by Guy Antibes
Sam heard the man chuckle. He took the leash off Emmy and pulled out his sword and wand. “Stay, Emmy. He strode forward, Emmy growled a complaint but stood still.
“Were you looking for me?” he said as he stepped in front of the two men.
“The Toraltian, Sam Smith,” the intelligence officer said. “You should have taken Captain Gortak’s advice and fought to the end.”
“That wasn’t his advice. He asked me to lose, so I defaulted.”
The men looked uncertainly at each other. “So you lost?”
Sam nodded. “Not the way the Dictator wanted, I suppose,” Sam said. “Am I going to have to fight you?”
“You think you can defeat us? Think again. You are only a boy.”
“Who would have won my bracket in the open tournament? I also have my friend who helps me out of scrapes.”
They looked behind Sam.
“My dog.” Sam looked behind him. “Emmy, come here.”
Emmy bounded to Sam’s side. “You can growl, now,” Sam said.
The dog barked and then growled, low and menacingly. The two men stepped back.
“Attack me, and I can’t promise Emmy won’t kill you, but I guarantee you will be harmed.”
The two men drew their swords. “No dog can intimidate me,” one said.
Sam pointed to the other man. “Attack!” As Emmy chased one man back into the road, the other put up a lame defense. He was older, slower, and not trained as thoroughly as Sam.
“Take off your uniform coat and your shirt,” Sam said with the point of his sword at the man’s throat. He wished he could make pollen manacles, but he couldn’t help that. He tied the man up as quickly as he could and found Emmy barking at the other officer, now up ten feet into the boughs of a tree.
“I wondered how you would act when you are intimidated,” Sam said, throwing the man’s boast back at him.
He tied his things to one of the horses. “Come, Emmy.” She barked and ran to Sam as he took off down the road, leading the second horse behind him.
Sam found a farm road that led him south well out of sight of the two officers, who were now on foot. He slowed up to give Emmy time to recover from their flight, and then when he stopped at a stream to water the horses and Emmy. Taking a long drink himself, he remounted and continued on his way.
“This is the way to Tolloy?” Sam asked a passing farmer driving a donkey-led cart heading south.
“You can take this straight to the South Gate. Nice dog,” the farmer said.
“Thank you,” Sam said.
He continued north until he reached a little wood. He was tempted to steal the horses, but couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing. He didn’t feel he was that desperate, but he did wonder if he had done the right thing. “Time to tie up the horses,” Sam said to Emmy. “I hope someone will find them.”
He untied his things and walked back in the direction of the farmer he had asked for instructions. He shed the cloak, now that the officers had seen him wearing it, and continued south. He wouldn’t wait for Hilsa. If she caught up to him, fine. If not, he would make his way to Zogaz on his own, even though the northern border of the country was more than two hundred miles to the south.
Sam would have to change things around. He had plenty of money, but after an hour of walking, he wondered if leaving the horses was the right thing. If he took only one, would that lessen his crime? He didn’t know and concentrated on figuring out what to do next.
He spotted the farmer that he had talked to on the road. If he was by himself, he might chance to pass him. But the man had commented on Emmy. Sam began to slow up, and then he heard a wagon coming up from the rear.
He got off the road by some bushes and waited for the conveyance to pass. He heard a familiar voice singing out to the world. Sam stepped out into the road.
“Professor Dinik, they can probably hear your singing all the way to Tolloy,” Sam said.
Hilsa laughed as she pulled up on the reins. “The man sings with a purpose,” she said. “And his purpose has now been fulfilled. Jump on and cover yourself and your dog with the tarp. We will get you into a more secure hiding place when we camp tonight.”
Sam motioned to Emmy, who jumped up onto the wagon and found a spot to sit. Sam did much the same thing and then threw the light pollen tarp over him. It wouldn’t last long, touching his skin, but Hilsa’s six men rode behind the wagon, and Renatee and Hilsa could probably replace one with holes in no time.
“You aren’t surprised to see me?” Sam asked.
