Grishel's Feather

by Guy Antibes

  “I can deal with that.” Jack clutched his hand, which truthfully, was still aching.

  Helen looked ahead when she next spoke. “Is Penny really so clueless about who helpers really are?”

  Jack laughed. “She is. Fasher told me he wouldn’t tell her. I tried to let Penny know a few times, but she is pretty adept at rejecting the truth.”

  “You’re probably right. I think Fasher’s request that she join us is good for her. She will find out sooner than later that you are a wizard’s helper, and that means Penny will be looking at you a little differently when we arrive back in Raker Falls.”

  Jack frowned. “I hope not. It is fun watching her mired in ignorance.”

  “You aren’t very charitable with someone you killed.” Helen laughed and shook her head ruefully. “What a ridiculous situation. Your little friend behind us needs some seasoning, and I think I am just the person to do it.”

  “Not me?”

  “You will only make things worse. Leave her education to me. If I need your help, I will ask,” Helen said.

  “I will gladly do so.”

  Helen and Jack began to swap some stories. Jack asked her about Grigar, the Lajian wizard.

  “How did you leave things with him?”

  “He regretted not talking to you. If you ever get to Lajia again, I would make sure you find him. He probably knows as much about wizardry as Fasher.”

  Jack felt the same about the older man. Grigar, the wizard he met in Lajia, wouldn’t be as reticent to show Jack some wizardry tricks as Fasher was. He regretted his role in Grigar’s sister’s death. He hoped that wouldn’t make any reunion more difficult. Jack sighed but flinched just after Helen gently slapped the back of his head.

  “Trouble ahead.”

  Jack could see a cart turned on its side and twisted to block the road.

  “We just left Bartonsee,” he said. “The duke can’t be that lax with policing his realm.”

  “I see uniforms behind the cart, don’t you?” Penny said.

  Jack didn’t catch what the men wore. Helen halted them.

  “I don’t know what the jesters ahead are doing. It isn’t an official roadblock, or they wouldn’t be hiding,” Helen said.

  Myra laughed. “They aren’t real guards. I think it’s the boys from the boarding house giving me a bit of help.”

  “This is a joke?” Helen asked.

  Myra nodded. “I think you three should draw your swords and give them a good scare, but don’t attack them. When they ask you for your things, just hand them over.”

  Jack had felt a bit of pressure in his head while Myra spoke. He looked at Helen, who nodded and touched her ring.

  They would give the bandits a good scare as well as the wizardess who had just tried a coercion spell on them. That proved that Myra was considerably more powerful than Penny.

  He considered pulling out his wand, which was better for sending wizard bolts, but since Myra wanted intimidation, he slid his sword out of its scabbard and held it upright mimicking Helen. Penny was behind him, but he wasn’t about to turn around to see if she followed Myra’s suggestion.

  “Why are you getting behind me?” Penny said. “They are your friends.”

  Jack turned around to see Myra looking a little nervous. He pressed his lips together as he replaced the sword with his wand. “I would prepare for a fight. Myra has moved to the back.”

  “Of course this is a setup,” Helen said through her teeth, barely enough for Jack to hear. “Are you ready to fight?”

  Jack waved his wand at her. “I’ll intimidate them with a few wizard bolts.”

  “I thought you filled that sword with all kinds of magic.”

  “It won’t be so easy to fill back up with magic now that I don’t have the warded box or the Serpent’s Orb. With those, I can top up the wand more quickly.” Jack quickly gazed back at Myra. “I don’t want to show her all that I have. There are only five of them. If they are hiding behind a cart, how good do you think they can be?”

  “Against you, sword to sword? A few of them might be good enough to kill or maim you. I think you should stand behind Penny and me.”

  “Let’s stop and put on our armor,” Jack said. He eyed Myra again. “We do have a wizardess behind us.”

  “I forgot. My mistake.” She held up her hand and jumped off her horse. “Armor up, Penny.”

