Uther has the first watch and his moving around the camp is the last thing James sees before succumbing to sleep.
Chapter Twenty
_________________________
The next morning they rise to another dismal day of rain. The tree under which James had spent the night kept most of the rain from him though he is still slightly damp from what did reach him. A quick breakfast and they’re on their way.
Several hours after they leave the last of the sisters behind, they come to a small community situated at a crossroads. Not much more than an inn and a chandler’s shop, they continue on through, taking the road heading to the northeast. Just before they pass the last of the buildings, Uther pauses and asks one of the locals how far it is to the pass.
“You should reach the town of Feld in a couple hours,” the man tells him. “It lies just before where the road begins its climb up into the mountains.”
“Thank you,” Uther says and then they continue along the road out of town.
“We should make Feld in time for the noon meal,” Jorry announces.
“Might be a good time to find out what to expect before we start through the pass,” James says. “Whether we should expect trouble or not.”
“We should always expect trouble,” states Jiron. “As soon as we become complacent and think we’re safe, that’s likely when the Empire or others will strike.”
Sighing, James nods his head and says, “You’re right.”
They make good time, but the road is fast becoming a muddy mess and they all have a coating of mud from where the horses have kicked it up on them. Jiron isn’t as bad as the others since he rides point for the most part.
The road continues to follow the base of the mountains and as the miles pass, the trees become increasingly denser. When noon has come and gone, and Uther has begun to complain about the lack of sustenance in his stomach, the town of Feld finally appears through the trees ahead of them.
They find an inn and after securing their horses, make their way inside. The inn is fairly clean and orderly, they find an empty table to the side of the room large enough to accommodate them all. A serving girl comes over once they’ve taken their seats and soon has them all set with a platter of their special, roast squirrel. Bread and a few vegetables, as well as ale, rounds out the rest of the meal.
Two men who have the look of locals are seated at the table next to them. James turns in their direction and says, “Good day gentlemen.”
They glance at him but make no other comment.
“We are planning on heading through the pass,” he tells them. “Would either of you know how the conditions up there are?”
One of the men, the older of the two nods his head and says, “This time of year it shouldn’t be too bad, the snows have yet to fall. That usually doesn’t happen for another month or so.” His friend grunts in agreement.
“How long will it take to make it through?” Miko asks.
“Two days, roughly,” the younger of the two states. “But we’ve heard tales of travelers being accosted going through lately.”
“Accosted?” James asks. “As in robbers?”
“That’s right,” the older gentleman replies. “Not everyone who goes through is troubled however.” He eyes their group a moment and then adds, “I doubt if anyone would bother a group such as yours.”
“True,” agrees the younger. “It looks like you know how to take care of yourselves.”
“We appreciate the information,” James tells him.
“No problem,” the older man says. “Good luck.” He then turns back to his meal.
“He’s right you know,” Jorry says. “No one in their right mind would tackle a group such as ours.”
“Especially not one with as scary mug as you’ve got,” Uther says with a grin.
Jorry gives him an annoyed look before breaking into a grin himself.
All through the meal, James takes notice of a couple sitting near them, a young man and woman. Neither of them could be more than sixteen or seventeen. From the way they sit close to one another, it makes him think they may be newlyweds. She keeps laying her head on his shoulder and snuggling close.
Once lunch is over and they begin heading to their horses, the couple gets to their feet as well and follows them out. When they’re outside the inn, the young man approaches and says, “Excuse me.”
They all stop and turn toward him. “Yes?” asks James.
The girl is attached to his arm as he says nervously, “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with those other gentlemen.” His eyes flick first to James then to the others, finally coming to rest back on James. “Am I to understand you are planning on taking the road through the pass?”
“That’s right,” he replies. “Why?”
Jiron draws close as do the others which only makes the man more nervous. The girl says, “Maybe we shouldn’t bother them, dear.” She pulls on his arm as if she wants to move away.
Turning to her he pats her arm and says, “It’s alright.” Then to James he asks, “We were wondering if you would allow us to accompany you over the pass. It’s just the two of us and I’m afraid of what might happen if we go it alone, what with all the talk of troubles.”
James glances to Jiron and Miko who both shrug, Dave gives an emphatic negative shake of his head. “Are you ready to leave right now?” he asks once he’s returned his attention back to the couple.
Bobbing his head, the young man asks, “Yes sir. Our wagon is around back.” The girl doesn’t look very happy about this but will not gainsay her man.
“Sure,” he replies. Holding his hand out, he adds, “Name’s James.”
With relief evident upon his face, the young man takes his hand and replies, “I’m Kerrin and this is my wife, Gayle.”
“Nice to meat you,” says James. “If you wouldn’t mind going to get your wagon, we would like to leave as soon as possible.”
“Yes, sir,” the man says. “Right away and thank you.” The woman gives him a slight courtesy but still doesn’t look happy about the situation.
