by Guy Antibes
Bellia really didn’t care. She wanted to get on her way. “I’m sure they could be. Want to help bring him in?”
The guard walked to the wagon. “The other’s got some plainsman blood in him, too.” They carried the man back to the cell room. Ulu stayed out and guarded their horses.
“Elika! How did they get you?” the prisoner said from his cell.
“That settles that,” the guard said. They laid Elika down on the floor while the guard unlocked the door. “You can untie him,” the guard said to the other prisoner.
Bellia gave the guard the details of their encounter with Elika. “Do you want the wagon?” the guard asked.
“No. Perhaps the dead man has a family. Here’s the letter with his address.”
“He sure does,” the guard puzzled out the name. “Lingo. Has a wife and a couple of kids. Too bad. Nice man and he helped out the plains folk too.”
Bellia pulled out a few silver Griannan coins. “Perhaps the widow can use some money to get resettled.” The guard’s eyes grew large. “I’ll just write her a letter myself to make sure she’s got the money, right?”
The guard looked a little crestfallen. “Right. I’ll do it. Don’t worry.”
Bellia hoped the guard would do the right thing and not pocket the money.
“Is there a good inn here? My friend and I traveled across the plains.”
“Not many as do that,” the guard said. Most folks travel by ship. You and your man made it across, the two of you?”
“We did with the help of a plainsman.”
“What happened to him?” The guard seemed to expect a gruesome story.
“We left him as the new chief of the Wolf tribe.”
“Ah, go on,” the guard swiped his hand in front of his face.
“Suit yourself,” Bellia said cheerfully as she walked out the building.
“We leave now?” Ulu said as he went back to help Bellia untie the horse string.
“We could. I was so proud of my accomplishments and he didn’t even believe me.” Bellia grinned, and then kicked herself for being so boastful. To her, so far these people had less honor than the Reberrants or the Middab. “However, we get to take another bath.”
Ulu groaned.
They passed the nicest inn and stopped at one that looked a little shabbier but still respectable. Bellia walked into the common room and up to the counter.
“Rooms for my friend and I. Do you have baths?”
“We do,” the innkeeper said. He slapped a towel over his shoulder as he got out his register book.
“Where’ya from?”
“Palubat. It’s been some journey.”
“I’ll bet. How was the voyage?”
Bellia looked at Ulu and then at the innkeeper. “We came across the plains.”
The innkeeper’s eyebrows rose.
“We had a guide for most of it. The last couple of weeks we’ve been on our own.”
“There are bandits all along the mountains. Lucky you didn’t run into any.”
“Actually we did, but it was two against one. The man’s at the guard station.”
“Oh? There’s another bad’un in there.”
“Evidently they’re friends.”
“Well, thanks for helping clean up around here.” The innkeeper shook his head in disgust and then perked up. “Take your stuff upstairs. A locked room is an iron bit extra a night. Bellia handed the man one of her copper coins.
“Is that enough for a deposit? I’d like a locked room.”
“Sure is. You’re staying a week?” The innkeeper took and awl and scratched a mark on the side and satisfied put the coin in his pocket.
“No a night or two. When will the baths be ready?”
“Take your horses around in the back then come back here. I’ll give you your key then. One bath should be ready. Then it’s half an hour apiece.”
Bellia thanked him and walked back outside. She was happy to see trees again. Plains life was an experience, but Bellia concluded best for the Middab and not for a North Wansuan that liked trees.
Bellia walked her horse around back, following Ulu and the pack horse. She was back in civilization with all of its own problems after months in the jungles of Durnna and the plains of Sanreala. Now north to traveling around the mountains and then back west and south to Togolath. They could reach the city in less than a month, weeks before winter would hit.
The pair walked back into the inn. Bellia took the key and they both trudged up the stairs. She took the first bath. It seemed her cares floated away on the surface of the water. She decided to try a little magic, after all. She pulled the three lines into her brain and found the light, except this time she didn’t concentrate so hard. She pointed her finger to a fragment of soap floating in the bath water and thought about lifting it out of the water. She controlled the light in her brain, focusing on paying out the light smoothly and lifted the soap.
It followed her finger up bringing a column of water up along with it. She stopped, but the water kept going up. The fragment reached the ceiling of the bathroom and started to cascade against the ceiling and fall back to the floor. Bellia looked up and tried not to panic. She centered herself again and, with as much calmness as she could manage, lowered the fragment. It worked. The fragment and the remnants of the water column filled the tub up. Water still covered the floor and her clothes were soaking.
A maid’s voice called through the door. “Hey, stop sloshing the water around. It drips down into the kitchen!”
Bellia laughed softly, looking at her mangled left hand. “I don’t need you.” She had more control this time, but she knew the new magic would take a great deal of practice to master.
~
Ulu dressed the next morning in his plains outfit. Bellia looked at him, realizing the little man needed another wardrobe. If he did, then the time had come to add to her wardrobe as well. “We’re going to buy some new clothes for the both of us. I doubt that we can travel freely through Banta with you looking like you are from the plains.”
“I am used to these clothes,” Ulu sang. “We don’t waste such things at home.”
