by Logan Jacobs
“That’d be the one,” I confirmed.
“You’ve got some nerve, boy!” he fumed as he flung his hands up in the air. “To come in here, stab me, and now expect me to go under the miners’ noses?”
“Hebal, I thought we talked about who was in charge the last time I was here,” I said as I put my hand on my blade. “Now, relax.”
“Relax?” he retorted, and his eyes dropped to my dagger. “How?”
“The miners don’t have to know if we don’t want them to,” I said and shrugged slightly. “You’ll have to trust me, partner.”
“Partner?” Hebal sputtered his lips in disgust. “It’s miners’ territory, it’s a risk for me to even be seen there, and how exactly won’t they know, Wade, or better yet, partner?”
“Then don’t come, send your goon by the door for all I care,” I said sternly and hoped his tantrum was over. “This is how we’re doing it.”
“Well, ain’t that good for you?” Hebal began to pace slowly back and forth. “You do know the miners have been comin’ for me for a while, right?”
“Oh, I didn’t know that,” I snickered.
“Fucking human,” he growled as his eyes narrowed at me.
“You going to shut the fuck up and listen to me? Or am I going to have to remind you about the sharpness of my dagger a second time?”
“Now, you are threatening me?” Hebal groaned as he waved his hands.
“Yeah,” I scoffed. “With money. I just need you to shut your cock hole and fucking listen to me for five minutes so you can be rich, but you keep being a hairy cunt. Now, take a deep breath and let me explain how this is going to work.”
“Please do explain,” Hebal said as he rolled his eyes. “I’m havin’ a hard time seeing a benefit for me.”
“Your benefit, if you’ve somehow forgotten, is the amount of coin you’ll make from … ” I paused, walked across the stone floor, and grabbed his shoulder tightly. “My. Product.”
“Fine,” Hebal huffed, “you’re the boss, Wade. What’s the plan?”
“Meet us at noon at the back of Burnandy Hall where no one is,” I explained. “I know you don’t like those assholes, and they don’t like you, but it doesn’t have to be a conflict. You’ll just pull your wagon up next to an unmarked one that either me or my man will be driving, give us the gold, unload the barrels, and then we’ll both leave. Will only take half a minute.”
“My life is at risk with your plan,” Hebal muttered and stroked his beard in thought. “I’m paying ya twenty gold a barrel, then.”
“You don’t have to come for the pick up if you are that much of a coward,” I sighed. “Just send your men.”
“Then I’m not going to be able to inspect the whiskey to mak--”
“I don’t give a fuck,” I hissed at him as my hand drifted to my dagger hilt. “Look, we are getting all mixed up here. You are going to make over a hundred gold per barrel, and I’m charging you thirty. I came to you because you’re the boss of the district, but now I’m starting to think I should have gone to the Miners' Association first and asked them if--”
“Naw, that’s fine,” Hebal growled as he waved his hand at me. “I’ll do the pick up there.”
I thought of what Penny and Cimarra had mentioned in our meeting. I needed Hebal to wonder if I could use someone other than him. I needed to simply use the miners as a reminder to the dwarf he was not in control of this operation. I had no clue if the miners would be interested, and I really didn’t want to even go down that path.
“We are in agreement then,” I said.
“Yah,” Hebal replied with a nod. “I might not come, but someone will be there with a cart to pick it up, and if the whiskey isn’t as you promised then--”
“It will be,” I interrupted him. “I’m not the one trying to cut the other one out.”
“You just said you’d talk to the Miners'--” he started.
“But last week you tried to pay me one gold a barrel,” I growled. “It’s going to take me a few months to forget about you being an asshole.”
“And you killed my nephew-w-w,” Hebal hissed, but as he spoke, he seemed to realize the path the conversation was turning on wasn’t going to be beneficial for either of us, and the words caught up in his mouth. “Whatever, Wade. We’ll make the pick up, I’ll sell the whiskey, and we’ll both make a bunch of gold.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow at Burnandy Hall,” I said.
