“What am I to do if you don’t return?” he asks before Jiron places a gag in his mouth to prevent him from hollering for help.
“Just pray that we do,” he tells him, receiving a glare in return.
Standing up, he turns to James and asks, “Ready?”
“Sure,” he replies as he goes to the rail and stands up on it. Jumping off, he dives into the water, Jiron hitting the water just after him. They swim over to the shore and then climb out. James is shivering slightly from the coldness of the water.
“Now, let’s go find your friend,” Jiron says as they enter the forest.
Chapter Twenty Eight
After days of working in the mines, his hands have toughened up and the sores have begun to form calluses. A friendship has developed between Nate and him, each helping the other as needed. Even though the work is hard, he finds himself proud when his team achieves their quota for the day.
There are dozens of teams throughout the mines and a rough score is kept as far as how well each team consistently meets their quotas. His team, while at first having been low in the rankings due to the loss of men and the new ones joining, is now steadily climbing toward the lead team spot. Essin, though tough and strict, has been fair in his dealings with his men.
Since coming to join Essin’s team, there have been two cave-ins, including the one that occurred on the first day. The second one, the team caught beneath the falling rocks hadn’t been so lucky, they were crushed and killed. Miko’s team wasn’t the one sent to help dig out those poor souls, but had heard of it through the gossip channels later when leaving for the night.
Every other day or so, Black Tooth makes an appearance to give them their water and bread. His scowls have become so common now that Miko is no longer bothered by them. Lately, when they leave the mines at night, Black Tooth can be seen hanging around some of the supervisors, talking and joking with them. Whenever he sees Miko though, his smile fades from his face and hatred creeps into his features. He absently rubs his stump while looking at Miko, almost as if he’s unconsciously reliving the day he lost his hand. But Miko no longer fears him. He’s never far from his team and he knows they will stand by him should things ever get ugly between him and Black Tooth.
A day ago, during a break when bread and water was brought to them by someone other than Black Tooth, Miko had bitten into his bread and felt a sharp, jabbing sensation in his mouth. He reached in and pulled out a sharp rock, stained with blood from where it had punctured his tongue. If he would have swallowed it, it would’ve most likely torn apart his insides.
He had taken it to Essin who then proceeded to yell at the man who brought it. The man said he didn’t know how it had made its way into the bread but that he would look into it when he got back. Later that day, when they were leaving the mines, Miko saw Black Tooth standing near the kitchen building talking to the one who had brought the bread down to them. He pointed them out to Nate who said, “Apparently, he’s not through trying to get you, and he’s enlisting aid.”
“What can I do?” Miko asks him.
Shrugging, he says, “Nothing to do, just watch out until you have proof to bring to Essin.”
Miko kept glancing over to Black Tooth until his team reached their room and went inside for the night.
The following morning after they reach their spot in the mines, all goes as usual and they are able to maintain their pace to achieve their quota for the day. The day passes uneventfully as they load wagon after wagon full of ore.
James and Jiron look out from the woods to where the smelting complex lies. Six buildings bellow smoke from tall smokestacks, wagons being unloaded into smaller carts which are then taken inside. Several other smaller auxiliary buildings surround them. Two wagons enter the complex from a road on the far side and make their way toward one of the smelters.
“That road must lead to where Miko is,” states James.
“Let’s work our way around to it,” Jiron suggests.
Nodding, James makes to move when he’s stopped by Jiron’s hand on his shoulder. He glances back as Jiron indicates a group of workers walking along the side of a nearby building. Remaining motionless, they wait until the men move to the door in the side of the building and enter.
Working their way through the edge of the forest, they circumvent the smelting complex and come to the road. At the road they pause a moment as they look both ways. Not seeing anyone upon the road, they step out of the trees. James says, “Let’s take the road. It’ll be faster.”
“Alright,” he says. “But we better keep our eyes open.”
They travel down the road for a hundred feet before Jiron suddenly takes him by the arm and whispers, “Someone’s coming.” Further up the road, movement can be seen.
James follows Jiron into the forest where they crouch down behind some bushes and trees to wait. Shortly, they begin to hear the unmistakable sound of a horse drawn wagon coming toward them down the road. When the wagon reaches them, they see that it’s heaped full of ore from the mine, heading for the smelters. Aside from the driver, two guards with crossbows ride upon the wagon. After the wagon passes and has moved further down the road, they return to the road and continue down toward the mine.
An hour later finds them coming to the stockade wall that surrounds the mine. It appears out of the forest and then turns to run along the edge of the road. They enter the forest on the opposite side of the road from the wall before coming into view of the guards patrolling along the top. Keeping well within the woods, they make their way slowly alongside the road, all the while staying out of sight of the guards atop the walls. When they reach the area directly across from the gate, they stop and from a hidden location, watch the guards atop the gate.
The guards are fairly lax in their duty, most of their time is spent either engaged in conversation with the guard next to them or looking within the compound. Only occasionally does anyone glance around the outside along the road and into the forest.
