“Maybe. Were you planning to kill me?”
Both shook their heads hard and began swearing about how much they hadn’t planned to kill me.
“That’s heartening, boys. I’d like to hire you as bodyguards then. We’re crossing the sea as soon as may be, and I’ll pay you four bits a day—each. You have to promise to protect me, though.”
“We promise!” Dab said.
Wentl raised a hand. “I swear we won’t lift a hand in anger or threat, or even curse you, sir.”
I smiled at the lying bastards. “You’re hired. Collect your belongings and be on the beach in an hour.”
My new bodyguards scrambled to their feet and trotted toward the beach. Evidently, they didn’t own a thing apart from what they carried on their nasty bodies.
I could see that fulfilling my new debt to Harik would require significant planning. I had just murdered two men for today, hours before sunset. The passage to the northern kingdoms required three days. Who would I kill on the journey? Well, tomorrow I’d be killing Dab and Wentl, criminals who would be pleased to put a blade in my back at the first chance.
After tomorrow, I’d have to come up with something more creative.
When I returned to the middle of town, I saw Halla standing next to the inn facing two men in faded cotton working clothes. One was near my age, tall and blocky, with a yellow beard like a curtain down to his chest. The other was young and skinny with shaggy brown hair and a patchy beard. Both examined me as I walked up to them.
Halla nodded at me. “Bib, this is Captain Garett and Skip. They will sail us to the northern kingdoms for a fair price. They will leave right now for double that price.”
I smiled at the yellow-bearded man. “Captain, if we pay four times that price, will you crack on as if Harik were chasing you and pissing fire in your wake all the way?”
The big man raised an eyebrow at his young, skinny friend, who frowned at me. “I am Captain Garett. If you pay us six times the price, and if you pay for ruined spars and cordage, then yes, we will.”
I rubbed my chin. “I don’t claim that six times the price is robbery, but my dear, honest mother wouldn’t dare charge that much.”
Captain Garett sniffed. “Was she much of a seaman?”
“Circumnavigated the islands of Ir before she was fifteen.” I pointed at the harbor. “Maybe we ought to discuss it with the masters of those other two ships.”
“Wouldn’t help.” Garett spit on the wooden planks. “I own all three of those ships.”
“I admire your industry.” I spit to match him. “I suppose we could just ride the long way around.”
“On horses you’ve already sold?” The captain smiled, showing brilliant teeth.
Before I could propose my next objection to wear the man down, Halla snapped, “Enough! We will pay. Where should we go, Captain?”
On the beach, I introduced my new bodyguards to my companions. Pil, Bea, and Whistler stared at me as if snakes were flowing from my mouth like drool, but they didn’t say anything. Halla ignored my new retainers.
Two sailors ferried us out to Garett’s ship, Steffi’s Thumb, a sixty-foot caravel with two masts and triangular sails. The vessel was open to the weather except for a stern deck covering the rear third of the ship. We’d all be sleeping wet from the spray and any rain that found us.
We’d be sleeping close together too, since Garett crewed his ship with twenty men. That was six more than I’d have expected. I wondered whether he engaged in a little piracy when tempted.
Once the crew had set sail and the deck was less hectic, I caught Garett at the stern deck. “Your beautiful ship has an unusual name, Captain. Is there a story behind it?”
Garett rubbed his mangy beard. “Not anymore.” He turned his back to me and swung up onto the stern deck like an ape.
I picked my way forward between lashed-down cargo and grumbling sailors until I reached Halla. “I don’t think the captain will be serving us beer or singing us shanties tonight. Doesn’t it seem crowded on this ship to you?”
Halla gazed around and nodded. “Let us stay in the bow. Out of the way. And not annoy them.”
TWENTY-TWO
The seagulls started shitting on us right after sunrise.
All the clouds had blown away late yesterday afternoon, and we had been sailing north all night on a sweet following wind. Fat Shallows stood below the horizon behind us. The ship’s timbers creaked as it lifted on the swells and settled back down. Water shushed against the hull, and wind hummed through the lines, popping the sails now and then.
My traveling companions and I had gathered into the ship’s bow to be less underfoot and less easily surrounded. As I gazed at the sunrise over the starboard bow, three birds flew past and voided themselves on me at almost the same moment. By the time I had shaken my head and assessed my state of filth, all my companions had been treated the same by at least one bird each. The sailors laughed at us, since none of them were getting a dung shower. With no hiding place, Bea broke loose, scrambled aft to the stern deck, and ducked under it.
The sailors’ laughter quieted when they saw that not a one of them was receiving the birds’ attention. Only we were growing whiter and nastier. Then a gull swooped down into the ship, turned at the stern deck, and launched a wad of filth sideways, striking Bea on the forehead.
The sailors all stopped laughing then. They began muttering, spitting between their fingers, and giving us raw looks. Halla fetched Bea and brought her back to the bow.
