Lost on Jord

by Allan Joyal

  "Don't worry," I snapped. "We have a bit of time. It is a good idea. Meanwhile, Steve, Henck, Heather, put on a vest and gloves we got from the dwarves. It's not much, but it might give us a bit of an intimidation factor when we hit the crowd."

  Those were the last words anyone said for nearly a half hour. Instead of conversation, everyone set themselves to the task of packing our goods and distributing the load. Lydia concentrated on the packs, filling each one precisely and then handing them out. Victoria stopped working on the packs, in order to help the other women cover their hair. I concentrated on distributing the knives and trade goods. Many of the goods the dwarves had provided I rolled into a bedroll.

  Lisa was helping me align the bedroll on my back when Dusty and Al returned.

  "There are men in the tavern looking for Elizabeth," Al reported as Dusty handed over a dozen full waterskins. "Right now they are a bit intimidated by the bouncer, but I heard one say they were waiting for some friends."

  "Shit!" I cried. "We're out of time folks. Lydia, are we all packed?"

  "The loads aren't balanced, and we have an empty pack," Lydia said. "I need another few minutes."

  We could hear shouting from the direction of the main room. "We're out of time," I reported. "Everyone grab a pack."

  "Marines, we are leaving," Steve quipped as I grabbed the spear and stepped out of the door.

  From the hallway the shouting was more discernible. Angry male voices were demanding information about "that bitch of a woman who was spreading fantasies of a world where women ran everything." I glared over my shoulder at Elizabeth, who paled upon hearing the anger in the voice. She raised a hand to cover her mouth. In her hand was one of the hairnets. She must have just pulled it off her head because her hair was a mess.

  Hencktor moved in behind me, placing his left hand on my shoulder. We stepped to the left, so we were closer to the main room, and I waved the rest of the group forward. Steve took the lead, holding the axe in both hands as he jogged the short distance to the courtyard. The others followed, keeping close together. Al brought up the rear, his knife held awkwardly before his body.

  The instant Al turned and stepped into the courtyard, I dashed forward, circling the group and arriving at the gate first. The raised voices in the tavern made it impossible to hear if there was a problem in the alley. I ducked my head and sprinted through the gateway, running to the far side of the alley and then whirling to see if anyone was laying in ambush.

  The only movement was the trio of guards who normally inhabited the alley. The leader looked at me. "You're safe for the moment," he reported. "Montwil is lazy. He'll probably take another two hours to plan before he finally gets around to sending his friends to plant the goods."

  "He's not the only one after us," I hissed as I waved the rest of the group forward. They started spilling through the gateway as the trio of guards watched patiently.

  "I've heard," the man said. "Looking at your packs, I'm guessing you are leaving."

  "One step ahead of the sheriff," Lisa said. "I feel like I'm an actor in a bad play getting run out of town."

  The guards looked puzzled by this. Elizabeth was coughing loudly, her uncovered hair falling around her shoulders. Behind her I could see Al taking a moment to close the gate. He nodded at me just before I turned back to the guard.

  "Yes, we're leaving. Are you going to give us trouble?" I asked.

  The man waved to his two followers, who faded into the shadows. He approached me, walking up to my left side. Once he was right next to me, he whispered. "I noticed one of your group is missing."

  I turned to start walking towards the main market of the city. "Dusty is going to stay and work at the inn," I whispered back as I stepped around the guard.

  The guard paused to look behind me and then spun to catch up to me. His face had taken on a deep red blush. He stammered slightly, but then whispered. "She's beautiful. Do you think ... ?"

  "You'd have to talk to Dusty," I whispered back. "I don't know her well. I imagine she'd like a good friend though, and in our culture, friendship often leads to more."

  The man brightened considerably, a huge smile breaking out on his face. We were about halfway to the main market when he grabbed my arm. "Wait, you don't want to try to fight your way through the crowds, do you?"

