Princess Electra Book 4 School of Medicine

by Dory Lee Maske

  Chapter 39

  Hammer Haven

  Dagon and his men waited in the mine shaft until dark before they slipped out quietly and returned to the deserted village of Hammer Haven. Tandor remembered seeing a few blankets in one of the houses. They decided to take those, knowing they would be spending at least one more night in the mine shaft.

  Although all the men were hungry and anxious to get back to their rafts where they could hunt for food, Dagon wanted another look at the castle first.

  "We need to find a spot where we can safely watch for a way to taint their food," he said.

  Maki the Scout moved ahead to look for a good vantage point. A few minutes later he rejoined the men on the outskirts of the castle courtyard.

  "There is a rock ledge that looks down on the courtyard. We could be seen from the corner tower in daylight, but we should be safe from detection in the dark."

  Dagon nodded. "Good. We will observe their evening rituals before we make a plan."

  Maki turned in the opposite direction. "I will circle around and try to find out how many Vagans are guarding their boats," he said as he slipped away into the night.

  The remaining five men continued on to the rocky ledge, wrapped themselves in blankets, and settled down to watch and learn.

  The Vagan men gathered in the courtyard of the castle to drink ale, sing songs and tell stories around fires. Hammer Haven children brought them jugs of ale to refill their cups when they waved them in the air. The women worked inside cooking, cleaning and trying to stay away from the drunken river pirates.

  Dagon watched carefully to see where the children went to fill their jugs. They left with their empty jugs and walked down an incline to a door that opened onto a square building annexed to the castle. When they returned a few minutes later, their jugs were full again.

  Dagon pointed to the square building. "That is where their ale is stored. If we pour the sleeping potion into the ale it should work. I doubt they allow the women and children any share of it."

  The men waited on the ledge until Maki joined them.

  "Nine men guard the boats," he reported. "A small grove of trees separates them from the castle courtyard. The children take ale and food down to the guards by way of a narrow path through the grove."

  Dagon took a last look at the square building that housed the barrels of ale. "Good. I think we have all the information we need."

  The men carefully backed off the ledge and found the trail that would take them back to their rafts. Around midnight they reached the beach where their rafts waited , still hidden and undisturbed.

  "I know we are all tired," Dagon said, "but come morning we will be weak from hunger. Let us put out some lines and a net. Perhaps we will wake up to find we have caught some fish. We can put out a few snares for rabbits as well."

  The exhausted men nodded and worked by candle light to set their nets and snares before collapsing into a deep sleep.

  When Dagon awoke late in the morning he smelled fish cooking. Tandor had pulled in the net with five large fish and already had two of them turning on a spit over the fire.

  "I knew the smell would wake you," Tandor said, smiling.

  Maki walked up from the beach carrying another fish, caught on one of the lines they had baited and left to float on the lake.

  "I'll go and check the snares," Dagon said. "Good work."

  Dagon found one of his snares sprung but whatever had been caught had managed to escape. He gathered up the other snares and walked back to the campfire.

  "No luck there. It will be fish for breakfast."

  Deimos walked into camp with two game birds he had shot with his bow and arrows. Dagon laughed. "Am I the only one with no luck this day?"

  The men ate their fill and then went back to sleep for a nap, this time with full stomachs.

  That afternoon, well rested and well fed, the Helsop men laid out their plans. They sat around the smoldering campfire. Dagon spoke first.

  "There are four guards that take the miners back and forth, six guards that stay to oversee the smiths at their forges and nine that guard the boats. The nine drink from the same ale as the Vagans that gather in the courtyard every evening. If we succeed in doctoring their ale, the nine guards should not pose a problem. Tandor and I will take care of slipping the sleeping potion into their ale. That leaves four of you to deal with the ten Vagans who guard the Hammer Haven men. Any suggestions?"

  "I have thought on this," Olaf said. "The guards have the key that unlocks the shackles. I think we should disable the four guards just outside the mine shaft. Then we can unshackle the miners and have plenty of man power to take out the six remaining guards at the forge."

  Dagon thought for a moment, imagining it in his mind. "That should work if you walk out with the miners as they leave the mine and take the guards by surprise before they have a chance to attract the attention of the six guards below at the forges. It might be a good idea to put on the guards' clothing as well, so that the forge guards will not notice anything amiss as you descend the hill."

  Maki nodded in agreement. "Do we know how long it takes the potion to work? Do you want us to wait to join you and Tandor until all the Vagans in the courtyard are asleep?"

  "It should take under an hour," Dagon replied. "As long as most are asleep, we can help the others along the old fashioned way." He glanced at Deimos.

  Deimos pursed his lips, thinking. "We will wait close to the grove of trees that separates the boats from the castle's courtyard. That way if the boat guards take too long to fall asleep we can help them along—the old fashioned way—with taps on the head."

  "We sleep in the mine shaft tonight," Dagon ordered. "If the Hammer Haven men are in agreement, we will strike tomorrow at day's end."

  The six Helsop men made the long trek back to Hammer Haven a second time and arrived after dark. They took their places in the newest shaft of the mine, wrapped their blankets around them and slept the few remaining hours until dawn.

  As the first of the shackled men walked into the mine shaft that morning, Dagon could see him anxiously searching the shadows. When Dagon stepped forward the man took a deep breath and reached out to shake hands.

  "I am Steig, Headman of Hammer Haven. I was afraid you might have changed your mind and left—not that I would have blamed you."

  The man was middle aged with dark brown hair, streaked with grey. He had the hard muscled arms of a blacksmith.

  "Otto feigned sickness today so that I could take his place in the mines," he said. "Do you have a plan yet?"

  "We do," Dagon replied. He briefly relayed the plan his men had agreed to at their morning meal.

  Steig's face lined with worry. "I would rather the potion were poison. Have you used this sleeping tincture before?"

  "No," Dagon replied, "but I trust the one who gave it to me absolutely."

  "We can overpower the guards easily," Steig said. "We have only refrained from doing so for our families' sakes."

  "I am sure you could," Dagon agreed, "but for the four men we have assigned the task, there will be the element of surprise."

  Steig nodded. "I can not promise my men will not attempt to extract some measure of revenge—even on sleeping men."

  "I understand," Dagon said," but it would be best if we left quickly with their boats. Do any of your men have knowledge of seamanship?"

  "Not much," Steig admitted. "But we have often been put to work manning the galley oars. We have some notion of what to do."

  "We counted eight ships," Dagon said. "Will all your people fit on the eight?"

  Steig closed his eyes. His fellow miners were picking and hammering loudly to avoid any interference from their captors.

  "It will certainly be crowded, but we will make it work somehow," Steig decided.

  "Tonight then," Dagon stated.

  "Tonight it is," Steig seconded. He passed the news to the man on his left and the
story quickly passed down the line of excited men.

  Dagon stepped back into the shadows to inform his men.

  "I have met their headman, Steig. I like him," Dagon said.

  "Did he have any suggestions?" Deimos asked.

  "He suggested we use poison instead of a sleeping potion."

  Deimos smiled. "I like him too."

  The men continued to refine their plans, then took naps in the darkness of the mine, waiting for the day to end and their mission to begin.