Clearing the Web

by Cary J Lenehan

  “If’n our expedition is success,” Thord told him, “you’d better get used to t’is sight. When we recover Dwarvenholme t’ere’ll be many coming t’is way or t’other. If’n Darkreach places obstacles in t’way of Dwarves goin’ from one of t’eir areas to another, it’ll not be good.

  “We ha’right to go where we want in mountains. We may decide to build our own bridge ’n’ village further downstream ’n’ you would t’en lose our custom here. If’n I were you, I would quick seek instruction on t’is matter.”

  Before the Dwarves were even turned off onto the road along the mountains, a fast rider had passed them. I guess that is the courier with a letter asking for instructions.

  The Dwarves set out following the road that Thord and the traders had come down.

  Chapter XXIV

  Astrid

  8th Primus

  “I am not much used to the world outside,” Sajãh said to Astrid one day as she stood on top of the Hall of Mice looking up at the mountains, “But aren’t they taking a long time? I thought that they would be back before now. Rani told me that they would be quicker with a cart and horses.”

  “In forests it is usually quicker with two feet,” Astrid replied. “That is why we don’t use horses in Wolfneck. I don’t know much about carts, but I don’t think that Rani thought about the amount of time that has passed since those roads were last used. She is used to her own land, which I am told has many real roads in it.”

  “I am just hoping that they get back before the Dwarves realise that we have all the treasure of their ancestors here. If they don’t realise just how much we have, then they will not be so upset. If they see a cart and ten sets of full horse packs, then they may decide to just quietly take it from us. All we can do is keep a good lookout and hold Mousehole for them.”

  “Remember that I have my man up there. Verily is the same. She is just hoping that Aziz comes back. Parminder is just the same. You should try getting a good rest in our bed. It has three pregnant women, each missing their partners and it is complete with three sets of bladders with babies pressing on them. It is a miracle, firstly, that we are able to get up the mornings and get to make kaf, and secondly, that we haven’t killed each other…yet.”

  Chapter XXV

  Basil

  9th Primus

  It seems that we are taking forever to return home. I am glad that Astrid is not here. She would have been pushing and shoving as hard as Aziz is, as I am doing in her place, and I don’t want her doing that at this time. It has been five weeks, not the four that Goditha hoped for, that we have been on this road.

  It is with great relief that we are turning onto the road that leads down to the Mousehole road below, without seeing either the dragon or the Dwarves. Behind us, Hulagu and the girls are trying to cover as much of the cart tracks as they can. It will soon be obvious to the Dwarves that a cart had used the road, but exactly when might be unclear. I am sure that we all hope that the Dwarves will press on, rather than come looking for us.

  Chapter XXVI

  Astrid

  We are now spending a lot of time fretting and worrying. Will our husbands be back? What has happened to delay them? I may be confident in public and Verily is her usual self, but in private we are starting to do more than fret. Who else can we turn to but each other? Mostly we just hold each other as one or the other of us cries and expresses our fears, but sometimes we seek more physical relief.

  Eventually, and one by one, they made confession to Father Theodule. At least he proves himself to be understanding and gives only light penances, reminding us that our vows will only allow us to love and truly cleave to our chosen partners. We are all happy with that, it is our worry for them, and the sudden changes in our moods, and the feelings that are washing through us that we have been concerned with. Our long-term affections are unchanged.

  New Year’s Eve has come and gone and there is still no sign of the treasure party. It has been nearly two months since they had left for Mousehole and I am really starting to worry. This is worse than waiting for a boat to come back from whaling. Am I a widow now? I really do understand those women now.

  Chapter XXVII

  Thord

  36th Secundus

  Regardless of the weather, as we move along the road we are already hard at work on it. Trees are cleared, fallen rocks are moved aside and in one case, a short section of road is quickly replaced where a landslide had carried it away. Once we have passed a spot, it is cleared of centuries of overlain dirt.

  Twice three hands of hands is a large number of Dwarves, and we are restoring the way to our ancestral home. We would have gotten there in far less than half the time if we had just walked, but all it took from me was a mild suggestion that we should show the world that the Dwarves are returning to their home and others had taken the idea up.

  The road is not being fully repaired, that will have to wait until later, but it is now obviously a road again and could be seen to be heading to someplace that is important. Even I have pitched in.

  The newly remade road wound around past the dragon’s mountain and for a while the Dwarves did not watch the road as much and paid more attention to the sky above, and then behind, them. It seems that the dragon must have fed or at least to have gone back to sleep. He is not to be seen. I think that he will be a major problem at a later time.

  I have to admit that I am relieved to see that the lead Dwarves are throwing themselves so much into the operation that there is scant attention being paid to any tracks that might exist. We nearly passed the turnoff down to the valleys, and I failed to see any tracks there and no-one seemed to notice the side road until I pointed it out.

