing to act as a witness. But I'm a generous man and willing to make a deal. Let us take her with us. We'll remove Kariy from the village, and we won't even demand that you reimburse her for all the goods you stole from her twelve years ago. We won't even demand any back wages. All you have to do is be smart and silent until we leave," I hissed out. "Now nod once if you accept this."
Galmin nodded, his eyes filled with fear as he stared at the handle of the spear. He glanced over at Kariy, who was leaning against the wall. For the first time since she had walked out of the kitchen her head was up, and I could see a look of surprise and hope in her eyes. Galmin frowned again and hissed at her. "Go then. Get out of this village and never come back. Your mother thought she was too good for me and refused to work in the inn. Your father was going to become mayor. But Versil and I stopped them. Get out!"
Kariy's jaw dropped and she sank to the ground. I pulled the spear back, instinctively tensing and preparing to drive the blade into Galmin, but Elizabeth stepped between us and punched Galmin in the jaw. The man fell bonelessly to the ground to land in an uncoordinated heap.
"Most of the village figured that Galmin and Versil were behind the death of Kariy's parents, but without eyewitness testimony it can never be proved. And before you think of lynching him, they do have relatives who carry weapons and who might think of exacting revenge. Let's do what he suggests and take Kariy from here quietly," Elizabeth said after giving Galmin a hard kick to the stomach.
I nodded and brought the spear up. "Sounds like a plan. Meanwhile, let's go see how the others are doing."
Kariy jumped up, bouncing with excitement and then dashed inside the inn. Elizabeth followed at a more measured pace while I bent down to look at Galmin, who lay on the ground groaning. "Your terms are accepted," I told him. "Leave us alone tonight and we'll be gone in the morning. Does Kariy have any personal belongings I should let her take?"
The man's eyes opened and he glared at me, hate and fear filling his eyes. "Yes, there is a pack filled with some of her mother's books and cooking tools in the pantry. Kariy knows where it is."
"I'll have her retrieve it now," I said. With that I turned away, stood up and walked into the inn.
Once inside, I had to stop for a moment to allow my eyes to adjust to the lack of light in the dark and now smoky interior. At first it was so dark I could see nothing, but after a moment I could make out four people sitting at the table we had claimed when we first entered. I shouldered the spear and walked over.
"You preparing to go all military?" Martha said flirtingly as I walked up. With my vision clearing I could see Martha, Victoria, Al, and Lydia hanging out at the table and sipping from mugs.
"I don't think they have any in this town," I replied. "I'm guessing Esme and Natalie are upstairs. What about everyone else?"
Victoria smiled. "Steve is upstairs as well. He went with Hencktor and Heather when they came in. I believe they wanted to spread everything out between the new packs and the ones we found at the battlefield. They had us send Kariy up when she arrived. William and Eddie snuck out after you left. Dusty, Lisa, and Jennifer are also lying down upstairs. And Elizabeth just went upstairs to join them."
The others nodded as Lydia poured some of the rose colored liquid into a mug and passed it to me. I took a sip and found it to be a very sweet wine. There was space at the end of the table, so I sat down.
"You hear anything we should be concerned about?" I asked.
Lydia giggled. "Nope, although Madam Wessera still thinks we need more modest clothing. Most of the men in the village are either in the mine, or involved in building a new building up at the mine, so it's quiet now. I did hear that Versil sent a teenage nephew up to the mine, so I expect this place to be crowded later."
"What about William and Eddie?" I asked.
"William is probably looking for a way to make some money in a trade," Elizabeth said from behind me. I turned to fi
nd her standing at the bottom of the stairs with Kariy. The former indentured servant was wearing a stained white blouse rather than the strip of cloth that had been her only top when we first arrived.
"Kariy, Galmin said there is a pack with some of your mother's things that you can take. I told him you'd grab it now," I said.
I had barely finished speaking when Kariy turned and ran towards the kitchen. Al gave a curse and jumped up to follow her. He had taken three steps before turning back to snatch one of the knives from the table.
"He's going to get himself killed if he doesn't learn to fight," Victoria muttered as we watched him disappear into the kitchen.
