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I had hoped to awaken early enough to leave before Jack, but that was not to be. I appreciate the explanation, but I found no comfort in that last sentence.
Jack was on time for breakfast and patiently waited for me to finish mine, draw it out however I might. He then took my pack and put it and me on a horse that Rowena had bought the last time she was threatening to move. Jack refused to discuss matters until we were well outside Laurel. I did not feel prepared to come to blows over it.
Phak is the next town beyond Laurel on the way to Logwood. About midway between Laurel and Phak, we were joined by Vira. Vira's horse looked misshapen. With some apprehension, I closed my eyes, refocussed them, and reopened them for another look. When I do this, I can see things that other people can't. There is a long and painful story involving my mother, her particular form of insanity, and an experiment involving a artifact that gave the wearer True Sight, which would explain why I can do this, but I don't feel like writing it now. The horse wasn't a horse at all, and further description, difficult if indeed possible, could only give future readers the shakes. Not to mention reminding me every time I reread this journal. I closed my eyes again hastily and offered up a silent prayer of thanks to any gods in hearing distance for the return of the illusion.
Vira was absolutely silent, and wouldn't respond even to direct questions. E keeps looking at Jack whenever Jack is looking in another direction, and when Jack notices hir looking, e ducks hir head deep into hir hood. Judging by this, e is either infatuated with, or terrified of, Jack. Then again, maybe those are not incompatible emotions.
We stopped at an inn in Phak for lunch, and dawdled. I suggested, twice, that we should continue, to which Jack responded by commenting that I'd wanted to dawdle at breakfast, so I might as well do so during the hot part of the day. Vira was perspiring and when e spoke to order food, hir voice quavered. E requested a room at the inn to lie down in for an hour or so. I ordered more cider, figuring that I might as well get drunk, but Jack canceled that order to the innkeeper who, thereafter, ignored almost everything I had to say, which may have been as well. I wondered what the local law on abduction was.
After about an hour, another man in black arrived, this one with long blonde hair in a topknot. He stopped just inside the door, turning his head slowly to take in the entire room, then came to sit with Jack and me. He had not yet eaten, and while the dinner hour was nominally over, the innkeeper was all fawning attendance and served anyway. I said, snippily, that I ought to get some black clothes, too, given how much better the service was, and Jack and the newcomer both chuckled at that. That wasn't the intended effect.
The newcomer was introduced to me as Leroy. Jack did not introduce me as Andy, but rather asked me, "And your name was?" I replied, "Andy", and Jack and Leroy chuckled again and said, "No, really." It occurred to me that I was seated on a bench between these two, and while they had appeared large before, they now loomed, although they hadn't stood up or even leaned perceptibly, and I quietly allowed as how my name as Andrea. They exchanged another glance, shrugged and abandoned that line of questioning.
Vira came downstairs, and with hir arrival, Leroy went to pay the innkeeper who for lunch for four and a room for one. He breathed a sigh of relief as Leroy turned away from him, and I saw him count the money three times, shaking his head as he did so. Was he surprised to be paid? One wonders how he expected to be compensated. One wonders what kind of reputations my traveling companions have.
If I had thought my companions silent before, I knew not whereof I spoke. Not a single word was spoken between Phak and Logwood, where we would spend the night.
Logwood has more than one inn. It is a large town, built around hot springs, and during the summer, members of families with larger social circles than my former employers would retreat to these springs to recuperate from their demanding lives. I'd always hoped my former employers would decide to visit some day, and bring me along. As an unemployed adult, I'd been slowly working my way here in hopes of finding a position with one of the families. As it was, I had reached here far too early in the year to do me any good, and in a group that was not likely to endear me to any potential employers. I suppose I could hope that no one would remember me. I had not wanted to arrive earlier, because it is impossible to find cheap lodgings in any season, and because of the nature of the place, it is difficult to find work even during the season, much less off-season. As we registered -- I should say as Leroy registered -- at a middling inn, I remembered another fact about Logwood. It was named for a species of tree which, when chipped and treated, was used to dye fabric black. Most specimens in the immediate vicinity had been harvested, so processing was in other towns in the area, but the thought made me giggle. I almost missed that Leroy had registered us as five, in three rooms. I turned to Jack to ask, but he shook his head and told me he'd explain later. That was more than I'd gotten out of anyone at dinner.