“Aye, you will.” The dwarf tugged angrily at his shirt, unlocked his door, and opened it.
That damned bell rang above my head and suddenly became my least favorite sound in the realm.
“Until tomorrow, then,” I said as I walked out of the dusty shop and back to the theatre.
I had no clue how the next day would pan out, but by this point, I just wanted to get it over with. I wanted to get the damned partnership with Hebal over with too, but I was stuck with the oaf until I could figure out how to do all the distribution myself.
Fortunately, I already had a few ideas.
Chapter 5
After I returned to the empty stables, I did everything in my power to prepare for the delivery the next day. I started by rolling the whiskey barrels closer to the stable door so it would be easier for us to load them into the catering wagon, but each barrel was heavier than I expected, and the task took me a few hours to complete. As I moved the wooden kegs, I hoped Dar and Penny would walk in and tell me they finished baking all of the pastries.
But they never did.
Once I finished with the barrels, I thought about making the journey all the way out to Adi’s cottage in the middle of the night to give them a hand. But, without a wagon of my own, that would’ve taken way too long. Plus, I didn’t want to steal one either and draw any unwanted attention on me or our operation the night before the delivery. So, I decided to stay put and hope for the best. Eventually, I passed out with the dragon in my bed of hay.
Then three loud knocks woke me up.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and saw the faint morning light streaming in between the cracks of the barn structure.
“It’s me,” Dar’s muffled voice came from the other side of the stable door. “Time to get this delivery done.”
“I’m awake.” I stumbled to my feet, opened the hatch, and saw my best friend’s haggard face splattered with flour. He had parked the wagon as close as he could to the door so we could hide the whiskey when we loaded it.
“You look like shit,” I chuckled and opened the door a little wider so we could fit the barrels through.
“Thanks.” He yawned and gestured to the wagon behind him. “Muffins are made, but the pixie is dead asleep.”
I looked in the back and saw Penny was stretched out in the the wagon with the boxes of cookies and muffins.
“Shit, we need to wake her up first,” I said and climbed into the back of the cart with Dar. “Do you think she can even come with us?”
“I doubt it.” Dar shrugged. “We were up all night.”
“Okay, well go bring the cookies to Cimarra inside the theatre,” I said as I pointed to the light blue box labeled choco chip. “I’ll move Penny inside the stables, and then we can load the barrels.”
“Got it,” Dar said as he grabbed the box of cookies and hopped down from the wagon. “See you in a few.”
“Penny?” I lightly tapped her shoulder to see if she’d wake up.
“Uh … sweeeet poootato frrrrosting … ” she slurred as a line of drool dripped from her lips.
“Yeah, you’re not coming with,” I chuckled as I lifted her into my arms.
“Fffuck you, Marv … ” Penny breathed in between another snore.
“Time for bed,” I whispered as I carried the pixie inside and laid her down on her bed of blankets, and I imagined the hell she must have raised if the chef tried to order her around last night.
“Oh, sweet bed, I’ll see you soon.” Dar blew a kiss to his own bed as he walked in.
“You gonna mak
e it?” I asked my halfling friend.
“Nothing can stop me, pal.” Dar unleashed his toothy grin and nodded toward the barrels. “Shall we load these up?”
“We should,” I replied with a smile.
We unloaded the pastries to make room for the whiskey, rolled barrel after barrel as close to the wagon as we could, and then hoisted them inside the cart together. Dar had tapped into some weird halfling strength in his exhausted state, but we were both covered in dirt and sweat by the time the barrels were all loaded, and I wondered if it would be worth hiring some muscle for the business soon.
“We gonna cover the barrels in the back with another sheet?” Dar panted and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“I think we should.” I nodded as I grabbed another sheet and started to lay it on top with Dar’s help. “We can’t be too safe.”
“Where to first?” Dar asked as he took control of the reins after we had loaded everything and climbed up onto the front bench.
“You sure you don’t want me to drive?” I raised an eyebrow at the stubborn halfling.
“I’d fall asleep if I wasn’t driving,” Dar chuckled and yawned at the same time.