"I think it's sweet," Martha said. "He's talked of nothing but Kariy since everyone left on the shopping trip."
"Love at first sight?" I asked.
Lydia giggled. "More like lust at first sight, but Al is definitely a nice young man. He'll be good to Kariy. I just hope we find someplace safe. And from what little Kariy owns and the way Galmin treated her, this place isn't a place I want to live in."
I shook my head. "From what I understand, this place can barely feed the current population, and the only real career is in the mine. Steve, Al and I might survive there, but mining by hand doesn't sound like a good way to live a long and happy life."
Victoria nodded. "Well, that will be a problem. Most of the technology we know is gone. What kind of occupation should we be seeking?"
I looked around the table. Victoria seemed a bit hopeful, but the rest of the ladies were all frowning slightly. "Ranching might work if we can find a quiet place to set up. We might also be able to get a small farm going if we have enough people. Other than that, there's always trying to trade in the cities."
Lydia giggled. "You're great at sales. You would be rich in no time."
"No," I replied. "I have no idea what anything is worth right now. Over time I might be able to determine values and set up trades, but at first I'd be the proverbial boy among men. The fresh chicken ready to be plucked clean. I can see us getting a wagon in some town and putting a few goods in it, but I don't want to try trading until I know more about the goods I'm attempting to trade."
"Ask around," Martha suggested.
Elizabeth snorted dismissively. "In this town the only tradable goods you'll find would be unrefined iron ore from the mine. It's heavy and hard to transport. Worse, by treaty with the dwarves, a sizable part of every shipment leaving the town must be delivered to Linktrum and turned over to the embassy there as payment for use of the land. There is nothing else we could obtain here. At least I found nothing."
Lydia looked at me. The rest of the table was silent as Kariy and Al returned to the table. Kariy slipped in to sit next to Elizabeth, while Al went around the table to grab a pitcher. Neither appeared ready to talk so I glanced back at Lydia, who was still staring at me. I could read the question in her eyes and nodded. "I haven't done much looking, but when we went to purchase those three packs and their contents, I noticed that there isn't much in town. This town is just too small to offer much. It's probably very poor even by the standards of Jord."
Kariy looked up angrily. "It wasn't so poor they couldn't keep me captive for years."
Lydia and Martha both turned to look at the young woman. She was sitting on the bench, a defiant look on her face. Her back was almost painfully straight, and I could see her shoulders tense up as if readying to react to a blow. I tried to raise one eyebrow and look at Elizabeth, but felt a lack of motion and finally just shrugged. "Starting the feminist training already?"
Elizabeth smiled. "Not really. I think Kariy is a bit afraid of being placed back at the bottom of the heap. She snapped at Steve upstairs when we delivered the pack. That's part of why I encouraged her to come back down."
I looked over at Kariy. She dropped her head, and I could see a deep flush color her face. "Sorry," she whispered.
Lydia giggled. "Oh, don't worry about that. Ron and Steve are intelligent men. They know that it can be tough on us girls. Just don't stand and argue with them if a fight starts."
"You give me too much credit, Lydia," I responded. "Meanwhile, I guess I can tell you what I know. We are definitely going to need to head out. Part of me thinks we can try the Wizard's Academy to see if anyone there can send us home."
"Do you think it's possible?" Martha asked hopefully.
I looked directly at Elizabeth, who frowned. Kariy looked up at me and then shook her head slightly. Saddened by their reactions, I turned to face Martha. "I get a feeling that the kind of magic required to send us home is extremely difficult and dangerous. I have a feeling that we are going to discover that they are unable or unwilling to send us home."
Lydia snorted. "No surprise there. I think I figured out we are completely on our own after we found the battlefield. So, fearless leader, where will we go once they turn us down?"
"I'd like to know that as well," Steve said from the bottom of the stairs.
I waved him to the table as Lydia and Elizabeth moved to open a spot on the bench. "How much did you hear?"
