Sapphire of the Fairies soh-1

by Richard S. Tuttle

  Kalina headed along the path that theboys had pointed out and returned to her room at the Fisherman’sInn. She paid no attention to Garth sitting on the front stoop orthe fisherman across the street watching him.

  “Well, what did you make ofthat?” Tedi asked.

  “What do you mean?” questionedArik. “She seemed to be what she said to me.”

  “Perhaps,” Tedi pondered, “butit is not every day that a beautiful woman comes walking throughthe woods into this particular clearing. And why does everybody eyeup my necklace?”

  “It is a beautiful necklace,”commented Arik. “I never knew it was your mother’s. I alwayswondered why you didn’t sell it with money being tight like it is.Now I understand.”

  “Does this necklace meananything special to you?” Tedi asked.

  “Special?” quizzed Arik. “Iguess it is very special if it was your mom’s. I wouldn’t part withit either if it was my mom’s.”

  “Yeah, well, we better getback to making plans,” Tedi said suddenly. “I was pretty surprisedwhen our fathers didn’t object to our leaving. It is to protectthem, but I still thought they would argue.”

  “We are to think we are doingit to protect them,” chuckled Arik. “If you had seen your father’sface at the time you suggested it, you would probably recognize thetruth.”

  “What do you mean?” askedTedi.

  “They were both glad when youstarted to suggest us leaving,” explained Arik, “but my father hadto restrain your father when you gave your reasoning. I suspectthey sat and talked for a long time on the beach last night andcame up with the same solution. I also suspect they have adifferent motivation for us leaving. For some reason they feel thatthey would endanger us if they came along. Neither man wouldsubject us to harm to save himself.”

  Tedi nodded slowly as Arik’s logic sunkin. What he didn’t understand was his father’s logic, but he couldponder on that later. Right now they needed to plan their journey.Arik started gathering up the belongings that were scattered aroundthe campsite and came to a halt by his blanket. He bent down andpicked up a gold ring that hadn’t been there before. Tedi lookedover and asked, “What is that? Where did you find it?”

  “It was on top of my blanket,”Arik stated. “It must be that woman’s. Did she say what inn she wasstaying at?”

  “Don’t be a fool, Arik!” Tediscolded. “You can’t possibly be thinking of returning it? Whatbetter way to lure us into her trap then to make us feel obligatedto come to her?”

  Arik at first thought that Tedi wasjust arguing to keep the ring, but by the time Tedi stoppedspeaking, he realized the truth of his friend’s statements. “You’reright,” Arik agreed. “We can leave it with our fathers and if sheis still in town after we leave, they can return it to her. I haveto learn to start thinking skeptically like you.”

  “You’re darn right aboutthat,” laughed Tedi. “If what your father said was true, everybodyis out to kill us and your father doesn’t lie.”

  “All right,” Arik said whileslipping the ring on his finger, “let’s figure out where we aregoing before our fathers come back and we can’t talk aboutit.”

  * * * *

  Garth entered the Fisherman’s Inn andwalked up to his room. Kalina was sitting at the small tablestaring at her hands. “I think I gave him enough of a viewing thathe is convinced that I’m not up to anything today,” Garthstated.

  “That’s good,” Kalina replied,“because they are heading south at first light. They plan to travelalong the beach as far as they can because it will be low tide andtheir tracks will be washed away in the course of an hour. Neitherof these boys are stupid, Garth. They both show a remarkableintelligence and a strong determination. Our own plans must befool-proof.”

  “They may be smart,” agreedGarth, “but they are still boys. I suspect that the Black Ridersmight be here as early as tomorrow morning.”

  “We will leave here thisafternoon and camp a few miles south tonight,” Kalinaordered.

  “As you command,” chuckledGarth, “always as you command. You shall make a fine Generalsomeday.”

  “One doesn’t need to be agreat General when you know what your opponent is going to donext,” chuckled Kalina. “That damn Arik was actually going to tryto find me so he could return the ring. They plan to leave it withtheir fathers, but if you read Konic properly, he’ll insist theboys keep it as a reserve in case they run out ofmoney.”

  “That he will do,” smiledGarth.

