Early the next morning, Miko again requested breakfast to be sent up to their room. By the time the food arrived, he and James had everything packed and ready for travel.
Along with breakfast, Miss Gilena provided them with travel rations; dried beef, a half wheel of cheese, and several loaves of bread.
“I hope you find what you are looking for,” Perrilin said to James while they ate.
“I really don’t know what I am looking for,” he replied, “I have questions but very few answers. I don’t even know if the questions I am asking are the right ones. I just know I need to be doing something.”
“I know the feeling.”
“What will you do?”
“Probably enjoy the hospitality here for a while and then go back on the road,” he replied. “I don’t like staying too long in one place. I prefer to travel and see what there is to see.”
James asked, “What about Miss Gilena? She really likes you, you know?”
A wistful look came over him. “I like her too, but it’s not in my plans to be tied down to one place. I know that is what she would demand if we were to become serious. I am content to be her friend, at least for now.” He took another bite and continued, “Later on, who knows?”
They finished and Miko gathered James’ bags. James shook hands with Perrilin, “Try to be more careful in the future. I may not be around next time.”
He smiled and returned the handshake. “Let’s hope there is no next time. Good travels to you both. I’m sure we will meet again sometime, someplace.” He turned to Miko, “You take care of him.”
“Oh, I will,” he replied in all seriousness.
Opening the door, James let Miko precede him out into the hallway and then closed the door. They made for the door to leave the Inn. Downstairs they found a handful of people in the common room as they headed out the back door on their way to the stable.
They found Gunter distributing feed for the horses.
“Good morning; sirs,” he said as they entered. He took a moment to pour feed for one of the other horses before he came to them. “How may I be of service?”
“We are leaving today,” James replied, “I’m here to collect my horse. Did he give you any trouble last night?”
“Of course not, sir. He has been well behaved the entire time. He’s a good one, he is.”
“That’s good,” James replied as he reached his horse’s stall.
Once he saw that he would no longer be needed, Gunter resumed distributing grain to the rest of the horses.
In no time the horse was saddled and ready for travel. With a friendly wave of goodbye to Gunter, they left the stable.
“Come again,” Gunter cheerfully hollered after them.
The streets were quite busy for so early in the morning. They decided to lead the horse instead of riding as travel through the crowd was slow at best. They slowly walked along the congested streets until finally passing through the gate which led into the outer ring.
After traveling several blocks, from out of nowhere a rock struck James on the side of the head. Luckily it was a small rock and only caused minor stinging. He looked in the direction from which the rock originated and saw several boys. They stood near a building, looking up into the eaves overhanging the front of a store. One threw another stone at something hidden up in the eaves. The boys laughed as an animal cried out.
Curious, James looked up into the eaves to see what they were throwing rocks at. To his amazement he found a furry, yellow cat meowing pitifully as it clung to the eave for dear life.
“I think we may have found Furball,” he told Miko. “Run to the Dancing Squirrel and find Inius. Tell him to hurry and get here before she runs off again.”
Miko turned and cut through the crowd.
The boys laughed, enjoying the sport of tormenting Furball. Another boy threw a small stone and struck the beam not two inches from the terrified cat.
“You almost got him that time,” one of the boys said.
“I’ll knock him off this time,” another boasted. He picked up a stone and prepared to hurl it up at poor Furball.
James grabbed the boy’s arm. “That’s enough of that. Leave the cat alone.”
The boy turned and confronted James, his buddies gathering in behind him. “We ain’t hurtin’ nuthin’ mister,” he said. “Just having some fun is all.”
“Yeah!” one boy chimed in. “After all, it’s just a cat.”
James looked at the boys disapprovingly, “Being mean is never acceptable, even to animals.” Pointing to Furball he said, “That cat up there is scared and frightened, but you boys think it’s just fun. One of these days you may be in a similar situation where you are being tormented and can’t get away. Then you will understand what you were doing here today.”
Not looking very convinced, one of them said, “Come on, guys, let’s go somewhere we can have some fun.”
Several of the other boys replied, “Yeah,” as they stalked off down the street.
James looked up at Furball who was still hung on for dear life. “Its okay, Furball,” he said soothingly to the cat. “Inius will be here shortly.” He waited several more minutes with Furball before Miko appeared with a concerned Inius who followed close behind.
When Inius saw Furball, his face showed the relief he felt at seeing her alive. Coming up to James, he said, “Thank you for finding her for me.”
“We just happened by and saw her up there,” James explained. He left out the part the boys had played. “We thought you might want to come and get her.”