  "I'd rather not," I admitted. "We'd either have stuff stolen from us, or we're going to hurt people with our weapons. I get a feeling that the city guards won't take kindly to that."

  The man nodded and turned to the left. "Follow me," he commanded.

  He led us into the shadows. At first I was sure he was leading us into a wall. Instead, a narrow passage appeared between the buildings. The man turned back and flashed a black-toothed smile as he slipped into the passage.

  I followed, looking back to see the rest of the group assembled behind me. One by one, they joined me in the narrow and dark passage. The passage ran straight between the two buildings for some distance. When the walls finally fell away, I could see the city wall directly ahead. "How ...?" I sputtered as I stepped away from the passage to allow the others to exit.

  "Everything to the left of the passage is a training courtyard for the army. Most people don't notice that the boundary wall is thicker than it should be. Don't talk about it though. It's kept secret even from most of the traders," the man said.

  "Why did you show us?" I asked as Steve emerged from the passage. He had been the last to enter and waved to me before starting to organize the group for the march to the gates.

  The man shrugged. "You don't seem the type to tell, and I heard a bit about what you did for both the dwarves and for Montferlyn's. That dunce Montwil is going to ruin his family's name in this city if he keeps taking everything so personally. You could probably ruin him if you stayed and called on the dwarves for your defense once he springs his trap."

  I shook my head. "Too much trouble. Besides, I understand that we don't have a lot of time to travel before the snow flies."

  The man scanned the skies. "A couple weeks I'm sure. Fall hasn't given up its grip on the weather just yet, but you probably have less than thirty days before snows make travelling dangerous for a group on foot."

  I held out my hand to the man. He looked at it for a moment and then reached out and grabbed my forearm. "Thanks," I said.

  "Go in peace," he replied. "May you find a home someday."

  I nodded as we released arms. I glanced down and noticed that the shadows were getting rather long. Hurriedly I turned and began walking towards the city gates.

  Esme squawked in surprise at the pace I set. I took the risk of checking over my shoulder and found everyone keeping up with me. Hencktor was flanking my right, and Steve had a similar position to my left as we strode to the gate. A couple guards noticed our progress, but other than pointing their spears toward us, made no move. We covered the distance to the city gates in about a half hour. The walls blocked a direct view of the sun, but a glance over the city showed only the tallest buildings not sitting in shadow as we walked up to the gate.

  "Gates close at full sundown," a bored guard said as I approached. "If you leave, you won't be allowed back in today."

  "We can live with that," I said. "Any rules on camping outside the city?"

  "Don't do it in the stable or the caravanserai," the guard said before turning away to look at the marketplace.

  I slipped out the gate. The stables and caravanserai were lit up brightly by lanterns. A legion of men were buzzing around the entrance to the caravanserai. As we passed in front, I could hear shouting. "I want everything put away now! We don't have that long before the gates close. Uglor, stop picking your nose and take that bundle to our warehouse!"

  We walked on. At the checkpoint, one guard stood alone, the line to enter empty. He was watching four men bring out several large boxes. They placed them to block the road. Once again our group was ignored as we passed this point and reached the crossroads. Immediately, I took the left fork and h
eaded towards the ferry. In the twilight, I could see several figures in the distance.

  Eddie was huffing with the effort, but when I glanced back everyone was keeping up. Hencktor had relaxed his stance and was slipping back to the rear of the group. I could hear him encourage the others to speed up slightly.

  Ahead, the figures were slowly becoming clearer. They must have noticed our approach, because two of them fanned out. As the men spread out, flashes of light near their hands made it clear that they had drawn weapons. I leaned the spear over my shoulder and waved. "Ahoy! Good sir! Would it be possible to hire your ferry for one last run tonight?"

  There was a moment of silence and then a scratchy voice replied. "It's late! Can't you wait until morning?"

  I sighed and slowed down. "I could, but our group embarrassed one of the city's merchants, and I'd like to put the river between us before he thinks to search for us outside the gates," I admitted.