  Fasher’s assistant didn’t have anything to protect her from behind, so Jack made sure she understood she was to keep Jack between Myra and her. Jack put on his cuirass, helmet, and bracers. He remounted, and an arrow flew out from the cart and careened off his helmet. Jack called back to Myra. “That is some joke.”

  He pointed his wand at a body part sticking out from the side of the cart and let fly with a bolt. They all heard a satisfying yelp.

  “It’s not fair,” Myra yelled from behind. “A wizard has no right being able to throw a bolt so far.”

  “Shall we rush them?” Jack asked. He would feel braver if he had a shield like Helen. Penny had little protection.

  “If we do, Penny needs to fight from behind me and in front of you,” Helen said.

  “Then in we go,” Helen said. “Jack, cover us with bolts.”

  Jack followed the two women, after glancing back at Myra. She looked guilty. He expected to get a wizard bolt in the back from the woman.

  “Give up!” Helen yelled as she picked up her pace.

  Jack saw a hat begin to rise from the cart, but it shook too much. He spotted movement on the other side of the cart and shot a bolt at an archer. The bow clattered on the cobbled road.

  Hands rose up from the cart just as Jack felt something push him forward. Myra must have fired a wizard bolt. She had waited for a diversion. That was more than Jack could take. He turned around to see Myra gathering their horses. He fired a wizard bolt into the dirt, stopping her.

  “I’m going to end this using our wizardess,” Jack said. He stalked back, holding out the wand. “Don’t fire another bolt and let go of those reins, or I will shoot you down.”

  “You can’t have any power left after those wizard bolts,” Myra said.

  Jack threw one that singed the woman’s skirt. “I have plenty of power left,” Jack said. He walked up to her horse and grabbed her wrist and dragged her down off the horse.

  “Let me go!” She protested by grabbing his wrists. She stopped. “Your bracers are objects of power?”

  Jack grumbled. “You don’t want to know,” he said as he continued to pull her toward Helen and Penny.

  “Stop right now if you don’t want Myra Pulini damaged,” Jack called out.

  Three men emerged from behind the cart with their hands held high. “We give up.”

  “Be ready for anything,” Jack said to Helen. He gave her Myra. “If she tries anything, punch her in the face.”

  Helen took Myra’s hand and said, “Gladly,” while Jack walked toward the three men. He pointed the wand at them.

  “Move the cart off the road,” Helen said.

  The men nodded and moved back around behind the cart. When they righted the conveyance, another man stood with a bow in his hand. The man didn’t have a chance against Jack. His screams filled the air as he clutched his thigh.

  “Move the cart off the road, the woman asked,” Jack said. He looked down the road to see some travelers heading toward Bartonsee. “Drag your injured associates to the side, as well. We have a healer among us, but you must promise not to try to free Myra. She will accompany us all the way to Passoran.”

  The men did as Jack said, while Helen, Penny, and Myra—with her wrists now tied to the saddle—rode up.

  “If you would first see to the injured men, we will be on our way, please,” Jack said to Penny. He made sure he emphasized the please.

  Penny jumped off her horse and examined the pair. “Burns only.” She glared at Jack. “You could have killed them.”

  “But they weren’t,” Helen said. “Jack is very accurate with t
he wand.”

  “It isn’t luck?” she asked.

  Helen shook her head. “Not at all.”

  “She’s right, healer,” Myra said. “He had two chances to pierce me right through with one of those wizard bolts, but he didn’t.”

  Jack waited for the travelers to arrive.

  “Trouble?” one of the men in the group asked.

  “Would-be robbers,” Helen said. “They tangled with two wizards and a mercenary.”

  “The boy is a mercenary?” another said.

  “I’m the mercenary,” Helen said. “He is one of the wizards.”

  “Oh.”

  Jack looked at the two men and the older woman driving a cart laden with new furniture that looked well made in Jack’s estimation. He couldn’t help but ask. “Have you ever heard of Winder of Raker Falls? He makes good furniture.”

  “Sure have. He is known well enough all the way to Dorkansee. Why do you ask?”

  Jack smiled. “He is my father. Your furniture isn’t too bad either.”

