by Allan Joyal
I nodded in the darkness. Dusty settled in beside me, her soft breathing the only sound. Below, one of the torches had finally burnt out, and the last one left most of the room in shadows. Dusty sat motionless. Finally I decided to see if she was still awake.
"The Time Warp?" I whispered. "What possessed you?"
Dusty's hand came up to cover her mouth. I thought I heard a hint of a giggle. She took a long slow breath. "Part of my freshman year. Some of the girls on my dorm floor were a bit eager about taking all of us to see the local midnight showing every Saturday. I probably saw it a dozen times that year. And I didn't start it. Al did."
"It could have ended rather badly. That song and dance isn't exactly conservative."
Dusty giggled softly. "Oh god, a couple of us thought about it on the climb to the room. Martha mentioned that at her college a few of the boys would change the line about hands on your hips to something a bit less proper. Fortunately, Al didn't know it."
I sighed. "He might not know it, but I know that Eddie does. Fortunately he must have been already passed out on the bench down there." I pointed in the direction of the table where Eddie and William had fallen asleep. "He would have jumped up and tried that line if he'd been awake."
I could see Dusty frown. "How could you work for that human turd?"
"I didn't. I worked for his father. Don't ever imagine that Eddie the Ego is anything like his father. Geoff Hughes is one of the most decent and humble men I've ever met. The man worked hard to build up a very successful business and is very loyal to his employees. I can't say too much about it, but Lydia had a lot of trouble a while back, and he stood by her. Without his support and the support of the rest of the company, I'm not sure she would still be alive today."
Dusty shook her head and waved a finger at me. "I heard all about that from Lydia herself. We had time to chat during the walk yesterday, and she told us a bit about how you and Steve protect her. I'm only puzzled as to why she isn't with either of you."
"She's too much of a sister for me, and Steve is a bit too much of a leg man. Lydia tends to hide how nice her legs look, and that has Steve looking elsewhere."
Dusty snorted in disgust. "It's still all about how a woman looks."
"Not really. I think Steve feels the same way I do, but Lydia needs to feel that a man might want her. If we both treated her purely as a sister it would lower her confidence, and she doesn't have much right now. Steve understands, and he's enough of a flirt to allow Lydia to feel safe and sexy at the same time," I replied.
Dusty turned to stare at me in the dim light. I could see her green eyes shining at me, as if looking for a way to see the man under the skin. "Where did you come up with that? That doesn't sound like something a stupid salesman would think up."
I snorted. "Eddie only thinks I'm stupid. Lydia, Dave, Steve, and I all have college degrees. That's part of why we can do all the work despite Eddie getting in the way occasionally."
Dusty just shook her head and looked back down at the quiet inn. "Do you want to get some sleep?"
"We should have two people guarding."
"Why? No one is moving, and I can definitely scream loud enough to wake everyone. Just leave the door open and we'll be fine."
"What about you falling asleep?"
"I won't. I worry more about you falling asleep in the future."
"Who'd notice? It's pretty clear that Elizabeth can be a darn good diplomat and facilitator when she isn't trying to buffalo everyone."
Dusty reached out and slapped my shoulder lightly. The impact stung, and I reached up to rub the spot. "Elizabeth would be thinking of herself first. You thought about how to make things better for everyone. We'd notice really fast if that changed. And that's why you need to be awake in the morning. Who knows if some of the village scum will try to interfere with us leaving town."
"Very well," I said. "Keep alert though." Cautiously I stood back up. The spear had been sitting propped up against the railing on the balcony. I grabbed it as I shuffled my feet and made my way to the room. The moon must have been close to setting. The bedroom was a hole filled with black. I slowed my movements to a painful dance where my feet moved inches as minutes ticked by.
My biggest worry was finding the pile of straw I had slept in during the afternoon and in not running into Hencktor's sleeping form. I remembered setting up my earlier bed just to the left inside the door and made my way in that direction, using the blunt end of the spear to probe ahead. After what seemed like an eternity of moving slowly, I heard the rustle of moving straw as I pressed the spear down.
