She must have been expecting me to continue running because she came around the corner at full speed, sword up to deflect any surprise attack should I have suddenly turned brave.
But the sword couldn’t deflect the bucket full of green, smelly goo that I doused her with.
For a moment, she simply stood there. Then, she unloosed a wordless howl and jumped forward, sword slashing.
I parried and struck back. This time, her sword wasn’t quite as fast, and I managed to knock her back. I pressed my attack, unleashing several blows that caused her to retreat. She stumbled over a loose cobble and fell onto her backside, her hat flying off her head for the first time.
She looked up at me, her face lined with age. Her eyes were like shiny silver coins, no whites, no pupils, just pure silver. At her belt were two old daggers, pitted and rusted with age. I could see the stock of an old crossbow, its wood warped and cracked, poking over her shoulder.
I saw the wrinkles in her face deepen as I watched. Her sword fell to the side, corroded, the wrappings on the hilt coming loose.
She didn’t say a word, and I wasn’t sure that she could.
If she wasn’t a bounty hunter, I might have felt sorry for her as the green goop washed away whatever enchantment was keeping both her and her weapons young. If her true age was catching up with her, she must have been around for long, long time.
But since she was what she was, I didn’t feel bad in the least. Not even when she dried up, her face shrank in, and she toppled over, lifeless, her weapons turning to so much garbage.
She killed a lot of people in her life, I told myself, whether they deserved it or not. It’s different. Not like what I do at all.
I left the alley and went home, glad that I was so close. I’d go out, find Jessup and have a few words with him later. Right now, I wanted another cup of coffee, and maybe think about what it was I was doing with my life.
MORNING AGAIN
“And that was that,” Duke said, sitting back in his chair.
“Hardly,” the young man said. “You still haven’t told us how you got the gun.”
“Well, that was that for the moment. I really am getting tired and need to get some sleep. We can pick this up again in the morning. Come by for breakfast.”
“Wait,” Lilly said. “Before we end this tonight, whatever happened to that goo? It seems like an awfully dangerous thing to be laying around.”
“Oh, that. You don’t have to worry about it. I thought it might come in handy again, so I went back for some more. Got another whole bucket of it and brought it back here, hid it behind the house. But when I went back two days later, it had all hardened up. Got some more, same thing. Soon, the whole vat started to set up. Eventually, it was all hard as a rock and no one thought anything of it when they tore the place down a few years later.”
His grandson looked doubtful. “Are you sure you’re not making this up? That seems pretty coincidental.”
“He’s not,” Lilly said. “Your grandfather’s lived his whole life by lucking into being in the right place at the right time.”
“Well, I’ve had help, too,” Duke said. “You’ll see tomorrow.”
The next day dawned and Duke and Lilly were in the kitchen when their grandson returned. He got a cup of coffee and sat at the table.
“We’re coming to the end of it,” Duke said. “I’ve already told you about meeting Adrian. Well, there was a little more to that story.”
“There always is with you,” Lilly said. “Let’s go, then.”
Duke smiled, and started to talk.
TRAVELING
The morning after the events with the bounty hunter, I woke up myself and feeling great. There were advantages to being in an orc’s body, but I preferred my own. But I was glad I had helped Wulfonson and his family and was satisfied with the way it all turned out.
There was still that lingering feeling about my choice of career, though. Were the nuisances on the Board checked out as they were supposed to be? Possibly, but not very likely. The Watch was busy, and besides, who had the time or inclination to check on every complaint against a goblin or a gnoll?
Maybe I’d start trying to keep more of an open mind and only take the ones that really deserved it. The arsonists, the murderers. Ones like that.
“It’s good to have high ideals,” the voice in my head buzzed, “but right now isn’t the time to indulge them. Right now, it’s time for you to get to the watchhouse.”
I dragged myself from bed, cleaned up, dressed, and went, figuring on grabbing a cup of coffee later.
“At last.”
The voice was almost a sigh. The buzzing that usually came along with it was also softer.
“What are you talking about?” I muttered.
My new friend, Adrian, and I were leaving the watchhouse, heading to the Swordsman’s Edge, the tavern where he would explain his great idea to form a team. Adrian glanced at me when I mumbled, but didn’t say anything.
“Nothing,” the voice said. “Things are falling into place.”
And that was the last I heard of the voice for quite a while. To me, it seemed like the breaks in between hearing it stretched out for a long time, not to mention the length of time it had been since it first showed up in my head. But as I was to find out, it was a snap of the fingers to the voice. No time at all.
We were one hell of a team, Adrian and I. Between us, there wasn’t much that we couldn’t take on, and we got better and better at what we did. Rogue minotaur charging down the street, goring innocent by-standers? Not a problem. Troll rampaging through an open-air market? He was done for.
And as our abilities grew, so did our cockiness. Something that wasn’t lost on Sarge.
“Hey, Sarge,” I said, coming through the door.
“Duke. Where’s your partner?”
“He’ll be here. I wanted to come in and see what we were going to take today.”
“Not much up there you can’t handle now, huh?”
“Nope.”
“You watch yourself,” he told me. “Remember that no matter how tough you two snot-noses think you are, there’s always someone better.”
