“I think so, too. Let's go to the caravan inn for dinner, I don't want to eat my cooking,”
“Me, either!” Hanson said, chuckling.
* * *
I was waiting at the guild house the next morning when the stonecutters arrived. “My name is Rider,” I said.
“Robert Stoneway, and these are my brothers William and Shane. Shane has not come into his power yet, but he helps as a laborer.”
I shook their hands, nodding at Shane, “I started the same way, you'll get there.” Shane smiled at that. They were all young, 18, 17, and 14, I guessed.
“What’s the job? “Robert asked.
“Quarry work,” I answered.
Their faces became hard and Robert held up his hand. “Here in the city?”
I shook my head, down close to Flat Lake, why?”
They all relaxed, “I'm sorry, Master Rider, we meant no offence. Our family used to own one of the Rockspire quarries. But last year Red Fever took our parents and then the bank took the quarry.
“They want us to work the quarry at half wages. We wouldn't, so they're working the quarry manually and have been trying to starve us into submission. We thought you might be working for them.”
“No offence taken. We'll be working at Flat Lake and the job will last a couple of years, I'd guess. I'll pay top wage plus room and board, which will be tents to start.
“I'll pay Shane labor wages, plus 10 percent, until he develops into a cutter, then he'll get a raise. To start we'll be cutting stone for the trade road and we'll see what develops from there.” They agreed, and I paid them a day’s wage. “
Meet me on the south road at mid-morning tomorrow.”
“We'll be there,” Robert said.
I still needed five or so laborers to help, so I went to the workers’ lot. It was just a dirt lot where people could hire day labor. There were quite a few people there looking for work.
“I'm looking for five laborers that have stonework experience.” Several raised their hands.
“Where's the job?” someone asked.
“A week’s travel down the south trade road. The job will last a week or two.” All the hands went down. I shrugged, figuring I'd look elsewhere.
But as I left the yard a man caught up with me. “Excuse me, sir.” I stopped and turned to him. He had two teenaged boys with him, his sons by the look of them.
“Yes?”
“My name is Jon Furman; these are my sons Drew and Amos.”
“Rider,” I said shaking his hand.
“Me and my boys are interested in the job but have little stonework experience.”
“Can you lay cobblestones?”
“Aye, that we can do,” he said nodding.
I nodded, “I'll pay top wages, and we'll be leaving from the south trade road in the morning.”
“There is one thing though, sir. Since we'll be leaving the city, I'll need to take my wife and daughter with me. They won't be a bother and we have our own wagon and tent.” he said, sounding about one step short of desperate.
I nodded, handing him three silvers, “see you in the morning.”
“We'll be there Master Rider.” On the way back to the caravan lot I bought another wagon just because I had a feeling we would need it. after supper Hanson and I reviewed the supply and equipment list. We thought we had everything covered.
* * *
Hanson and I were up early, ate breakfast and packed our camp. Then we moved down to the south trade road. Everyone was there early. As they arrived, they'd pull off the road and line up behind our wagons. Sgt. Rhodes' crew had two wagons and both seemed in good shape.
“Master Rider,” Rhodes called. “This is Corporal Range, another retired merc. He's a scout, and a good man. He heard we were coming out and came along to see if you may have need of his services.”
I nodded, “our scouts always kept us in fresh meat, I'm guessing you did the same.”
“I did, sir, and I’ve scouted for multiple companies, I can scout for you, keep you in fresh meat, as well as keep the local two-legged vermin at bay.”
I nodded, figuring he'd be worth his pay keeping us in fresh meat. “Welcome aboard corporal,” I said, shaking his hand.
The Furman’s had a wagon that was past its prime but looked like it would make the trip. The Stoneways arrived walking, with their bedrolls and what equipment they had on their backs.
“Robert, you and your lads can throw your stuff in that wagon, you'll be driving it.”
“Any last minute needs?” I asked. No one said anything. “Right, let's get to it then. Corporal, head us south, and mark a first camp at about five miles.” He nodded and rode out as everyone mounted and we headed south.
We kept a slow pace for the first few miles, giving the wagons a chance to break down close to the city. After that I picked up the pace, but still kept it easy. We stopped early at the five- or six-mile mark and Range had the cook’s fire going when we arrived.
I planned on moving like we did when I traveled with the caravans. Tomorrow we'd move a little faster, maybe making ten miles.
Sgt Rhodes and his crew set up and had our meal ready in good order. Once Range saw us settled, he rode out — checking around our back trail. I nodded to myself at his diligence.
Those I considered civilians, the non-mercs, seemed tired by the day's travel. I checked the horses to ensure they were taken care of, then looked in on our people.
Furman introduced his wife, Annie, and his daughter Maggie who looked about nine or ten. “A pleasure to meet you.” I said.
“Thank you, Master Rider for this opportunity,” Mrs. Furman replied.
“Glad I could do it, ma'am.”
The food the Rhodes served was a hit, and everyone ate their fill. I had a feeling this was the first real food some had had in quite a while. Just before dark Range rode back in, then stopped by the fire and poured a cup of coffee.
“We got five men following us,” he reported, “and they ain't travelers. My guess is they are thieves’ guild bully boys wanting a 'toll'.”
