by Aaron Thomas
He then noticed a plate of bread and cheese on the table and started eating with the young wizard. “You’ve done well. I didn’t believe that you would be able to energize or heal so well. I thought that I would have to eat and wait a while before I healed Erica myself. You should be proud. This is the only lesson you will get tonight. You will be able to energize your horses and friends as well as heal parts of their bodies. This will come in handy in the upcoming days. Take every opportunity to practice this.” He popped a piece of cheese in his mouth. “I will show you how to subdue your sister in the morning. You will have to watch closely because I will only have enough energy to do it once.” Kilen nodded to the wizard with a mouth stuffed full of bread. “We will have to send Bowie to find the supplies while we rest. So you will need to energize him before we retire for a couple hours sleep.” The plate was empty and Erica had long since gone to bed. The wizard helped Kilen return to the room to find Bowie asleep on the floor. Kara was still fast asleep on the pallet and there was a comfy bed totally empty. The wizard roused Bowie and explained all the equipment they needed, Kilen took his sword in one hand and grasped Bowie by the side of the neck. Bowie shivered when he did, and Kilen felt the renewing strength rush into Bowie. The healing was coming faster each time he tried. When Kilen let go he saw a twinkling of lights in his vision that he was sure wasn’t from any type of magic but made from exhaustion.
“You work fast, I feel great. I’ll get your stuff and meet you in the stables in the morning. I’ll need more gold though.” Kilen handed Bowie the entire purse of gold hoping that would help with the cost, and that he wouldn’t find a set of clothes as fine as a lord’s in his new saddle bags come morning. “By the way, where did you learn to do that?” Kilen pointed his chin at the wizard already climbing into the comfy bed. Bowie took the coin purse full of money and left the room. Kilen knew there was short time before the sun began to rise, and that he had better get some rest. He laid down on the pallet beside his sister and his thoughts wandered about the change his life had taken. He himself wouldn’t have believed this was his life now, even if he was told by a fortune teller. If he had, he probably would have demanded his money back. He watched as the water in the air gathered around the lamp. The wizard smiled at him before gathering water at the lamps wick plunging them into darkness. Kilen let his mind wander at the trials that he had been through that night until sleep took him.
Bowie departed the room letting the Kilen and the wizard fall asleep after their training session. He went to the bottom of the stairs and saw Erica cleaning the bar in the front room. The Inn was empty except for her and the hired thug sleeping on a stool at the front door. “Do you not need sleep after a full day of Springfest?,” he asked her.
“Your friend gifted me energy and healed my body. I feel as if I have slept a week. Is there something I can help you with my lord.”
“He did the same bloody thing to me! Does magic always make you that cold?” She shook her head no. “I am not a lord, I’m sorry I deceived you and your mistress here.” She nodded her head in response. He noticed her casting small glances at him as she cleaned the dishes behind the counter. “I could use a plate of food before I leave for supplies, if you have any handy that is.”
“I will bring you some stew left on the fire for early morning risers such as yourself. Can I offer you directions for the city?”
“No, thank you. I have traveled through Basham a time or two. Just the food if you could, and ale. I have a feeling it will be awhile before I am able to indulge myself in a mug again.” He watched her clean as he ate his meal. He knew Kilen had to make some of the hardest decisions he had ever made. Kara was in a fight for her life. If town’s folk on the road knew she was a fire wizard, she would be dead as soon as they could accomplish it. Kilen would be lucky to get her to the Earth Realm, let alone to the King himself. Bowie would have to go with him, and insure both their safety. He looked over the coin purse in his pocket and what Kilen had given him. The money was still quite a bit short of what it would take to get a room in each town and for supplies along the way. They would have to find a dice game or two and see if they can make some more for the trip. He decided that would have to wait. They would be off before long.
Bowie knew that he would need to get horses first. He left the inn tipping his hat to Erica as he ducked out the front.
The town was much larger in size than Humbridge and had the money to show it. Each house in town was thatched and had walls made of stone. The streets were cobbled but with new stone to replace the old instead of leaving holes in the streets. He always felt richer as he walked through the streets of Basham. The town was the last guarded city before reaching the Earth realm. A lot of trade went through this town, and Bowie loved to find a good bargain here. As he made his way through the town he passed a fletchers storefront. There were signs posted on the edge of the fletcher’s range to the side of his store.