We went up to our rooms, and I got my own. Leroy and Jack were sharing a room, and Vira was sharing with whoever the fifth member of our party was. The best thing about Logwood is the hot running water from the springs. Needless to say this contributes to the cost of lodging in the town. We had the second floor of the inn to ourselves, which included two bathing rooms. Vira and I flipped for who got the tub first and I won.
Thus it was that Leroy (who won his coin toss with Jack) and I met downstairs in one of the common rooms, scrubbed and still slightly damp, waiting for Vira, Jack and supper. The innkeeper looked a lot like Alice but ten years younger. She gave her name as Martha when she seated us, laying before us a basket of bread, roasted garlic and a pitcher of wine. Leroy made no efforts to control how much of the wine I drank. As I was working on my second cup, an unnaturally beautiful young lady arrived. Leroy stood, and said in a low tone that since I was dressed as a man, I might as well act like one, while dragging me up by my elbow. I did not spill the wine, but I did dribble a little garlic. Leroy introduced the pale, tall, slender lady with the well-developed canines as Astrea. I frowned at her, specifically, at her teeth. She offered me her hand. I held it for a moment, and then released it. I didn't want to kiss a vampire's hand before dinner. Or after dinner, either. It felt suggestive and not in a good way. She grinned at me.
I noticed Jack had arrived during this interaction. After a moment of silence, which was neither pleasant nor uncomfortable, he said, "Don't worry. Astrea's manners are impeccable." Astrea arched her eyebrows and tucked her jaw in slightly. Jack explained, "The other night, in Laurel, Andy and I ran into the Ranges." Astrea, in a shocked voice, exclaimed, "No one's killed them yet? They're horrible! They start fights wherever they go, and when there isn't anyone else around, they fight over Helen, who I swear eggs Baker and Adam on."
I reassured Astrea that Jack had indeed killed them. I filed away the idea that there were good vampires. That is, there are vampires on our side, whatever that might mean, and then there were extremely discourteous vampires, which were the ones we killed. Or Jack killed. Or something. I had another glass of wine. The rest of dinner tasted wonderful, although after a while, everything tasted slightly of wine and garlic. Astrea clucked over my lack of feminine clothing and rattled on for a while about her plans to change that. Someone carried me up to my room and dumped me in my bed. I am writing this the following morning, with an incredible hangover. Vira is hovering beside me with a powder e keeps pressing me to take, swearing it will make me feel better.
Vira has gone to go get something to dissolve hir powder in, for me to drink. While e's gone, I'll write what else happened last night. Vira and Astrea had a room on my side of the inn. Across the hall were the two rooms with tubs, and the room that Jack and Leroy were sharing. I would expect a certain amount of activity from Astrea, being a night person, shall I say. But she wasn't the only person making noise in the room next to mine, nor could she alone account for the shuffling going on across the hall. I was drunk enough to be sick, and when I got up to be sick, I passed Leroy going one way and Jack the other. That was the first time. The second time, it was Leroy headed the other direction, while Astrea headed downstairs. Perhaps she was in search of a night cap. If that's the right term.
No wonder Vira's in a good mood. This may be the most nookie e's gotten in a long time. Oops. Here e is.
The powder worked. I even ate breakfast and kept it down. We'll be staying in Logwood today, and traveling tonight. I should have figured this would happen, with no one minding me getting drunk, the complicated menage last night that happened after I passed out. Also, of course, Astrea would find it difficult (to say the least) to travel by day. No one has seen fit to divulge what our ultimate goal or destination might be to me yet, although they are watching me like a hawk. I've attempted to depart on three separate occasions. The first time, they took my bag away. The second time, they took my coat. This time they've taken my boots, which leaves me stuck in the inn for the duration. When Astrea learned they had my clothes, she squealed with delight and huddled with Vira for several minutes, after which Vira left with a big grin on hir face. I'm worried.
When Vira returned, e and Astrea assaulted me in my room and forced me to change clothes. That is to say, Vira returned with women's clothing in approximately my size, and more than one outfit. With Astrea's assistance and only a small amount of resistance from me, e got me in and out of most of them before deciding on something suitable for dinner, but not for traveling. From this I concluded I'd be changing clothes once again before departure. Accompanied by one giggling female, and one giggling elf, I made my entrance. Astrea, as one might expect, got the initial goggles, but I collected one or two in her formidable wake.