I shook my head, “It's always something, isn't it?”
He chuckled, “seems like.”
“All right I'll go out to meet them, I don't want them coming into camp in case it gets messy. You kill anyone that gets past me.”
He frowned, “you sure?”
“Yeah, I seem to attract these kinds of people.”
He shrugged, “OK.”
I got up and walked past the mess wagons, and as soon as I was out of sight I stepped into Shadow. I Shadow Flowed out to meet our visitors. They were in a cluster watching our camp. “You boys lost?” I asked.
They spun around to face me, one so fast he lost his balance and fell. “No,” their leader said, recovering from his shock. “We're here to collect the 'toll' for using our road.”
I shook my head, “Normally I would banter with you about how you don't look like King Joseph, but it's been a tiring day. So, if you leave now no one gets hurt.” They all laughed. The Shadows told me Range had followed, and was to my right, bow ready. “That's what I thought.” I took their Shadow Form and they started fighting each other. They all beat themselves into unconsciousness.
Range walked up to me chuckling, “Now that, was a neat trick.”
I shrugged, “It comes in handy from time to time.”
“What’cha wanna do with them?”
“Leave them lying, if they follow us any further, I'll make more permanent arrangements.” He nodded and started back to camp. I Shadow Flowed back to the dark side of the mess wagon and returned to the campfire. I poured a cup of coffee and sat down.
Everyone made an early night of it. The men split the night's watch, I slept out of Shadow, but they kept watch for me.
Chapter 26
It took us a week to reach the place where the rapids started and the border of Rockspire ended. Some 200 feet farther along there was a wide place, so we made camp there. While they were setting u
p camp, I went back to the border line, and stepped into Shadow.
Sitting down, I got comfortable, then reached down into the rock, getting the feel of it. I fixed in my mind what I wanted and then raised a large pillar on one side of the road. On the side facing south I put the crest of Rockspire.
Once I had finished, I returned to our camp. I had been considering whether to start the work on the Rockspire end or on the lake end. Both had advantages and disadvantages.
I decided to begin at the lake end because game would be more plentiful and there was more work to be done on that end.
The first thing I was going to have to do there was to raise a bridge across the river on the southwest end of lake. The wagon path was on the west side, and the beach where I intended to put the warehouses was on the south. The river ford at the south west corner of the lake was too deep for wagons to easily cross.
At our rate of travel, it would be three or four days before we arrived at the lake. I planned to go ahead and hopefully have the bridge finished by the time they arrived. We were sitting around the fire drinking our coffee when I told them of the plan.
“I'll be moving on ahead in the morning. The wagons will take another three or four days to reach the lake, but I want to scout out a camp site and decide where we'll start work when the rest of you get there.” There really was no discussion, everyone just nodded.
The night was quiet, and I rose early and saddled my horse. I grabbed a breakfast of meat and bread and headed out. I set a fast pace and made the lake by early evening the next day. I crossed the ford and set up my camp in Shadow on the east side of the river. It had been a long day, so I ate and went straight to my sleeping mat.
* * *
As I sat eating breakfast, I looked over the lake, cliffs, forest, and the ford where the river left the lake. I took a stick and sketched in the dirt where I thought everything would work best.
I would put the warehouses on the beach, and a town would probably grow up around them. I planned on cutting the canal and locks out of the cliffs on the east side of the river. I would move the trade road over a bridge that would follow the north shoreline around the lake, then sink the existing trade road under water, forcing all caravans to come through my new town.
My first project was to make the ford a little shallower so my wagons could cross with no problems. I walked to the ford and went into Shadow, then sat down and concentrated on what I wanted. My magic must be getting stronger, because it was easier than I thought it would be. It only took an hour to raise the bedrock, making the ford a foot deep over a solid rock bottom.
I walked back to my camp, had a cup of coffee, rested a bit, then saddled my horse. I rode back around to the northeast corner of the lake where the river entered the lake, took us both into Shadow and dismounted. I sat down concentrating while my horse ate grass.
I felt down into the rock, the cliffs, and the river and concentrated on the bridge I wanted, how high, and how long I wanted it to be. I used rock from the cliffs on both sides of the river to form it. The work started slow but moved faster as it progressed. When I was finished forming the bridge it spanned the river and the planned canal area with room to spare. It was wide enough for two wagons to pass each other and tall enough for the tallest of cargo barges to pass under with no problems.
What surprised me was the amount of time it had taken me to do the job. In the past, a job this size would have taken me two, maybe three days. This one took six, or seven hours and I wasn't exhausted, but was extremely hungry. That was enough for one day, so I rode back to camp and ate a huge meal and went to sleep.
Every day while I waited for the rest of my company to arrive, I molded the foot of the northern cliff face into a two-wagon-wide road at the lake's edge. By the time my new workers had arrived I had formed the road a quarter of the way around the lake.
I was working so fast because I wasn't actually cutting the rock, I was just moving or molding it a little.
The Shadows told me the party was almost to the lake, so I stopped and went to meet them. They stopped to look at the new bridge, and road formed out of the foot of the cliff. They were amazed at what I had accomplished in such a short period of time … especially the Stoneways. They had never seen stonework like I was doing. All they could do was “cut” stone; they had never tried anything else.