Archery Contest at First Light on Springfest
One gold crown per entry
Winner Takes All
He wished he had been in Basham the day before. He would have won that contest and could have spent the rest of his days living as a lord in Humbridge. The old fletcher came out of the storefront to take down the sign, sitting by his practice range.
“How did the contest end, good sir?”
The old fletcher looked Bowie up and down taking in the clothing that he wore. He probably assumed he was a young lord. “A townsman won forty-five crowns, twas more than the wizard made in Basham this year given blessings and such. He won using Crescent arrows. I have to admit they are better made than my own. I do have some for sale if you be interested, my lord.”
“I use only crescent arrows when I shoot. Unfortunately, I didn’t know about the contest. I think I would have made a pretty good challenge for him since I’m the best shot in Humbridge.”
“I know the winner milord. If you think you could challenge him, he’s always up for a bet, when it comes to archery that is. He’s the one that suggested this contest and it brought me a pretty penny in sales yesterday. I could arrange for him to meet you here today. Of course you’ll want to be using Crescent arrows, and I have some to sell if you need some.” Bowie ignored the second prompting to buy his own arrows.
“I have to leave town just after first light. If you can arrange him to meet me here, then I would gladly give you a tenth of the winnings.” The fletcher turned his head and rubbed his chin while looking at Bowie, then smiled a toothy smile.
“I do know to rouse him from his bed this morn it will have to be a pretty hefty bet milord. I can’t rouse him for less than probably twenty crowns.”
“So make the bet at twenty crowns, best of three arrows each. I will be back at first light with crowns in hand.” The fletcher scrambled into his shop and out came an yawning apprentice and sent him running off through the street still buttoning his shirt. Bowie made the arrows the winner shot with, and he personally had one of the best made bows in the realm. He had as good a chance as any to beat this archer, and this was a far better gamble than dice or cards. However, Bowie had other needs to attend to this morning. He moved down the road with a grin on his face at solving a problem they had, money.
The city streets were full of bottles and mugs dropped by their owners. A few of the owners still lay in the gutters sleeping off a night of festivities. He thought more toughs ought to be out running them off but was sure they were in the same condition. He walked past a city guard patrolling the streets and tipped his black hat. “Know where I can buy a horse?” The guard pointed and continued on his patrol. Bowie tipped his hat to the guard’s back anyway, partly out of sarcasm, partly out of his upbringing.
He found the stables by the smell of horses and sounds of shovels on the ground. The groomsmen were already up brushing and feeding the horses. Daniel had always told them, if you find a stable with groomsmen brushing and mucking stalls before first light you would likely find healthy and d
isease free animals. Bowie walked along the shoots and looked at each horse until a stable boy eyed him looking and ran off to find the stable master. A burly man approached and straightened his fine jacket over his wool shirt, then continued picking the remains of his morning meal from his teeth. “Looking for a lost friend young lord?” he said offhandedly.
“I have need of making some new ones today. I am in need of two horses for traveling a great distance. Do you have any that can be made ready before first light?”
“Moss, fetch me the piebald and the skewbald. I have two for sale, my lord. They will cost two gold crowns each, but they are worth the price.”
“Let me look them over first sir, and I’ll see if they are indeed worth two gold each. Of course I’ll need saddles, good ones, feedbags, water skins, tack also. I’ll be making you an offer on the whole lot.” He nodded in agreement. Bowie had lords and travelers look over his arrows and strings, testing them, and breaking them to find their worth. They always set their own price and it showed that they knew their business. If they didn’t ask to test them he would usually get more than they were worth, just by using his last name as a guarantee of the fine craftsmanship. He hoped that in the past the stable owner had the same experiences so that he didn’t end up overpaying for the horses. Bowie walked out to the training ring and watched the stable hands walk the two horses around. Bowie made sounds as if he was considering their walk. He ran his hands over their flanks and checked their teeth, and lifted the feet to check the shoes. He made sounds of approval in some spots and disapproval in others. “These will definitely get me to the King, but I would have hoped for a larger animal. These seem to be short on strength for endurance. If these are the best two you have I’ll take them for one and a quarter each.” The owner started to object but Bowie cut him off, “I’ll give you another one and a half for the saddles, equipment, and tack. In addition, I’ll be sure to stop in here if I am ever in need of more horses, mind you I live in Humbridge. In my travels if I am asked about either horse I’ll tell them of your establishment and how honest of a trader you are and a personal friend. Is that a deal sir?”