We compromised on traveling clothes. I had no intention of going anywhere on horseback wearing a skirt. No one will tell me where we are going or when we expect to get there, much less what we'll do upon arrival or along the way.
It's a lot colder traveling at night.
Astrea has phenomenal night vision, as does Vira. They are alternating point and rear guard to make it very hard for me to slip away unnoticed. Leroy and Jack are alternating traveling beside, before or behind me, depending on the width of the road.
Inns are not open for lunch in the middle of the night, so we are eating what we brought with us. The bread is at the crunchy crust and crumbly inside stage of stale. The cheese is warm and a bit runny where its packet absorbed the warmth of a horse. The cider is lukewarm and therefore not at its best, but the carrots are fantastic. They are crunchier and sweeter than the ones we had back in Laurel. The leaves, however, are not as tasty, having wilted. Leroy would have let me have wine but Jack made him put it away. Jack says that the warmth from drinking wine is dangerous. I do not question. Warm is warm.
We arrive at a cabin about an hour before dawn. The door is locked, but either Leroy has a key or the next best thing. Both Jack and Leroy are familiar with the layout and contents of this cabin, so maybe our presence here is unexceptionable. One can hope. They point me at the loft, and the rest of them occupy cots downstairs. I gather that they do not entirely trust me.
Andy, we don't trust you even a little bit. You tried to leave five times, not three, and you omitted the part where we had to tie you up. You won't tell us your real name, and you think you can distract us by suggesting that Vira doesn't get all the nookie e can stand and that you are heartbroken at being left out. You were not that drunk. You were pissing, not vomiting when you got up twice. And both times we invited you to join in the fun and you turned us down. Enough with the poor me act already. We'll tell you where we're going when we get there. I already told you I can't tell you any more than that.
That's such a pack of lies. I tried to leave four times, not five. Where do these wise-asses get off writing in my journal anyway. To be fair, they did make a gesture to include me the other night. I never said I was vomiting. I said I was sick, and I was dizzy and nauseated. I do not know where we are going or why or why I am being dragged along. I think they probably got some bad information from someone.
Sleeping during the day is odd, and since I had been ordered into the loft, the full heat of the sun soaked through the roof. By afternoon I'd kicked off all my blankets and was still too warm. I crept towards the ladder, hoping to find some water, and instead found Jack snoring crossways at the entry. When I tried to creep over him to let him sleep through, he rolled me back into the loft. After murmuring his idea of endearments into my unwilling ear for a few minutes, he woke the rest of the way up and asked me what I thought I was doing. I explained. He rolled off of me and reached under the mattresses to extract a canteen. He offered it to me, waited while I drank, and then replaced it. I tried to go back to sleep, but drinking has some inevitable results, and that led to further negotiation. Jack accompanied me to the shed at the back of the cabin. At least he had the decency to turn the other way.
I went back to sleep. When I woke up the second time, Jack's place had been taken by Leroy, who was already awake. When he noticed I was awake, he said it was time to be up and about for breakfast so we could continue on our way. Wherever that is.
The early evening was, as usual, uneventful, but around midnight, we were set upon by bandits. What were they thinking, setting upon a party traveling by night with very little light? Maybe their night vision is worse than mine, and they didn't see Jack and Leroy at all. Jack and Leroy are hard to see at night, with all that black they wear. For that matter, the rest of us are dressed in grays and browns. Jack says that like most they don't think. I think that's a little harsh.
Our path led us between two low hills. That is, the path led between two hills, but we are not that stupid, so we didn't follow it. We left Vira with the animals well before the probably ambush location, and I would happily have stayed with hir, but Jack, Leroy and Astrea held a hasty conference and decided that the women would take the right hill and the men would take the left. I pointed out that while Astrea might be death on her two extremely shapely legs, it was unfair to require her to be an effective killer and protector of me simultaneously. Leroy and Jack chuckled and moved off to the left, while Astrea flashed a big grin at me, grabbed my left arm and started to the right.
