Journey's Middle

by B. K. Parent

  That sense of calmness and reassurance continued as I felt the ropes on my hands loosen, and then fall away. At first I could not feel my hands, but then the feeling returned with a vengeance, and felt like a thousand pins and needles were prickling them. Once I had the feeling back, I tackled the knots on the ropes that held my legs to the chair. Feeling somewhat foolish, I spoke into what should have been an empty room, “Thank you for your help.” Nothing and no one answered me back.

  Abruptly my sense of calm vanished to be replaced by a sense of urgency. I needed to get out of this room before the patron of the two men who had snatched me off the street came. I do not know how much time had passed since they had stuck me in here, but that sense of urgency was now overwhelming. While getting myself untied, I had knocked the chair over and gotten turned around. In the darkness I had no notion as to where the door was, so I stepped away from the chair, put my arms out in front of me like a sleepwalker, and cautiously walked forward. The room was not so large that I would not run into a wall quite quickly. Unfortunately, my left hand smacked against the wall, which was closer than I had thought. Fortunately, I had picked the right direction, for as I moved my hands to each side, my right hand encountered the door frame.

  I found the door latch, which lifted easily, but the door did not budge when I pushed against it. The bar I had heard drop held the door tightly closed. Now if I were a true heroine of legend, I would cleverly or magically get the door to open and be on my way. Unfortunately, I am not a heroine of any kind.

  Before panic could again begin to rise, once again a sense of calm settled over me. Well, if I could not get out, maybe I could surprise whoever would be coming in. Again, with my arms outstretched like a sleepwalker, I shuffled my feet back towards where I thought the chair lay. On the third cross of the room, I knocked into the legs of the chair, almost tripping myself up. Reaching down, I picked up the chair. It was very heavy and would be difficult to swing at someone. Using my hands as my eyes, I felt along the legs of the chair and discovered that one of the back legs, which also served as support for the back of the chair, was loose. As a woodworker, it was hard for me to smash the chair onto the floor time after time, trying to break the chair apart, but as someone who needed an element of surprise to help get out of here, it was not.

  I wished I could someday meet the furniture maker who had built that chair, which was winning the fight we were engaged in. I wanted his or her glue formula. I had just gotten a bottom rung to break loose when I heard the latch bar being lifted. Quickly, I moved to the wall, luckily in the right direction, and found the edge of the door frame on the side that would put me behind the door when it opened. What kind of damage I thought I could do with a chair rung I did not know, but I knew I needed to try.

  I was poised, chair rung high over my head, ready, as the door slowly began to open. I was at a disadvantage, for the dim light coming in through the partly open door almost blinded me. A strange shadow appeared on the floor of the room. Just as I prepared to swing downward, Carz flowed into the room, belly low to the floor. I stepped out from behind the door.

  “Carz?”

  “Nissa?”

  Oh my, could my life take any more twists and turns? Now my hunting cat could talk?

  “Nissa, would you please put that piece of wood you are brandishing down before you accidentally hurt one of us!”

  It finally dawned on me that there was someone framed in the doorway behind Carz. “Journeywoman Clarisse?” I questioned. “Is that you? How did you find me?”

  “Answers later. Move now. I think we need to get you out of here. Hurry!” she said as she pulled back out of the doorway. Journeywoman Clarisse moved swiftly down the short hall and up the steps. She held up her hand, signaling we should hold up behind her while she checked both ways down the alley.

  “Come,” Journeywoman Clarisse said quietly, and motioned we were going to go left down the alley. When we reached the corner, she stopped and took off her cloak. “Put this on. It should cover up your rover clothing. Might disguise you should we run into whoever locked you in that room. You are now a journeywoman glassmaker should anyone ask, but leave the talking to me. We are returning from an errand to Master Frulinger’s shop where we picked up several packets of powdered minerals that add a blue tint to the glass. Once we leave this alley, we’re going to walk at a fast normal pace, looking like we belong here and know what we are doing in this part of town, which by the way is nowhere near Master Frulinger’s shop. If anyone stops us and calls our bluff, I will simply tell them, we were taking a short cut and got turned around.”

  “But how did you find me?” I asked as we swiftly moved down the lane.

  I was having trouble keeping up because I kept tripping on the bottom of Journeywoman Clarisse’s cloak, since she was just enough taller than me. I finally pulled the front up and tucked it through my daypack strap to make walking easier.

  “We’ll sort all that out when we get safely back to our campsite,” Journeywoman Clarisse stated, leaving me as confused as ever.

  At that point, however, I was so relieved to no longer be a captive, I did not question how Journeywoman Clarisse appeared to know this less desirable part of Tverdal. I would certainly think on it later. While we met others on the lanes we traveled, no one stopped us or even talked to us as we made our way into the newer section of town, coming closer to the fairgrounds with each passing step. Nor were we stopped or paid attention to at the town gate, and to my surprise, Journeywoman Clarisse steered me down the road towards our campsite and away from the fair entrance. About half way to the campsite, she indicated I should give her back her cloak, which she shoved into her daypack.