“Alright,” I said as I clapped his shoulder. “We’re going to Alexi’s. It’s on the border of the Halfling District just before the Dwarf District.”
“Toward Hebal’s?” Dar guessed.
“Yeah,” I said as I pointed ahead of us. “I’ll show you, just drive and stay awake.”
“Got it.” Dar nodded and tugged on the reins to get the horse's attention. Then we moved onto the main road and drove toward the Dwarf District.
“How did baking with Marver go?” I asked.
“Marver doesn’t like rushing, so that stressed him and us out,” Dar said as he rolled his eyes, “but we finished.”
“How was Penny?” I asked.
“She only threatened to kill him four times,” Dar laughed.
“Figured,” I chuckled. “Was the chef happy with the product?”
“I don’t think so … ” Dar grimaced, “but we didn’t have a lot of time.”
“I know,” I nodded, “we won’t normally be doing business this way, but for now, we had to.”
“That’s what I told him,” Dar said as he pointed to the left. “Do I turn here?”
“No, keep straight,” I replied and then looked to my friend. “Thanks for cooking with that crazy fool again, though.”
“We gotta do what we gotta do,” Dar chuckled and pulled out his pipe from his trouser pocket. “I’m sure dealing with Hebal was just as crazy.”
“He’s on board with us, for now,” I huffed.
“For now,” Dar echoed as he stuck his unlit pipe in between his lips. “Turn here?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “Stay on this road for a minute or so, and it’s the blue and white building on the corner.”
“I see it,” Dar confirmed.
“Just pull over, and I’ll run in and drop off the muffins.” I nodded toward the building.
“Pink box,” Dar confirmed as he pulled the wagon over and stopped it in front of the cafe.
“Be back in a sec,” I said as I jumped down, walked to the back of the wagon, grabbed the pink box, and made my way to the small cafe.
The cafe had “Alexi’s” painted on the front in cursive and two small round tables outside where a pair of halflings enjoyed their food. Then I ducked through the aged door and was greeted by the sweet aroma of halfling tea.
I only ever had it once before, but the tea tasted like there was a mountain of sugar in it.
Once inside, I looked over the cafe to see where I could drop the muffins off. The place itself was shaped like a perfect square and had a black and white checkerboard floor with a small sitting area to my left.
“Hello there,” a red-haired human greeted me as he walked out of a swinging door in the back. He adjusted the glasses perched on his hooked nose and waved me over. “Those our muffins?”
“They are,” I said with a smile and handed him the box.
“My wife told me an old friend of hers works at Adi’s,” the man said as he took the box and eyed me. “She insisted we just had to try your muffins.”
“Oh, good.” I smiled. “Well, we’re sure glad you did. That’ll be one silver, please.”
“Of course.” The redhead reached into his pocket. “Here you are. And here’s a copper for you, too.”
“Thank you!” I waved and dropped the coins in my pouch. “Until next week.”
“See you then,” the man said and waved back as he carried the box of muffins into the back room.
I exited the humble shop and wondered what it would take to own a place like that. It might be a good way to expand the catering business and filter some of the grain purchases through something that looked more legitimate.
“Ready?” Dar yawned from the top of the wagon.
“Are you?” I asked as I hopped in next to him. “One more stop to go, and it’s the most important one.”
“I’m ready.” Dar nodded and steered the wagon back onto the road.
“Good,” I said as I stared up into the sun to check its position. “It’s almost noon.”
“We’ll get there in time,” Dar sniffed, refocused on the road, and leaned forward. “Just tell me where to turn.”
“Will do,” I said and gripped the side of the wagon as the horse picked up its pace. “Please don’t crash.”
“Crash?” Dar laughed as he maneuvered the wagon in between traffic like he was in a race. “Stop your worrying and watch a pro.”
“You’ll need to turn left--” I shut my eyes as the wagon veered to the left and barely missed another cart. “Shit, at least I know you’d make a good getaway driver now.”