As luck would have it, Jack and Leroy got the more numerous party, and we got the leader and a few of his better archers. Our conclusion after the fact was that there were no good close-in fighters in the group. Astrea made short work of the archers, and the leader attempted to pop off a fireball in my direction, but it fizzled and blew up in his face. I relieved one of the dead archers of a dagger, chased down a bandit and slit his throat. Another one stuck around long enough to try to stop me, but Astrea immobilized her. We waited for Jack and Leroy. We found no more bandits on our hill. In the meantime, Astrea guarded the bandit, and told me to search the bodies.
Jack and Leroy arrived, with Vira and the animals in tow. By this time, things had quieted down enough that the forest was rustling with life again. I was buzzed twice by an owl, and a squirrel started to crawl up the leg of my pants. I encouraged it to find a more stationary place to climb. It chittered at me. I chittered back. It turned and fled. Flies were crawling over the bloodier bits of the bandit corpses, which confirmed my suspicion that insects do not rest. Ever. The men had searched the bodies on their hill and returned with loot presumably already stolen once. It was a so-so haul, in my uninformed opinion. Once they arrived, Vira and Astrea took turns grilling the bandit, who had very little to say for herself, except that she was relieved to be rescued from that horrible bandit chieftain who had repeatedly raped her. After consultation, we decided that we didn't believe her, but we didn't feel like wasting any more time. Astrea choked her for a while and said she would probably come to in a few hours with a monster head-ache, and if she didn't, oh well. I hoped the local squirrels made quick work of her. Since no one else thought to do it, I searched her before departing, leaving her with her coins (which were few) and weapons (which were too cheap to hold an edge) but relieving her of all her papers and a book. I had no idea what they were, as it was too dark to see, and no one would let me start a fire.
We continued past the hills and stopped for lunch shortly after in a wide open flat clearing. Lunch was short, as each time we ate the food, it became more repetitious, not to mention the leaves were long gone, and even the carrots were starting to wilt. The bread had to be soaked in water to make it soft enough to chew. Leroy said we should arrive in Linkton shortly before dawn, and could expect to stay there at least two full days. As Linkton was well beyond Logwood, my initial destination, I had paid little attention to it in planning my travels. I knew it to be larger than Logwood, a town of producers and traders, unlike the resort, and the wealthy in that town were more inclined to hire those who could record purchases, sales and inventories than tales of glorious feats or at least illustrious marriages followed by the birth and rearing of future generations. It was not my kind of town, however, one could find employment in Linkton at almost any time of year, if one learned quickly or spun a good line to that effect, and was willing to work hard. The town was a pilgrimage site for wool and cotton merchants, and the area surrounding the town was known for sericulture. Several schools for weavers had sprung up over the years, and milliners, seamstresses, tatters, and embroiderers had followed. The money generated by the cloth trade supported a trade in luxury goods as well, mostly spices and exotic food stuff, but also precious metals and jewelry. On the other side of Linkton were silver mines, although gold had to be brought in overland. The woods around Linkton had been cut back significantly to produce charcoal for the town and its various industries. The raw clearings had been replaced by fruit orchards and extensive vegetable gardens which sold their produce to the town. All in all, a good place to live, in the minds of a few thousand people. Some people might even call it a city.
We arrived in Linkton by degrees, passing first fields fresh plowed for grain and other agriculture, interspersed with small buildings which stank of livestock. Beyond the fields were the garden plots, hand-cultivated, some already sprouting carrot-tops and pea vines. Amongst the plots were poultry sheds. Women were out already in the half-dark before dawn collecting eggs while the layers slept. Beyond the plots were the outskirts of the town, which increased in solidity and height as we progressed towards the middle. We were joined on the road by a throng of farmers and market gardeners bringing grains, cow's and sheep's milk to town for the morning market, as well as baskets of vegetables and rounds of cheese. I became aware of an overwhelming hunger.
Our immediate destination was an inn a few blocks from the central market. Astrea consulted briefly with the innkeeper who, bizarrely enough, also looked like Alice and Martha, only this time older than Alice. Her name was Rahab. I was beginning to get an idea as to how we were choosing what inn to stay at. Rahab went to a storeroom and returned with a chilled flask for Astrea, who kissed Rahab's hand, and then went up to the room Astrea and Vira would be sharing. The rest of us followed, dumped our bags, and then went out to the market which was opening.
