by LeRoy Clary
“Provided by the ship. I’d suggest you take plenty of wine, or you’ll get sicker than you’ve ever been. When you see the Pearl arrive just come back here, and I’ll take you to the ship. Bring whatever you want to take with you. No pets or animals.”
Gray glanced around. “Sir, I’d like to thank you for treating us like humans. You’re the first to do so since we arrived.”
The clerk leaned over the counter. “Between you and me, I really don’t want to live here. The shipping company placed me here five years ago. I’ve been trying to transfer for the last three.”
Gray wanted to ask another personal question but didn’t know how to phrase it at first. “Your first two years were good?”
The clerk turned back to his paperwork, but muttered, “Things were different.”
Gray didn’t want to press the issue because it would probably make the clerk feel like he was being interrogated, which was true. Gray glanced at Anna, who had mercifully remained quiet during the entire exchange, and motioned to the door. He said, “When we see the ship pull in we’ll be back.”
Outside, Anna said, “What a nice man. You didn’t have to bribe him to keep me quiet. I was just playing my part for the constable, you know.”
“And doing very well. He was glad to leave us. I’d hate to have him hanging around us all the time, so keep it up. But only when he’s around.”
Anna said, “No inn, no place to eat, and almost nobody on the street. I get the feeling half the people have moved away, and the rest are scared.”
“Who are those people building the breakwater?”
“You’re trying to find the others. If they’re half as smart as I think, they’re not in public. I’ll bet that some are in abandoned buildings. I saw two men with carpenter tools going into one. Why? That don’t make sense.”
Gray noticed a curtain at a second story window flutter as if someone was watching. He moved his eyes up and down the empty street and found the single dry-goods store. “We need to place an order.”
They walked back to the store and inside found the same droll, pale woman stood behind her counter, her eyes not even noticing them as they entered and closed the door. They walked ahead, and her eyes found them. A small shudder and she said, “You’re back.”
Gray said, “We need food to last at least fifteen days. We’ll be on a ship in a few days.”
The woman nodded, but didn’t move.
“We’ll also need food for while we’re waiting. Maybe a tarp and a couple of blankets,” Gray said.
When she didn’t react, Anna walked around the counter to the shelves and selected several items, placing them on the counter. When the pile contained perhaps ten items, the pale woman noticed and offered to help. Anna told her to point to the locations, and she’d gather the items.
Gray left Anna and stood outside the door. Across the street, another woman hung wash on a line, as if in slow motion. Even the clerk selling them passage had acted slowly. Only the constable had any energy.
The answer was clear. Everyone was listless, depressed, their eyes dull, and they lost concentration. They were drugged. All of them. The only other person who reacted properly was Kelby, and she had probably only arrived a day or two ago. The one common item would be the water.
They’d passed a well when entering the village. He looked down the street and found another in the center of the road, splashing over a small fountain. He and Anna wouldn’t be drinking it. He’d heard of drugs in fountains, and even poisons occurring naturally, but didn’t believe this was an accident. It was part of the pattern.
He stuck his head back inside and called, “I’m going to the bookstore. Be right back.”
The bookstore was only a few doors away, but he felt unfriendly eyes watching him. He entered and found the old man with the white hair studying something on the floor. He didn’t look up.
Gray called, “Kelby. Are you here?”
She came from the back room, all smiles and eager to talk.
He said softly, “Everybody in this town except the constable moves slow and is depressed. I think they’re drugged. Probably by the water. That’s the only common thing I can think of that would affect them all.”
Kelby’s face fell. “I thought the owners here were just old. I haven’t been anywhere in town, not that there’s anywhere to go.”
“I don’t know for sure it’s the water, but don’t drink it. I have to get back.”
Gray hurried outside. Anna was standing beside the door to the store. She said, “I have two boxes of supplies. There are more we’ll want, but for now, we need to go check out our new house.”
At Gray’s confusion, she took his arm and steered him to a doorway across the street and down a few steps. She opened it and revealed a stairway. At the top was a second door, and inside was a small sitting room. It had the smell of a room left unused for a long time, but it was clean and far better than sleeping in the forest.
Throwing the windows open for fresh air, Anna said, “She rented it for a small copper. Is that a problem?”
“Not only is it not a problem, but it's also wonderful. This damp air would have had us miserable when our blankets got wet. Besides, I like being up here with a view of the street.”
Anna said, “As for me, I’d like to slip into that building the carpenters went into. Something is not right.”
“I think everyone here is drugged. Maybe the water.”
“That would make sense. Drug the whole town and suggest some leave. What buildings that remain behind can be used by the others. We still have water in our bottles, but when that’s gone, we’ll refill from a stream.” Anna was busy setting out her belongings.
“I hope the ship arrives soon. This place scares me.”
Anna said, “We need to watch out for anyone who is not drugged. They are probably constables or one of the others.”
