The Wizard Priest

by Patty Jansen

  Funny that now the dragon was no longer in physical form, she wanted him to return.

  That so-called judgement in the market place today made her so angry that she wanted to set him on the guards or the Regent or the shepherd.

  That latter thought chilled her. She didn’t want to harm people. She wanted to make a bright and bold plan, but she wasn’t smart enough.

  While the women sat by the fire discussing how they could earn money to maybe buy one of the prisoners out of jail, she went outside and stood in the last of the dusk to think about the plan she didn’t yet have.

  On the other side of the harbour, a couple of men arrived with a cart full of lengths of wood that they dumped on the quayside in front of the important offices. They laid four planks out into a square and began attaching lengths of wood over the top to make a platform. The sound of their hammering echoed in the stillness.

  This installation would probably be for the carrying out of the sentence although she wasn’t yet sure how it would work. Presumably they wanted to drop several people into the water at the same time. That was how they usually carried out hangings: all the criminals were led up to the platform and then the floor fell away under them. Seeing all the people drown one by one would not make a spectacle that the citizens would stay to watch. Too many people would get angry.

  Nellie shivered.

  Mina was right that there was not much chance that they, as a handful of ragtag women with some children, could defeat well-trained guards. But something outrageous, something that was so daring that no one would have thought of doing it, might accomplish their goal.

  But what?

  They had no authority to appeal to and no money to bribe with. No one in the city cared about a bunch of servants and poor women anyway. They had no weapons and no skill to wield them.

  They had no possessions useful for fighting, deceiving or bribing guards, no skills other than cooking and sewing.

  Nellie could ride a horse, badly, and she could use a sea cow team. They had sea cows and half a harness, but no boat.

  So her thoughts chased each other through her head.

  The last of the daylight glinted in the windows of the offices on the far side of the quay.

  Silhouetted in the orange light lay the magnificent ship that belonged to the Guentherite order.

  It was hard to believe the order preached modesty.

  But the ship was there, only a few paces from the place where the carpenters were building the wooden construction.

  Nellie wondered how many people were staying on board while the ship lay in the harbour, and whether the monks would be happy to look at an installation that would condemn people to death.

  Nellie had seen the ship manoeuvre into the harbour. It required a full team of fifteen sea cows. She presumed the animals were well tended in one of the quayside barns.

  Imagine what that ship could do if a larger team of sea cows pulled it.

  Imagine what it could do if it were pulled by a dragon.

  Yes, like that was going to happen.

  She walked along the deserted wharf and along the quayside. It was quiet. Other than a fisherman mending his nets, nobody was in sight, and only a single cat scurried away. She walked past the harbourmaster’s office to where the ship lay moored.

  The gangplank was down, but she couldn’t see any guards. For a ship of this type, especially one so pretty and from out of town, she would have expected someone to stand watch.

  Nellie walked along the quayside, taking note of the places where the bow had hooks for attaching the sea cow teams. She remembered doing this, many years ago, when she fled with Mistress Johanna up the river.

  The line of little cabin windows were all dark, and she wondered if the ship lay abandoned, because if there was someone on board, it was too early for them to be in bed.

  From working for Mistress Johanna’s family, she remembered that the captains would stay with the ships. Some would even have their families live aboard.

  Did the order’s ship have a captain? She couldn’t remember anyone ever speaking of one.

  Nellie grew bold.

  She went up the gangplank and stepped onto the deck. Most river ships would have doors for the cargo hold up here, but this was a passenger ship, so she came out on a deck area in between two cabins. A few days ago, she had watched people unload barrels of wine from this deck, but now it was empty.

  To the left was the captain’s cabin, with windows out the front and sides. That area was dark.

  She walked up to the cabin on the other side and knocked on the door.

  “Hello? Is there anyone there?”

  When someone opened the door, she would ask if he had seen a little runaway boy who was crazy about ships.

  But the door remained very much closed. The ship appeared to be deserted.

  Well that was odd.

  It was getting dark very quickly, and by the last of daylight she went back down the steep gangplank onto the quay.

  The fisherman still sat on the wharf. He had lit a lantern and his breath steamed by the light as his gloved fingers darned the net. The gloves were old and displayed several holes.

  “They never leave anyone on the ship when they’re in port,” he said, nodding at the Guentherite order’s ship. “It’s dumb, I know, asking for trouble if you ask me, but there it is. If you want to speak to the monks, you have to go find them in town. Guess they’re all landlubbers to begin with.” He chuckled. “A good captain would never leave his ship. I guess they’re more interested in the banquets.”

  Nellie nodded at his net. “You still go out fishing in winter?”

  “A man’s gotta eat. The neighbour’s wife sells the fish at the markets. The neighbour wants to eat, too.”

  “If you could save us some fish, I can fix those gloves for you.”

  “That would be swell. The wife’s been gone a few months and I haven’t picked up any skills in knitting.”