“Furball!” Inius said to the cat, “you come down here right now.” The cat seemed to relax at the sound of Inius’ voice, but she wasn’t making any move to come down.
Looking around for something to stand on, James found an old unused crate sitting in a nearby alley. He set it beneath the beam where Furball clung, carefully climbed up onto it, and hoped the crate would hold his weight. By this time, a small crowd had gathered to see what was going on.
Reaching up, he tried to grab her off the crossbeam, but Furball laid her ears back against her head and emitted a deep, warning growl. When his hand came too close, she swiped at it with her claws and scored two long scratches along the back of his hand.
“Furball, stop it!” Inius yelled at the cat.
James muttered a curse as the scratches began to well blood. He heard the people around him chuckle at his misfortune. He even heard some of the observers making wagers as to whether or not he’d get the cat down.
He realized that the number of onlookers had grown. Again he turned his attention to Furball and very slowly reached up to get her. When the cat again started a deep growling in her throat, he withdrew his hand and the growling stopped.
Muttering grew from the crowd and James noticed several of the bystanders had exchanged coins. Obviously some had bet he wouldn’t get the cat on that try.
“Just knock it down with a stick!” a bystander yelled.
“No!” countered Inius. “Don’t hurt her.”
James saw the innkeeper’s concern for Furball. “Don’t worry,” James assured him, “I’m certain that we can get her down without hurting her.”
He silently began to cast a spell. It was a spell of soothing, of trust, and when he was ready, he released the power and reached up to Furball. This time she didn’t growl, she simply looked at him as he gently took hold of her around the middle. Lifting ever so gently, he removed her from the crossbeam.
He maintained the spell as he stroked Furball’s back and listened to her contented purr. As he handed Furball down to Inius, the crowd broke into a cheer and more money changed hands.
“Here you go,” he told Inius as the innkeeper took Furball from him.
“Thank you so much.” Then to Furball he said in a firm tone, “You’ve been a bad kitty,” then stroked her back.
“Maybe you should put a tag on her so people will know she’s yours should she run away again.”
; “A tag?” Inius asked.
“Yes,” he replied. “A little metal disk attached to a leather collar around her neck with the sign of the Dancing Squirrel on it. So if she runs off again, people will know where to bring her back, or at the very least notify you as to where she was last seen.”
“A good idea,” he said, considering it. “I may just do that.”
“Goodbye, Inius,” James said. Then he scratched Furball between the ears and said, “You too, Furball.”
“We are both very thankful to you. Next time you are in town, you may stay with us free for a few nights.”
“Thank you, I may take you up on that.” He then took the reins from Miko as they headed down the street to Lufer’s.
The remainder of their trek through Cardri was uneventful. They passed through the outer gate without any further delays. They took a side street through the outlying buildings in the general direction of the river. Soon they found three buildings set together with a corral containing several horses and mules in the back.
“This must be the place,” Miko said.
“What was your first clue?” James joked as they approached the hitching post by the front door.
“Clue?” Miko asked not understanding.
Amused, James replied, “Never mind.” Securing their horse to the post, the two of them entered the front office which was currently unoccupied. Voices came from out back which led them to two men, an older gentleman and a younger one, who stood near the corral.
“Going to need to procure another dozen by fall,” the elder one said.
“I agree, father,” replied the younger. He then noticed James and Miko emerge from the office. “What can we do for you?” he asked. The older man turned to face the visitors.
“Would one of you be Lufer?”
The father stepped forward slightly. “I’m Lufer. How can I help you sirs today?”
“Miss Gilena said that we could get a good horse for my companion,” James explained, gesturing toward Miko.
“What are you going to need the horse for?” Lufer asked. “Travel or farm work.”
“We will be heading to Madoc.”
“We have many fine horses available and for friends of Miss Gilena we will make sure you get the best we have. Follow me,” he said. He went to the corral gate and opened it, allowing James and Miko to enter first.
“We have a mare here,” he said as he came to a chestnut colored horse. “She’s three years old and in good physical shape. Very gentle,” he stressed, “not one easily spooked.”
James looked at Miko who didn’t seem too impressed by the mare. He had his gaze set on a black stallion with eyes that dared anyone to come within striking distance so he could bash in their skull.
“I think the mare will be fine,” James said to Miko’s disappointment. “Look,” James said to him, “that stallion would most likely kill you as not.”
As if the stallion understood what was being said, it stomped its foot and snorted.
Miko still looked longingly at the stallion, but realized he had no choice in the decision. After all, a horse was a horse.
