by B. K. Parent
I was not any closer to figuring out the answers to my questions by the time morning arrived. I felt like I had been awake most of the night, tossing and turning. It was with great reluctance and just a bit of grousing that I crawled out of bed and splashed some cold water on my face to try to wake myself up. The sky had just begun to lighten, though the sun had not even risen yet, when I stepped out of the homewagon and began to hitch up Flick and Clover. Master Clarisse and Evan were up and had their wagon ready to go. It was going to be a cold breakfast morning, for all of us were anxious to get on the road. Even with traveling all day for two days, we were still going to miss the first day of the fair at Glendalen.
I checked the Neebing door one last time, but it was empty, so I cranked it back up and made sure it was secure. I was just checking under the homewagon to make sure everything was in order when I heard cussing coming from the “farmers”. Looking over, I could see that their horses’ bridles were in a jumble, and the reins were all knotted up. It would take time and considerable patience to untie them. One of the men sat down to work on the knots, and the other stalked off to get their horses, only to discover that they had somehow gotten loose. Every time he got close enough to one of the horses to put a halter on it, it moved just out of reach. Looked like the two “farmers” were going to have a very late start to their day.
Chapter Eighteen
I think all of us left the campsite trying not to laugh too loud. The image of the two “farmers” trying to either untie the reins or catch their horses was a sight I would not soon forget. To compound their problems, just as we left the campsite, it began to rain. Just a drizzle at first, which turned into a steady rain. For the next hour, every once in awhile I would hear the sound of laughter or giggling drifting back to me, or from behind me, as our five wagons rolled south towards Glendalen. While travel had been slow, due to the heavy traffic, it suddenly became even slower, but I could not see what was causing the delay around the next bend. Once we made it around the bend, it became quite evident why the delay. A checkpoint roadblock made up of a makeshift gate manned by several very brutish-looking oafs had been set up, travelers were looked over, and then sent on their way. Soon the Jalcones, who headed our caravan, were passed through and motioned to continue on down the road. Oscar and his brother Bertram’s homewagons were motioned to pull into the field to the right of the road just before the gate, as was I. Master Clarisse and Evan were waved through.
Now what, I thought. I was getting pretty tired of being treated differently just, it seemed, because I am a rover. I do not remember this happening when I traveled with my parents, and I certainly had not been treated differently or poorly by the folk in the villages. These official types seem to look scornfully upon us, as if we were thieves and grifters. Certainly Da was not the sole reason that rovers were being singled out. As I pulled my homewagon into the field behind Oscar’s, I noticed that Master Clarisse and Evan, who had been waved through, had pulled their wagon at an angle across the road, and she was walking back our way. I was suddenly struck again that the way she carried herself, and sometimes how she acted, was just a little bit off from that of common folk. She had been an imposing figure at times as a journeywoman, but now in her master’s robes, she commanded attention.
Master Clarisse walked up to my homewagon and asked, “Do you know what all this is about?”
“Don’t know,” I replied, “other than they seem to be only stopping rovers at the moment. We were told that we need to be prepared to unpack our carts in this rain, and also open our homewagons up to inspection. Dragging out everything from our carts, which will be damaging to my wares and my tools, is one thing but saying they have the right to come into my home uninvited is way beyond decency. I think this is beginning to feel a bit like harassment.”
“I think you are right,” Master Clarisse said, as she flung her cloak over her shoulder and stalked towards the folk who were running the checkpoint. Confronting the first one she met, she demanded to see whoever was in charge.
“That would be me,” said the woman insolently, who was slouched under the cover of a large maple tree. “What’s yer problem? No one’s keeping yea from yer business.”
Master Clarisse drew herself up to her full height, settled her cloak around her so that it prominently displayed her Master’s crest, and said, “My problem is that you are delaying me. The three homewagons you have pulled over are in my party and I would like a very good explanation as to why you have singled them out.”
“I gots me orders,” the woman said.
“And those orders are . . . ?” inquired Master Clarisse.
“I’m to stop and search rover homewagons, Regent’s orders.”
“Just rovers?” Master Clarisse asked.
“Well, yah know how they are,” the woman said in conspiratorial tones. “Yea can’t trust them now, can yah?”
“No, I don’t know ‘how they are’ as you are suggesting, and I would trust them more than I would trust you. Since when have the rovers been subject to this type of hassle? What are you supposed to be looking for, or are you just delaying rovers so that they cannot continue to make an honest living like they have always have?”
“Now you sees here. Like I says, I gots me orders. I’m to search ther homewagons for contraband and wanted folks. So yea just be on your way.”
“Well then, if you are seeking contraband and wanted folks, then by all means, search, but let us do this right. I think just checking on rovers is really inefficient. All the wagons, carts, packs and animals should be checked, do you not think? I think I can get some others to help. I noticed several different wagons in the line behind me that have members of other guilds besides my own, and several fairly rich merchants. I could talk them into helping, I am sure. Let us stop every wagon and search it. It is only fair you know. We cannot have it be said that the Regent was being unfair, now can we?” Master Clarisse asked, smiling sweetly at the woman in charge.