“Why should we be? Once we heard you were spotted to the East, the intelligence officers let us leave. I believe they were happy to see us go,” Hilsa said.
“And I am glad you found us because my voice was about to go,” Renatee said.
Hilsa interrupted the professor. “I have set aside a place for you and your dog in the wagon, but it won’t be very comfortable for a week until we are out of Vaarek. You won’t have to worry about being caught in Zogaz.”
“There are other things to be concerned about there,” Dinik said. “But we will have time to discuss that with you.”
That didn’t make Sam feel any more comfortable. They passed the farmer, who was doing his own singing by that time. Some distance down the road, after traveling in the moonlight, they stopped to camp by a stream. The place looked like it had been used many times, from what Sam could see in the torchlight.
The men accompanying them created pollen tents, but Hilsa stopped Sam from taking any of his things off the wagon. “You’ll sleep on the wagon. Let’s get you settled in.”
She called some of the men over, who began unloading. They set Sam’s possessions aside and opened a long box that looked like a coffin, with the end towards the head removed. It was right against the driver’s seat.
“You and your dog will stay here. I can get food and water to you from my seat. We worked on it this morning in case something went wrong.”
“And it did,” Sam said. He climbed up on the wagon and beckoned Emmy to join him. Once he slid inside the box, he found it much bigger than he had thought. They both fit inside, but Sam worried about Emmy getting exercise.
“Let us see how it goes. The farther we get from Tolloy, the safer it will be until we get closer to the border. There are always soldiers at the border,” Hilsa said.
Renatee brought a water skin and a large loaf of bread, along with a pollen-wrapped package of meat.
“I cooked that so it wouldn’t smell and would stay edible longer,” Hilsa said. “I assume your dog eats cooked meat, as well as Vaarekian intelligence officers?”
“She is more partial to cooked meat, actually,” Sam said.
They settled in. Sam ate the bread and actually grabbed a bit of the meat before he gave it to Emmy, who gobbled it up. After a long draft of water, he laid his head down and went to sleep.
He woke. It was still dark, but he heard angry voices. The intelligence agents had found the wagon, but then Hilsa had made no effort to hide, staying at a popular stopping place.
Sam kept Emmy quiet while the officers rummaged around in the back of the wagon. When they stopped, Sam heard Hilsa say, “Aren’t you going to reload my wagon?”
“You have six strong cooks, or whatever they are.”
“Cooks and servers,” Hilsa said. “My female servers were all married and settled in Tolloy.”
Sam wondered about that as the former restaurant owner said it.
“Get out of Vaarek as soon as you can. Your type isn’t welcome in Vaarek anymore.”
“I can’t agree with you more,” Renatee said, but Sam could hear a little disappointment or something in his voice. The Mechanical Science professor was leaving everything behind, while Sam was taking everything with him except for a degree from the University of Tolloy.
Sam heard the hoof beats of horses receding from his hearing. Hopefully, the steeds he had tied up were found.
Renatee knocked on Sam’s coffin-like home.
“They found the horses and thought you went back into the city after talking to a farmer back a ways,” Renatee said. “They will probably be back, so go back to sleep. Nighty night.”
Chapter Seventeen
~
A few days more than a week later, Sam walked Emmy before they crept back into their little hide-out. He found a stream and bathed himself and the dog. Both of them stank from their confinement.
Renatee found them splashing in a pool. “I hate to break up the party, but Hilsa and I have been talking. Perhaps it would be better for you to cross the border on your own. She is afraid the border soldiers might take the wagon apart before they let it roll into Zogaz.”
Sam nodded. “I can’t disagree. We have endured four searches along the way. Kreb’s soldiers haven’t given up, and this is their last chance.”
“The only problem is you don’t speak Zogazin.”
“No one speaks Toraltian?”
Renatee shrugged. “The alphabets are the same, but total unfamiliarity of our language might be an impediment, should you choose to go all the way to Hizor, our capital.”