The market was in two parallel, long, low buildings, with covered aisles down the middle, fully enclosable and lockable, but with wide wooden shutters which opened up to become awnings supported by legs. Each side of the building was a line of shops, one facing outdoors and one facing in. The space between the two buildings was covered by a very long tent or pavilion of a thin but strong cloth, which was intended to block the heat of the sun more than to keep marketers dry. A group of boys and girls were scrambling over the roofs of the buildings and between the buildings on the ground setting up the tent for the day. A few people set up shop on cloths midway between the buildings around the poles used to support the tent. Leroy says they don't have to pay rent as long as they make sure no on knocks the pole down. Effectively, one had to walk the length of the market at least six times to see anything, and realistically, more than that as one's fellow shoppers tended to get annoyed at people walking the middle of the aisle gawking at both sides and darting back and forth.
Vira had several specific goals in mind, and dragged me along with hir. On this outing, Vira was in search of sweets. E introduced me to a very fatty, rich sweet with a strong taste of egg and several spices I did not recognize. Then we went in search of a chilled, whipped fruit drink. Afterwards we ate a very light, sweet, sticky bread. We finished with an extremely sweet, hot drink that woke me up. Meanwhile, Leroy and Jack had gone separate ways in search of other shops. We met up at the drink vendors in the middle under the tent. By now, most of the stalls were open, and everyone else was discussing with a some seriousness their plans for shopping. I said I wanted to sleep, and everyone laughed at me, and said they'd believe me if I said that in four hours, but not before. Leroy and Vira went one way, and Jack and I went another. This time through, we were shopping for dried foods. Although we bought some, we did not take any with us; instead the vendors were to deliver to our inn. If Vira and Leroy were doing what we were doing, we had a long trip planned, or we were going to pick up a small army along the way. I asked how we were going to pack everything with us. Jack said the stables were in another part of town away from the main market for obvious reasons, and we would visit there shortly before departure.
When Jack decided we had enough food, we browsed through the clothing stalls, which were among the last to open. He selected mostly cold- and wet-weather clothing, but periodically he'd pick up something silk, grin, and either put it back or buy it. As with the food, the vendors were all directed to deliver. Also, unless Leroy and Vira were much worse at bargaining than Jack, it looked like the bandit money would cover our entire haul.
I was genuinely sleepy by the time Jack decided we were done. We visited a different set of food vendors this time, picking up meat pastries, skewered, marinated vegetables and apple dumplings, ending at a wine merchant. After two glasses of wine, I felt like I was dissolving where I stood. Vira and Leroy showed up as I was debating the wisdom of a third cup, and we all trooped back to the inn. I've made a solid effort to stay awake long enough to write down some of this eventful day before sleeping, but I've had it.
You may be able to convince Leroy, Jack and Vira, who were not there, that the leader tried to toss us a fireball and it fizzled, but involved as I was sipping from those lovely young archers, that fireball went from you to him before it "fizzled" and fried that nasty bandit where he stood. I've been meaning to thank you, dear. I appreciated your assistance.
For someone who knows so little about Linkton, and to whom so many of these experiences are new, you made a whole series of small purchases while I was otherwise occupied. I don't even know what all those herbs do. What are you up to, Andy?
You tell me something, Jack, and maybe I'll tell you something. Now I have a vampire entering my room while I sleep to add commentary to my chronicle. Will it never end?
We were all up in time for dinner. Astrea had been busy while we slept, arising slightly after dusk and visiting each of the pawn shops in the market in turn, hawking the non-monetary wares we had extracted from the bandits. The bows had fetched more than the swords, but as all were uniformly horrible in the opinion of the entire party, this news was borne philosophically. The clothing had not yet been hawked, but had been left at a laundry which Astrea thought would be disinclined to ask any annoying questions. Vira said that cleaned, the clothing would collectively bring about triple the cost of laundering and was therefore worth the bother. No one had asked me about the scrolls or the book, and no one said anything about selling them, so I hung onto them. We'd kept about five of the better knives and daggers, and the rest had been sold. The food, wine and beer we'd donated to one of the local temples for distribution to the poor. The items of jewelry were the hardest to dispose of. Astrea had not tackled this part of the problem, and after some discussion, Vira, Astrea and I agreed we should sell only enough of the lot to pay for the rest of it to be changed to a point of unrecognizability. We spent much of the post-dinner hour poring over the pieces deciding which stones should be moved from piece to piece, and what ought to be melted down entirely. By the time we had finished, we thought we would have eight gold rings with assorted stones between us, three brooches, five chains and two large silver bracelets. We collected everyone's ring size and split the work in two.