“Looks like they’re not too concerned about an attack from the outside,” Jiron whispers to James.
“I think they are there more to keep people in than out,” reasons James.
Jiron looks to him and nods, “That should make this all the easier, then.”
“Let’s hope so,” he replies. Then he asks, “Can you get in?”
Shaking his head, he says, “Not with all those guards on the wall, they would spot me for sure. Let me go around the walls and see if there might be anyplace that would be less visible.”
“Should I go with you?” James asks.
“No,” he answers. “I can move a lot quieter and quicker if I’m by myself. Just stay here and keep an eye on the gate, see if you can determine some kind of routine for the guards.”
“Alright,” he says. “You be careful, this isn’t like sneaking around a city.”
“I will,” he assures him and then begins moving along the road away from James, keeping in the trees to avoid detection. When he’s gone far enough away beyond the point where the wall turns back into the forest, he quickly rushes across the road and enters the forest on the other side.
James catches his breath when he sees him crossing the road, sure that a guard on the wall will see him. He looks to the wall, but the guards are too engrossed with their conversation to have noticed. Hoping he finds a way in, James sits back against a tree and makes himself comfortable while waiting for his return.
Keeping a watch on the gate and the guards on the wall, he soon realizes there isn’t any sort of routine or pattern. They simply stand there and converse among themselves, as well as others within the compound. One thing James has noticed is that there are always four guards walking the wall over the gate. Or rather, standing there talking to one another.
Jiron has been gone an hour when the gate opens and three wagons full of ore exit. The wagons turn south and begin rolling down the road toward the smelters. While the gate is open, James looks within but isn’t able to see much m
ore than some buildings scattered about. He does see other guards about the place, five others besides the ones on top of the wall. Once the last wagon has exited through the gate, the gate swings closed. With the gate closed, there’s little for him to do other than sit back and wait for Jiron’s return.
A hand touching his shoulder jolts him awake. Startled, he finds Jiron has returned and is shaking him. “Wake up,” Jiron says with a smile as he sits next to him.
“What did you find?” James asks him.
“Just more of the same wall completely circling the entire encampment,” he says. “Each wall has guards patrolling along the top which will make any attempt to gain entry difficult at best.”
James gestures to the wall in front of them and says, “There are only four on patrol above the gate at any given time.”
“That’s about what it is on the others as well,” he explains. “Most of them seem to be totally unconcerned with what goes on outside of the walls.”
“I noticed that too,” says James. “It feels like no one has ever tried to break in here before.”
“Most likely,” agrees Jiron. “Hopefully that will make our job that much easier.”
“What’s the plan?” he asks him.
Jiron sits and thinks for a minute before saying, “I really want to know what’s on the other side of those walls. If I knew that, I would better know from where to attempt to gain entry.”
“How about climbing a tree?” suggests James. “That should raise you high enough to see within the walls.”
His eyes widen like he never even considered the option. Nodding, he says as he looks around the forest, “You may have something there.” He gets to his feet and begins to look around for a suitable tree that’s both tall enough and placed so he will be able to see over the walls without being observed.
When he finally locates one that appears to be acceptable, he says to James, “Be right back.” Then he walks quietly through the trees until he comes to the one he spotted. The tree sits about thirty feet away from where the wall turns from the road back into the forest.
Jumping up, he grabs hold of one of the lower branches and swings himself up. James alternates between watching him climb and keeping an eye on the guards, all the while praying that he’ll remain unobserved. The guards, totally oblivious to what’s happening in the tree near them, continue talking among themselves.
James glances back to Jiron and sees that he’s reached a height that will afford him a good view of the entire compound. He settles into the crook of a branch and stays up there quite awhile before beginning his descent back to the ground. Once down, he makes his way over to where James is waiting.
“Well?” he asks when Jiron approaches.
“They have a lot of guards within the walls,” he says. “Thirty or more, I couldn’t get an exact count. That of course, doesn’t include any that are currently within the mine.”
He takes a stick and begins drawing a diagram of the compound on the ground. He draws the wall and a large pit in the middle and large rectangles around the pit. “There’s a large pit in the middle, most likely the entrance to the mines.” Pointing to the rectangles around the pit he says, “These look to be quarters for the slaves and perhaps other auxiliary buildings, similar to the ones we saw back at the smelters.”
“Did you see any of the slaves?” he asks.
“A few, but the majority must still be within the mine.” He sits back and rests for a moment. “I’ll go back up the tree and stay there till nightfall, just to see if things change. Then we can determine what we want to do.”
“Alright,” agrees James, anxious now that he’s this close to getting Miko out.
Jiron reaches into his pouch and hands some dried beef to James as he says, “Here.”
Taking the beef, James asks, “Where did you get this?”
“Found it on Kristo’s boat,” he says, grinning.
James tears off a bite and begins chewing, a little tough, but not bad. Jiron hands him another chunk and they have a quick meal before he returns to the tree to watch the compound. While they’re eating, the gate opens and another five wagons leave the compound as they begin rolling south down the road to the smelters.