Sam laughed. “Are you trying to scare me?”
Renatee smiled. “No, I am cautioning you to be prudent.”
“And when haven’t I been prudent?”
The professor paced back and forth a few times. “When you stole two of Kreb’s horses and then left them tied up to be found.”
Sam grinned. “Very well. If you give me a map, I will be on my way.”
“Get dressed. I’ll bring your things, and here is a map. You should memorize it, as well.”
Sam nodded. By the time he had dried Emmy and himself and gotten dressed, Renatee had returned. “Straight south from here. Don’t leave the wood; it goes all the way to the border. Find us on the other side somewhere out of the border guards’ sight.”
“I can do that. It is a repeat of what I did leaving Tolloy.”
Renatee lifted a single eyebrow. “Not exactly. You shouldn’t make any contact, hear?”
“I agree. How far is the border?”
“Ten miles. A young lad like you will likely beat us all.”
Sam nodded. “I will see you on the other side, then.”
He bowed to Renatee and nodded to Emmy, who barked. Soon they were on a pathway towards the south. The trail began to veer west, which would take him out of the wood, so Sam continued making his own way, skirting the western edge of the wood.
Occasionally he would see the wagon rolling along the road. Perhaps it would be better to keep them in sight. Sam carefully avoided the odd patrol that never penetrated the forest very far. He continued all day until he spotted flags in the distance, guessing that was the border.
He ventured closer and saw a camp of about fifty soldiers spread across the road. The border was a few hundred paces farther to the south. He watched as the Zogazin were stopped at the checkpoint. The wagon was pulled to the side of the road and stripped of everything. Even Sam’s former living quarters was broken open. Hilsa had found some greens along the way to stuff inside.
Sam nearly ran to rescue them as the soldiers tied the six men, Hilsa, and Renatee, leading them to a tent close to the edge of the camp. He heard Hilsa wail about her precious cargo begin destroyed. He couldn’t make out what the soldiers had told them, but they didn’t treat any of the Zogazin gently.
Hilsa had been right to be cautious, but Sam wasn’t about to leave them captives. He waited until dark and timed the guards. This was the kind of thing that Banna Plunk would have done in Baskin on her own personal forays. Sam shook his head. She had never tried to save a soul, so Sam cast aside any further thoughts of equivalent actions.
Later, the sentry rounds subsided, and Sam decided to make his move. He hid his Lashak sword with his things, commanded Emmy to stay, and crept into the camp. The tent was quiet, so Sam took his knife and slit the fabric.
He heard a snore and found it coming from Hilsa. She would be the first he would awaken. After keeping her quiet while he removed her bonds, he quickly freed everyone else, but he hadn’t counted on the two guards sleeping in the tent with the captives. Sam hadn’t seen them enter.
“The captives are loose! We need more men!” the guards said.
“Run into the woods and head south,” Sam said to Renatee.
The Zogazin left Sam alone in the tent with two armed guards. They began to fight, and Sam took care of them quickly. He slipped outside the tent and found himself surrounded by ten soldiers.
“Drop your sword,” an officer said.
Sam had to obey. He might be able to fight two men, but he couldn’t overcome so many.
“You are Sam Smith?”
Sam had to nod. “You have been looking for me?”
“The Dictator has sealed the border with Zogaz, but that was before we received word to retain you. If you had thought you were important enough for a company of the Dictator’s finest soldiers to waste their time on you, think again.”
Sam shrugged. The officer made pollen manacles for his wrist and his ankles and let Sam hobble slowly and painfully to the same tent that had housed the Zogazin.
“You may contemplate your sins against the empire-to-be, gazing at the men you killed.”
“It was a fair fight,” Sam said.
“Sure it was,” the officer said, sarcastically.
Sam cried out as he was pushed on top of the dead guards. He couldn’t move very far, but Sam was able to pull out his gold tip from his waistband and began working on his ankles, and then the manacles around his wrists. He searched the dead men, but they had been stripped of weapons.