Steve shrugged. "I heard the bit about the Wizard's Academy probably being unable to send us home. That I agree with. While I was working with Henck upstairs to reorganize packs, I asked him what he knew about this world's magic. From what he's said, it's mostly elemental based, and involves manipulation of fire, air, water, and earth. The kind of magic required to open a portal to another world is only used by the demon-summoners. And I guess most demon-summoners die very young."
Kariy glanced up. "The wizard who tried to banish the mosquitoes was a demon-summoner, or at least he claimed he was. You could ask him."
Steve shook his head. "I don't think he is alive to be asked."
Martha stiffened. "What do you mean?"
"You remember how we arrived?" Steve said, pointing towards a wall of the tavern. "Somehow our elevator was dragged to that clearing along with two others. We found ourselves here on Jord, but no idea how we got here. While we were still trying to figure out what was happening, we watched that dragon fly over."
"Yes," Martha said. "But why does that mean the wizard is dead?"
Steve nodded. "But remember, we were told that the wizard vowed revenge after the village didn't pay him the full fee for getting rid of the mosquitoes. If he really was a demon-summoner, he might have tried to summon something to attack or harm the village. I believe that the dragon interrupted his spell and we were the result."
"Could that happen?" Martha asked, turning to look at Kariy.
The girl ducked her head and shook it. "I don't know. No one in the village knows much about magic. It sounds right. Galmin has occasionally hired wizards to cast spells on the tavern. We were always warned to stay far away while the spell was being cast to avoid distracting the wizard. And the more powerful spells tend to attract magical beings."
Lydia just paled. "You mean we ended up here because some disgruntled postal worker threw a tantrum?"
Kariy looked confused and stared at Lydia. Elizabeth just shook her head. "Not a good analogy, but it makes sense in a sick way. If we make it to the Wizard's Academy, we can ask. Now what was the plan again?"
I glanced at Steve. "Steve, can we move Natalie in the morning? Or does she need more rest?"
The man looked thoughtful and rubbed his chin a couple of times. "Esme is worried that she might have trouble walking when she finally recovers, but is not worried about moving her. I guess that healing potion proved to be rather effective. She even woke while I was helping with the packs."
"How is she mentally?" Lydia asked.
"Not too bad," Steve said with a smile. "Of course, Esme is being a wonderful nurse. I'm actually a bit more worried about Esme. She's going to be tired if we can't convince her to slow down and get some sleep."
"I think we'll be able to help her. Now as to what we are going to do. From what I've been able to understand, we are about three days travel from Linktrum, which is a local center of trade and governme
nt. Beyond there, we will have to cross over and through a number of kingdoms. One of the people we talked to warned that it's likely we'll enter this region during the fall military campaign season," I started.
"Campaign season?" Martha blurted out. "What does that mean?"
Steve looked at me. "Are you saying that there will be armies in the field and fighting going on?"
Elizabeth surprised me by holding up a hand. "No, it makes sense. Once the harvests are in, if there is no snow on the ground there is a bit of time to get armies into the field. Do you expect problems, Ron?"
"I don't know. I'm not even sure of the possible routes from Linktrum to the Wizard's Academy. Hopefully, we can ask in Linktrum and then choose a path that avoids the fights. But as I've said, I suspect that the academy won't help us, so we will have to make a decision at that point."
"What kind of decision?" Steve asked.
I waved my hand in a large circle. "Well, after spending a few hours here, I think we can say that by our standards the villages here are cultural wastelands and hopelessly provincial in their thinking. The cities might be better, and we can find that out as we travel to Linktrum and beyond, but we might have to make our own home."
Martha looked very puzzled. "Do what?"
"Well, not to bring up the obscure references too much, but think back to the history of our homeland. Many of the people who now populate our cities have ancestors who helped found those cities. Depending on the time period and who is talking, we call them pioneers, colonists, or even dead white men. We get to play our own version of How the West was Won," I said.
Lydia giggled. "I always wanted a Little House on the Prairie."
Steve groaned and leaned forward to pound his head on the table. Kariy was looking at him, her eyes wide with surprise. Martha had to lie down on the bench to try to control her giggles.
"Right," I said. "I'm thinking more about a small ranch setup in a box valley of some kind. But farming might work as well. The key would be to become self-sufficient and free."