“Would you be interested in a pack mule as well?” Lufer asked. “If you plan on a long trip, your horses will do better without a lot of extra weight. A pack mule can carry much and they are very durable.”
“How much for both?” he asked, realizing that a mule might not be such a bad idea.
“Sixty-five golds for the mare and another twenty-five for the mule.”
Miko’s eyes bugged out at the cost. “Why so much?” he blurted out.
“With the war going on over in Madoc,” he explained, “there has been an increase in the demand for horses, especially from the Horsemaster up at the Castle. He’s been procuring many in anticipation of war with the Empire.”
“Oh,” said Miko, “that sort of makes sense.”
“Yeah, supply and demand,” James reasoned. Then he launched into haggling for the actual price of the horse and mule. He didn’t enjoy the process but seemed to be getting the hang of it. He worked the price down to eighty golds for both and they went into the office where he counted out the money. Luckily the price also included a saddle and all the required tack for the horse and mule.
He also bought several days’ worth of grain and two ponchos for inclement weather. Lufer suggested hoods for the horses so in emergencies they could keep them calm. James agreed and added three of those to the bill. Once their bags were repacked onto the mule, they mounted and headed out, having said goodbye to Lufer and his son. James had the lead rope for the mule tied to the rear of his saddle where a loop had been attached.
Miko was in high spirits, sitting tall in the saddle on his very own horse even if it was a mare. James went over the various commands that he’d need in order to guide the horse. It didn’t take too long before Miko had the basics down and was able to control the horse adequately.
Following directions Perrilin had provided, they took the road east out of Cardri, hoping to make Trademeet and the Merchant’s Pass in a little under a week. The day was young and the heat of the summer sun was beginning to warm the air.
Still within sight of the city, there were many other travelers on the road, including some caravans that they soon overtook. They made good time and it was not long before they had left most of the other travelers behind. Once Cardri disappeared behind them, foot traffic had dwindled to almost nothing.
According to Perrilin, the first main city wouldn’t be for two days. It sat at a crossroads where another main trading route intersected theirs on its way north. The city was called Willimet and they would need to replenish their provisions there, especially grain for the animals.
About the time the sun was high overhead, the road made its way past a small grove of trees several hundred feet off the road. Within the grove they spotted a pool of water. They decided to allow the animals time to graze while they partook of the noon meal. The leafy boughs of the trees afforded them some shade from the sun; the water was still cool and appeared clean.
James dismounted first and let his horse free to graze by the pond. He watched as Miko dismounted slowly, amused by the stiffness that was showing in his movements.
He saw James grin. “What’s so funny?” he demanded as he stiffly walked to the pack mule having the bag containing their rations.
“Are you sore?” he asked with mock concern. He handed Miko his share from the sack before taking his own.
“You know I am,” he said as he took his food. “And it’s not funny.” He sat down and began to eat.
“I know,” James agreed sympathetically. “I went through the same thing when I first started to ride. In fact, I still get sore, just not as bad.”
“Glad to know it gets better,” Miko said.
“Oh it’ll get worse before it gets better,” James informed him. “It’s just something that will take time for your muscles to grow accustomed to.”
While they ate, they watched a caravan travel west on its way toward Cardri. James counted twenty-seven wagons and an accompaniment of twenty horsemen. They seemed far enough away from Cardri that the only traffic on the road was the caravan and the occasional rider. All the foot traffic had long since disappeared.
James relaxed against the trunk of a tree, and reveled in the peace and tranquility of the area. A gentle breeze, just strong enough to cool yet not stir up the dust, gently flowed through the trees. They spent a full hour in the cool shade until he could no longer put off returning to the road.
He remounted and watched with some sympathy as Miko slowly and stiffly climbed back into the saddle. He remembered his own sore posterior when he had first learned to ride. They made their way to the road and turned their horses east toward Willimet.
An hour later the road became devoid of fellow travelers. During one such lonely stretch, Miko noticed a solitary rider several hundred yards off in the distance. “James,” he said as he brought his horse alongside, “there’s someone
to the north, pacing us.”
“I know,” he replied. “He’s been there for the last ten minutes.”
“What are we going to do?” asked Miko nervously as he again glanced toward the rider.
“Not much we can do. Fortunately we are in open territory so if any more show up we will have warning. Besides, we don’t even know if he has any interest in us at all. It could be just a coincidence that he is pacing us.”
“You don’t really believe that do you?”
“No,” replied James, “but it is a possibility. Until we know for sure, we will continue toward Willimet and deal with it should something happen.”