He put a wad of tobacco in his pipe and stuffed it in with his thick thumb, “I don’t know if I want to be known as your personal friend. I don’t know you from any other lord in this town. The price stands at two gold each, and two for your other needs.”
“Let me introduce myself then. My name is Bowie Crescent.” He tipped his hat at the burly owner.
“Crescent, eh? You said you live in Humbridge so you must be the arrow maker’s son. Perhaps I should reconsider if you will be riding one of my horses.”
“Actually my father is a butcher which works out well since I can sale most of what I hit with my arrows.” He looked Bowie over again and thumbed the tobacco in his pipe as if considering him in a different light.
“I shouldn’t be taking this low of a price for these two. With Springfest here I can make two and half gold on each.”
“Springfest is over for another year. How much money will it cost you to feed and keep these two healthy until you find a buyer? With one so handily available as I, that cost will be on me. Is it worth the cost and trouble to you?”
“Boy if you’re not the arrow maker I have to say that you’re still a businessman. I see you know how to negotiate, as I hates to see these go for so cheap. I must make ready stalls for a new stock. They will be yours before first light, packed and ready to ride.”
“Four gold then?” he said holding out his hand.
“Four gold.” the stable master said reluctantly taking his hand. “You had best be mentioning my name, Brian Howl.”
“Can you have one of your stable boys run them over to the fletchers? I have a bet to beat the man who won that archery contest yesterday. Best of three arrows for twenty gold crowns.” The stable master cocked his head to the side and smiled.
“They will be there, and I’ll be there also. He took a gold crown from me, so it will be nice to see it taken from him.” Bowie departed the stable and moved from one shop to the next, gathering clothes, a tent, food, packs, oil, candles, paper, ink and other such supplies. At each shop he would ask for the supplies to be brought to the fletchers and told them of the contest.
When he arrived back at the fletchers, the archery range had quite the gathering of people. A man stood on the range with Crescent arrows sticking out of his quiver. He had black hair cut short and had a guardsmen uniform on. Bowie could see people were already starting to take bets on who the winner would be. Bowie would be the long shot since this man had already proven that he could win a tournament. He approached the betting men and put ten gold crowns down on himself to win. This made the betting go into a frenzy, everyone wanting a part of the gold. Bowie then approached the fletcher and his apprentice. “Can I ask you another favor sir?”
“You can, milord. I have already made more in sales than I did on an average day because of your challenge.”
“I ask that you would send your apprentice here to fetch my horse at the wandering spring. The horse has a large supply of Crescent arrows that I will sell to you at a decent price. I would ask that you go and take your Crescent arrows off the shelf and hold on to them as if they are a very rare item. They are about to increase their worth to everyone in this town.”
“Why would that be, my lord?”
“Trust me in this. I’ll let you return to selling them right after this contest, if you wish to then.” Bowie held out his hand and the shop owner shook it in agreement. “Tell the stable boy at the Wandering Spring to get Charger for Master Parker’s friend. He will know which horse to bring.” Bowie turned to the archer field then and strung the bow he had on his back. There were two targets at the far end of the range painted with colored circles red in the center, blue, yellow, and green on the outside. The targets were a man’s height and made of woven straw. He approached the man standing in the middle of the field. “Good day sir, my name is Bowie. I’m the challenger. I hear you made a pretty good show of it yesterday.”