That idea had never occurred to him. Now all he needed to do was to figure out how to get a look at the back of someone not drugged. If it had the dragon birthmark, it would confirm his suspicions. The problem was how to do it.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Gray sat near the window and watched the few people passing outside on the road. All moved with the same sluggish movements. It was still morning, but perhaps a trip to the breakwater was called for. It would be natural for him to be curious.
“Anna, let’s take a walk.”
“You’re not going to get us into trouble again, are you?”
“I just want to walk down to where they’re working on the breakwater. We’re new here, so we’re curious.”
She headed for the door, but said, “Bet they don’t let us near it.”
Once on the street, they walked, talked, and pointed to various buildings and out to the bay, all for the benefit of the unseen eyes watching them. They tried to act like other new visitors would. The buildings came to an end, but the road went on. It was well maintained, and little grass or weeds grew in it, telling of the daily traffic. The breakwater met the shoreline a fair distance away, and as they walked closer, there were a few buildings hidden by trees. They were long, low structures, temporary in appearance. The unpainted wood siding had not yet turned gray.
The construction workers in sight moved at the same slow pace as those people in town. However, there were two ‘foremen’ who shouted orders and kept the others moving. They moved vigorously, waving and pointing. The same constable from earlier in the day stepped from the shadows at the side of the road as if he waited for them.
“Can’t have you going down there. It’s for your own good. People get hurt around construction, and we don’t want any accidents.”
“We were just curious,” Gray said. “Is there a place up on the hill where we can watch?”
“Not anything to watch. Just men pulling wagons and shoving rocks over the end.”
Anna said, “Who’re you to say what we can watch?”
“Just looking out for you, little girl.”
> The words were intended to be softer than they sounded, Gray believed. He stepped aside to let Anna try to find what they were allowed to do.
She took a couple of steps closer. “Is this a public road?”
“Yes. But for your safety, you cannot use it until the work is complete.”
“And we can’t watch from a distance?”
“Nothing to watch.” The constable sounded irritated.
“What is there to do in this town? No dances, no children, and I think it’s completely boring.” Anna sounded exactly like the petulant child she was portraying.
However, she had put her finger on another oddity. He had not seen a single child, either. They walked back up the road feeling the constable’s eyes on them the whole way. Once glance behind had him standing there in the middle of the road, hands on hips, as if he owned it.
Anna said, “He’d acted ordinary, at least for him. Do you think, he’s one of the others?”
Gray said, “I doubt it. My guess is he was born here and was always a bully. They’re just letting him act naturally to keep the residents in line.”
“Easy enough to check out. I’ll ask in the store if he was so bossy when he was young.”
Gray said, “I think there are some others here who are not drugged. After dark, I’m going to do a little sneaking around and see what I can find.”
Anna said, “Remember those two carpenters entering that building? I’d like to know what they intended to do in an abandoned storehouse.”
“Maybe I can take a look in there, too.”
“While I sleep my little girl life away?”
They were near the steps to the apartment. As Gray opened the door, he laughed and said, “You’re a lot better at sneaking around than me. I want you with me.”
“Finally, you begin to show signs that you are not dead in your head.”
“Funny. We’ll go out after dark.”
“What do you plan to do until then? Go see your girlfriend at the bookstore again?”
Gray sat in one of the two chairs near the open window, leaned out and looked up and down the street, partially to see what and who was out there, and also to hide the flush he felt. He’d considered going back to the bookstore. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
“That’s not what I saw when you two were together.”
Across the street another building stood, the windows covered with rough-cut boards. Weeds grew knee high in front. But there was a single path from the edge of the street to the door where the weeds were crushed down. There was no indication of what the building had been, but the path indicated people had gone into the building recently.
Across the rooftops were the docks. He again noticed the repairs and changes, all for a place where few ships arrived. The same went for the breakwater. Three or four ships a lunar and the facilities were improved to handle fifty. A shiver ran down his spine.
He said, “I have not felt the touch of a dragon today. I didn’t notice until now.”
Anna had food spread out on a small table, dried fruits, nuts, and she was busy slicing thin strips of jerky to the mix. She looked up, paused, and said, “Me neither.”
He went back to watching out the window. Nothing eventful happened, if anything ever did in Shrewsbury, but his years of standing duty as a watcher had sharpened his eyes. Twice he noticed someone peek from behind the edge of a window of an apartment built over a shop that had a sign offering ‘Tools of all kinds.' He might venture there later.
But most interesting was the next building down the street in the direction of the breakwater. Twice he’d caught a flash of motion at the corner of the rear side. Head high. Someone peeked out from there occasionally. He turned his head as if to look at the building across the street, but let his eyes remain fixed on the other building. His intent was to appear as if he was looking elsewhere, and perhaps catch sight of the person, probably the constable.
Anna said, “The pickings are slim at the store. I don’t know how anyone survives here, but I’m making my own traveling food. I’m looking for anything that will last at least fifteen days. That pale woman promised me thin bread and dried pears and apples. She said there is smoked fish in the back, but she was too tired to fetch it.”