  “There is also a LocatingSpell on Tedi’s necklace,” frowned Kalina. “I can sense it, but Icannot break it. As long as he wears the necklace, the caster willbe able to find him and there is not much we can do aboutit.”

  “Do you think it is Wolinda’sspell?” asked Garth.

  “There is really no way ofknowing,” admitted Kalina. “We will just have to be prepared forwhatever comes.”

  * * * *

  “You fools!” shouted thewitch. “I don’t care how tired your men were, you are to follow myorders. Perhaps you would prefer taking orders from anogre.”

  The Dark Rider shuddered at the thoughtof taking orders from an ogre. There were too many stories aboutwhat happened to a person who disobeyed an ogre order and most ofthem centered on being eaten by the ogre. “A thousand pardons,Mistress Wolinda,” bowed the Dark Rider. “I wanted the men in topform to assure your success. We will ride like the wind to make upfor lost time.”

  “That you will,” scoldedWolinda. “We return to Lorgo immediately. I want those two boys andI will have them if I have to tear the town apart. And I willaccept no more disobedience from you.”

  “I hear and obey, Mistress,”the Dark Rider submitted as he bowed his way out of thetent.

  * * * *

  “The bandit rode out of townabout an hour ago,” Alan Markel reported. “He didn’t seem to be ina hurry.”

  “Well, that’s one less problemto worry about,” remarked Tedi. “I think we are all set for ourjourney tomorrow morning.”

  “Alan and I will go fishingearly,” stated Konic. “No one should suspect that tomorrow is anydifferent from any other day. I did check all of the inns lookingfor your mysterious woman, Arik, but she was not to be found.Master Tern said there was a woman staying there last night who fityour description, but she left around noon. Keep the ring as areserve of money. If you run out, don’t hesitate to sell it and usethe proceeds. If the woman comes back here for her ring, Alan and Iwill promise to make amends to her. I shouldn’t worry about it,though. The ring probably has little significance toher.”

  “I suggest we all get a fullmeasure of sleep tonight,” Arik declared. “It’s not likely anyonewill bother us. Everyone who has been interested in us has left andwe will all have a full day ahead us tomorrow.”

  Everyone agreed and slept without aguard. Alan and Konic were up before the first lightening of thesky and had breakfast ready by the time the boys awoke. Farewellswere short but sentimental and the two fishermen left the clearingbefore the boys had finished breakfast.

  Arik and Tedi each sported a longduffel bag as well as their bows, quiver, and knife. Each wore graywoolen breeches and a hooded tunic with a brown leather vest overthe top. Short soft-soled boots, newly resoled, completed theiroutfits. The boys waited until Konic’s boat disappeared in thedistance before heading south along the beach. They walked wherethe sand was still dry, but close enough to the surf that they knewthe prints would be washed away within the hour.

  The coastline wove out to points and into create bays, greatly shortening the distance along the coastthat one could see at any particular time. The boys did not see anyother people, yet they walked on in silence, each lost in his ownthoughts. There had been no opportunity to say goodbye to theirfriends in the town because they could not chance the possibilitythat someone might come looking for them. Each of the boys dealtwith the departure in his own way.

  Around midday the coastline started toturn rocky and the boys chose to turn inland and seek a paththrough the forest.
The further filtering of sunlight made thedense forest dark and foreboding. Neither of the boys had ever beenthis far from Lorgo and emotions of excitement mingled with thefear of the unknown. The birds chirped and sang merrily seeminglyunaware of the troubles that plagued the world. Twice the boyssidetracked to the sound of small animals and ended up with a quailand a rabbit for dinner later that day. The trail started slowlyclimbing and when the boys finally entered a small clearing, it wasalready well past the last light of day. The darkness of the foresthad obscured the setting of the light. Wearily and without commentthe boys set about starting a fire and cooking dinner. Arik couldhear the pounding of the waves, but the sound was distant and belowthem. Quietly the boys ate and went to sleep.

  * * * *

  Wolinda rode into town wearing a redsilk riding dress and surrounded by twenty Dark Riders. This timeshe didn’t plan on being subtle with the townspeople. She would notpose as a traveler and she would not ask her questions slyly. Shewanted the two boys and no townsperson was going to deny her. Thefew people in the streets immediately fled as she rode into town.Business doors closed and shutters were flung shut. Mothers draggedtheir youngsters into their houses. Within moments, Lorgo very muchappeared a ghost town; the only sound was hooves echoing off thebuildings.