“Yea don’t need to do that,” she blustered.
“Ah but I do, in fact, my sense of fairness demands it,” said Master Clarisse.
While Master Clarisse had been having this conversation with the woman in charge, wagons and carts that were traveling behind Master Clarisse’s wagon had had to stop, and the line was getting longer by the minute. In addition, the rain had begun to pick up again. I glanced up, when I heard the sounds of several horses rapidly approaching us. The horses came to an abrupt stop just inches away from Master Clarisse and the woman in charge of the road block, and their riders dismounted. The riders were a well-dressed man and woman. At first glance, they seemed young, but a closer look showed that they were of middle age, but in excellent shape.
“What seems to be the delay here, Master . . . ?” the gentleman demanded addressing his remarks not to the woman in charge of the roadblock, but to Master Clarisse.
I thought I saw something, a look of recognition pass between them, but perhaps I was mistaken.
“Master Clarisse, and you sir are . . . ?” Master Clarisse inquired back.
“Lord Hadrack of Glendalen Keep. And again I ask, what is the delay?”
“It would be my wagon that is holding up the line, sir. I stopped to inquire as to why my traveling companions were motioned off the road into that field and the rest of us were allowed to travel on. I have been informed by this woman that she has orders from the Regent to stop all rovers, and only rovers mind you, so she can search for contraband and wanted folks. She has told the rovers they need to be prepared to take everything out of their carts in this rain, and also that they should open up their homewagons to inspection. Just stated that they would enter their homes without an invitation. I have suggested that that is really inefficient for others besides the rovers could be carrying contraband and who knows what ‘wanted’ folks are just walking through. I recommended that she search all who travel throu
gh this checkpoint and have them empty out their wagons in the rain too.”
“While I like your sense of fairness, I think your solution lacks practicality. Searching everybody would take days, not to mention cause a major uproar. Then all these fine folk who are traveling to the fair at my town would be delayed. That would be an economic disaster both for my town and for the tradesfolk, including the rovers. So, I think your plan, while excellent, is not going to work. Yet I think the idea of a road block delaying fair trade from entering into my land is also not a great idea. Might I suggest an alternative plan, which would be to dismantle the roadblock and eliminate the checkpoint? I think this time, the Regent has overstepped his authority. While I grant this is a royal road, tradition mandates that all are free to travel it, not just a select few.”
At this point, a group of men and women in Glendalen livery arrived. The leader of the group jumped off her horse and spoke to Lord Hadrack. “Is everything alright, sir?”
“No, it is not. Please help this woman pull back and dismantle this roadblock, and then have several of your folks escort her and her crew back to Tverdal. The rest of you stay long enough to make sure none of the carts or wagons waiting got bogged down due to this rain. Captain Gwen, have the two who deliver them to Tverdal tell any who might question them that it was I who gave the order to stop this foolishness. If anyone has any objections, they can answer to me.”
“Yes sir,” Captain Gwen answered. “Come along now mistress, and let’s see about getting this mess cleared away and these good folks on their way.”
“Yah can’t do this,” the woman in charge of the checkpoint sputtered. “I’m here by the authority of the Regent.”
“You would dare to question a Lord of this land, mistress?” Lord Hadrack flung back, anger showing quite clearly on his face. “How do I know you have the authority to stop anyone here? Do you have papers?”
“I was hired by the Regent’s agents. I knows who I works for,” she said.
The woman desperately looked around for the others who were working the checkpoint with her to back her up, only to see that they had been taken into custody while she was being confronted by Lord Hadrack. Resigned now that her job had ended, she was escorted over to the side of the road, and the Lord’s guards quickly and efficiently dismantled the roadblock.
Master Clarisse in the meantime, after a quick nod to Lord Hadrack, walked back to where I was and indicated that we should get our homewagons back on the road. For a moment, I thought my homewagon wheels may have sunk too deep into the ground of the field. After a brief pause, the homewagon slowly began to roll, and then I was on the road. It was then that I noticed that the Jalcones had not traveled very much farther down the road and were waiting for us. While we were moving our homewagons out of the field, Lord Hadrack pulled alongside each of our homewagons and told us he would leave word with the gatekeepers at the fair to save five prime spots for us. He would also leave two of his folks to travel with us to make sure we had no further trouble getting to Glendalen. He even apologized for not being able to stay with us, but he needed to get home quickly. Besides the need to get ready to open the fair, he also had a meeting to attend to with the neighboring Lords and Ladies. He assured me that this roadblock and the treatment of rovers would be a topic of conversation. If he and his lady traveled all this day and into the night, even switching horses, they were just going to make it.
What a turn of events. We rovers had gone from being held up and about to be searched to heading to the fair with prime selling spots awaiting us. It is too bad that with the rain and the delay, we would not be able to take full advantage of his generosity. We had expected to miss a day at the fair, but now there was the possibility of missing two. I was still stewing over the fact that we had been pulled over, when my musing was interrupted by a horse and rider pulling up beside me.
