Nicholas Raven and the Wizards' Web (The Complete Epic Fantasy)

by Thomas J. Prestopnik

  “What’s our first move?” Lewis asked, proud to be involved with the resistance. Secretly, he hoped that Katherine Durant would some day be impressed with him for joining the fight to save Kanesbury when his contribution could be made public.

  “First we think,” Oscar said, “followed by some careful planning. When we’re ready to act, Lewis, we’ll count on the younger and more eager members, such as you, Owen and some of the others to implement most of the grunt work. Stealth, sharp eyes and quick legs will be needed if we’re to make a go of this.”

  “You can depend on us,” Owen said, his father smiling proudly in the darkness.

  “That’s the attitude!” Ned replied. “Just leave it to those of us who are less nimble of foot to develop the ideas. Together, we’ll show those Islanders a thing or two.”

  “That we will,” Len agreed. “But don’t make us all sound like we’re confined to a porch chair or walking with a cane. I’m just as willing as my son to fight or ride or–climb rooftops!–if need be to save this village.”

  “Climb rooftops?” Oscar asked curiously. “What did you have in mind?”

  Len, flush with embarrassment, was glad that nobody could see him. “Well, nothing yet, Oscar. Guess I’m just excited to get this movement underway. I’ll shut up and listen now.”

  “All right,” he replied, happy that his group wasn’t lacking for enthusiasm. “But now we need to hear some solid ideas. Maynard, would you care to begin? Any suggestions on how we can start our little rebellion?”

  “That’s the crux of the matter,” he replied, sitting on a cold, stone step. “Can we actually fight our way out of this, or must we somehow escape and seek assistance? From what Caldurian has told us and what we’ve seen with our own eyes, I certainly favor the latter. Even if we were fully armed, this community is no match for the forces surrounding us, and I say that with the utmost respect for everyone in Kanesbury.”

  “We aren’t a match,” Owen said, recalling with pride the soldiers he had observed training in Morrenwood when he accompanied his father to the war council. “And as much as I would love to wield a sword or pick up a bow and arrow–”

  “Assuming we had any!” Lewis joked.

  “–I must agree with Mayor Kurtz that we are outmatched militarily. We have to send word to Morrenwood for help as well as alert the nearby communities about what’s happened here. Maybe they can offer assistance in the meantime.”

  “Makes sense to me,” Lewis replied. “But how do we do that?”

  “Exactly,” agreed another voice in the darkness. “We’re surrounded. There’s not a safe opening through tree or river or field.”

  “And forget the roads,” added Freddy. “We’d need a cattle stampede to break through.”

  “Perhaps one of us could grow wings and fly out,” someone else joked, eliciting a round of quiet laughter.

  “All interesting suggestions, but not quite practical,” Maynard said appreciatively. “We need something a bit less dramatic and a little more–”

  Suddenly the village bell tolled mournfully in the distance. The change of the evening guard had begun.

  “There they go,” Ned whispered. Everyone listened for a few moments in silence, though all they could hear was an occasional voice in the distance or the muffled clip clop of a passing horse. “To think that we would find ourselves in such a situation, hiding out in our own village,” he added with an air of disgust.

  “Then let’s think harder and figure out how to fight back,” Lewis said. “Every day without a plan is another day living under that wizard’s boot, and I don’t like it.”

  “You have a lot of company there,” Len Harold said. “So whenever you’re willing to start that cattle stampede…”

  Another round of soft laughter filled the root cellar until Oscar called for everyone’s attention. “Despite our amusement, Freddy’s idea might not be so far off the trail of commonsense.”

  “Surely you don’t plan to run a herd of cattle down River Road and bust out of here, do you?” Ned asked with a note of skepticism.

  “Not cattle,” he said. “Horses!”

  “I’m intrigued,” Freddy said. “Explain.”