As the couple goes to get their wagon, James and the others begin mounting. “Are you sure this is such a good idea?” Dave asks.
“What are you worried about?” exclaims Jiron with a grimace. He hates the negativity which always seems to come from him lately.
“Relax Dave,” James says. “It’ll be nice having them along. The more we have, the less likely anyone will trouble us.”
“True,” Uther interjects. “Not to mention giving us something better to look at than Jorry’s sorry mug.”
Turning to his friend, Jorry says, “I wish you would retire that sorry old joke. No one laughs anymore.”
Uther glances around the group and sees them all staring at him, some with disapproving expressions. He says, “Very well.”
Just then from around the corner a wagon turns onto the street, the couple is seated upon the seat. “You know that wagon is going to slow us down a little,” Miko says.
“Some,” replies James with a nod. “But I just couldn’t say no.”
As the wagon draws near, the riders take up position around it and they make their way through town, toward the entrance of the pass.
This pass isn’t nearly as steep as the Merchant’s Pass had been. The road rises much more gradually as the mountains are not as tall. For the first couple of hours they steadily rise toward the summit which looks to be a day or two away.
Riding along, James casts glances back to the couple on the wagon behind them. The man always gives him a cheery smile while the woman simply looks scared. She looks as if she thinks they are going to fall upon them and attack them at any moment.
Miko is riding beside them and is regaling them with stories of their exploits. James smiles at the embellishments which have already crept into the often repeated tales. At least he’s not making any mention of anything important, like the fact he can do magic. He knows James doesn’t like that litt
le tidbit to be talked about, so glosses over those parts. Try as he might, nothing Miko does seems to put the girl at ease. If anything his stories are only making her more nervous.
Maybe it’s the heavily tattooed Qyrll that has her spooked. He does make a rather menacing sight. Qyrll generally keeps his hood over his features since he realizes the reactions people in this part of the world have to him. So it wasn’t until they were an hour into the pass when the hood came off for one reason or another. She gasped in fright when she saw his visage and the others tried to put her at ease but to no avail. Her husband grew nervous for a time but his good natured personality resurfaced and came to accept Qyrll as non threatening.
Near the end of the day, a river appears. It flows through the pass ahead of them alongside the road and then turns more northerly before disappearing into the mountains again. From where the river disappears to the north, the sound of a mighty waterfall can be heard.
They continue along the road as it makes its way along the banks of the river for another hour until the light begins to fade with the coming of night. Finding a suitable spot, they make camp at the edge of the river under the cover of a cluster of trees. Their overhanging branches afford them some protection from the rain that’s still coming down. It’s been falling continuously all day and even though they’ve worn rain gear, it has managed to infiltrate and soak a good portion of their clothes underneath.
Other than the occasional drops of water which make it through, the area under the trees is relatively dry and large enough to accommodate them all. Off to one side they stake the horses near the wagon and then begin setting up camp.
When Kerrin notices them taking their food out in preparation to fix their meal he says, “You let us handle dinner tonight. It’s the least we can do for you allowing us to travel with you.”
His wife gives him a glare behind his back which says feeding them is the last thing she wants to do.
James notices the look on her face and says, “We don’t want to be a bother.”
“It’s no bother,” Kerrin assures him as he turns to his wife. “Is it dear?”
As he turns to look at her, her expression changes from one of annoyance to that of willingness. “No,” she says. “No bother at all.”
Before James can come up with a way to turn him down, Uther says, “That would be wonderful.”
“Good, good,” the man says and then turns back to his wife, giving her a smile. She smiles back until he begins walking from the trees to hunt for firewood, then her smile disappears. With a brooding expression, she goes to the wagon and begins removing several pots in which to cook their dinner.
Jiron comes up behind James and says with a grin, “I don’t think she wants to cook for us.”
Glancing back to him, he replies, “I got that feeling as well. But it’s too late now, Uther’s gone and accepted for us. Set up the watch for tonight, we can’t afford to be caught unawares if bandits make an appearance.”
“Already taken care of,” he says. “Uther gets the first watch and you’ll take the last. Everyone is taking a turn but Dave.”
James arcs an eyebrow at that. “Why?” he asks.
“We don’t trust him to stay awake,” Jiron replies. Lowering his voice, he adds, “Actually some of us just don’t trust him at all.”
“I know,” James says sadly. He glances over to his friend who has staked out a spot with his bedroll near the center of the trees. Lying down on his back, he has his arms crossed behind him under his head as he stares up into the trees. James goes over and sits down next to his friend.
“You okay?” he asks.
“A little depressed is all,” Dave admits. “Homesick.”
“I know how you feel,” he says.
Turning on his side, he props his head on one hand and looks at James. “I miss the arcade,” he says. “Not to mention tv, pizza and milkshakes.”
“Pizza we might be able to manage here,” James says. “Maybe a pepperoni one when we get back to The Ranch.”
Perking up a little, Dave says, “You think so?”