“We'll come back tomorrow, and I'll show you what I did,” I told them, then led everyone across the river at the ford to the beach campsite. I took the rest of the day off from stonework and helped set up the camp. I was glad to see the mess wagon … I was tired of my own cooking!
After super, everyone was sitting around the fire enjoying coffee. “Now that we are here,” I said getting everyone's attention. “I'll tell you what our plans are. We are going to be logging, but our main project is to remove the rapids from the river, adding a canal and lock system that will bypass the falls and allow barges passage back and forth to this lake.
“From here caravans can move trade goods from all over the Eastern and Southern Regions. We'll be building warehouses for temporary living places, then other buildings as needed. I'II raise a stone quay along this shore for the barges to unload their goods into the warehouse. It won’t be long before a town will grow up around us.”
“So, you’ll be bringing in more workers? Loggers and carpenters?” Jon Furman asked.
I nodded “I will.”
“When you'll allow, we’d like to change over to loggers and carpenters. That our usual line of work.” Jon finished.
“We can do that,” I answered. “Now that you are here my next task is to raise a warehouse. We'll use it as our living space while we work. I'll be heading back to Rockspire to hire a caravan to bring in long-term supplies and more workers. It won’t take long for word to get around about what we’re doing here and I want to be ready to take advantage of it.”
“I take it this job is going to last longer than a few months,” Sgt. Rhodes said.
I nodded, “you'll all have a job for as long as you want it. What I'm building here will continue past our lifetimes, and our children will continue it.” No one spoke for a while — it was a lot to take in.
“Do you know anything about the land south and east of here?” Range asked.
“Not really.”
“There's a reason Rockspire hasn't expanded South. Not only does the narrow gorge and river rapids impede easy access, but there’s also nothing here. It's more than 100 miles to the next city. Those cliff walls encircle the whole of this land.
“As far as I know there are only three ways out. Our gorge here, another one to the south, and a pass in the east. The only thing here is the forest, and the river. Now, if you harvested the timber, sent the lumber out by barge and made farms on the cleared land, that would help you grow.”
Everyone stared at him.” What?” Range asked.
“In all the years I've known you, that’s the most you've ever said. Who are you, and what have you done with Cpl. Range?” Sgt. Rhodes asked. Everyone laughed.
Range shrugged, “I've been saving up.”
“That's kind of the overall plan, it will just take some time to accomplish,” I agreed.
We started our stonework the next morning. I tried to show the Stoneway brothers how to meld stone, but they couldn't do it. But they had no problem cutting stone, so I put them to work forming rocks for the tunnel on the east side of the river, to channel the carnal.
The brothers would cut stone from the cliffs and Shane would load the wagon. Then he would drive the wagon to the west side of the river. The Furman’s were doing a good job laying the cobblestone road. Hanson lent a hand where he could.
It was a slow process, and I realized I was going to have to hire a lot more men. We would only cut the tunnel down to ground level to start. I'd lower the canal later, that way the wagon could haul out the rock with no trouble.
The next week went by fast, working from sunup to sundown. While the Stoneways cut out t
he tunnel, I completed the north shore road. “We need to make a supply run,” Sgt. Rhodes told me at dinner.
“Make a list of what you need, and I'll have a caravan start making a scheduled run,” I replied. “How many more men should I hire?” I asked Hanson.
He thought a moment, “at least ten for the stonework.”
I nodded, “I'll be leaving in the morning on a supply run, if anyone needs anything give me your list.” I had to smile, because everyone wanted something.
* * *
I rose early and flew with Falcon back to Rockspire. I went to my favorite cafe and had a breakfast of coffee and pastries. I sat watching the river flow by, contemplating what I needed to do next. After a while, I thought, “I'm not getting anything done sitting here.”
I went to a merchant house with my list of supplies and made a deal for a caravan to go to Flat Lake. They agreed to leave in two days. Next, I went to the labor yard to hire ten men. Remembering the trouble I had the last time; I found a labor foreman first. Once I had him, he hired ten laborers, who would travel south with the caravan in two days.
I didn't even ask for loggers, since I doubted any would be there, and if they were I probably didn't want them. I found a sawmill outside the city to the north. Rather than renting a horse I Shadow Flowed there — I was getting better at it and could travel quite fast when I needed to.
The sawmill was powered by a water wheel in the river and was quite a large operation. Seeing this gave me an idea, but I wasn’t quite ready to move on it. I hired ten loggers, and five carpenters who would also travel with the caravan.
As I started to leave a fight broke out among the loggers in the yard. No one seemed to be surprised. “This happen a lot?” I asked.
“The fighting?” a man asked. I nodded. “All the time,” he answered. “Loggers are a rowdy bunch,” I said smiling.
That started me thinking that, with as many men as I now had working for me, there were bound to be fights or other crimes. I needed a way to keep that to a minimum. I couldn't create a city watch yet, so I headed for the mercenary's guild house and found the same clerk on duty as before.
Stonecutter's Shadow: A young mage's fight through a fantasy kingdom full of treachery Page 24