“Then we’ll sell them to the store. I don’t want us to attract more attention than we already have. Reputation is important among the Middab, but I fear it can work against us in Banta and Togolath.”
“I don’t understand.” Ulu sat down on his unmade bed.
“Didn’t the people that I traveled with look funny, dressed as we were, coming into the jungle?”
Ulu laughed. “Invaders always look funny. We often laugh about their ways. They fought against the jungle when they should have embraced it.”
“It’s the same way in Banta. We are the invaders. If we fight against the jungle or the farmers or whoever, we will look funny. In order to fit in, we need to at least embrace the culture a little so we won’t be noticed.”
Ulu nodded his head. “Ahh. It is like we are going after prey. They are not to see us. We are not to wear white to scare them.”
“You understand now?”
“I understand. I will not give up my plains clothes, but I will not wear them.”
Bellia couldn’t help but smile. “Let’s go.”
They walked into a clothing store in Little Water. “We just crossed the plains and we’re in need of new clothes.”
A man, thin and balding, turned around. His eyes grew as he took in the disheveled appearance of the pair. “My, my. Your attire certainly can do with fixing.”
“Something serviceable for travel. Not farmer clothes,” Bellia said.
“I don’t sell ‘farmer clothes.’ They make their own. The town’s general establishments provide them with the necessary cloth and thread. We sell pre-made and tailored attire.” The clerk looked down his long thin nose at Bellia and Ulu.
“We don’t have time to do our own sewing even if we could. So what do you have that we can buy and wear today? We’re riding our own horses.”
“Oh.
Equestrians. Certainly, you will need something sturdy. That will mean separates, not a suit of clothes or a dress. Over here.” The man led the pair to a rack of clothing with a wall full of clothes folded into cubbyholes just behind. Linen shirts and trousers made from re-spun boiled wool. Those are the toughest we have. The material comes all the way from Togolath. We have ladies in a few of the towns produce the clothes.”
“The ladies garments are over there.” He lifted his chin towards another wall.
After a few tries of getting the man to sell Bellia non-descript colors, Bellia and Ulu walked out of the shop with new pants, shirts and small clothes. The shop’s jackets were not right for traveling.
After dumping their new purchases back up in their rooms, they walked over to one of Little Water’s two general stores.
“I need a map from here to Togolath and some travel supplies.”
Ulu gestured to Bellia. She walked over to Ulu and looked at the stacks of clothes, just like they’d just bought. These were tagged with prices.
“Half the price.” Bellia gave Ulu a crooked grin.
“And with less pain.” Ulu said.
“Are there any clothes you want?” the shopkeeper said.
“Leather coats? We’re riding to Togolath and our current clothes are from Palubat.”
“Oh. They’ll never do with winter on our heels. I have good solid cloth coat that’s lined. And we have leather coats with a lighter lining, but you can buy them big enough to wear more underneath.”
“Leather.” Bellia said.
Bellia chose a dark brown leather and Ulu picked out a natural colored coat made for boys.
“Here are your supplies.”
“Have you got any medicines for cuts and bleeding? We ran out.
The shopkeeper looked at their scars and Bellia’s hands. “Had some rough times?”
“I’m a former soldier. All the way from Testia.”
“There are easier ways to get to Togolath than from Palubat.”
“I know.” Bellia gave him a rueful smile.
“Well, we’ve a healer in town. She runs the apothecary, too. Last white house.” He pointed in the opposite direction from the inn.
As Bellia walked into the healer’s house, a bell attached to the back of the door announced her presence. She walked up to the counter and waited. The wall was filled with vials and boxes full of envelopes filled with powders. A woman dressed in a dark blue dress walked into the room.
“Can I help you?” She looked at Bellia’s mangled hand resting on the counter. “My powers don’t quite go that far.” Her brown eyes crinkled a little as she gave Bellia a sickly smile.
“My friend and I have traveled from Palubat to here on our way to Togolath. Our supplies have dwindled. I’m afraid we’ve been in more fights than we’d like. Do you have something that can heal cuts? Deep cuts?” Bellia pulled the pot that contained the blue salve. “We brought this with us. Do you have anything like it?”
She opened the stopper and took a tiny swipe at what was left with her little finger. “This is new to me. Where did you get it?”
“It was given to us by a man from the interior. He said it was a secret recipe. I guess it is.” Bellia showed the nearly healed cut on her hand.
The healer’s eyes grew wide. “Indeed. I don’t know how well this works, but I will trade whatever you need for what’s in the rest of this pot.”
Ulu looked at Bellia. They both shrugged. “Sure.” Bellia handed over the little jar.
“These should do you well.” She pulled out two bottles and a box of powders.
“This bottle will clean the wound. This one is a salve that will help stick the wound together. The powders are for pain.”
Bellia pursed his lips. “Do you know Lily, the healer in Palubat?”
Her expression darkened. “She is a charlatan, a follower of a false god, not Pollok. How do you know of her?”
“She helped me with a dislocated finger. Although her healing didn’t last.” Bellia looked at her mangled hand and tried to give the healer a sorrowful look. “Thank you for you trade.”
She nodded to Bellia. She left the healer’s house as soon as she could.