  The first stop was the Fisherman’s Inn.Esta Tern saw them coming and ordered all of the workers out theback door. There were no customers in the common room as the middaymeal was an hour past and when Wolinda and her group stormed intothe inn, only Esta was there to greet them.

  Wolinda stood in the common roomglaring at Esta. “Where are the two runts?” shedemanded.

  Esta swallowed deeply, sweat alreadyforming on his brow. “I don’t know, Mistress,” hecroaked.

  At a signal from Wolinda, two DarkRiders moved towards the innkeeper. One grabbed his left arm andtwisted it behind Esta’s back. The other produced a large huntingknife and held it to Master Tern’s neck, the point drawing a smallpinprick of blood. “I don’t know is not good enough, innkeeper,”Wolinda scowled. “I want the two boys and you will tell me wherethey are.”

  “I can not tell you what I donot know, Mistress,” pleaded Master Tern. “If I knew, surely Iwould tell you. The boys mean nothing to me.”

  Wolinda smiled as she nodded to theDark Riders. The Dark Rider pushed up on Esta’s arm and the sharpcrack of bones reverberated through the room. Esta howled with painand his movement caused a cut on his neck from the knife bladebeing held by the other Dark Rider.”

  Master Tern’s eyes rolled with pain andhis legs weakened, even as he tried to remain still to avoidfurther damage from the knife. He gritted his teeth as he gruntedhis reply. “As well I know they have left the town. I heard storiesthat they went north for adventure, but I do not know for sure. Thetall boy brings rabbits every morning, but the last two days he hasnot come around. Sometimes he goes fishing with his father, but Iknow he did not today or yesterday. I know nothing further. My onlyassociation with the boy is buying rabbits. The other boy is alay-about and I have no association with him. Kill me if you must,but I know nothing more.”

  Wolinda scowled and stormed out thedoor into the street. The Dark Riders followed after tossing Estato the floor. His scream of pain could be heard clearly in all ofthe rooms in the inn. When the customers were sure that the DarkRiders had left they slowly filed down to the common room to helpthe innkeeper.

  Wolinda led the Dark Riders down to thewaterfront. She sent six into Arik’s house and six into Tedi’shouse with orders to find anything that might indicate relativesother than the fathers. With the rest of her henchmen, she strodealong the waterfront looking for anyone that she could squeezeinformation from. The only person visible was a woman trying todrag her toddler into the house. Wolinda signaled two of her menand they swept the child up and seized the mother.

  “I am looking for Arik Clavaand Tedi Markel,” Wolinda spat. “You are going to tell me wherethey are or your child will try taking its next step on the bottomof the sea.” Taking Wolinda’s statement as an order, the Dark Riderwith the child marched out onto a small dock and held the childover the edge.

  The woman and the child starting cryingtogether. “I know the boys,” blubbered the mother, “but I don’tknow where they are. I haven’t seen them for days.”

  The Dark Rider holding the child by itsfeet started lowering the body towards the water. When the child’shair got wet, the mother started babbling. “I do know somethingthat might help,” she screamed.

  The man stopped lowering the child’sbody and Wolinda snapped,” Well, out with it! I don’t have all dayto wait.”

  “I think they are planning onleaving,” she shouted. “Master Clava has been going all over towntrying to raise money. He refuses to say why, but he normally hasno use for money other than food and taking care of his boat. Theboys haven’t been in town for days and the fathers have beensleeping in the woods. I’ve seen them coming and going down thatpath over there. And they were gathering things that people wouldwant on a trip. Last night, they hauled all of the stuff into thewoods and came out this morning with nothing. That’s all Iknow.”

  Wolinda called to her men and headedtowards the woods. The Dark Rider with the child let go and thechild went head first into the water. The mother ran screaming outonto the dock to retrieve her child. Wolinda sent two Dark Ridersahead of her down the path. Eventually, they came to the clearingwhere the boys had camped.

  “They camped here for severaldays,” one of the men stated. “The only useful tracks are back theway we came and towards the sea. Whatever tracks there were by thesea have been washed away.”