  I guess that I had to. They might need to know of it eventually and we can clear the start of it as well. I am glad that we have taken so long upon the road, but from the tracks I have seen, I need not have worried. We must have missed each other by over a month…at least.

  It is now Mid-summer, and there is a continuous trail of pack animals going back behind us for food and supplies. At least after the turn-off the going is now a little easier. If anyone among the Dwarves have noticed that some of the clearing has been done already, they have not said so where I can hear.

  Where the road to Mousehole split off the original road was over twenty thousand paces directly behind the Darkreach watchtower. I can see its signal fire twinkling at night. People are starting to debate whether it is inside land that the Dwarves should claim. At least my having emphasised rebuilding the roads makes sense to everyone now. It weakens the claim of others if the Dwarves are maintaining the roads that had been long ignored.

  Chapter XXVIII

  Rani

  10th Primus

  At last…we are on our own road. I hope that we don’t have another broken wheel. Both are now repaired, but not as well as they could be. As long as everything held together, and that is not certain, we could be no more than three days from home.

  I could send someone back with the news. Aziz, Basil and even Goditha would all volunteer, but I cannot forget the over-confidence of the bandits on almost getting home. We need to stay cautious. We need to increase the attention we pay to our surroundings, even though the scouts report that there are no tracks visible on the road.

  After all Astrid, when she moves, hardly touches a road and always moves alongside it when she could for that exact reason. We need to send the scouts further out and keep them active and alert.

  Chapter XXIX

  Thord

  23rd Tertius

  We have finally reached Dwarvenholme. This time it is not me, it is the two rulers from the South-West who are slowing things down upon seeing the rocks covering the road. “We have cleared and repaired the road up to here,” said Bjorn Strikefast. “It is only right that we should repair it all the way to the gate. No-one
should enter Dwarvenholme until that is done. We cannot leave it like this.” I guess that he is right in that.

  It took them, even with so many Dwarves hard at work, a full week to clear away the landslide and stabilise the slope. After that they had to remove the trees that had grown up in the way and lastly replace the road where it was needed—and that was most of its final length. When they had breaks, many Dwarves could be seen going up to the platform. There they stood and just stared at the gate or peered inside the lit path. None ventured inside.

  Thord

  30th Tertius

  Eventually, all was ready. The massed representatives of the Dwarves of the entire Land stand in a semi-circle outside the doors of Dwarvenholme, and not one seems to want to be the first inside. I guess that going in first might seem to be a claim to be King, so it is up to me then. Having gone just inside, he turned around and addressed the Dwarves.

  “We, the Mice, have already been in here when we killed the Masters. Now, enter and see the greatest work of our Dwarven ancestors. Remember that we did not clear all of the halls. There may still be Masters here, and there are definitely many other fell beasts.”

  “Remember what I told you we faced. Beware, and keep watch on those around you. Travel always in groups.” He spun on his heel and strode down the corridor uncovering the nail on his shield as he did so. After a brief pause, the Dwarven horde began to follow him.

  Chapter XXX

  Astrid

  11th Primus

  The three women had just gotten out of bed late and were helping each other dress when Tabitha knocked on the door. “Harald has just taken watch outside. He thinks that they will come back tonight. He sees smoke to the north from a fire and he thinks that it was left burning late enough that it could be no accident—and they put green stuff on at the end to make sure it was seen.” It is about time.

  That afternoon the party hove into view. The Khitan were the first to be seen galloping forward to look ahead and then back to the main group. It was obvious that they wanted to get back home although probably not as much as some of those waiting wanted them back. They waved to Dulcie, who had the last watch and went up the valley.

  Luckily for them, while they were away Harald had been improving the entrance to the valley by chipping away the rock that had made the track seem just like a natural shelf, and although the work was not finished, and the road was still very rough, it was now much more like a proper path, and so it was easier for the cart. Losing a wheel and having the cart fall into the river at this stage would have been a disaster. Why the original inhabitants had left it as rough and almost un-hewn stone none of them could guess.

  When they had passed through the gate a feeling of release swept through the group. Seeing Mousehole ahead with their partners, dressed in their good clothes, and their friends waving and yelling, brought to them the relief of being home at last. And, hopefully, safe for a while. As they came up to the village, the Mice ran out to greet them and that night they had a proper welcome home celebration.

  Father Christopher’s little pet, which somewhat to his surprise had stayed with him through the entire trip, was shown to the children, and had its significance explained carefully before it was fed and placed above the door of the Hall of Mice on the roofline.

  Chapter XXXI

  Sajãh

  13th Primus

  After the emotions of returning home and the tearful re-unions that followed, few of the returnees, apart from Christopher and Bianca, are up for morning Mass. It is very quiet this morning.

  I am happy with the way I ran the village. It had been hard with so many people away. She looked with relief out over the courtyard, as the people started to go about their business after the service. Although it seems to be but little different to the way it had been the week before, the prosaic scene seems somehow to be happier.