Grinning at his friend, he says, “I don’t see why not, it’s just dough, sauce, cheese and toppings. In the winter we may even be able to do milkshakes.”
“Or snow cones,” adds Dave with a grin.
“Now sure what to flavor them with but we’ll figure something out,” he says.
“Would be nice to have some things from home like that,” Dave says. “Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.”
“That’s the spirit,” James says encouragingly. “Since we’re stuck here, we may as well make the best of it.”
“When life gives you lemons make lemonade?” asks Dave with a grin.
“You know it,” agrees James with a nod. “Remember that time…” It’s an hour before Gayle has dinner ready and all the while he and Dave reminisce about the old days back home. Seems they’ve been doing that a lot lately. Those are the times when Dave seems to perk up the most and be his old self.
Gayle finally calls everyone to eat. She’s made a stew with plenty of meat and vegetables. They bring their bowls over and are given a hearty portion, then take position around the campfire.
“We are very grateful that you have allowed us to accompany you,” Kerrin says as he takes his place near his wife.
“Glad to have you with us,” James assures him.
Through a mouthful of stew, Jorry says, “You make a good stew ma’am.” The others offer their praise as well.
“Thank you,” replies Gayle, a shy smile coming to her face.
“My Gayle is one of the best cooks anywhere,” Kerrin says as he gives her a one armed hug about the shoulders. “Don’t know what I would do without her.” She blushes from his words and lowers her eyes as she continues eating.
“May I have more?” Uther asks, holding his bowl out.
“Of course,” she says as she gets up to ladle more into his bowl. “Anyone else?” she asks when his bowl is full. Miko of course comes to his feet quickly and gets more. Qyrll stands and comes forward with his bowl as well.
She glances to his tattooed face coming toward her and gets a nervous look on her face.
“I would like some more too if you don’t mind,” he says to her.
Her hand has a slight tremor in it as she ladles more stew into his bowl. “Thank you,” he says when his bowl is again filled and retakes his seat. All they have to go with the stew is some slightly stale bread. But you dip it into the stew and it’s edible.
By the time the meal is over, night has settled in and the temperature continues to drop. They throw more wood on the fire to keep the chill at bay as they begin to settle down for sleep. All that is but Uther who has pulled the first watch.
James lies his blanket down next to Dave, Miko settles in on his other side. Soon they’re all fast asleep.
Suddenly awakened by a tugging sensation, James comes awake. He opens his eyes and the world swims in front of him. He looks up to see Kerrin standing above him, his hand around the chain securing the medallion around his neck. He tries to stop him but his movements are lethargic, his muscles not responding well to his commands.
“Get the rest of their money,” Kerrin says.
“Yes dear,” he hears Gayle reply.
“You did good work,” another voice says. James scans the area and finds the voice belongs to another man. He starts in shocked recognition when he realizes it’s the older gentleman from the inn back in Feld. The one who had warned them about the bandit attacks in the pass.
“Was easy enough,” replies Kerrin as he finally manages to remove the medallion from around James’ neck. Holding it up, he mumbles to himself, “Might bring a couple silvers.”
He then reaches down and removes the pouch from James’ waist which contains the crystals. At first excited when he opens it thinking he’s found a stash of gems, he’s quickly disappointed when he finds all there is are some common crystals of little value. “Don’t you know what real
gems are?” he asks James. Grunting in disgust, he dumps out the crystals on the ground next to him and continues rummaging through his pouches, removing all things of value. The necklace James had found in the underground temple near the fortress of Kern goes into Kerrin’s pouch as well.
When at last he finishes with James, he moves to Dave and begins going through his things.
“Gather the horses,” the older man says. James notices the younger one from the inn is there as well and begins putting the reins on their horses and securing them in a line to the back of the wagon.
Unable to move other than small movements, he tries to look around the campsite. He finds most of the others are passed out, Jiron seems to be the only other one besides him even conscious. He fears the others may be dead, no way to be sure.
They must have drugged us! His eyes come to rest on the stewpot and the realization hits him that that must be how they did it. But Kerrin and Gayle had eaten too, maybe they had taken the antidote before they consumed it.
Gayle is remaining by the wagons while the three men continue removing everything of value from their victims. Once Kerrin is finished with Dave, he stands back up and moves to the wagon to deposit the items he’s removed. The older gentleman joins him and together they help to get the horses secured in a line behind the wagon.
When they at last have all of them tied behind the wagon, Gayle points to James and the others as she asks, “What are we to do with them?”
“Can’t leave them to come after us,” Kerrin says to her.
“You’re going to kill them?” she asks aghast.
“You don’t worry about that,” he replies.
James tries to move after hearing that but whatever drug they used on him has almost completely immobilized him. All he can manage are weak movements which don’t get him very far and exhausts him in the process.
Out of the corner of his eye his gaze settles on the crystals spilled on the ground next to him. Hope springs to him as he sees the one wrapped in cloth lying not six inches from his hand.
The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five Page 26