Snot-noses seemed unfair. We were hardly rookies at this.
“Something you need to tell me?” I asked him.
“Nah. Not really. You two hot-shots have it all under control.”
I couldn’t tell if he was kidding or not. His face gave away nothing, as usual. But his tone of voice didn’t sound like his normal sarcastic one.
“Sarge,” I said. “Really. There something going on?”
He regarded me for a minute, then dropped his eyes back to his newssheet.
“Nah, just thinking of some who aren’t around anymore, that’s all. You and Adrian, you guys are alright. For snot-noses.”
I smiled, rap my knuckles on the counter and walked over to the Board.
Oh, there was some good stuff up there today. No less than three trolls, a whole pack of rabid gnolls, and an honest to god devil-dog. I had never seen one of those on the Board!
I reached out to take the notice down when my head buzzed.
“No, not that one.” The voice was back. It was the first time I heard it in months.
But it wasn’t gone for so long that I forgot what happened when I didn’t obey. I moved over to take one of the trolls, but again, “Nope, not that either.”
I sighed. “Why don’t you tell me, then?” I said quietly.
“None of them. It’s time.”
“Time for what?”
“Wait for Adrian, then go see him.”
“Go see who?” This was getting frustrating.
“Lord Pennywithers. It’s time.”
Now that was a surprise. The voice had expressly forbidden me from going there in the past.
“What’s changed?” I asked.
There was no response. Apparently, I had my orders and I was expected to march to them.
When Adrian showed up I was waiting outs
ide the watchhouse.
“Nothing good?” he asked me, noticing that my hands were empty.
“Not that,” I said. “We have somewhere else to go. Remember that notice I told you about? On the Guild’s door? We’re going to go see that guy.”
Adrian looked at me for a moment, then, “Okay.”
Just like that. No more questions, no debate. Just, “okay.”
The Pennywither estate was huge. The type of huge that makes you realize what a sad little hovel you live in. My whole house could have fit in the foyer that we were let into after pounding on the door and telling the ramrod stiff butler why we were there.
I wasn’t even sure what this section of the city was called. I assumed there were several of these types of homes here, but all we saw as we walked to the far end of Silver Tree Lane and kept going, were walls that stood high enough to keep unworthy eyes like ours from sullying whatever was beyond them.
I already disliked this Lord Pennywithers, and my first sight of him did nothing to alleviate that.
He was a tall, thin scarecrow of a fellow, wearing the type of foppish clothes that only the very rich would be caught dead in. Lots of frills and bows, and immaculately clean. He was beardless, white haired and dark of eye.
Despite my instinctive distrust of he and others like him, those eyes were sharp and focused, and he studied us as he descended a huge flight of stairs leading to upper levels of refinement. We were to be spoken to here, in the foyer of the house, rather than being allowed to dirty any further rooms. I’m sure the butler was on full alert to start scrubbing as soon as we were gone.
“Ah, gentlemen,” he said, as he neared. He didn’t offer to shake our hands and only called us gentlemen because people like him called everyone that, whether they meant it or not. “I must say, this is a surprise. I had the notice posted so long ago that I was sure no one else would answer it. I was considering having it put up once more, but I wasn’t aware of any Nuisance Men left in the city.”
“There’s a couple,” I said, trying to keep my voice respectful.
“So, I see. Well, good. On to business then. I need something recovered. Something precious to my family, but meaningless to anyone else, I assure you. In return, you’ll be outfitted for your expedition and compensated handsomely when you return. Do we have a deal?”
“Not so fast,” Adrian said. “What is this thing? What kind of expedition? And how handsomely?”
Lord Pennywithers sighed, put upon greatly by our need for explanations.
“You’ll each be given a horse, to be returned to this estate when you arrive back in Capital City. The item is a cup, solid gold, heavy with jewels. It holds meaning to this family as an heirloom, nothing more. It has no magic or any other distinguishing properties. You’ll be compensated enough that it would be more lucrative to turn the cup over to me, rather than trying to sell it to someone else. Does that answer your questions?”
I looked over at Adrian. Leave the city? On a horse? No way. Uh-uh. Wasn’t happening. I didn’t care if the voice in my head made me lay down on the cobblestones in front of a carriage, I wasn’t going. I was sure my eyes told Adrian all that and more. We were partners, he knew my feelings on this, and there was no way that…
“You’ve got a deal,” he said, and stuck out his hand.
Lord Pennywithers took it with an air of faint disgust, then turned to me.
I stuck my hand out too and shook hands with the devil who was forcing me to leave my city.
“Why did you say yes?!”
Adrian was ready for my outburst as soon as we left Lord Pennywithers. We were to return there the next day, where Wilshire, his personal valet, would escort us to the stables where we’d get our horses and other supplies. We were to bring our own clothes, weapons and personal items. The rest would be provided.
“Come on,” he said. “Do you really think we have a choice?”
“Wait,” I said, and grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks. “What do you mean by that?”
“You know what I mean. You hear it, too.”
I stared at him. He couldn’t be saying what it sounded like.