  “It doesn’t compare to his. He could sell more if he made more,” the woman said. “Tell him you met Harria Wovenbottom.”

  “I will.”

  “You are a wizard?”

  “I work for one,” Jack said. “I’ve picked up a few tricks that have been helpful.”

  “Obviously,” one of the men said. “Have a good day. You probably saved us from being waylaid by these scoundrels.”

  Jack looked at Helen, who touched her lips. “Perhaps. You have a good day too.” He watched the three travel toward Bartonsee.

  “You should never give much information on the road,” Helen said. “It is advice you would be wise to follow.”

  “But the furniture was well made.”

  “And what if the woman and her two henchmen stole it from the maker.”

  “She gave me her name,” Jack said.

  “Harria Wovenbottom? You really think that is the woman’s real name.”

  “Do you know it isn’t?” Jack asked.

  Helen shook her head. “Tanner would tell you in a way that you would accept it easier, but it doesn’t pay to give much trust.”

  “Like we just did? Myra’s not a fountain of goodwill, is she? She tried to coerce us, but I made sure that didn’t happen,” Jack said.

  Helen turned a little red. “We all make mistakes. We weren’t caught unawares anyway. You and I knew something was up when she drifted behind.”

  “We all make mistakes.” Jack wouldn’t push his luck with Helen. She was more than smart enough to get his point. “Myra still comes with us,” Jack said. “And she will still get paid,” he said a little louder to make sure she heard. If Fasher wanted her with them, then she would be with them.

  “What if I don’t want to come?” Myra said.

  “You tell me which finger you want to be cut off first,” Helen said.

  The woman’s eyes flashed with fear. “You wouldn’t.”

  “I would, and I will. As we told you in Bartonsee, people who mean a lot to us are sick, and you are going to help us find Grishel’s Feather whether you want to or not,” Helen said.

  “I’m done here,” Penny said. “What do we do with them?

  Jack looked around and spotted five horses tied to a tree.

  “Leave them,” Jack said. “We will take their horses to the next village or town. I don’t want them after us. Do you agree, Helen?”

  The mercenary snorted. “I wouldn’t untie the horses, I’d tie up the men and leave them trussed in the cart. I’m no horse herder.”

  Chapter Six

  ~

  A village and a town later, they stopped at an inn that stood in the center of a market town.

  “We will track you down,” Helen said, “so don’t get any ideas about running away.”

  “I promise,” Myra said.

  Jack didn’t trust anything the woman said, but they couldn’t go much longer, obviously holding a woman captive. Myra had drawn stares enough in the village as they rode halfway through.

  “I’m going out to stretch my legs,” Jack said.

  “I will join you if Helen can watch Myra for a while,” Penny said.

  “My pleasure,” Helen said in a way that clearly meant the opposite.

  Jack was surprised Penny volunteered to join him.

  “That woman is too tough for words,” she said once they had exited the inn. The market was just down the street, so their walk wasn’t very long.

  “Myra?”

  Penny shook her head. “Helen. She really is a ruthless woman.”

  “When did you find that out?” Jack said.

  She stared at him. Perhaps Penny really needed someone to listen.

  “Helen is a bit complicated,” Jack said. “You never really are on her good side, since I’ve only seen it emerge once or twice, but she isn’t a bad person. I have fought by her side enough times to know she is very competent and very loyal.”

  “Loyal to me?” Penny asked.

  “Loyal to Fasher Tempest and Tanner Simple. I’m not so sure about me, but as long as you are on Fasher’s side, you’ll be on hers,” Jack said. “I trust her. I do not trust Myra Pulini.”

  “I’m not so sure Myra trusts Myra,” Penny said. “She told me she reluctantly agreed to help the men steal our belongings.”

  “I would remove the ‘reluctantly’ from your description. If you want my opinion—”

  “I didn’t ask for your opinion, I wanted to give you mine,” Penny said.

  Jack frowned. “You’ll get a little bit of mine anyway. Treat Helen with respect, and she will do the same to you. If we are ever in a fight, she is the one who knows how to win.”