“So what you have on the table is all we eat?”
Anna said, “It’s not like we can cook on a ship. Fires are forbidden, so we eat cold food. Is your girlfriend going to sail back to Fleming with us?”
Gray had not thought of it, but he latched onto the idea and quickly discarded it. She should take the following ship in case the others boarded their ship. He hated the idea, but he should stay away from Kelby to avoid placing her in danger. Any attention was unwanted.
“We may be up late tonight, so I’m going to take a nap,” he said.
Anna said, “I’ll watch the window for a while, then take one too.”
“Keep an eye on that building to the left, the rear corner. Don’t look directly at it. Someone is peeking out now and then.”
“The constable?”
“That’s what I thought too, but never got a good look.” He spread his bedroll and lay down on the floor mat. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.
When he woke the light in the room came from a single candle. Anna still sat at the window. “I thought you were going to nap.”
“I’m too busy trying to figure out who’s behind that building. Just before dark, the work on the breakwater ended, but nobody came up the road. Not one. Isn’t that odd?”
Gray sat up and stretched. “I think it’s time to go look at a few things on our own terms.”
“No, not yet. We can’t really go until our friend out there is gone. I cannot imagine he’s going to watch us all night.”
“I wish there was a back door. I’d be out there right now. Not even a window to climb out.”
Anna said, “There are no streetlights, in fact almost no lights in any building.”
“How do you know about fires on ships, streetlights, and all this other stuff? You’ve never left Oasis before a few days ago.”
She gave him one of her looks. “Really? Do you think I cannot read a book?”
“Nobody in the family has more than a few books.”
“And I go to each and borrow them one at a time. I take the time to improve my mind.”
“Anna, you’re only fourteen.”
“Old enough to rule some kingdoms in the past. Let me tell you about . . .”
“Never mind,” Gray said, knowing when he was defeated.
“Good, because I think I just saw our friend slip off into the trees behind the house. It was not the constable, by the way. I got one good look at his hair, and it definitely was not him.”
“Let’s eat and wait a while longer,” he suggested.
“I agree. We should wait until we see a light or two go out.”
They sat in silence, eating and watching the water sparkle as they kept an eye on the only road in town. Gray heard wavelets lapping the shore. A bat or two flew past, and the air smelled of things rotting, and also the salt tang in the air. He had read a few books too. One dealt with sailing, swords, and treasure. He doubted he’d experience much of the same as in the book, but he also knew a little of the sea. A time would come to impress Anna.
A light in a window flicked out. He glanced at Anna. She said, “Not yet.”
The moon was in its last quarter, but thick and heavy clouds had gathered during the afternoon and hid it, as well as the stars. He didn’t dare take a candle, but it could be too dark, hiding what he wanted to see, instead of concealing him.
Another light went out. Then a third. Anna stood.
They went down the stairs and opened the door only wide enough to slip out and disappear around the corner to the side of the building. They moved quickly to the rear, huddled, and listening. When no shouts of alarm or running feet sounded, they relaxed, at least temporarily. The most dangerous part was over.
Gray took them behind three b
uildings next to the one with the apartment where they stayed. Again, he noticed the absence of barking dogs. And no cats. At the building where the men carrying hammers and saws entered he paused. The windows were crudely boarded over, the wood freshly sawed. He tried the door. It was locked. He went to the next window, and the next. At the front corner of the building they paused.
The front door was only a few steps away and in deep shadow. Anna slipped past him and tried the door. It opened. She entered Gray at her heels. It was too dark to see, but a candle would alert anyone on the street or looking their way. It smelled of fresh-cut wood.
“Wait,” Gray whispered as he moved carefully to the back, hands in front to fend off bumping anything. The floor was surprisingly free of buckets, tools, lumber, and other obstacles. He could make out a few faint lines of semi-light through the boarded up windows. As he got closer, he felt the wall until he came to the door. After only a little fumbling he found the latch to unlock it.
Despite the low cloud cover, dim light filtered inside as he opened it. There were shelves built against all four walls. Three high. One at floor level, one waist high, and the third head high. Gray made his way to the nearest. It was deeper than his arm. Vertical timbers were placed every few steps indicating the shelves were intended to hold heavy weights.
Anna was also exploring. She moved to the shelves on the other side of the room, then to the center, where other shadows were deeper black than the surroundings. “Tables.” A small crash as something was knocked over, “And chairs.”
“What is this place?” Gray asked her.
“A bunkhouse. Sleeping spaces for a lot of people.”
The shelves were bunks, three high. He counted. Twenty-four beds. “Anything else?”
“No, let’s get out of here.”
Outside again, Anna leaned close. “I wonder if other buildings are also being converted to hold people. One of them is probably getting turned into a kitchen.”
“Expecting a lot of people to arrive here.”
“I want to go down by that breakwater. Since that idiot constable told us we can’t go there, it makes me think we might find something of interest,” Anna said.