morning, but the last two days he has not come around. Sometimes he goes fishing with his father, but I know he did not today or yesterday. I know nothing further. My only association with the boy is buying rabbits. The other boy is a lay-about and I have no association with him. Kill me if you must, but I know nothing more.”
Wolinda scowled and stormed out the door into the street. The Dark Riders followed after tossing Esta to the floor. His scream of pain could be heard clearly in all of the rooms in the inn. When the customers were sure that the Dark Riders had left they slowly filed down to the common room to help the innkeeper.
Wolinda led the Dark Riders down to the waterfront. She sent six into Arik’s house and six into Tedi’s house with orders to find anything that might indicate relatives other than the fathers. With the rest of her henchmen, she strode along the waterfront looking for anyone that she could squeeze information from. The only person visible was a woman trying to drag her toddler into the house. Wolinda signaled two of her men and they swept the child up and seized the mother.
“I am looking for Arik Clava and Tedi Markel,” Wolinda spat. “You are going to tell me where they are or your child will try taking its next step on the bottom of the sea.” Taking Wolinda’s statement as an order, the Dark Rider with the child marched out onto a small dock and held the child over the edge.
The woman and the child starting crying together. “I know the boys,” blubbered the mother, “but I don’t know where they are. I haven’t seen them for days.”
The Dark Rider holding the child by its feet started lowering the body towards the water. When the child’s hair got wet, the mother started babbling. “I do know something that might help,” she screamed.
The man stopped lowering the child’s body and Wolinda snapped,” Well, out with it! I don’t have all day to wait.”
“I think they are planning on leaving,” she shouted. “Master Clava has been going all over town trying to raise money. He refuses to say why, but he normally has no use for money other than food and taking care of his boat. The boys haven’t been in town for days and the fathers have been sleeping in the woods. I’ve seen them coming and going down that path over there. And they were gathering things that people would want on a trip. Last night, they hauled all of the stuff into the woods and came out this morning with nothing. That’s all I know.”
Wolinda called to her men and headed towards the woods. The Dark Rider with the child let go and the child went head first into the water. The mother ran screaming out onto the dock to retrieve her child. Wolinda sent two Dark Riders ahead of her down the path. Eventually, they came to the clearing where the boys had camped.
“They camped here for several days,” one of the men stated. “The only useful tracks are back the way we came and towards the sea. Whatever tracks there were by the sea have been washed away.”
“They think they are being clever,” chuckled Wolinda. “Letting the sea cover their tracks would be a good trick if the choice of which direction they went was greater than two. If they went north, they would end up back in town. Get the rest of the men and the horses, we head south.”
“We will not make good time on the beach,” mentioned one of the men. “Why not send a couple of trackers down the beach and the rest of us can use the coastal highway. If they left this morning, we will not catch them today, but the trackers can tell us where they left the beach. Tomorrow we will have them located and captured.”
Wolinda gave the man an appraising look. “See to it,” she stated, “and see if anyone in this town has a map.” Wolinda turned back down the path towards town.
Garth finished his exercises and wiped the sweat from his body with a towel. Exercising by himself was never as satisfying as sparring with a partner, but Kalina was not one for swordplay. Still, Garth needed to keep fit and every night he exercised at least an hour. He turned towards the wagon and campfire and saw Kalina still sitting by the fire with a frown on her face. “What’s the matter?” he quizzed. “Surely it is not real trouble or you would be more agitated, but something is bothering you.”
“You will get no observation awards for that guess, Garth,” she smiled. “It’s the ring. I had hoped to find out more of their plans, but they haven’t said two words the entire day. Wherever they are, I can hear the surf. From the sounds of setting up camp, I gather they walked on into the night, but that does not give me a good idea where they are.”
“Does the sound get louder when you get closer?” Garth inquired. “If it does, perhaps we can move around until we draw nearer to them.”
“No, it doesn’t work that way,” she replied. “The sound varies depending on the distance the sound is from the ring, but it does not matter how far from the ring we are. If I could just hear something distinctive, we would have some idea of where they are. I don’t like not being nearer to them.”
“Perhaps I can hear something that you don’t,” Garth offered. “It is worth a try.”
Kalina nodded and removed her earring, handing it to Garth. He held it up to his ear as he sat down next to the woman. For several long moments, he said nothing. Eventually, he smiled. “The waves are breaking on rocks,” he uttered. “Waves rolling into shore collapse on themselves, but these waves are crashing against the rocks and creating a spray. Is the sound you hear the same sound we would hear if we were standing where the ring is?”
“Yes,” responded Kalina. “Just as if your ear were the ring. Does that help at all?”
“Certainly,” smiled Garth. “I can tell you that they are not right at the rocks where the waves are crashing. They are maybe eighty to one hundred feet away. They are also at least thirty feet away from the nearest trees. You can hear the wind blowing through the trees, but it is not close. I can also hear the occasional flutter of bats, more than one. My guess is that tall outcropping we passed a couple of hours before stopping. It’s likely to have nesting spots for bats and it is one of the few places with rocks right up to the sea. And they are in a clearing. It is just a guess, but I would think it enough to go on.”
Kalina laughed. “I wonder how you would look in earrings,” she giggled as she reached to retrieve her earring from Garth. “You may be right or wrong, but I do feel better having some idea of where they are even if it is wrong. Tomorrow I would like to camp a little closer to them if we can manage that.”
“I could track them down and keep them in sight if you like,” offered Garth.
“No,” Kalina responded, “we can not take the chance that they might see you. The last thing we want to do right now is spook them. They are so skeptical of strangers that we would lose them for sure. Especially that Tedi. I don’t think he even trusts himself. We need to let them get themselves in trouble so we can come to their aid. It is the only chance of drawing them close to us and even that is a slim chance.”
“I would be more tempted to just grab them and bend them to our will,” commented Garth. “I think we take too many chances letting them run free. They need to be reeled in and put under yoke.”
“You do have a brutal way of expressing your gentleness,” she chuckled. “Is that how you handle me? Have you got me sufficiently harnessed?”
Garth reached over and grabbed Kalina with his arm, drawing her nearer. A strong scent of jasmine caressed his nose as he hugged her. “You know,” he cooed, “this could be one of the last times we have alone for a long time.”
Kalina leaned back and kissed his lips. “While that is true,” she smiled, “you smell more like a mule than a man. Perhaps a trip to the stream will make you more desirable or do you prefer sleeping with the animals?”
“Am I still here?” he laughed as he headed for the stream. Kalina watched his muscular form as he walked away. So much of life had changed since she met Garth, but he was right. If everything went according to plan, they would not have much time alone together for a long time. Perhaps tomorrow the plan will start falling into place.
Chapter 6 Forgum
Niki Forloe watched the short, wiry boy approaching the shack with a self-assured saunter, his dark brown hair blowing gently in the breeze. His brown eyes darted left and right, not for fear of anyone sneaking up on him, but as if to assure himself that the rabble kept its distance. Niki laughed to herself. Fredrik Wason was the rabble