  “I think my plan–inspired by Freddy, of course–is just outlandish enough, but not too much so, to actually work,” Oscar said, his growing enthusiasm apparent as he put the pieces together. “I always check in on Lewis and my other workers a few times a day as they harvest wood on the northeast edge of the Cumberland Forest below Neeley’s Pond. But near the pond itself is where the Islanders have corralled all the horses within the village not in use. They’re under guard but the security detail is light. Maybe three or four men at most from what I’ve seen passing by.”

  “What do you suggest?” Owen asked with growing interest.

  “I think that one of these nights we send a group to release all the horses at once and drive them out of the village along River Road, storming right through the Islanders barricading the west entrance,” he explained. “They’ll have no choice but to move aside or be trampled to death. At the same time, a handful of the younger and better riders among us will be atop a few of the horses in the middle of the herd, dressed in dark clothes, lying low and breaking out to freedom. They can ride to the nearby villages for assistance and send word to Morrenwood.” A moment of silence followed as everyone pondered Oscar’s plan.

  “Intriguing,” Maynard finally said.

  “I’ll say,” Freddy added, his imagination fired up as he ran the scene through his mind. “And I had only been joking when I first talked about the cattle.”

  “But the stampede is only half the strategy,” Oscar continued. “In the meantime, we’ll have two or three other men hidden around the village, say in an old shack here or an abandoned house there.”

  “For what purpose?”

  “For our diversion,” he said, offering a smile no one could see. “Those men will start fires to the buildings first, and amid the ensuing commotion, the horses can be released.” Oscar then snapped his fingers. “And we can use the village bell to coordinate our moves! As it tolls for the changing of the evening guard, that will be the signal for the fires to be set. When the men hiding out near the horses deem the commotion is sufficient, they can release them from the stables and ride to victory!”

  Ned cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention. “Just one minor question, Oscar. How are we to get by the Islanders guarding the horses?”

  “Well, uh, that’s a detail I still have to work out. But we’ll think it through,” he assured him. “We’ll think it through.”

  “All right,” Ned replied. “I’m willing to give it a try since our options are few.”

  “As am I, but think it through we must,” Maynard said. “Still, it’s a viable plan if we work out the knots. Given a few more days of preparation, we just may have the answer to regaining our freedom from that miserable scourge of a wizard.”

  “I think so,” Oscar said, pleased that everyone was taking his idea seriously. “Now not a word of this to anyone,” he cautioned. “Only those in on the plan should know of it. We can’t risk a single detail reaching unfriendly ears by an inadvertent slip of the tongue.”

  “That would be the death of our movement, and perhaps us as well,” Maynard replied, his words chilling and grave, though contradictory to the snake-like smile forming upon his face that no one could see in the inky darkness of the root cellar.

  The following day dawned cool and misty, though the air warmed slightly as the morning progressed. A blanket of tattered clouds, thinning like a scrap of old fabric, allowed the glare of the muted sun to pass through. Nearly all the leafy trees had been rendered bare, awaiting a cold, deep sleep through the approaching winter. Lines of blue-gray chimney smoke rose above the rooftops, blending with the pungent-sweet scent of decaying leaves that wafted through unsettled streets and eerily silent woodland. The Pine River flowed south on its journey to Lake Lasko near the Red Mountains
, carrying a scattering of yellow and orange leaves upon its watery back for the long, quiet ride.

  The citizens of Kanesbury lumbered through the village, grudgingly going about their assigned tasks while steering clear of River Road. Many people avoided eye contact whenever a soldier from the Northern Isles happened by, most fearing that any hint of defiance might bring harm not only to themselves but to their loved ones. Occasionally, however, and with little or no provocation, certain individuals were arrested from time to time and thrown into the village lockup, usually for half a day before being released. Other prisoners would quickly take their places and receive the same brief incarceration.

  “The Islanders are keeping us off balance,” one man said to his wife when they saw two people being marched into the lockup. “It’s part of their plan.”

  “And what plan is that?” asked his wife.