  Everyone is going about their tasks with a more cheerful air. People are sounding in good spirits, talking to each other with more joy. Small jokes cause people to laugh and the children are running around before school and playing. Ruth came out and called the children together. See, they come running and laughing, instead of the silent walking that has been common over the last few weeks.

  Rani

  Apart from not being able to make love to Theo-dear, if I feel like it, the worst part of having Fear in our bed is that she cannot learn to sleep in and, when she wakes, she cannot get out of bed stealthily. Now I am awake, and my wife has rolled over and gone back to sleep. She got up, dressed and went to sit in the morning sun to think.

  Today we need to work out what to do about the prisoners…no…that can wait another day. Let us have a day without that pain first. We need to put the treasure somewhere and find out how much we have. I suspect that, leaving aside the magic that Haven has accumulated over centuries, and we will never equal that, my little village may now have itself a treasury to equal that of the entire southern Kingdom.

  I wonder how Thord is, and what he is up to with the Dwarves. Have they accepted the boundaries that we set out in the letter? Will Thord even come back? He is now the only one of the Mice out in the dangerous world. While we can still be attacked in the village, it is a place of some safety for us. She smiled.

  Forget the land of my birth, here is now the real Haven…outside these cliffs lies who knows what. Some of the Masters may still be out there somewhere, and in all likelihood their agents are scattered all over the Land. We cannot necessarily trust any stranger that comes through our gate.

  Perhaps we would be able to trust our first traders who came to us totally unsuspecting of what they would find, but how many others will come with instructions to pry and spy as much as to trade?

  It seems that Bianca and Christopher will have to greet all our newcomers: Bianca to use her sense, whatever it is, and Christopher to try and feel good or evil in a person, as priests seem to be able to do somehow—in a similar unexplainable fashion to the way that mages sense magic.

  We also have to work out what to do with the slaves that had been brought here. Astrid has told me briefly about Make. We cannot just send her back to the Brotherhood and her owner. She would just end up being sold again to pay another debt. Equally, we cannot keep her here if she is always going to be a threat to the village.

  Astrid doesn’t even think that she can be sent out into the world on her own as a free person. Surely the girl cannot be as stupid as Astrid has said she is. I will need to find out. I didn’t see the girl last night. I don’t think that I have seen her since our return.

  Much as I dislike looking at the cards to discern my own future, I am going to have to do so again for the welfare of the village. Further back in the house, she could hear Theodora, now up as well, and Valeria trying to get Fear fed and out of the door because school would start soon. I have to worry about them as well. I have taken on these responsibilities, which now spread to, she did a quick count, over eight hands of people and they rely on my choices and decisions.

  It is now far too late to back out of all of this and go back to being just a Battle Mage and teacher of Haven. I have broken caste, perhaps irretrievably, and thrown in my lot with these people. And those eight hands, judging from what I can see, would soon increase by at least two hands soon; and possibly even more. Hulagu’s women are not letting anything show, but I suspect that they have also joined the ranks of the breeders.

  Anything we do now, before next summer at least, cannot be done with the full strength of the village. Perhaps more importantly, from now on we will always have behind us the knowledge that we have children to protect, whatever else happens.

  During a day filled with re-acquaintance and rest, with repair and renewal, Rani sent Valeria around to everyone to get them to gather after the evening meal. The message was that they needed to work out what was the next thing that the village had to do. I need to have
a word with Father Christopher myself.

  That night, when all were gathered and either seated comfortably or standing for a better view, Rani stood to address them from the front of the hall. My chair and a small table are behind me. My cards are sitting openly behind me, lying on the table. She looked around. Except for the watch on the roof of the Hall of Mice, and I have Theo-dear taking that, everyone is gathered around.

  “Thank you for interrupting your evening and gathering together. I am happy to say that we appear to have completed at least some of the destiny that was placed in front of us nearly a year ago. For those who have forgotten, when we set out to come here we were guided, not only by the personal prophesies we mentioned that some had received, but also by a reading that I did of my cards and by a verse from the Christian Holy Book that Father Christopher found.”

  “I have gathered you all here now so that we may do the same sort of thing to find out what next lies ahead of us. Father Christopher will be doing his reading after he has said Mass tomorrow, but I will do mine now.” She moved to behind the table and sat down. I have thought hard about whom to call on next.

  “Lakshmi…” The woman that she had named jumped a little with surprise. “In so many ways you have been one whose life has changed the most by what has happened to you since you were taken and brought here. I would ask you to represent the village and to come here now and to shuffle these cards until you are happy with them.”

  Lakshmi has stood but she seems hesitant to come forward. Harald pats her on the bottom and nods at her. She is moving forward very nervously. I could be wrong, but from the way she looks at me, she knows of my family and seems scared by what she knows. I will ignore that.