By this time, it was well after midnight, and Rahab had closed the bar for the night, leaving us with a large jug of wine, several loaves of bread and the one remaining quiche from supper, as well as a supply of raw vegetables. Astrea wandered in and out, and I listened to Vira, Jack and Leroy exchange tales of previous adventures. I was hoping for information about what their plan or goal or destination was, but none was forthcoming. We eventually called it quits a few hours before dawn, agreeing to rise a little before noon to return to the market.
Because the day had been comparatively short and restful, I slept fitfully, and woke once around dawn. Jack was sitting on the floor by the window with a shielded candle, peering over my chronicle. At several spots I could hear a breathy sound, which I judged to be suppressed laughter, and I saw him shake his head a few times. This night, however, he added no commentary, and after a few minutes, quietly left the room. I could not hear any sound while he was leaving.
We arose as agreed, and left without breakfast, getting sweet rolls again at the market. Leroy and I went to one building and Vira and Jack to the other, working our way along the jewelers shops, selling a little here, and having stones removed there, and then put into another piece in a third place. In all likelihood, our exact activities, and the probable source of our items would be determined, but not until the next meeting of the local guild, which Astrea said would not occur for another twenty days. By the end of the day, we had extracted about as much cash from what we had sold as we had collected in coin from the bandits, all of which we had already spent. At the end of the day, we left the market to visit the stables at the far side of town, and most of the cash went to purchase stock and feed to move all the dried goods we had purchased the previous day. We arranged to pick everything up the next afternoon, by which I concluded that we would be spending at least one more full night and day in town. I have a feeling Leroy and Jack have done this sort of thing before.
Dinner at the inn again involved eggs, this time in the form of omelettes stuffed with peppers and mushrooms. They were fantastic, particularly with the muffins Rahab provided in generous numbers. We washed the lot down with beer, and after dinner, Vira stayed in to sleep, and the rest of us went on a tour of several large taverns and pubs surrounding the markets. Astrea dressed extremely conservatively (for Astrea), and Jack and Leroy both abandoned their black shirts in favor of colored silks.
Not only were Astrea, Jack and Leroy not drinking heavily, they weren't letting me do so either. I initially found this frustrating, but I got interested in trying to learn what they were trying to learn. We split up into two groups of two, which changed at each bar, or someone would tag along with me, and the other two would go off individually. I think they did not trust me alone ever, and also did not trust some of the bars.
I found it impossible to determine what specifically they were trying to discover. In general, they were interested in any disorders within a few days ride which might result in employment opportunities for enforcers or mercenaries of some sort, or which might result in unusually high prices for food and clothing. They didn't care which direction the troubles were to be found, although as we had been consistently traveling west, we knew there was nothing of interest for about two and a half days travel east of Linkton.
We rolled back into the inn after the last of the seediest bars had closed. We'd avoided violent entanglements, mostly by dint of creative threats on the part of Astrea and Jack, with occasional backup by Leroy. At the second to the last tavern, they'd suggested that I was far more dangerous than the three of them combined. I kept a serious expression on my face, largely through utter terror at the thought of what might occur, but at the last pub, I had two more glasses of wine before I settled down enough to speak without stuttering. The audacity of my traveling companions inspires awe. Also fear and a strong desire to run as far and fast in the opposite direction as possible.
Jack woke me at dawn, and would not allow me to go back to sleep. He told me an outrageous story about a change in plans. Jack and I, he said, were to take all but a third of the supplies we had purchased, and a proportionate number of pack animals and return to the cabin between Linkton and Logwood, drop off half the goods, and meet up with the rest of the group on the road south out of Linkton that night. The prospect of a full day and night of travel on inadequate sleep and a hangover did not appeal, but Jack insisted. He said he had more than enough drugs to keep us awake a week and Leroy and Jack agreed that I'd been doing a lot more sleeping than I strictly speaking needed. I pointed out that I needed an above average number of hours asleep, but Jack shook a finger at me and told me to stop lying. I concluded that Jack was in no mood to argue, and since I had no desire to start a fight this early in the morning, I complied with his demands.