  “They think they are beingclever,” chuckled Wolinda. “Letting the sea cover their trackswould be a good trick if the choice of which direction they wentwas greater than two. If they went north, they would end up back intown. Get the rest of the men and the horses, we headsouth.”

  “We will not make good time onthe beach,” mentioned one of the men. “Why not send a couple oftrackers down the beach and the rest of us can use the coastalhighway. If they left this morning, we will not catch them today,but the trackers can tell us where they left the beach. Tomorrow wewill have them located and captured.”

  Wolinda gave the man an appraisinglook. “See to it,” she stated, “and see if anyone in this town hasa map.” Wolinda turned back down the path towards town.

  * * * *

  Garth finished his exercises and wipedthe sweat from his body with a towel. Exercising by himself wasnever as satisfying as sparring with a partner, but Kalina was notone for swordplay. Still, Garth needed to keep fit and every nighthe exercised at least an hour. He turned towards the wagon andcampfire and saw Kalina still sitting by the fire with a frown onher face. “What’s the matter?” he quizzed. “Surely it is not realtrouble or you would be more agitated, but something is botheringyou.”

  “You will get no observationawards for that guess, Garth,” she smiled. “It’s the ring. I hadhoped to find out more of their plans, but they haven’t said twowords the entire day. Wherever they are, I can hear the surf. Fromthe sounds of setting up camp, I gather they walked on into thenight, but that does not give me a good idea where theyare.”

  “Does the sound get louderwhen you get closer?” Garth inquired. “If it does, perhaps we canmove around until we draw nearer to them.”

  “No, it doesn’t work thatway,” she replied. “The sound varies depending on the distance thesound is from the ring, but it does not matter how far from thering we are. If I could just hear something distinctive, we wouldhave some idea of where they are. I don’t like not being nearer tothem.”

  “Perhaps I can hear somethingthat you don’t,” Garth offered. “It is worth a try.”

  Kalina nodded and removed her earring,handing it to Garth. He held it up to his ear as he sat down nextto the woman. For several long moments, he said nothing.Eventually, he smiled. “The waves are breaking on rocks,” heuttered. “Waves rolling into shore collapse on themselves, butthese
waves are crashing against the rocks and creating a spray. Isthe sound you hear the same sound we would hear if we were standingwhere the ring is?”

  “Yes,” responded Kalina. “Justas if your ear were the ring. Does that help at all?”

  “Certainly,” smiled Garth. “Ican tell you that they are not right at the rocks where the wavesare crashing. They are maybe eighty to one hundred feet away. Theyare also at least thirty feet away from the nearest trees. You canhear the wind blowing through the trees, but it is not close. I canalso hear the occasional flutter of bats, more than one. My guessis that tall outcropping we passed a couple of hours beforestopping. It’s likely to have nesting spots for bats and it is oneof the few places with rocks right up to the sea. And they are in aclearing. It is just a guess, but I would think it enough to goon.”

  Kalina laughed. “I wonder how you wouldlook in earrings,” she giggled as she reached to retrieve herearring from Garth. “You may be right or wrong, but I do feelbetter having some idea of where they are even if it is wrong.Tomorrow I would like to camp a little closer to them if we canmanage that.”

  “I could track them down andkeep them in sight if you like,” offered Garth.

  “No,” Kalina responded, “wecan not take the chance that they might see you. The last thing wewant to do right now is spook them. They are so skeptical ofstrangers that we would lose them for sure. Especially that Tedi. Idon’t think he even trusts himself. We need to let them getthemselves in trouble so we can come to their aid. It is the onlychance of drawing them close to us and even that is a slimchance.”

  “I would be more tempted tojust grab them and bend them to our will,” commented Garth. “Ithink we take too many chances letting them run free. They need tobe reeled in and put under yoke.”

  “You do have a brutal way ofexpressing your gentleness,” she chuckled. “Is that how you handleme? Have you got me sufficiently harnessed?”

  Garth reached over and grabbed Kalinawith his arm, drawing her nearer. A strong scent of jasminecaressed his nose as he hugged her. “You know,” he cooed, “thiscould be one of the last times we have alone for a longtime.”