  “You didn’t do so badly yourself,” Penny said.

  A compliment! The girl surprised Jack.

  She continued. “I have never seen you like that before. You don’t act that way around Uncle Fasher.”

  “I don’t have to fight robbers in Raker Falls,” Jack said. “Let’s see if there is anything good to eat in the market before we head back to the inn.”

  They roamed around the market. Jack decided to follow Penny and not do anything to spoil the very rare mood. They found some food, and when they took a different route through the market on their way back to the inn, they passed a furniture stall.

  Jack couldn’t pass the place without asking an important question.

  “Have you ever heard of Harria Wovenbottom?”

  “No,” the merchant said.

  “She makes furniture.” He looked more closely at the merchandise, and it looked remarkably similar to what he saw on the cart.

  Jack’s eyes narrowed. “Are you missing some furniture?”

  “Am I!” the man said. “I had most of the goods in my stall stolen yesterday evening. I had it sitting in my cart when I realized I had left a piece that was on order back at my shop, and that was that.”

  “We passed them most of the way toward Bartonsee. A woman and her two accomplices.”

  “That was Harria Wovenbottom?” The man laughed and shook his head. “Woven bottom. I make furniture with woven bottoms.”

  “Have you ever heard of Winder of Raker Falls? He is a furniture maker.” Jack was prepared for disappointment.

  “Everyone has from Bartonsee south, I’m sure. He is a master craftsman.”

  “He is my father,” Jack said. “Even Harria Wovenbottom had heard of him.”

  “She probably would if she was going to sell my goods. Can you give me a description of her? I’d like to make a formal complaint to the town’s guard.”

  Jack and Penny gave them their impressions of the woman. Penny even could describe the guards, who Jack had basically ignored.

  Penny laughed. “Helen was right, and you were wrong!” The old Penny had emerged from behind a pleasant cloud.

  “I’m wrong often enough,” Jack said. “What else am I here for, but to give you the enjoyment of laughing at me?”

  She smirked a
t him and turned back to the furniture maker. “Is there an armorer’s tent in the market?”

  “Not in the market but over there.” The merchant pointed to a shop that fronted the square not far from where they stood.

  Penny bumped into him as they started off. “You are too trusting.”

  Jack considered Penny’s comment. Perhaps he was a bit trusting, but you couldn’t doubt everyone all the time. He thought to ask, “And who thought to ask the furniture maker about Harria Wovenbottom? I didn’t hear you speak up on our way into this town.”

  “You just didn’t listen hard enough.”

  Jack shook his head. “I’ll ask Helen about my listening.”

  “Don’t do that!” Penny said, turning red.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t be trusting you,” Jack said with a smile.

  Penny walked a little faster than Jack and beat him to the armorer’s shop and entered. Jack finally arrived and walked to her side.

  “What are you looking for?” Jack asked Penny.

  “Something to protect me from wizard bolts.” Penny waited for the shopkeeper to finish up with another customer. “I suppose I don’t trust Myra, after all.”

  Jack chuckled. “I agree with you. A leather cuirass that will stop wizard bolts is just as heavy as a thinner metal one.” He separated from her and browsed around the shop. “What about this?”

  Penny held a knife when she turned. “A shield?”

  “One you can wear on your back. See the straps?” Jack showed her the reverse side of the round shield. “Do you want to try it on?”

  Penny made her typically prunish face and shook her head. Jack shrugged and found a shield slightly bigger that fit him. “I’m going to buy this,” he said.

  She looked back and sighed as if she was making a huge concession to him. “Help me put it on,” she said.

  Jack adjusted the straps for her, and Penny lifted her eyebrows. “I can use this if we have to fight too.”

  “Or for sliding down a snow-covered slope,” Jack said.

  “Fat chance. I hate the snow.”

  The shopkeeper walked up. “You are buying a shield? That is something more for mercenaries than a young wizardess if your robes are authentic.”

  “They are,” Penny said. “Even wizards need protection at times. I’m also wondering if there is a cuirass like my friend is wearing, that might fit me.”