  “Act as if this day were just a normal day at the fair. I’ll volunteer us to try our hand at fishing. We can talk then,” Journeywoman Clarisse suggested.

  “Won’t folks question why both of us are back early? It must be a good hour before closing,” I asked.

  “We lucked out this day. The animal auctions were this afternoon and also a performance by the Royal Players. Most of the booths closed down early anyway. I asked Evan to close down ours and tossed him enough coin to pay his way into one of the shows. You owe me. We will tell anyone who asks that we were tired of the hustle and bustle, not to mention dust, and were looking forward to a bit of quiet,” Journeywoman Clarisse replied.

  As we entered the campsite, the tent belonging to the two odd men was still there. Journeywoman Clarisse and I both waved at the other rover family members who had stayed back this day. When Mistress Jalcones motioned that we should come over, Journeywoman Clarisse pantomimed fishing and the two of us, indicating we were going fishing now and would talk later. Once we had settled on the banks of the stream in the soft grass and had our lines in, we both started talking at the same time.

  “How did you . . . ?”

  “Who put you . . . ?”

  “You go first,” Journeywoman Clarisse said.

  I told her what had happened, leaving out the real reason I had gone to see Mistress Fern. Hearing my story out loud, it did sound a bit lame, but I rushed on and told about being snatched and what the two men had said about picking up rovers.

  “They were working for someone they were afraid of, who thankfully didn’t want those they captured either harmed or robbed. I don’t know why they wanted me, but they said their master wanted to talk to me, although I am not sure it was me me, or me because I am a rover. Seemed a strange way to set up a conversation. I think I need to get the word out to the rovers to not go anywhere alone. I didn’t like it that those men thought we were ‘easy pickings’. Well, that explains what happened to me, if not why, but how did you find me? I don’t think you were just in the neighborhood.”

  “You really need to thank Carz, but I would suggest you hug him once he is through fishing. Wet hunting cat is not appealing.”

  �
��Carz?”

  “Carz! I had just finished a sale when Carz appeared in the booth and very gently but insistently grabbed my hand with his teeth and began pulling on it. I swear it took ten years off my life. Evan had followed Carz from behind the guildhall. Said that hunting cat of yours had jumped the fence. Carz was persistent in letting me know I was to come with him, so I asked Evan to close up the booth and followed Carz. He walked by my side out the fair gate and turned towards town. Once through the town gates, he continued at my side as if the two of us were on a merry stroll, just slightly bumping into me to go right or veering slightly left if we were to go to the left. Now I think I might know what sheep feel like when being herded. If I did not know better, I would have thought he had a small rider on his back directing him. I even looked at one point but could see nothing. Felt a little foolish to be honest. At any rate, once we hit the older part of town, where there were fewer folks about, he took the lead and we picked up the pace. Led me straight to that door and started pawing at the bar. I truly don’t know how he found you.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Carz, once again, was the undisputed champion at fishing. We got back to our wagons just as the others were beginning to trickle back from the fair. Journeywoman Clarisse and I had discussed inviting the other rovers to join us for a meal so we could have a quiet discussion about what had happened to me and what it meant. As was the custom, each group or family brought what they could to the meal. To help the fish go farther and serve more folks, I made a thick chowder. Others added bread and cheese. Mistress Jalcones had once again been a wonder at finding blueberries and had made a compote to pour over light and fluffy biscuits. The taste took me back home, and I wondered how Nana was faring. Once cleanup was finished and the rover children settled in for bed, the two rover couples, the Jalcones, Journeywoman Clarisse, and I pulled our travel chairs close together and began talking.

  Oscar glanced over his shoulder and said in a very quiet voice, “Have any of you talked to the two fellows who pitched a tent across the way? Said they’re farmers from about a day’s ride east of here come to the fair, but I noticed their hands and they don’t look like they’ve ever held a plow or chopped a single log.”

  “That’s just one more oddity to add to an already strange day,” suggested Journeywoman Clarisse. “Tell them what happened to you, Nissa.”

  I then told the others about being literally grabbed off the street, tied up and locked in a storeroom, and about my rescue.

  Mistress Jalcones cut in at that point and said “I had wondered what had happened. Carz and I were both enjoying a bit of sun. I was mending one of Jacob’s shirts when all of a sudden Carz leapt up and ran out of camp as if his tail were on fire. Can’t even begin to explain it. One moment he was dozing in the sun and the next he flashed by me heading down the lane. Nothing here had changed. I hadn’t heard any loud sounds or noticed anything amiss.”

  “For whatever sent him to get Journeywoman Clarisse and how he knew to do that, I am grateful,” I said.

  For some reason, I was reluctant to mention how I had come to be untied and fortunately no one asked.

  “We need to get the word out to the other rovers at the fair that someone wants to talk to us and has a strange manner of introducing him or herself. Think perhaps we need to travel in groups, both while at the fair and while on the road. No more ‘easy coin’ for your two enterprising kidnappers or their ilk!” said Oscar.

  We all agreed his plan was a sound one, along with the need for information. Oscar and his brother Bertram, along with their various family members, would discretely try to find out if other rovers had been picked up for a conversation, and with whom. All were very curious as to why this was happening. The subject then changed to a renewed discussion concerning the so-named “farmers.”