“I’m a halfling with many skills, my friend,” Dar snickered as he continued to zig-zag between slower wagons and pedestrians on the muddy dwarven streets.
“Okay, slow down.” I pointed to our left where there was a break in the traffic and the path toward our destination. “It’s over there.”
“I see it,” Dar said as he slowed the wagon to a safer speed. “Told ya we’d make it in time.”
“That you did,” I began, “now turn south down the back alley.”
“Sure thing, boss.” Dar yawned widely again as we squeezed our wagon slowly through the side alleyway to reach the back of the Miners’ Hall.
The structure itself was between a small dwarf antique shop, like Hebal’s, to the west and a blacksmith to the east. The blacksmith’s furnace was on full blast and emitted an orange glow with a surge of heat as we passed it. The Miners' Hall was colored like the muddy streets and decorated with faded dwarvish art and the Miners’ Association logo. The logo featured two pickaxes and a diamond in between the handles.
“Right on time,” I remarked when I noticed Hebal and a few other dwarves parked fifty or so yards away at the front of the blacksmith facing west toward the Miners' Hall.
Hebal was slouched low in his seat and wore a shaggy cap on his head to hide his face as best he could, and as he turned his head toward our southbound wagon, I gestured for them to hold right where they were.
I wanted to make sure our contact at the hall didn’t see them. I also didn’t want to start the exchange and have a miner catch us hoisting barrels into another wagon that just so happened to belong to their business rival.
Maybe I was paranoid since I knew what we had, but I also didn’t know what to expect from Hebal and his crew.
“What’s the plan?” Dar asked.
“You still awake?” I poked him in the chest.
“No.” He grinned.
“We’ll make the deliver--”
A slap on the side of our wagon rudely interrupted me.
“Oye, you the food provider?” a gray-haired, oily, cross-eyed dwarf asked while he looked at Dar and then to me. “A human and a halfling in business together, aye?”
“Yes, yes we are, good sir,” I said like
one of the street vendors as I hopped down from the wagon and extended my hand toward his. “We have your muffins.”
“No need for pleasantries, human.” He peered at my hand and spat right on it. “Your whole wagon is full of muffins?”
I looked at my hand coated in dwarf spit and swallowed hard to keep myself from doing something I’d regret.
“No, sir.” Dar stood and wobbled a bit. “We have other events to attend to today.”
“Alright, show me what’s ours then.” The cross-eyed dwarf licked his lips as he started to lift up the cloth covering our barrels.
“We’ll bring them in.” I smiled while I reached for the dwarf’s hand and tugged it away from the wagon. “Why don’t you show my partner here where we should put them?”
“Watch your hand,” the dwarf grunted, gave me a shove on the shoulder, and pointed at Dar. “Fine, follow me.”
“Right away,” Dar said and nearly slipped and fell off the wagon. Thankfully, he regained his balance and trotted after the dwarf.
“Are ya bringing the muffins?” the dwarf asked as he stopped at the backdoor.
“Of course, of course.” I slowly made my way around the wagon and opened the rear door. “Dar, take one of these, and I’ll take the others and meet you inside. But more importantly, why don’t you tell our friend about that one time you got lost at sea?”
“Uh, w-well, sure,” Dar stammered, grabbed a case of muffins, wrapped his arm around the confused dwarf, and turned him to the door. “There I was, drifting in the middle of the sea, on the brink of death … ”
“A halfling at sea?” A deep belly laugh erupted from the dwarf. “I’ve got to hear this, come tell the others.”
If Dar’s story went how most of his stories went, we would have enough time to unload the wagon, so as soon as Dar and the dwarf vanished, I motioned for Hebal to bring his wagon around to the side closest to the blacksmith. They rolled up next to me a few seconds later, and then Hebal and his crew jumped out of their wagon and ran over to my cart.
“We have to hurry,” I said as I flipped the cloth off the barrels.
“Aye, no shit,” Hebal growled.
“Awww, I don’t get a ‘thank you?’” I laughed and clapped the burly dwarf on the back. I knew how much he loved when I did that.