Another ten minutes went by when Miko noticed a second rider had joined with the first. “James, there’s another one.”
Looking north, he nodded. “Yeah, looks like it.”
“You seem pretty calm,” Miko observed.
“Will the situation improve if I get nervous and all freaked out?”
“No,” replied Miko.
“Okay then,” James said. “I might appear calm but I am quite concerned about what may be developing.”
“Like what?”
“Like an ambush,” he replied. “This could be another attempt by Lord Colerain to capture or kill us. But who knows, it may simply be bandits or highwaymen who see two lone riders from whom to score some quick booty.”
Nervously, Miko scanned the horizon in all directions. “James! Behind us!” Miko exclaimed excitedly when he saw riders back there.
James turned and saw three more approaching at a gallop. He looked toward the ones to the north, and saw them turn their way as they broke into a gallop. “Let’s go,” he said. He kicked the sides of his horse and quickly raced across the road at a fast gallop. Miko did the same a split second after.
They flew down the road trying to outdistance their pursuers. Out of the distance ahead, three more riders appeared, racing toward them from the east. South was the only direction free of riders trying to intercept them. He turned his horse in that direction and they left the road, racing through the tall grass. James fervently hoped that neither horse would put a hoof in a gopher hole, which would prove disastrous.
As if on cue, two more riders appeared in the distance to the south before they had gone more than twenty feet from the road. Realizing they were surrounded and unlikely to escape the trap, he scanned the area for somewhere to make their stand. He saw a small hill to the southwest an idea comes to mind. He turned his horse and raced for it. When he reached the hill he quickly dismounted, and gave Miko his horse’s reins. “Get those hoods we got at Lufer’s and cover their heads, fast. Whatever you do, don’t let go of their reins.”
“What are you going to do?” Miko asked as he pulled the hoods out of the packs.
“You’ll see. No time to explain, just stay close to me.” James looked around at the approaching horsemen. Their approach had slowed now that James and Miko had stopped atop the little hill. They moved to completely encircle the hill. Three of them had crossbows and were in the process of winding back the crossarm.
Scared, Miko watched as the men continued to tighten the noose. Holding firmly to the reins, he kept the now-hooded horses and mule close to the top of the hill. He looked toward James and saw that his eyes were closed in concentration. The breeze that had been blowing gently began to slowly increase in strength. Clouds moved unnaturally fast as they rushed toward them from every direction.
The approaching men continued to tighten the circle. One of the crossbowmen loosed a bolt but the wind blew it wide. They advanced without seeming to care, or perhaps they just failed to notice what was going on in the sky above them. The gathering clouds smoothed out until it looked like one big, dark blanket extending in all directions. All at once the wind suddenly stopped and the world became ominously quiet.
The sudden cessation of wind caused the men to slow their advance. They began to understand that something strange was happening. Suddenly, the clouds above them commenced to swirl. Miko looked on in frightened awe as a section of the swirling clouds descended toward them, the center of which was open and clear. It rapidly slammed all the way to the ground, and enveloped the men.
The wind whipped around the hill in a frightening mass of flying debris and deafening sound. As he stood amidst the relative calm upon the hilltop, Miko held tight to the horses. He tried to keep them from becoming frightened amidst the noise around them.
From within the tempest he heard the cries of men and horses being ravaged by the savage wind. Suddenly, one of the riders was flung from the storm and slammed into the ground a few feet from him. Miko looked closely at the man and saw that his body was broken and lifeless. Truly awed by what James had done, he held tightly to the reins and watched as the storm continued to gain in intensity. He looked straight up and saw what appeared to be a tunnel going all the way through the storm to the blue sky at the other end.
Not long after that, the storm began to dissipate. The swirling mass surrounding the hill thinned and then faded away. The clouds broke apart until the clouds resumed their normal course through the sky. Amazed, Miko looked at the grassland surrounding the hill and could see how wide the storm had been. It started at the base of the hill. The grass had been ripped and torn by the force of the winds in a swath several hundred feet wide all the way around. Scattered throughout the area were horses and men, all lifeless and broken.
When the winds finally receded, James’ knees buckled and he collapsed. Miko rushed over, relieved to find that he was only unconscious, not dead. Unable to rouse him, he gently laid James out comfortably and got a blanket to use as a pillow for his head. Once he’d taken care of James, he removed the hoods from the horses and pack mule, letting them loose to graze.
Miko sat next to James, and waited for him to regain consciousness. All the while he kept an eye on the horizon for any sign of other unwelcomed visitors.