  “Give them to me, I’ll bring them back in the morning.”

  “Not afore I fixed my net. I’ll still be here in the morning. Come pick them up. I’ll bring you some nice juicy fish in the evening.”

  Nellie bade him goodnight and kept walking. The seed of a bold, ridiculous idea was growing in her mind. She might need his help.

  Inside the barn, they had everything she needed to set up a team of sea cows. There were enough of the creatures to serve as a team, if she could entice them into a harness. Most of these free animals had done the work before, and the promise of food was always a good one to get them to do the work.

  All she needed was a boat.

  The prisoners would be thrown into the water. She would be there waiting for them.

  But supposing they could rescue the prisoners, there was no going back to hiding somewhere in the city, because the Regent would send all his men after them. Once they rescued these people, they should take the sea cows and the boat to a farm out of the city somewhere and stay there for the winter. So they needed a boat, and the fisherman might help with that if she was nice to him.

  They could hide a boat inside the barn and race out the moment people were in the water. A light wooden boat pulled by a full team of sea cows would do the job. They wouldn’t have much time, because it would be cold, but if they could rescue only some people, then it was better than none at all.

  The other problem was that once this boat was out in the open, the Regent would order his guards to shoot at it, so the people aboard had to be protected.

  There were many questions. What sort of boat would they use? How many people could go on it?

  But straight away, she saw a flaw in the plan: if the boat needed to be big enough for all of them and the rescued people, then it would be heavy.

  Some people would need to stay on the shore in safety. The children, most likely.

  But then what would they do when the prisoners were rescued and all the guards would be after them and maybe shooting arrows at them? She w
ouldn’t put it past the Regent to order his men to shoot at women and children. It might even be likely that the citizens would be too scared to show outrage about this.

  So: the rescuers would be on the water in the boat, being shot at by the guards from the shore.

  The rest of the group would be—no, that made no sense. When a boat came out of the sea cow barn to rescue the drowning prisoners, everyone from the party had to have left the building.

  By that time, they already needed to be at the next safe hiding place, or on their way out of the city.

  She eyed the Guentherite ship. Unguarded. Sleek and fast.

  No one would expect this group of women to take off with it. They could hide the children on board during the day and then take the prisoners to the harbour side of the ship and have it ready to go.

  That was an idea. It was a bold and scary idea that frightened her so much that it made her shiver.

  Nellie went back inside the barn where the women sat around the fire, still talking about the daily problems of survival.

  Nellie joined them, and Mina looked up.

  “What have you been up to?”

  “I was thinking. I would like to try to rescue the prisoners.”

  “So would we all, but the dungeons are well guarded, and they only have a tiny little window close to the ceiling, far too high to climb. How are you going to get anyone out of there? People have tried so many times already. They’ve dug tunnels, they’ve tried to chisel out the grate. I don’t think it’s possible to get people out of there, especially if you have no weapons.”

  “We won’t do anything like that. We’ll rescue them from the water.”

  “You mean once they’ve already been thrown in the harbour?”

  “Yes. It would be the best time, and no one is expecting it.”

  “But how are you going to avoid all the guards with bows and arrows? To go out on the water, you’d be out in the open.”

  And Nellie explained about her plan. As she spoke, the women’s faces grew more and more incredulous.

  Agatha said, “You mean, you want to fish the people out of the water, steal a boat and leave town?”

  “That’s pretty much the gist of it.”

  “But we know nothing about boats. Do you?”

  “I have handled a river boat.”

  “How long ago was that, though?”

  “You don’t forget those things.”

  “It sounds like a mad idea. We have children with us. We want them to stay safe. I can’t see how going out there on the water will get us anywhere. It’s cold, it’s dangerous, we’re out in the open. Those guards have no qualms about shooting women and children if the Regent orders it. I don’t want to leave town, because it’s cold and harsh out there, and there are bandits about who would just love to find a group of unprotected women. No, I’d rather stay safe.”

  “Don’t you want to rescue our friends?”

  “Yes, but not while risking the lives of so many more people with some madcap adventure. I can hardly believe I’m hearing this from you.”

  Nellie knew she would have to do a better job of convincing them.

  They went to bed, all tucked up together in the storeroom where it was dry and the sleeping cats provided additional warmth.

  As she lay in the straw surrounded by warm bodies, furry or otherwise, a trail of sparks travelled over the ceiling.

  She said, quietly, “I know you’re watching. Do something useful if you want to help.”

  The dragon did not appear to listen to anybody unless it involved the kitten. After he had fled from the fire dog, she had found the dragon in this abandoned barn looking after sea cows. He was fascinated by other animals. It appeared that other animals were fascinated by him. At least the kittens were, as were the sea cows. And children, he liked those, too.

  They could lure the dragon out of hiding by having lots of animals and children around.

  But, in this way, the dragon was already helping them.

  Chapter 11

  * * *

  TO MAKE HER PLAN WORK, Nellie needed to pull out everything she had.