I dropped to my knees and crawled forward. I attempted to barely brush the straw while seeking the blankets I had left there. Any sound had me stop and listen to see if I had disturbed the others, but only their quiet snores broke the stillness in the room. Finally, I found the coarse fabric of one blanket. It moved easily. I took a chance and darted forward, crushing some of the straw as I threw myself onto the straw and pulled the blanket to cover me. Someone in the room shifted slightly. I lay with my eyes closed fretting about someone waking, but the stillness returned to the room and, with a worry about Dusty guarding us alone, I allowed my mind to slumber.
Chapter 6 - Enemies from Home
A loud crash woke me up. I was disoriented for just a moment, but the smell of straw and the broken beams of light shining high on the wall quickly reminded me of the situation. I sat up to find Hencktor and Al rapidly rolling up the other bedrolls.
"Steve is at the top of the stairs," Al told me when he saw me sit up. "You're needed out there with him. Go, we'll get the packs ready."
"What about the ladies?" I asked.
"Kariy is packing up their room," Hencktor said. "Go, there is trouble in the tavern!"
His words carried an almost frantic urgency, and I sprang to my feet. I was in such a rush to reach the door that Al had to shout twice to get me to stop. I did and he lifted the spear from the straw. "Take this too!" he shouted.
He held it near the blade and extended it towards me. I grabbed at it and tore it from his hands. I was turning quickly and the fact that he ducked as I turned barely registered. Outside, two voices were angrily exchanging words. I did not recognize either voice, but Eddie's panicked bellow of fright made it clear that something was wrong.
Steve stood at the top of the stairs. He was brandishing the axe in front of him and trying to keep someone from coming up the stairs. I stepped up, lowering the spear to bring the blade to bear and looked down. Looking into the eyes of the man climbing the stairs, I nearly stumbled. However, it was the man who fell, as he threw himself back to avoid the spear.
I watched without speaking as the man tumbled down the rickety stairs. Steve gave me a quiet nod and pointed to the table where Eddie and William were now surrounded. Nearly twenty new men had entered the room. Several held knives out as one man carrying a war hammer shouted directions.
"We found these two, now where are the others? We know they have more women!"
I stared at the man speaking. He was about thirty and still wore a pair of professional shoes. The rest of his outfit was a mix of leather, obviously pilfered from the same battlefield where we had obtained our few weapons, and cut up bits of a professional sport coat. The voice was that of the man demanding to head out towards the dragon two days before.
"The other party," I whispered to Steve.
"Yes, and they have Eddie and William trussed up like a couple of pigs for roasting if they want," Steve replied. "And look at the women they have."
"Where?" I asked.
Steve used the axe to point to the far wall of the tavern. "Look over there."
I risked a glance and felt my blood boil. Back at the clearing I had little time to see who joined each group. By chance, the group I had taken responsibility for had contained ten women, and we had cared for them as best we could. There was no way to see how many women had joined the other group, but it was clear that the six with them were not cared for.
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The women all had bruises on their faces and arms. Three must have been at Daytona on spring break as they were wearing bikini tops that fit tightly. Two others were wearing rather utilitarian bras and the last had on a sports bra that had been cut to show her nipples. None was wearing anything more to cover their bodies, although two were carrying cloaks in their arms. The rest of their outfits were either skirts cut so short as to hide nothing should the woman bend over, or a pair of thong panties.
"Nice to see that they respect the womenfolk," I said in sotto whisper to Steve. "Have they said what they want besides our friends?"
"Oh, I don't think they want William or Eddie," Steve said. "The argument was about if they should kill them or ransom them back to us."
"They understand that we wouldn't be interested in paying?"