Sam examined the rip in the tent that he had made and found that the cotton cloth had been crudely repaired by pollen thread. That took even less time to weaken. Sam waited for the guards to make their rounds and then ran into the woods, carrying the manacles. He thought about the Vaarekians wondering how he had broken free!
Sam found his things, and after taking a drink of water, ran south into Zogaz, thinking his escape was too easy.
~
The clattering of the wagon woke Sam up. He was in a barred wagon heading south into Zogaz. He had made it to the border, but Zogazin soldiers wearing rather rumpled uniforms had quickly picked him up. They had a different breed of dog that had sniffed out Sam sleeping in the same forest, except on the Zogazin side. Emmy’s big head was on Sam’s legs. She whimpered when she saw Sam stir. Their captives had put a pollen muzzle on her while Sam slept and had put new pollen manacles on him, but had left him wearing his gold spectacles.
Sam sat up and looked at the land, which had flattened out.
“You are awake,” a Zogazin said in poorly-accented Vaarekian, coming up to ride beside the wagon. “We had to drug your dog with a dart just like we did you, so neither of you are probably feeling your best.”
The effects of the drug had worn off Sam. “Why did you do that? I would have come along on my own.”
“You are under arrest for illegally entering Zogaz.”
“But my companions were Zogazin,” Sam said.
The man laughed. “What companions? I don’t see any here.”
“I can give you their names. Hilsa Forinin and Renatee Dinik. You didn’t come across them last night? We were split up when we ran into the Vaarekian roadblock.”
“Did you hear that? You just confirmed whom to look for,” the mounted man called behind him, his Vaarekian accent gone. “The other fugitives are deeper into this gods-forsaken country. We have the most important one. Should we turn back?”
“How can I be important?” Sam said. “I’m just a teenager.”
“Not every teenager catches the eye of Viktar Kreb, our beloved leader.” The man turned back to the person he had been calling. “I don’t want to go farther,” he said.
Whoever was behind told him they would continue on and capture the Zogazin woman who had violated the roadblock and assisted in Sam’s escape from Tolloy.
/> The man sighed. “You be a good boy, and no one will get hurt…much.” He laughed and trotted up ahead.
Sam was without manacles, but the bars on the wagon were iron. He removed most of the strapping to Emmy’s muzzle but didn’t finish. Sam put his hand on his drawn up knees.
What a fool he had been! The Vaarekian soldier had easily plucked the names of his friends. Green pollen wasn’t needed on Sam. He looked up and down the line of soldiers and spotted his swords poking up from the back of the only other wagon in the group of about twenty soldiers.
He had to retrieve his things. The soldiers didn’t know he carried ten gold tips for his wand in that pack. He needed his wand and his spectacles. Sam decided he had had much too much experience being a captive, and the knowledge that he had gained would be put to use again if he had anything to say about it. He looked up at the cloth covering the bars and then removed his spectacles.
He wasn’t the only dumb person. Who would cover a barred wagon with pollen cloth? Sam looked more closely and found the reason why. The fabric roof was warded. He closed his eyes and rose up on his knees.
The ward was a simple single layer affair. Sam might even be able to deactivate it by touching it with his pollen-averse fingers but decided not to try. He felt for the hidden lump in his waistband and smiled to detect his gold tip.
They continued to head south. Sam didn’t see much to recommend Zogaz to anyone. The land wasn’t exactly barren, but it was barely inhabited. He could see why Vaarekians looked down on the Zogazin.
~
“Town over the next hill,” a voice called, waking Sam up in the middle of the night.
Sam had fallen asleep again. Emmy lifted her head and shook it. If he were to escape, this would be the time. He worked on his manacles. He could break them with his own strength at this point.
“Don’t make any sounds or it will be the last you make,” one of the soldiers said. “I’ll be watching you the whole time.”
Sam looked up at the warded roof. “Can I stretch?”
The man sneered. “Suit yourself. Don’t blame me if you get a surprise.”
“What do you mean?” Sam said, playing along.