  “Considering what happened to Nissa this day, I think we had best keep a sharp watch,” said Trader Jalcones. “I’ve grown quite fond of all of you. Don’t want to see any of you hurt.”

  Before the group broke up for the night, we agreed to gather for our evening meals for the next two nights of the fair and share what, if anything, we observed or heard.

  I did my evening chores, glad there was a routine to the tasks and I did not have to concentrate too hard, for my thoughts were scattered. How had Carz found me? How had my hands become untied? Who did those men who had snatched me work for, and what did their master, or mistress, want of me? Why rovers? No answers magically arrived in my head, and by the time I had finished taking care of Flick and Clover, the light was leaving. After Carz and I climbed into the homewagon, I sat on the steps and buried my face in his fur. He smelled of pine and smoke, of sunshine with a touch of fish, of cat, and I was so glad he was with me.

  “I don’t know how you found me Carz, but I am sure glad you did. Your plan for getting me out of that room certainly had more going for it than mine,” I told him, as I ruffled his fur and pulled on his ears. “Let’s find something special for the Neebings this night. Their luck certainly rode both our shoulders this day.”

  The next day, Journeywoman Clarisse, Trader Jalcones, Oscar and assorted relations, and I walked into the fair together sticking to our safety-in-numbers plan. Journeywoman Clarisse waited until Evan came by and asked him to help cover the booth, for she wanted to talk with Master Rollag about what had happened to me the day before. Morning was slow. While there seemed to be a lot of folks at the fair this day, not many were buying. I did not feel much like using the turning lathe, so I got my whittling knife out and began carving. The knife was one I had made. Da had introduced me to metalwork when I was old enough to wield a hammer, and he had taught me to make a blade. It was when I set about putting a handle on the blade that I had found my love of wood. I kept on whittling and soon had a small collection of fanciful creatures lined up in front of me.

  Evan looked over as I placed one on the counter and said, “I think you should offer one of these with each puzzle box. You show the customer how to open the puzzle box once, place the critter of their choice in the puzzle box, and then close it up. Gives them a reason to try to learn how to open their puzzle box rather than just throwing it on a back shelf.”

  “Brilliant!”

  “Thank you, dear lady,” he retorted with a bow and a wink.

  Evan was the kind of folk who just grows on you. Always with a hint of mischief, yet always willing to help.

  As the morning dragged on, I became more anxious, scanning the crowd looking for Mistress Fern. I know someone was in the shop with her the day before, which had limited our conversation, and I worried that something might prevent her from coming to the fair this day. Just as I was thinking that, I saw her coming down the lane, stopping at each booth and examining the wares. I also noticed that she was accompanied by another woman who did not look as if she were enjoying the fair. A squat, heavily-muscled woman with a sour look on her face. Not someone I would like to meet in a dark alley. As I watched Mistress Fern and her companion, I also noticed a man who kept pace with them on the other side of the lane as they moved my way. Just as I thought that he would have to change his strategy, if he were following them, because the guildhall was next on his side of the lane, he crossed over to the side the two women were on. They were now close enough so I could see all three clearly, but my attention was suddenly riveted on the man’s hand when he picked up a glass globe as if examining it for purchase, for he had a quite distinctive scar on his right hand that ran between his thumb and first finger to his wrist. I thought about sending Evan to find Journeywoman Clarisse or Master Rollag, but then that would leave me in the booth by myself, and while I hoped the man would not try anything here, I thought it best to keep Evan near by.

  I continued carving, trying to look nonchalant, and watched Mistress Fern come closer. It was rather like watching an odd dance. Mistress Fern would stop at a booth and look at items, her companion would lo
ok bored while at the same time covertly watching all around her. The man with the scarred hand followed a few booths behind, picking up items and putting them back, never really looking at them, until Mistress Fern would move to the next booth and the other two would shift with her. It was almost comical, while at the same time somewhat frightening.

  Mistress Fern finally arrived at my booth and greeted me. While her smile was in place, it did not reach her eyes. “Good morning, Mistress Fern,” I replied. “Have you come to check out my stock of mountain herbs?”

  “I am undecided. Come to think of it, a gentleman, a friend of your friend Haakens, stopped by several days ago looking for a source of mountain herbs, but he was in a hurry. I don’t think he’ll be back soon, so I’m not sure it would be a good investment. Maybe he stopped by your booth and bought them from you?” she inquired.

  “I have not sold any of the herbs specific to the mountains here at the fair,” I answered as I began to get the idea that we were carrying on two different conversations at the same time, one about mountain herbs and one perhaps about Da. But maybe I was imagining that.

  “Ah, what are these delightful little carved creatures you have here?”

  “Just some whimsies from my imagination,” I answered. “If you buy a puzzle box, I will hide the one of your choice inside at no extra charge.”

  “I think I must have one. I have always been intrigued with puzzles. Could I see the puzzle box with the rosy colored wood and that one with the stripes? I just can’t make up my mind.”