Just then the man who had tumbled down the stairs got back to his feet and started climbing the stairs again. This time he had a knife out and waved it back and forth menacingly. I stepped down and knelt slightly, wrapping my arm around the spear to brace it. I had more control and leverage now. The man kept climbing until his attempt to bat the spear away with his knife failed to move the spear. He stopped, but kept glaring at me, tossing the knife from hand to hand.
The man attempting to climb past us looked to be about twenty-five. He had dark brown skin. The outfit he was wearing consisted of some torn jeans and then a leather vest swiped from the battlefield. His arms were fairly well muscled. "C'mon man. We only want the doxies. Give them to us and no one will get hurt." His speech had many of the same accents as Victoria used.
From below, the man who was clearly leading the group turned and looked up at Steve and me. "So, are you going to rescue your leaders?"
"Eddie couldn't lead a parade," Steve shouted back. "And I have no idea who'd want that other one."
"Lead a parade," I whispered jabbing at the man on the stairs and forcing him to jump back to the ground.
"He couldn't," Steve muttered. "Oh, I know you can't turn around, but everyone is ready to move when we have an opening."
"Natalie?" I asked.
"Esme and Heather are going to support her in the dash to the door," Steve said.
The man had been looking back and forth between Steve and William. He walked over to William, pushed past his followers to grab the man by the chin and looked him in the eyes. Nothing was said, but a moment later the man thrust William away from him, causing William to stumble backwards into a bench and fall on the floor.
"Shit! I was sure that arrogant ass would be in charge. Still, we have numbers. We could rush past you if you don't want to bargain for the life of these two," the man said, turning towards the stairs.
His voice galvanized a couple of his followers and two of the men jumped onto the bottom step. I heard a thrum behind me and the one on the right sagged to the floor bonelessly. The other paused as his friend fell forward onto his face. He halted his advance and knelt down to roll the body over.
He completed the roll and we all could see the growing bloodstain on the left side of the man's body. It spread from a hole in the shirt. Behind me I heard a soft thud and then some feminine grunting.
"Left lung?" I whispered to Steve as I shifted to my left to allow him to descend the steps to stand next to me.
"Looks like it," he said. "Good shot too."
"It was," Lydia called out behind us. "And the next one takes the leader in the face."
"You're too soft to do that!" the man howled. "Men we still outnumber them, charge up those stairs!"
The men shifted slightly, but only three walked to the bottom of the stairs. They stopped at the bottom and stared up at Steve and me. One experimentally climbed the first step, but a lunge from my spear soon had him stumbling back to the center of the tavern. Steve and I used the retreat as an excuse to descend to the middle of the stairway. We could hear movement behind us. The men blocking the stairs slipped back a couple of steps.
Our little dance had distracted the others. The circle around Eddie and William was broken and the duo used the distraction to slip away and reach the exit. I expected both to run, but Eddie stopped just inside the door and looked back expectantly.
The leader of the other group grew even angrier when his minions refused to charge up the steps. "Cowards! How can you just stand there! It's just two men. Can you not take them?"
The rest of the group was silent. Behind me I could hear whispers. "Crank it faster. We need it now."
There was a tense atmosphere building as the stalemate continued. I tried a few lunges down the stairs, but while I could get the men blocking the bottom to back away, they quickly returned. My spear had a much greater reach than the knives they carried, but it was clear they were hoping to surround me and negate the advantage the spear gave me. Steve also tried to get them to back off with a swing of the axe, but shook his head afterwards. I did not need his words to tell me that he lacked the strength to clear enough of the men to open a path to the exit.
It looked like only Lydia getting the crossbow reloaded would break the stalemate when Galmin walked in from the kitchen. "What's this?" he cried out. "Could you not come in at a civilized hour?"
