Jumping up, he grabs hold of one of the lower branches and swings himself up. James alternates between watching him climb and keeping an eye on the guards, all the while praying that he’ll remain unobserved. The guards, totally oblivious to what’s happening in the tree near them, continue talking among themselves.
James glances back to Jiron and sees that he’s reached a height that will afford him a good view of the entire compound. He settles into the crook of a branch and stays up there quite awhile before beginning his descent back to the ground. Once down, he makes his way over to where James is waiting.
“Well?” he asks when Jiron approaches.
“They have a lot of guards within the walls,” he says. “Thirty or more, I couldn’t get an exact count. That of course, doesn’t include any that are currently within the mine.”
He takes a stick and begins drawing a diagram of the compound on the ground. He draws the wall and a large pit in the middle and large rectangles around the pit. “There’s a large pit in the middle, most likely the entrance to the mines.” Pointing to the rectangles around the pit he says, “These look to be quarters for the slaves and perhaps other auxiliary buildings, similar to the ones we saw back at the smelters.”
“Did you see any of the slaves?” he asks.
“A few, but the majority must still be within the mine.” He sits back and rests for a moment. “I’ll go back up the tree and stay there till nightfall, just to see if things change. Then we can determine what we want to do.”
“Alright,” agrees James, anxious now that he’s this close to getting Miko out.
Jiron reaches into his pouch and hands some dried beef to James as he says, “Here.”
Taking the beef, James asks, “Where did you get this?”
“Found it on Kristo’s boat,” he says, grinning.
James tears off a bite and begins chewing, a little tough, but not bad. Jiron hands him another chunk and they have a quick meal before he returns to the tree to watch the compound. While they’re eating, the gate opens and another five wagons leave the compound as they begin rolling south down the road to the smelters.
“They get a lot of iron from here, don’t they?” he observes, a thoughtful look coming to him.
Nodding, James replies, “Yeah, I’ve been watching wagons leave all day. Why?”
“No reason,” he replies. Finishing up, Jiron gets back to his feet and goes over to the tree where he again climbs up to keep an eye on what’s going on inside the walls.
“Boys,” Essin announces as the last wagon of the day rolls away, “I believe that puts us close to being the best team in the mines.”
A cheer erupts from the men, Miko feels pride as Nate slaps him on the back and gives him a big grin. “Your hard efforts have not gone unnoticed and tonight you will not find the usual fare brought to your quarters. Tonight, you will have beef and wine.”
A gasp escapes some of the men at the news. For those who’ve been here the longest, beef and wine is something they have all but forgotten. Miko’s stomach begins to cramp and growl at the thought.
“If we can continue as we have,” Essin tells them, “you can expect similar feasts in the future.”
A shout erupts from the men as he turns and leads them from the mine.
Miko is happy. If this is to be his lot for the rest of his life, well, at least it could be much worse. A good crew to work with and an understanding boss, what more could a slave ask for. True, the work is hard and at times unforgiving, but the men he works with make it bearable.
As they continue through the mines, Essin turns his head back and says, “For the number one team, they’ll give you women once a month as long as you keep being the best.”
The men give out with another cheer and promises to be the best. As they leave the mine and head over to their quarters, Miko’s jubilation is again dampened by the sight of Black Tooth carrying a water pail past on his way into the mines. But even his scowl isn’t enough to wreck this day for him.
In the back of his mind, he wonders what James is doing, how he’s getting along. He doesn’t hold ill will to him, he knows that he’s just a boy off the streets, not worth risking one’s life for. He returns to the present as they enter their room and find the food already there for them.
The older guys snatch the jugs of wine first, but Miko doesn’t care, his stomach cramps at the sight of the juicy, roasted beef sitting in heaping mounds on the platter. He grabs several thick slices and takes a big bite as he begins eating. The juices from the beef run down his chin, making tracks in the dust and dirt that coats his body.
For his crew of twelve, there are six jugs of wine, one of which has already been consumed by the others. Nate says to them, “Save some for Miko, he’s earned it too.”
“Sure thing,” says Fez, one of the old timers. He goes over and slaps Miko on the back as he offers the jug to him, “Here you go, Miko me lad.”
Miko takes the jug and has just a small drink before giving it back to Fez. He glances over to Nate who’s giving him a grin. Nate’s being moderate with the wine as well, taking only occasional sips of the wine as he concentrates mainly on the meat and loaves of bread.
When Miko finishes his fifth slice of bread, he begins to notice that Fez is behaving erratically. At first he assumes it’s due to the large amount of wine he’s consumed. But then he falls over and everyone starts laughing at his antics, thinking he has simply drunk too much.
Concerned, Miko goes over to him and tries to wake him up. “Fez,” he says, shaking his shoulder.
“Leave him be,” one of the others says. “He’ll soon sleep it off.”
But something just didn’t feel right. Shaking him harder, he calls his name louder, “Fez!”
Turning to Nate, he says, “I think he’s dead!”
As Nate goes over to him, another man cries out as he falls to the floor. Sudden pain rips through Miko’s stomach as he watches Nate stumble and fall as his stomach, too, begins to cramp with pain.
“Poison!” Nate cries out, holding his stomach as the pain again rips through him.
Poison? thinks Miko as he comes over to where Nate has fallen. Black Tooth!
Chapter Twenty Nine
James sits amidst the bushes in his spot across from the gate while Jiron keeps watch from his perch in the tree. As the sun begins to drop to the horizon, he notices Jiron perking up a little and begins gazing intently into the compound. A little after twilight, he comes down from the tree and back to where James is waiting for him.
“Looks like they have all the slaves come out of the mines at night,” he informs him. Pointing to the diagram on the ground, he says, “These buildings here are where they keep the slaves for the night.”
“You didn’t see Miko did you?” he asks hopefully.
“I was too far away to make out more than vague features,” he replies. “Can you determine which one of the buildings he’s in with your mirror?”
Removing the mirror from his shaving kit, he says, “Possibly.” In the fading light, it’s actually easier to see the image coming into focus than in broad daylight. The image coalesces and they see Miko eating with the others.
“They sure feed them well here,” comments Jiron when he sees the beef Miko is consuming.
Nodding, James expands the image and soon the exterior of the building comes into view. Once the image has zoomed far enough away to be able to see the entire compound, he points to the building where Miko is and then asks Jiron, “Recognize this?”
“Yeah, I know that one,” he tells him. “It’s on the opposite side of the pit from the gate. That one and the buildings next to it is where I saw the slaves being led.”
Replacing the mirror back into his kit, he asks, “How do we get him out?”
“We could go around to where the wall is closest to him and try there,” he says. “It’s not much better than here, but there might be less scrutiny away from the gate.”
“You may be right,” agrees James. Getting up, he nods for Jiron to lead the way and then follows him as he moves through the forest away from the gate. At the point where the wall turns back into the forest, Jiron continues on until they’ve put sufficient distance between themselves and the men walking patrol atop the wall. Then with a quick glance atop the wall to make sure the guards aren’t looking in their direction, they dart across the road quickly.