“Pardon me,” said the young rider, one of Lord Hadrack’s men. “Would you be willing to have a passenger? ’Tis just a wee bit wet out here, and it sure looks a mite drier where you are sitting. Name’s Aaron Beecroft but most of my friends call me Beezle.”
Having been so lost in my thoughts, I had not noticed the rain had begun to fall harder. Carz looked Beezle over and then hopped into the homewagon, leaving room for someone to join me on the driver’s seat if I chose. Since I had grown to trust Carz’ instincts about folks, I told Beezle he was welcome. He tied his horse to the back of the homewagon, then slogged quickly up the muddy road, and pulled himself up.
“Grateful I am to be somewhat out of the weather. I would thank you by name, but I don’t know it,” Beezle said, giving me a crooked grin.
“Nissa, my name is Nissa Anissasdatter,” I answered and found myself surprisingly happy to have someone to share the ride with. “You’re with Lord Hadrack then?”
“Aye, his wife is my mother’s sister, and I am spending the season learning from him about running his estate and governing. We have a much smaller holding, which I will some day take over from my parents, so for now, I am apprenticing, I guess you would say, with my uncle. Ah, this is a much better way to travel on a rainy day than on horseback. I have always thought rovers, who bring their homes with them, were the smartest of folk.”
“If I were really smart, I would be able to figure out why the Regent seems so determined to cause trouble for us. It just doesn’t make sense to me. I know he is looking for a rover named Thorval Pedersen, but a search for one rover who has done who knows what should not brand all the other rovers, should it?” I asked, all the while feeling very strange talking about Da as if he were a stranger.
“No, it should not. I have overheard my uncle talking about the recent treatment of the rovers, and he thinks it is because you are like the wild cards in the game of Delk,” Beezle answered.
“This would probably make sense to me if I knew what Delk was, but I don’t,” I suggested.
“Delk is a card game played with two decks of cards. A deck is divided up into four suits representing the elements of fire, earth, air, and water. So each suit has a symbol on the card like a flame for fire, a tree for earth, clouds for air, and waves for water. Each suit is made up of fourteen cards, the first ten are numbered one through ten and the last four represent the four seasons starting with spring, followed by summer, autumn, and then winter. These last four are picture cards. Following me so far?” Beezle asked.
“I think so,” I replied. “Go on.”
“In the game of Delk, each player is dealt seven cards and the rest of the cards are put in the middle of the table. When it is your turn, you draw two cards and discard one of either the drawn cards, or from your hand, or you can pick up the whole stack in the discard pile, but you then need to be able to play the top card and put down what is demanded of that hand. In the first round, in order to lay down your cards, you have to have two groups of three like three nines and three autumns. After that you can continue to try to put together groups and runs, or play on others’ groups or runs, until you or someone else gets rid of all of their cards. At that point, you count up what is left in your hand. Five points for numbered cards up to nine and ten points for the number ten card and the picture cards.”
“So where do the wild cards come in?” I inquired.
“Sorry, I got so caught up in describing the game that I forgot why I was telling you about it in the first place,” answered Beezle, looking just a bit chagrined. “After the cards are dealt out, the player to the left of the dealer cuts the cards and turns over the stack he has in his hand. Whatever that bottom card is, becomes the wild card for that round. So if the bottom card is a two, then twos are wild and can be used as any card in the deck. Let’s say I have three nines in my hand and two winters and I draw a two. I can use that two as a third winter and lay my cards down. On the bad side, if you are caught with a wild card in your hand when someone goes out, it’s fifteen points against you
for each wild card you hold. Each round, a new wild card is drawn so in round two, where you have to get a run of four and a group of three, the wild card might be the spring cards. The worst round is the last one where you have to have a run of eight and three groups of three. The winner of the game is the one who has the least amount of points at the end of all the rounds.”
“Well, now that I have a vague understanding of Delk, how do you see rovers to be like wild cards?”
“Think of each of the suits to be like groups of folk in Sommerhjem. Nobles, crafters, merchants both in villages and towns, or traders, and providers like farmers, fishers, etc., are each a suit. Each are organized and have a set place in our land, but rovers, though bound by traditions and culture, are fiercely independent folk, who because they take their homes with them, are always on the move. You are like the wild cards in Delk. Very hard to control or keep track of. I think the Regent is afraid of you because of just that, and he is trying very hard to create problems for you by either getting folks to mistrust you, or if that does not work, delaying you so that it becomes harder and harder for you to make a living. If you can’t ply your craft or goods, you can’t earn a living, and that would force you off the road. Fortunately for you, and unfortunately for the Regent, his treatment of the rovers is causing concern among some of the nobles and many of the merchants and other crafters,” Beezle stated.
“Why would the merchants and crafters be concerned about the treatment of the rovers? We are sometimes in competition with them. And why would some nobles be concerned?” I asked.