The innkeeper looked around the room. His eyes slowly scanned and his head stopped more than once as he looked someone up and down. There was a longer pause when he noticed the women cowering against the wall. Finally he looked over at the leader, who had drawn a sword and was pointing it at the innkeeper.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
Galmin's face paled and his started wiping his hands on the front of his tunic. "Galmin, your lordship. I'm just the humble innkeeper. We are a poor village. Few travelers come anymore. I can offer you a morning meal. It would be cold stew and bread. Unless your lordship wants to wait. The cook is still abed, but I can roust her and have her cook something to honor your lordship's visit."
"You'll what?" cried the black man at the bottom of the stairs.
"I think he's offering all of you food," Steve shouted down. "How about you agree to gather at the table in the corner and wait for the food and we can leave without a fight."
The leader glared at Steve. "Very clever! Galmin! Does anyone in your village have a bow? Two shots and I can clear the vermin from your hall."
Galmin had gone back to staring at the near naked women and turned back slowly. "Vermin my lord. I assure you that I keep the rats and insects out of this inn. I run a clean inn for discriminating travelers!"
"Never mind that! Does anyone in town have a bow! I want those two on the stairs killed!"
Galmin turned to look at us. His eyes widened and I could see them stare for a moment at my pockets, obviously thinking of the pouch and what might be in it. He turned towards the exit and took a step. He might have walked out, but just then a flash of light pierced the room. He froze and the left shoulder of his tunic was pinned to the wall by a knife.
Everyone looked up. At first I thought they were looking at me, but I realized their attention was centered on something behind me and to my left. Risking an attack from below, I glanced behind me.
My glance became a half-turn. Kariy was perched on the outside of the balcony railing. Her left hand was gripping the railing. In her right hand, she held up a knife identical to the one now quivering in the wall.
"Take one more step and I'll aim for you rather than your tunic," Kariy hissed. "You will not cause any trouble for my people."
"My people?" I muttered to Steve. "And how did she throw that knife and get it to stick in the wall?"
"Looks like it's stuck in the mortar," Steve muttered back. "Beyond that, don't complain. It stopped Galmin from leaving the building."
The leader of the other group was standing and continuing to glare at us. "It's still a standoff. I have more people and eventually you'll need food and water and be forced to come down."
The silence after that statement was broken by a faint click. I could hear movement on the balcony and then Lydia's voice rang
out. "Ron, I'm loaded again. Just tell me which one of these idiots to shoot and I'll drop him like a bad habit."
"Itchy trigger finger?" I called back. The men at the bottom of the stairs were staring over my shoulder and I could see the eyes of the one in the middle widen. He was concentrating hard on Lydia and her crossbow. I darted forward and thrust the spear into his left thigh just above his knee.
The man screamed in agony and dropped his knife as I withdrew the spear and retreated back up the steps. His hands covered the wound and he spun to the ground as his uninjured leg collapsed beneath him.
"James!" one of the men back in the crowd shouted. He pushed through the group and quickly knelt by his friend. Like his friend, he tried to press the wound closed, but he quickly forced the man to lie down and put pressure on the man's groin. "Get me some bandages and cut the pants off James!" he cried.
No one moved. James was whimpering in pain as his friend tried to stop the bleeding. The gash was not actually very deep as I had misjudged the angle. The point of the spear had barely pierced the cloth from the side before I swung the spear towards the man's leg. Still I could see a steady flow of blood discoloring the man's pants.
The room was silent except for some shuffling behind me when another man jumped forward. He was a well-muscled blond wearing swimming trunks. He knelt over the wounded man and nodded. "Let's get him on a table, and I can do this. It will be easier to bandage if he isn't lying on the floor with everyone having to bend over."
"You aren't putting a bleeding man on one of my tables," Galmin protested. His shoulder was still pinned to the wall. I noticed that his gaze frequently darted back towards Kariy. Each time he ducked his head and looked away. The man ducked again and shook his head.
His comment had been ignored, and the other two men who had been blocking the base of the stairway moved to help pick up James and carry him to a table. By chance they picked the corner table our group had used the night before. The activity quickly attracted most of the other group. Only the leader and four others remained in the middle of the room, blocking our path to the door.