  The man scratched his head and shrugged as they walked on. “I’m not quite sure, dear. I’m not quite sure.”

  Nobody saw Caldurian since the raucous meeting in the village hall two days ago, assuming that the wizard chose to remain holed up in Otto Nibbs’ house to implement his devious plans. Many admitted to being glad that Caldurian was living it up in the former mayor’s home, satisfied that Otto had received at least some penalty for his cowardly absence. Though Otto had saved himself and condemned the rest of the village to tyranny, a modicum of justice had been seemingly served.

  Katherine Durant and her mother were more than aware of such talk, though they rarely brought it up in conversation as it was too painful to address. Sophia still couldn’t grasp the fact that her brother had abandoned his beloved village and condemned it to such misery. His actions were so unbelievable coming from the kind and generous man she had known all her life. Katherine felt the same way about her uncle as she sat down with her mother later that night to a quiet meal at home, happy to be away from the unending tension at the Stewart household.

  “It’s nice simply to sit here and wallow in silence,” Katherine said, seated across from her mother at a small table near a blazing fireplace. The thick window drapes were closed, blocking out the night. A pair of candles flickered between them and the scent of freshly baked bread filled the air.

  “I can’t disagree,” Sophia replied, appearing tired as she leaned back in her chair and sighed. “If I never see another loaf of bread, it’ll be too soon.”

  “Maybe we should switch jobs,” Katherine said facetiously.

  “I’d probably get thrown in the lockup for insulting a soldier or purposely spilling a bowl of stew in his lap,” she replied with a chuckle. “No, I’m better off here where I won’t let my temper get the best of me.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” her daughter said, standing up and clearing the table. “I’ll put on tea while you sit here and relax. You deserve it, Mother.”

  “Tonight, Katherine, I won’t put up an argument. I–”

  A knock sounded at the back kitchen door. Both women looked at one another, cautiously puzzled.

  “Who could that be at this hour?” Katherine said with a trace of apprehension as she hurried to the kitchen. “You stay in here, Mother, while I find out.”

  Katherine stepped into the room where another low fire crackled in a stone oven. The wooden door was bolted shut. She peered out a small window above the counter, hoping to get a glimpse of the late-night visitor in the faint glow of the Bear Moon rising in the east. She saw the silhouette of a tall man patiently waiting at the doorstep, unable to discern his features until he stepped out of the shadows and into a splash of moonlight. Katherine pulled back, slightly startled yet equally intrigued. She slid back the metal bolt before cautiously opening the door a tiny bit. She glanced outside as the man stepped forward.

  “Why are you here?” she whispered suspiciously, now seeing Paraquin’s features fully revealed in the light from the kitchen.

  “Forgive me for disturbing you at this late hour,” the soldier replied, “but I need to speak if you have a moment. It’s very important, or at least I think it might be.”

  “About what?” Katherine asked, hesitant to meet with him either inside or out. “I think you should leave.”

  Paraquin raised his eyes in a silent plea for her trust. “I haven’t much time. But I have some information.” He looked about through the trees to the nearby road to assure himself that no one was around. “It’s about one of your missing friends.”

  Katherine’s heart beat wildly upon hearing his words. She opened the door wider. “Nicholas? Adelaide?”

  He nodded. “Yes. The woman.”

  Katherine thought for a moment and then signaled for him to step inside. “All right. I’ll give you a moment. Hurry. It’s miserably cold out.”

  “I’d rather not,” he said. “I only have a short while before I go on guard duty. I’d prefer to talk in the shadows. It’s best if we’re not seen together in a private dwelling. People would be suspicious.”

  “I understand. Let me grab my cloak.” Katherine closed the door and returned to the dining area where her mother anxiously waited near the fireplace.

  “Who was that?” Sophia asked, fearing the worst.

  “Everything’s fine, Mother. There’s nothing to worry about,” she replied as she removed her cloak from a hook near the front doorway. “I need to step out for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

  “But who stopped by?”