  "Little Montwil didn't like being shown up by another free trader?" the man said with a chuckle. "What did you do? Count to twenty without taking your shoes off?"

  "No boss, anyone who can count to ten does better than Montwont," one of the swordsmen said.

  "A pun?" Steve observed quietly. "Not something I expected."

  I nodded to Steve, but kept my eyes on the ferryman. "Let's just say he embarrassed himself, but I was a witness to it. So can you take us across?"

  "Two drachma!" the ferryman called back.

  Eddie squawked in outrage, but I held up a hand. "One now, one when we set foot on the other shore."

  "Show me the color of your money," the ferryman said stepping forward and waving at his guards. His guards relaxed as I stopped and dug a coin out of my pocket.

  I tossed the coin to the ferryman, who looked at it. He weighed it carefully in his hands and even looked at the edge. Finally he pulled another coin from his pouch and compared sizes. The comparison must have passed, because he turned towards the river and started walking. "Chris, hook up the mules for one more trip. Ben, get a lantern out, we'll need it for the return trip," he ordered. "You get on the raft, but stay away from my guide rope."

  I reached the raft first. This ferry had no dock, only some flat boards driven into the mud allowing one to walk seven feet or so into the river while only getting their boots wet. The river water was biting cold as I stepped onto the raft and turned around.

  Henck had taken a position on the shore, holding the hammer with a negligent appearing indifference. His grip might have appeared lax, but he watched the ferryman and his guards intently as the ladies filed past him and up to the raft. I helped each one step up into the raft and make their way to the far side.

  Everyone moved quickly. Talking was kept to a minimum as I pulled each one aboard. Finally, Steve made his way past Henck, who turned to bring up the rear and board the raft. I helped him aboard and turned to find the girls sitting down and huddled in a group.

  Heather was standing in the front of the group facing me. She looked up and shook her head. "That water is cold, and the news that people were seeking to harm us didn't exactly fill us with good cheer," she said.

  I was about to respond when the ferryman jumped aboard, followed by one of his guards. The guard carried two lanterns. He quickly walked over by the guide rope and affixed the lanterns to hooks set on poles. The lanterns added a little light to the fading sunlight.

  The ferryman stood in the lantern light and waved his hand. I saw something white waving in the night. There was a brief moment of silence, and then with a loud groan the ferry pulled away from the bank.

  Water lapped against the raft as we left the shore and began to cross the current. Wood joints groaned as the raft entered the deeper water away from the shore.

  "What's moving us?" Al asked.

  The ferryman said nothing, just watched the water, scanning the horizon. I looked over at the side of the raft and smiled. A large knot thrust through a hole in the wood revealed the heavy rope pulling us forward. I stepped a little closer to that side of the raft and could see another rope running back toward the shore on the side we just left. "He's got a pulley system set up," I reported. "I'm guessing that's why they hook up the donkeys."

  The ferryman turned to glare at me. I threw my hands up in the air. "Don't worry. I'm definitely not interested in competing with you. And even if I was, I wouldn't know how to make something like this."

  The ferryman sniffed and turned back to watch the approaching shoreline. Steve was watching in the same direction. He turned to me. "It's hard to see with the shadows, but there might be a campsite right next to the stand of trees."

  "There is," the ferryman said. "It's used by free traders when they arrive too late to take my ferry. Be the first time that someone used it after crossing the river."

  "Our leaving Linktrum was a bit unplanned and abrupt," I admitted. "I just hope getting across the river will be enough to avoid any pursuit."

  "It should be," the ferryman said helpfully. "For anyone to chase you now would either require paying me to ferry them, or they'd have to use a boat from the docks. Both of those cost money, and they'd have to know you are here."

  "No fire tonight," Henck said. "And we should keep a watch."

  "I'll do that at first," Natalie said. "I slept most of the day, and can stay up for a while."

  I looked over at Steve. "Steve, handle assigning watches. I'll start on watch with Natalie, but I also need to be awake early in the morning. Everyone, once the ferry reaches the shore, get to the campsite quickly. We'll be sleeping on bedrolls tonight, with no fire. Try to avoid unpacking anything else."