We left the path west of the hills, and circled around, rejoining on the far side, with no other untoward incidents. We did not stop for lunch, but ate while riding. We reached the cabin late in the afternoon, and spent two hours unloading the pack animals, feeding and watering them, and putting the supplies in the cabin. When I thought we were ready to go, Jack took a look around and suggested we take a few hours and nap. When I pointed out that it would take that much longer to catch up with the rest of the group, he shrugged. We napped.
About four hours later, it was full dark, and Jack had dinner ready. We ate, had a pickup drink, and headed west again. This time, however, Jack turned off the main road at a path east of the hills which I had previously noticed, but was unmarked, partially concealed by brush. Once past the brush it was a hard-packed, unobstructed single-file path southwest, across country. Twice, Jack warned me to stop, and dismounted. Instructing me to make sure the animals stayed where they were, he walked ahead, carefully inspecting the path and the bushes and trees on either side. I asked, after his return from the first of these expeditions, what he was looking for, and he said boars. Fortunately, we did not encounter recent evidence of their presence. The farmers tried to keep the population low, without eliminating it. In lean years, the animals were a much needed source of additional food, self-sustaining in better times. The forest supported them, but the crops were easier to snack on, which forced the farmers to constantly battle their intrusions when the boar population grew.
The path meandered well away from farm buildings, and went through no towns. It terminated in an intersection with the main road south out of Linkton, and, traveling south on that road in the hours after dawn, we reached a familiar looking cabin, the twin of the one we had left early the previous night.
The frown on Jack's face told me that he had expected to meet Vira, Leroy and Astrea here, and their absence meant something had changed their plans. In the mean time, we unloaded the rest of our supplies in this cabin, and bunked down for the day. Jack ranted in a low tone for a while about People Who Disappoint, and alternated between talking about heading north to a place called Charton, which was the only other logical stopping point between here and Linkton, and staying put. He decided to wait until nightfall.
I thought Jack would leave in the early evening, but he hung around instead, checking over all the pack animals, searching for signs or smells of ill health, and feeling them carefully for any scratches or burrs they might have picked up on the trail. By the time he was finished, Astrea, Vira and an extremely annoyed Leroy had arrived. Vira's skin was paler than before, and Astrea had a grin big enough to display more than just her prominent front teeth. Vira, too, flashed a big, toothy grin, and I suddenly knew what must have happened. No wonder Leroy was annoyed. When Jack saw that grin, a wave of color spread over his face, and it was neither a blush nor particularly attractive. I'm glad I wasn't Vira.
Leroy and Jack walked off, leaving Vira, Astrea and I to deal with the rest of the animals, and giving me a first-hand shot at Vira's motivation in allowing Astrea to turn her into a vampire, something most elves would never do. The elves having abandoned Vira near birth, I suppose that didn't carry a lot of weight for hir. Astrea was doing wonders for Vira's self-esteem, bringing out more of hir masculine side, encouraging Vira to do more of the heavier work and periodically running her long, tapering pale fingers over Vira's arms. Vira had well-muscled arms, well-worth running one's fingers over.
When we were done, we joined Leroy and Jack, who were cooking dinner, having recovered their good temper. For the first time, Leroy and Jack were willing to talk about why Jack had decided to pick me up in Laurel and drag me along with them. When Leroy, Astrea and Jack made plans to set out on their tour, which they still would not divulge the ultimate destination of, they consulted several fortune-tellers, diviners, witches, wizards and scryers. They were ecumenical in their consultations, choosing by price and plausible, favorable references. The future, as described by these sundry psychics, was either enormously complicated, or the accuracy of the predictions was suspect. Most, however, agreed that in Laurel, the party would find a person of ambiguous gender, and if they involved that person in their quest, it would be both lucky and successful beyond their wildest dreams.