  She spent a lot of the next day examining the bits and pieces left behind on the workbenches and the storage room.

  There were two sea cow harnesses in the barn. One was complete, but held only nine animals. The other was one of the larger ones that held fifteen animals, but at some point, someone had dismantled the harness and one beam was missing. The straps were all broken, but there was a rope and leather to repair the harness, if only they had a beam.

  How would she get a new beam?

  Maybe she could “borrow” one from another barn.

  She wandered around the wharf, trying to remember where else the other river traders used to have their barns. There used to be so many of them: the Nielands, the Deims, the Pietersens. Over the last few years, most of them had either closed up their businesses because of retirement, or had moved to more profitable harbours with less hostile rulers.

  Their old barns used to be on the other side of the harbour, but it was likely that the Guentherite order used those for their sea cows, so it might not be such a good idea to spend too much time around there.

  The warehouses next to the barn were mostly empty although one appeared to be in use as a place to store building materials.

  Around mid-morning, she came across the fisherman again. He had just returned from a fishing trip and placed baskets full of fish on the wharf. Most of them were flounders, caught in the sandy beds of the delta that were free of ice.

  “Good morning,” he said, puffing on his pipe. “Still around? It’s cold out there early, but I got some nice fish for you.”

  He gave her a couple of freshly caught flounders that were silvery and slippery. She took them—and the gloves she’d agreed to fix—to the barn.

  Mina was most happy with the fish. “I’d been wondering if we could catch some ourselves, but I guess that’s a lot harder than it seems.”

  Nellie collected the mending kit she always carried in her bag and sat down to fix the fisherman’s worn gloves. With that done, she went back to the quay and gave the gloves back to him.

  He gave her a broad smile.

  “Why, thank you for this. I haven’t had the pleasure of a woman’s help since my wife died last year.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. We’re a group of women, and we can fix other things for you, if we can have more fish, or if you can help us with other things.”

  “Like what?”

  “I’m looking for a boat the size of yours,” Nellie said.

  He gave her a strange look and then laughed. “You, missy? All by yourself? What do you know about boats and fishing?”

  “More than you think,” Nellie said. But she was beginning to think maybe they needed more experienced people to help them. “But we’re not fishing. We want to leave town, with a group of women and children. I know some farms where we might be safe.”

  “You’d be safer in the city. I heard the stories about bandits.”

  “Have you seen any bandits?”

  “Me? No, but I don’t set foot on the land. On the water, there are no bandits.”

  If they managed to get away with the Guentherite order’s ship, they could live on the ship, too.

  “We can handle bandits. They wouldn’t dare attack a group of women and children.”

  “Never say never. Some of these men have no morals. I’d hate to see something bad happen to you.”

  “It’s no longer safe for us to stay here with the latest raids.”

  “Some of you use magic?” he asked.

  “Yes. We almost got caught last time. That’s why we’re sheltering here, because the guards are all over the artisan quarter.” She left out the bits about people from their group already in prison.

  “That declaration against magic is ridiculous. I don’t know a single fisherman who doesn’t use wind magic. If they don’t, they’re no good at catching fish.”
/>   “I wonder how the guards can tell that someone has magic.”

  “They can’t. They use silly hocus-pocus and then it’s all about whether they like your face and how much protest there will be and how much you can pay or whether they need you.”

  Yes, that could be why the guards had left Zelda alone, because there would be trouble from the wayfarers if they arrested her.

  “So it’s not about magic at all.”

  “Not with the people they’re picking up. If they want magic, they should be looking elsewhere. A creature’s been prowling around here that looks like it’s been made of fire. I first heard about it two days ago, but the old codger who mentioned it in the tavern is quite mad. But last night I saw it with my own eyes. And, no, I didn’t have too much to drink.” He shook his head. “I would be laughing if it weren’t so damned scary. And what are the guards doing about that? Nothing!”

  The fire dog. Nellie wished she knew who it belonged to. “Have many people seen this creature?”

  “No, otherwise someone would be doing something about it. All those guards ratting out those poor peddlers because they use this or that magic trinket should be chasing this creature. But there’s too few of us that’ve seen it, so they prefer not to believe us, because they can pretend what we say is unimportant.”

  “I’ve seen it.”

  He gave her an incredulous look. “The one that’s made from fire?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s an evil thing, don’t you agree?”

  “I think so,” she said. “When the Fire Wizard ruled the city, he would just conjure these creatures up with a flick of his fingers.”

  “I know. I’m old enough to have seen it.”

  “Do you think he’s back?” Nellie shivered.

  “The Fire Wizard is dead. Queen Johanna encased him inside a willow tree.”

  The tree in question, a gnarled and misshapen willow, had stood in the corner of the marketplace until last year, when a storm had blown it over. Nellie remembered seeing that the wood inside the trunk was marbled with black. City guards had sawn it into pieces and taken it away. It had probably warmed the mayor’s house that winter.