It wasn’t until just before sunset that James began to stir. Cracking an eye open, he discovered Miko had already started a fire and made camp with the horses picketed nearby. A groan escaped him which drew Miko’s attention. The boy came to his side bearing a water bottle. With Miko’s help, James sat up slightly and took the bottle. He drank deeply before handing it back.
“Thanks,” he said shakily, lying back down.
“You’re welcome. Are you going to be okay?”
“Maybe,” he replied. “I feel totally exhausted and have a splitting headache.”
“Your storm seems to have taken out all the riders who were chasing us.”
“Good,” he replied. Groaning, he raised his hand to his head as he tried to soothe the pounding behind his forehead.
“Just what did you do?” Miko asked “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
He looked at Miko through heavy-lidded eyes. “It’s called a tornado. They are quite common where I come from.”
“How did you do it?”
“It’s rather hard to explain,” James explained. “Luckily, I remembered a show I saw about tornadoes.”
“Show?” he asked. “What’s that?”
Wondering how to explain television, he just said, “It’s something from where I come that helps you learn things.”
“Oh, okay,” Miko said, not really understanding.
“Have you searched them yet?”
“Who?” asks Miko. “The dead riders?” He looked out at the scene that surrounded the hill with undisguised revulsion at the thought of going near the dead men.
“Maybe there will be a letter or something on them that can tell us who sent them and why,” explained James, the final words all but unintelligible.
“No, I haven’t,” Miko answered before realizing that James had already fallen asleep. He knew how important this was to James so he got up and went through the grisly task of searching all the dead bodies, both men and horses for anything that might tell them what they needed to know. He returned a half hour later with an armload of sadd
lebags, pouches and one of the crossbows along with a brace of bolts. He set the saddlebags and pouches on the ground near James which caused him to awaken once more.
Now rested enough that he wouldn’t immediately succumb to sleep, he propped himself up on one elbow and gave the pile of saddlebags and pouches a once-over. Then he noticed the crossbow in Miko’s hand. “What are you going to do with that?”
“I don’t know,” Miko replied, “but it might come in handy.”
“Maybe it will,” agreed James. “Just don’t shoot your eye out,” he added, and then he giggled.
Miko didn’t understand why James should find shooting his own eye out to be so incredibly funny.
Calming down, James returned his attention to the bags and pouches. The pounding in his head had diminished to a tolerable level.
While James went through them, Miko took out some of the food that Miss Gilena had given them. When both had food and drink, he sat down next to James and ate as he watched James inspect the pouches.
James divided their contents into three piles. One contained coins, gems and jewelry, another useless junk, and still another was for papers. He placed a stone on top of the papers to keep the wind from blowing them away.
When he finished with the last pouch, he said, “Take the money and put it in with ours.”
“Okay, James,” Miko replied, getting up to do it.
While Miko put away the valuables, James read through the papers. All but one he crumbled up and tossed into the fire.
Seeing he has kept one, Miko asked, “Why did you keep that one?”
“This one is an order from someone called Korgan to someone named Vorim. I can only assume that this Vorim lies out there somewhere,” he said, pointing to the dead bodies that surrounded the hill. “It’s basically an order to capture and interrogate us. A person named ‘Cytok’ is interested in finding out who we are working for. They were also to find out the names of any other agents that we may be in contact with.”
“Why did they come after us?”
“Who knows?” replied James. “When I rescued Perrilin, one of his captors managed to escape on horseback. I guess they found out that I was the one that helped him. So, since they didn’t get Perrilin, they went after me, probably assuming that I work with him. It seems our friend is more than the simple bard he claims to be.”
“Wonder who this Korgan is and why he’s after Perrilin?”
“We’ll have to ask Perrilin about that when we see him next,” James said. “First Lord Colerain, and now this Korgan. Wonder if they are working together?” He sighed at the fact that though he had been in this world such a short time, he had acquired some rather deadly enemies. He folded the paper and put it in with his other papers. He yawned and once he had finished dinner, he reclined on his makeshift bed. Miko gave him another blanket and soon he was off to sleep.
Unable to sleep himself, Miko sat up awhile. He put a couple of sticks of wood on the fire, to keep it going while he thought about everything that had happened to him since he first met James. James told him that it might be safer not to travel with him, and that had definitely turned out to be true. But James was the only person who had ever treated him nice, and as more of an equal, at least most of the time, than anyone. He decided that no matter what, he would stay with him as long as James would let him. He set several more sticks on the fire before settling down to sleep.
Chapter Sixteen
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