Imagine Jack's feelings upon arriving in Laurel, nominally on a mission to assist the local church in disciplining the young ones in the area, when he found not one, but two persons of ambiguous gender staying at the only inn in town. He had heard tales about Vira prior to arriving, and had assumed e was the person referred to in the various prophecies, but struck by uncertainty, he figured he might as well grab all likely candidates and sort it out as they went along.
I was struck by the absurdity of our current situation. Aided by relief that the party was not going to split along diurnal vs. nocturnal lines in a titanic struggle over Vira choosing the night side, and a pleasing quantity of wine, I rolled with laughter until my belly hurt. Then I lay down on my back and laughed some more. While I was laughing, Vira and Astrea wandered off into the woods. Eventually, Jack and Leroy decided I'd found enough humor in the situation. When they finally got me to stop, they said out that, having told me something, the least I could do in return was to tell them something. I retorted that since Jack had more or less abducted me, with Leroy's, Vira's and Astrea's assistance, I didn't think I owed them anything. They did not respond to this, but offered me another one of the chewy, sticky, honey flavored squares from the Linkton market. I relented, and told them my name. After several moments of increasing redness about their faces as they shook with suppressed laughter, they demonstrated that they are gentlemen underneath their rough exteriors, and agreed to call me Andy.
Leroy then said the prophecies must have meant me, rather than Vira. Jack did not immediately understand, so Leroy related a largely untrue story in which I played a minor helpful role several months ago shortly after my ignominious unemployment began. From this, Jack concluded, I was the source of that never to be sufficiently cursed fireball which eliminated the bandit chieftain a few nights ago. I denied involvement again, to no avail.
Leroy asked what had become of the book and scrolls we had found, and I said I had deciphered the languages of some of them and hoped to find a phrase book or other text to learn those languages in Lytton, assuming we would be continuing south on this road. Jack and Leroy agreed we would be continuing south past Lytton, unless plans changed.
Dawn approached, and we turned in when Vira and Astrea returned. This time, they claimed the loft, and the rest of us slept downstairs.
Minor role my left buttock. I notice you aren't writing your name down.
Of course I'm not writing my name down. I told you why I don't want others to know my name and you have not failed to take advantage of it already, forcing me to continue when I want to stop, at the pace you choose, when I'd rather slow down. Shall I turn that power over to any reader of this journal?
Between Linkton and Lytton, the road is lined with farms and groups of houses which aren't exactly villages. They contain no shops or bars or inns, although generally someone will serve food and drink or rent a room to travelers. Many also allow camping in unused pasturage or fallow fields, only occasionally charging a fee. It takes about two days to travel between Linkton and Lytton, and the road is well-used by farmers and small producers carrying items for sale or recently purchased. Hence the lack of shops. Those who live between the towns buy from the travelers, generally at a much reduced rate. The trip was without incident, other than a series of conversations with pedestrians and those riding or otherwise using donkeys, mules or oxen. We also passed two small flocks of sheep and several carts of poultry.
The southbound merchants and shoppers had stories about a group of bandits lurking along the road between Logwood and Linkton. This was only of passing interest to us, and we did not divulge our activities concerning them. I was surprised to see so much activity on the road in the middle of the night and was told this stretch was safe as houses -- possibly more so -- and travelers usually cooperated so some could sleep in wagons or carts while others drove or tended livestock, thus making the journey from Linkton to Lytton in a day and a night, rather than two days and a night.
The northbound merchants and shoppers had a lot more news from Lytton about a fire several days ride south of Lytton. No consensus could be found as to the cause or the extent of the fire, other than that refugees were arriving in Lytton, bedraggled, with nothing to eat, no baggage, little money and disturbed faces. We had heard about this in Linkton, although with much less detail -- only refugees, not that they were fleeing a fire.
Lytton has a chronic employment problem. They have more jobs than workers or, more unpleasant jobs than workers willing to accept them. Lytton was therefore buying up extra food and subsidizing the refugees in exchange for them accepting certain jobs and agreeing to stick with them at least through the summer, when they would be released and free to participate in harvest work.
This, then, was where part of our dried goods were going. I believe we will be continuing south after, to hunt what could chase so many people into Lytton.
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Copyright Rebecca Allen, 1999.
Created: July 8, 2012 Updated: July 8, 2012