  “Just a–friend. I’ll explain later, Mother. Please trust me,” she said, hastening out of the room as the cloak was wrapped around her shoulders in a colorful swirl.

  Moments later, Katherine joined Paraquin in the shadows among some fragrant pine trees. She stared at the soldier for a moment, still distrustful of him but not afraid.

  “Again, forgive the late intrusion, but for obvious reasons I can’t stop by in the middle of the day and chat with you on the front porch,” he said with a boyish grin.

  “I suppose not,” Katherine agreed, quickly put at ease by his relaxed tone. “But tell me what you know, including how you found out where I live.”

  “Forgive me a second time, but I observed you from a distance walking to your house late this morning,” he explained. “I was on patrol and saw you leaving the Stewart household.”

  “I went home to visit my mother on one of my long breaks, if you must know. Were you spying on me?”

  “No, Katherine. It was just by chance that I saw you. And luckily so, because I had information I wanted to give you in private.”

  “Katherine? I recall purposely not giving you my name the other night.”

  “And I don’t blame you. But that mystery was easier to solve as I had heard it uttered a few times by some of the other serving girls when I had my meals at the Stewart place,” he said, appearing impatient. “I am pressed for time.”

  “Very well,” she said with a slightly apologetic tone to her voice. “As you’re taking a chance coming here, I suppose I should listen. So what is this information about Adelaide? Though I can’t imagine how you would know anything about her.”

  Paraquin blew into his hands to warm them. “I heard something late last night while on guard duty. I’m stationed with a few other soldiers at the east entrance to your village on River Road. Each night I’ve been there has been painfully dull as not a soul has showed up requesting to enter the village.”

  “That’s not surprising so late in the day at this time of year.”

  “True. But what surprised us last night was seeing two people trying to leave the village in a horse-drawn wagon,” he told her.

  “Leave the village?” Katherine furrowed her brow. “Why would anybody leave in such an obvious manner since Caldurian has Kanesbury surrounded? They might’ve been killed.”

  “Exactly. So when the men approached after midnight, we immediately advanced with swords drawn, prepared to haul them off to the lockup,” he continued. “The man driving the cart, however, held out a folded note and handed it to one of my fellow sold
iers, asking us not to delay him. He had a smug expression on his face.”

  “Who?” Katherine asked, greatly intrigued. “And what was written on the note?”

  Though already speaking softly, Paraquin lowered his voice further. “The note was apparently written by Caldurian, giving the two men permission to leave the village at will and without question. We were skeptical and prepared to arrest them. But the tone of the driver’s voice and the hardened look in his eyes made us think twice when he warned us that we’d be in terrible trouble with the wizard if we harassed them. Anyway, one of the soldiers ran off to find our captain to confirm the authenticity of the letter.”

  “What did he discover?” Katherine asked, unable to believe what she was hearing.

  “The letter was authentic,” Paraquin said. “It seems someone had forgotten to inform all of the guard shifts about this one exception to the wizard’s rule about not leaving the village.”

  Katherine hugged herself in the gnawing chill as the scent of pine needles danced about. “But why would Caldurian allow any of the locals to leave? That doesn’t–” A grim realization suddenly hit her and her heart sank. She slowly looked up at Paraquin. “Unless one of my fellow villagers is conspiring with him.”

  “I’m afraid so, Katherine. Two villagers in this case.”

  “But who? Why?”

  “I don’t know why since the men wouldn’t tell us their business as they waited for the letter to be authenticated. But I did learn the names of the men since they were both mentioned in the letter,” he replied. Even in the shadows, Paraquin noted the eagerness for an answer in Katherine’s wide eyes, yet he sensed that she was filled with dread as well, waiting to learn the identities of the two traitors in her dear village.

  “Tell me their names,” she said coldly, almost reluctantly.

  Paraquin nodded. “Their names were Zachary Farnsworth and Dooley Kramer. Do you know them?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, turning aside as she tried to make sense of the startling information.