“You woke me from my sleep for this boy, show me the twenty gold crowns so we can get this started.” Wanting to get right down to losing your gold, Bowie thought in his head. I understand, lose the gold and spend the rest of the day drinking the misery away. Bowie smiled at him and pulled out Kilen’s coin purse and counted twenty gold crowns into his hand as the guardsman watched. He placed them back when he was finished and re-tied the purse. The guardsman did the same and then strung his longbow. “I’d rather not lose a lot of these Crescent Arrows so l will go first, and if you can’t beat my shot in three I’ll take my coin and leave.” He didn’t wait for Bowie’s acknowledgement; he pulled back the bow and took aim at the target. They were standing about fifty paces from the target, it would be an easy shot to the center from here. He let loose his arrow and hit the target. His arrow landed in the blue ring touching the space between that ring and the red circle. Bowie nodded and turned away from the target. He wanted to make sure that everyone saw just how much better he was than the guardsman. He walked ten paces farther away from the target as the crowd that had gathered started to divide up the winnings. Bowie pulled an arrow from his quiver and inspected its fletching. Then he took aim. He made sure not to aim at dead center, he did want to give the crowd a show. He let the arrow fly and it hit near the other mans arrow but in the red circle touching the space in-between.
In order for the guardsman to beat that arrow, he would have to make his second shot from the same distance. He turned to walk out and gave Bowie a disgruntled look before he finished the distance. He took out his second arrow and took a more careful aim this time. When the arrow hit the target it was still no closer than his first. “Maybe I should have made the first shot so you knew what you were up against,” Bowie said taunting him. If he got angry it would hurt his aim, and insure Bowie’s win. The guardsmen took his third arrow out and inspected it and placed it in his bow. The crowd that had been so quick to bet again
st Bowie was at the side lines watching; sweat began to trickle down their brows as if the sun was in the sky at its peak, and the heat was blazing down on them. He released the third arrow, and it struck farther out than the first two arrows. The crowd started to get angry and take back their bets, but those who had bet for Bowie were holding their own. Bowie took a second arrow from his quiver and gave it to the guardsman. “Seeing as though you didn’t know what you were up against perhaps you should take another shot. Those are the same Crescent arrows that you use. They’re a bit better because they’re my own personal stock, and to make myself clear I made the ones that you already loosed,” Bowie said smiling at him. The guardsman looked at the arrow in his hand and then back at Bowie.
“The Master Fletcher Crescent is a boy, I should have known. I’ll not be taken pity on by you. You won fair and square.” He handed the arrow back and untied his coin purse and handed it to Bowie. He tied it next to Kilen’s and made his way back to the fletcher followed by the guardsman. “By the way, my name is Ross. I’m the King’s sergeant of the guard here in Basham. The King has asked me to purchase any war supplies that are exceedingly good in quality. I think I would like to employ you as a fletcher for the King himself, if you’re interested.”
“Thanks but I do well enough on my own. I’ll remember your name though in case I am ever in Basham and I have a dozen or two to sell. I thought you ought to know I am about to sell some to the fletcher here. It will be the last of my supply for quite awhile, I’m afraid.” He nodded and made his way out of the range pushing past the mad gamblers he had obviously beaten in the competition yesterday. Bowie was now standing at the far edge of the range from the target. He took the arrow the guardsman had handed back and took careful aim at the target. The bow let out a distinctive twang that silenced the angry gamblers. The arrow struck the center of the target. While Bowie retrieved his arrows from the target he noticed the winnings being separated without argument. Bowie then collected his winnings and thanks from the crowd. When he turned he saw the stable master with the piebald and the skewbald. Bowie paid him the four gold plus a couple silver marks for his delivery. He saw all the rest of the supplies he had ordered gather around the horses. He paid out each shopkeeper and provided a tip for each. The fletcher’s apprentice returned with Charger, whose bags were full with Bowie’s supplies to be sold here at Basham. The fletcher was surprised to find that Bowie had made his store’s best quality arrows. The fletcher had even tried to sell Bowie his own arrows. He agreed that the arrows would be worth twice what he was already charging for them, due to Bowie’s performance. The Fletcher bought what stock Bowie would sell him, leaving Bowie with two dozen arrows. When all the business was finished Bowie mounted Charger and led the two other horses back to the Wandering Spring. He had started out today thinking that they needed to bargain for every sliver of copper, and returned with a coin purse twice the size he had left with. Bowie could already tell that it would be a good day. He plucked a flower from a window planter and breathed of it deeply as he walked his bounty back towards the Wandering Spring.