  "I'll bring around some dried fruit," Kariy said. "Hopefully no one is too hungry."

  There was a chorus of assent from the rest of the group. I glanced ahead and found that the raft was about to reach the other bank. The ferryman's guard had moved to the edge and was holding a hooked pole. I slid along the deck, making my way around the sitting members of our group to stand near the guard.

  "Don't bump my hand," the man said curtly. "It gets shallow abruptly and we might have to pull the raft the last few feet unless you want to wade through the mud."

  I nodded and stepped away slightly, watching the last few yards slip under the raft. It got to about eight feet away before I started to hear a sucking sound from the water below. The raft stopped for a moment. The guard cursed and waved the hooked staff once. The raft started dragging forward through the mud.

  When the raft was about four feet away it got stuck again. This time the guard reached out with the staff, hooking a pole stuck in the shore. His arms bulged with strain as he pulled against the pole, dragging a wooden platform over the mud. He managed to get it to about two feet away from the raft and then shrugged.

  "Your people will have to jump the gap. The tides are a bit low right now," the man said.

  I nodded and jumped the small distance. The landing on the floating platform was treacherous, and I ended up stumbling forward until I fell on my face on the shore.

  "I give Ron a three for the landing!" Heather chirped as I struggled back to my feet. The rest of the girls laughed as the lined up to make the same jump.

  Kariy was the first to jump. She stumbled slightly, but I rushed over to catch her and steady her. She had to struggle for a moment to reset her pack as it shifted during her stumble. Once it was secure she dashed off to the campsite while I set up to catch Victoria.

  The rest of the crossing passed smoothly. Al followed Victoria and then joined me in helping catch the others. The heavy packs unbalanced everyone, and Al and I had to work hard to catch everyone, but only Eddie actually fell. Henck and Steve were the last off, and then I tossed another drachma to the ferryman.

  "Thank you for your services," I called out.

  "Good fortune to you on your journey," the man called out.

  I offered him a wave as the guard used his hooked staff to push against the platform. It eased back away from the shore as the raft slowly pull
ed off the mud and back into the current. In the twilight they soon vanished from sight, only the lit lantern revealing their location on the still water. I turned away and headed for the campsite.

  Chapter 15: On the Road Again

  Kariy was waiting for me at the campsite. She had a mug of warm liquid and handed it to me immediately.

  "I thought I said no fires," I commented as I sipped at the liquid.

  "We needed a small one to see by while we set up bedrolls," Kariy said. "And this will help restore you. You do so much for all of us. The rest of us rested today. You were out trying to obtain the things we need."

  "Hopefully we got enough," I observed as I handed the empty mug back to her. Steve came by and handed me an empty bedroll.

  "We probably don't want to unroll yours unless we have to," he said.

  Natalie limped up and grabbed the bedroll from me. She carried it a short distance away and tossed it down between two others. Steve gave me a sheepish smile and then walked a short distance away to lie down on his own bedroll. I could see Lisa lying down next to him.

  I wandered over to my own bedroll and sat down. Natalie was lying on her stomach, using her elbows to keep her head up. She looked at me. "I'm sorry."

  "Why?" I asked.

  "I slow the rest of you down. You have to constantly watch out for me," she said with a sigh.

  "It's worth it," I said. "The fact that you are fighting through the pain helps inspire the others."

  Natalie frowned. "I just don't like not being able to help. You know Lydia gave me a pack that had spare clothing so that it looks full, but is really light?"

  I pulled my pack from my back and set it at the head of my bedroll. "She gave you something. Eddie and Elizabeth aren't even helping that much. Natalie, we love you. Every day you try as hard as you can, and you haven't complained. You are part of the group now; we'll never let you down."

  Natalie just nodded. She stared at the river, silent. I leaned back on the bedroll and joined her in looking towards the city.