“They get a lot of iron from here, don’t they?” he observes, a thoughtful look coming to him.
Nodding, James replies, “Yeah, I’ve been watching wagons leave all day. Why?”
“No reason,” he replies. Finishing up, Jiron gets back to his feet and goes over to the tree where he again climbs up to keep an eye on what’s going on inside the walls.
“Boys,” Essin announces as the last wagon of the day rolls away, “I believe that puts us close to being the best team in the mines.”
A cheer erupts from the men, Miko feels pride as Nate slaps him on the back and gives him a big grin. “Your hard efforts have not gone unnoticed and tonight you will not find the usual fare brought to your quarters. Tonight, you will have beef and wine.”
A gasp escapes some of the men at the news. For those who’ve been here the longest, beef and wine is something they have all but forgotten. Miko’s stomach begins to cramp and growl at the thought.
“If we can continue as we have,” Essin tells them, “you can expect similar feasts in the future.”
A shout erupts from the men as he turns and leads them from the mine.
Miko is happy. If this is to be his lot for the rest of his life, well, at least it could be much worse. A good crew to work with and an understanding boss, what more could a slave ask for. True, the work is hard and at times unforgiving, but the men he works with make it bearable.
As they continue through the mines, Essin turns his head back and says, “For the number one team, they’ll give you women once a month as long as you keep being the best.”
The men give out with another cheer and promises to be the best. As they leave the mine and head over to their quarters, Miko’s jubilation is again dampened by the sight of Black Tooth carrying a water pail past on his way into the mines. But even his scowl isn’t enough to wreck this day for him.
In the back of his mind, he wonders what James is doing, how he’s getting along. He doesn’t hold ill will to him, he knows that he’s just a boy off the streets, not worth risking one’s life for. He returns to the present as they enter their room and find the food already there for them.
The older guys snatch the jugs of wine first, but Miko doesn’t care, his stomach cramps at the sight of the juicy, roasted beef sitting in heaping mounds on the platter. He grabs several thick slices and takes a big bite as he begins eating. The juices from the beef run down his chin, making tracks in the dust and dirt that coats his body.
For his crew of twelve, there are six jugs of wine, one of which has already been consumed by the others. Nate says to them, “Save some for Miko, he’s earned it too.”
“Sure thing,” says Fez, one of the old timers. He goes over and slaps Miko on the back as he offers the jug to him, “Here you go, Miko me lad.”
Miko takes the jug and has just a small drink before giving it back to Fez. He glances over to Nate who’s giving him a grin. Nate’s being moderate with the wine as well, taking only occasional sips of the wine as he concentrates mainly on the meat and loaves of bread.
When Miko finishes his fifth slice of bread, he begins to notice that Fez is behaving erratically. At first he assumes it’s due to the large amount of wine he’s consumed. But then he falls over and everyone starts laughing at his antics, thinking he has simply drunk too much.
Concerned, Miko goes over to him and tries to wake him up. “Fez,” he says, shaking his shoulder.
“Leave him be,” one of the others says. “He’ll soon sleep it off.”
But something just didn’t feel right. Shaking him harder, he calls his name louder, “Fez!”
Turning to Nate, he says, “I think he’s dead!”
As Nate goes over to him, another man cries out as he falls to the floor. Sudden pain
rips through Miko’s stomach as he watches Nate stumble and fall as his stomach, too, begins to cramp with pain.
“Poison!” Nate cries out, holding his stomach as the pain again rips through him.
Poison? thinks Miko as he comes over to where Nate has fallen. Black Tooth!
Chapter Twenty Nine
James sits amidst the bushes in his spot across from the gate while Jiron keeps watch from his perch in the tree. As the sun begins to drop to the horizon, he notices Jiron perking up a little and begins gazing intently into the compound. A little after twilight, he comes down from the tree and back to where James is waiting for him.
“Looks like they have all the slaves come out of the mines at night,” he informs him. Pointing to the diagram on the ground, he says, “These buildings here are where they keep the slaves for the night.”
“You didn’t see Miko did you?” he asks hopefully.
“I was too far away to make out more than vague features,” he replies. “Can you determine which one of the buildings he’s in with your mirror?”
Removing the mirror from his shaving kit, he says, “Possibly.” In the fading light, it’s actually easier to see the image coming into focus than in broad daylight. The image coalesces and they see Miko eating with the others.
“They sure feed them well here,” comments Jiron when he sees the beef Miko is consuming.
Nodding, James expands the image and soon the exterior of the building comes into view. Once the image has zoomed far enough away to be able to see the entire compound, he points to the building where Miko is and then asks Jiron, “Recognize this?”
“Yeah, I know that one,” he tells him. “It’s on the opposite side of the pit from the gate. That one and the buildings next to it is where I saw the slaves being led.”
Replacing the mirror back into his kit, he asks, “How do we get him out?”
“We could go around to where the wall is closest to him and try there,” he says. “It’s not much better than here, but there might be less scrutiny away from the gate.”
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