“Evidently, not a servant.” Bellia said.
“I would that we could have the salve back.” Ulu said.
“There was only enough for a few cuts. We’re better off with this.” Bellia patted her bag. She foolishly thought that all healers would follow the Blind God. “It was fortunate she reacted so foully to Lily’s name. I might have said more than I should have.” The woman’s attitude towards the Blind God disturbed Bellia more than she let on. In Testia, all accepted the Blind God, but few worshipped him. Here the anger reminded her that she needed to be on her guard all the time.
“We do not know who are our enemies and who are our friends in this strange land. I think it best we trust not a one.” Ulu said, reflecting Bellia’s thoughts.
“You’re right. I knew not to trust any of Menna’s crew. Even Menna turned on me. It seems I may be too friendly.” However, to Bellia, it felt right to be amiable and Menna’s suspicious nature towards the end seemed dark and repellant.
~~~
Chapter Twenty-Eight
A Friendly Farmer
~
After so many good miles, their packhorse turned lame in sight of a large stone farmhouse that stood a few hundred paces from the road.
“Perhaps we can find a home for the horse and buy or trade for another.” Bellia said as she turned down the track towards the house.
Bellia walked up steps to the wooden porch of the house. She heard children squabbling inside. A woman answered her knock and opened the door to a crack.
“Excuse me. Our packhorse went lame and we wondered if you or your husband could help us,” Bellia smiled.
“Pilla, go out back and get your Pa,” the woman said. “You need some water? Sit down on the porch and I’ll get you some.”
“That would be nice, ma’am,” Bellia said.
The woman called Ulu to the door and gave him two ceramic cups of water.
“See? They are wise not to trust us, even with our swords tied to our horses.” Ulu said as he put the cup to his lips looking at their horses. Since Little Water, their swords were tied to their saddles, ready while mounted.
“Would you trust your wife by herself in your house in Helevat with invaders at the entrance?” Bellia said.
“No.”
“If she welcomed us in?” Bellia looked at his friend.
“I—”
“You don’t know. I don’t know.”What has happened to me? I can’t even figure how to act with people,Bellia thought.
They sat in silence as Bellia struggled with her feelings. A farmer came around the side of the house. Bellia noticed a ten or twelve year old girl peeking around the corner.
“How can I help you out?” He glanced at the horses and the handles of their swords and then back at them.
“Our packhorse has gone lame and we need to replace it.”
Hmmm. You’ve got plains horses.”
“We’ve come all the way from Palubat on our way to Togolath.”
The farmer snorted. “That’s a dangerous way to come.”
“I had some business with the plains people.”
The farmer walked over to the packhorse and felt the forelock with the knob. “Hot. This leg is inflamed. You’re right. I wouldn’t use this horse to go all the way to Togolath.”
“Do you have a horse we could purchase or trade?”
The farmer rubbed his chin. “I could help you find one in Hossel’s Corners.”
“I don’t think our horses could carry us and the packhorse’s burden.” Togolath was Bellia’s goal, but a few days meant nothing to their trip.
“Three leagues back the way you came and then it’s directly north to Hossel’s Corners. They have the best stables for leagues around. I could take your belongings on my cart, but it’s broken. Truth be told
, I can’t say how I’m going to fix it. I’m no blacksmith.”
“I apprenticed as a blacksmith, why don’t we take a look at it? If I can fix it, I’ll pay you to take our goods to Hossel’s Corners.”
“I can’t say no to that, but you don’t look much like a blacksmith.” He looked at Bellia and she realized he saw a woman adventurer, not a person who’d spend time at smithy. “The previous owner left a small forge. About all I’ve done is heat it up.”
“You have nothing to lose. Let’s go look at what you’ve got.” Bellia put out her hand and the farmer shook it. She knew the man was apprehensive, but Bellia would prove him wrong. “Is there anything my companion can do?”
“I am no farmer, but I am willing to help,” Ulu said.
The farmer smiled. “All right. It’s towards the end of the season, but I have a load of squash to get in. I’m Hal, by the way.”
“My name is Bellia and this is Ulu.”
~
Bellia looked at the open shed. The forge looked sound, but the anvil was a bit undersized.
“You’ve got enough tools for the job. If you have enough stock, we can make it work. Have you got coal?”
“Just got a load last week for winter heat.”
“This is the wagon?” Bellia looked underneath the carriage. The front axle was articulated and the bracket holding the pivot point was broken. “We should be able to turn this upside down and fix it. I’ll need some metal.”
“I’ve got plenty of tools and there are bits and pieces of metal in the barn.”
“Let’s see what we can do. First of all we need to get the forge going.”
The rest of the day Bellia and Ulu brought buckets of coal to the forge area while the forge fire began to burn.
Hal’s wife brought a basket out with food for their evening meal. She still kept her distance from them, but her children had found places outside to look at the visitors.
“We’ll sleep out here by the forge, if you don’t mind. I don’t think it’s quite ready to bank up. I’ll get up a couple of times during the night and we should be ready to shape metal tomorrow.”
Hal looked relieved. As much work as Ulu and she provided the farmer in the afternoon, they remained strangers.