“I didn’t know,” I said. “I thought I was the only one…”
“Me, too. But some voice has been pushing me into things for months now. It told me this morning to meet you at the watchhouse and go with you, wherever you went.”
“And if you don’t do what it says?”
“Dizziness. Nausea. Things like that. You?”
“The same.” We were quiet for a minute, then, “Do you think it’s the same voice?” I asked.
Adrian shrugged. “Who knows. If, well, when, you hear it again, say so. If I’ve heard the same thing, we’ll know. I’ll do the same, of course.”
“Huh. Like this whole thing wasn’t weird enough.” We resumed walking, lost in our thoughts, but comfortable in our silence as only two friends who truly trust each other could be. “One of the Nuisance Men did come back, you know.” I finally said.
“Really? Without the cup?”
I told him about the Hidden Knife saga and the fact that the killer turned out to be a former Nuisance Man, corrupted by a black gem.
“Ugh. Well, but we’re a team. We’ll watch out for one another.”
Adrian always was more optimistic than me. Then again, he didn’t have the same innate loathing of leaving the city that I did.
The next day we returned to Lord Pennywithers, where Wilshire waited for us. He was almost as stiff and uptight as his boss, but he led us to stables that housed a multitude of horses in stalls that were nicer than my bedroom. There were a few rarer mounts housed there also, like a pegasus and even a griffin.
Wilshire led us to the very end, where two serviceable, yet unremarkable horses were saddled and stood ready. Adrian vaulted into the saddle like an old hand, while I took more time. First, I wanted to be sure that the horse and I understood each other.
I took his reins and went around to the front of his head, so that he could clearly see me. Tentatively, I rubbed his head in between his eyes. He did nothing but gaze back at me. I think. It was a little hard to tell.
“Now, I’m going to get up in that saddle,” I told him. “And we’re going to go on a trip, I guess. But when it’s done, you get to come back here. So, let’s get along with each other, alright? You don’t throw me off, and I don’t get thrown off.”
He pulled his head back with a soft whinny. I took that as assent, so I moved back around to the side, and after a few false starts, threw my leg over and sat astride him. It felt weird to be that tall, but the horse stayed steady. I patted him on the shoulder.
“Have you ever ridden a horse before?” Adrian asked me.
“Me? Of course. Don’t be silly. Once, when I was little, my dad took me to the Fun Fair. They had horses there that I rode.”
“Are you talking about those little ponies that they keep tied to a big circle? The ones that can just walk around and around?”
“Maybe. But it counts!”
“Just do what I do.”
He shook his reins and gently nudged his heels into his horse’s flanks, and it moved forward. I did the same, but my horse leaped with a snort. I didn’t fall off. Not even close. Really.
“Too hard,” Adrian said. “Go easier. He knows what to do, you just have to tell him it’s time.”
I tried again, easier this time, and my horse moved forward. We spent the next several minutes there in the stables while Adrian showed me the basics of horsemanship. The very basics. The rest I would pick up as we went. Or so he told me. Personally, I felt that our journey was going to go much slower than he was expecting. I simply couldn’t walk that fast.
Wilshire did his best not to appear bored while I got my lessons, but we finally finished and Adrian asked him if there was a nearer gate than the one we were used to. The valet’s expression said all it needed to. Of course, someone of Lord Pennywithers stature, and others like him, had a way in and out with
out having to mingle with the common folk. For this one time, and this one time only, we were to be granted that privilege as well.
I didn’t even comment when I saw that this gate was guarded by the Palace Guard, not the Watch. Adrian and I rode through under their baleful glares and even I was glad to be away from them. I always thought that their only jobs were to guard his Majesty and his family.
And now…. here we were in the great outdoors, riding away from the city that I loved. I turned my head to look back, causing my horse to slow.
“What are you doing?” Adrian asked, slowing his own.
“Looking.”
“I can see that. I mean, why are you doing it?”
“Just in case.”
He sighed. “Cut the melodrama. Let’s go.”
I sighed in return, turned back around and rode on.
We crossed the wide-open fields that surrounded Capital City on three sides. The other side faced the sea, which was also wide-open when you thought about it. It was said that at one time, the forest I could see in the distance grew much closer to the walls, but some ruler in the past was afraid of sneak attack and ordered it to be burned and cut back to its present location. Since that time, a whole legion of workers farmed the area to provide food to the city and kept it open to view.
Not that Capital City had been attacked in a long, long time, but maybe that was one of the reasons why. Either way, it made for easy riding as we followed the western road. Eventually, this road ran into other cities further inland. I hoped we weren’t going that far.
The directions from Lord Pennywithers told us to travel this way, through the forest of Endalaide, and then into Briarwood, the first town we would come to. There, we were to visit the local tavern and get further instructions. It all sounded very mysterious and vague and if I didn’t have someone else sharing my head, I would have turned this job down flat.
On the other hand, a treasure like we were supposed to be getting, and the reward for doing so, would set us up nicely for years to come. But on the other hand, several more experienced Nuisance Men than me and Adrian had already gone after it and disappeared. Then again, they weren’t us.
Duke Grandfather- The Whole Story Page 79
