Part Two: Ashbury
(11 am)
Ale sloshed in brightly painted steins as Lewis– who was fondly called Lew– and Gibbons– whom only Lew could call Gibbs– made their way to the usual spot. Just as they sat David materialized from the aether and occupied the table next to them.
Lew and Gibbons groaned inwardly. They both worked for David’s father, who was a shipping baron. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that David was odd in the creepy sense. He was flabby and a heavy breather. He was decidedly dull yet insisted upon dominating the conversation. He was about the last person anyone would ever want to see.
Despite the ever-present unpleasant aura that surrounded David, Lew and Gibbons felt pity for him and never told him to have off. Almost like they felt responsible for David’s many shortcomings.
“Hey fellas.” David said, “Did you hear the latest rumor? It involves Maybel.” David gave Lew a meaningful look.
“Your rumors are always rot.” Gibbons interjected before Lew could say anything.
“Wait a tick, Gibbs, let’s hear him out.” Lew said.
Looking pleased David continued, “If you’ll remember that guy Trusten, or Thirstin– Tristen…”
“Thurstan, Sir Thurstan.” Gibbons corrected, “That lout from the other night. Pinching the barmaids and demanding fine wine.”
“Yeh, him. Ulf showed up to the bar late last night and said that Thurstan was taking over Woodsea Manor.” David paused to breathe. “Said the whole crew would be out on the streets.”
Gibbons downed his ale. “Hey, David. Could you get me another ale?”
David obeyed and as soon as he was out of earshot Gibbons leaned over to Lew and said, “This is great news!”
“What? How do you figure?”
“Maybel is going to need a knight in shining armor, and that’s going to be you.”
“I don’t know, Gibbs, it seems like taking advantage.”
“There’s no harm in offering a helping hand to a lady in distress. Think about it.”
David returned with a mug of ale for Gibbons and himself.
Gibbons took the beer, stood up and drank it down. “Thanks!” Gibbons glanced at the sun. “Lunch break’s over, back to work. Farewell, David.” Gibbons gave David a mock bow.
Lew took the other stein from David and quickly drank that. “Thanks, David.” He said as he left.
Chapter 1: New Beginnings
(7 pm)
Maybel and Chrissy arrived at the stables with their belongings. Chrissy, having insisted on taking everything she could, had been battling two overfull shoulder bags for the entire quarter mile walk from the manor. Maybel, on the other hand, wanted to be ready to travel anywhere. Her haversack only carried her favorite book– the one about Afsun earth magic– and a change of clothes.
“Careful ya louts. Not you break my vials.” Yassmeen ordered Guy and Ulf as they struggled to load a heavy chest into the handcart. The fellows held their tongues. Despite their many shortcomings and vices, disrespecting elders was out of the question.
Chrissy and Maybel threw their bags onto the cart, happy to only have themselves to carry for the hour hike into town.
Giles came up the path and wasted no time adding his sensibly sized knapsack to the cart. “We need to get a move on. I want to be in Ashbury well before dark.” Any sane person wouldn’t want to be in the woods after dark. “If we’re lucky there will be room for us at the Twin Pikes.”
The Twin Pikes wasn’t the only inn Ashbury had to offer, but it was the only inn that a respectable lady would stay at.
“Where’s Thomas?” Chrissy asked.
“He left without saying a word as is his usual.” Giles answered, not dwelling on the fact. “There’s one more thing before we leave.”
Giles reached into his belt pouch and started pulling out coin purses.
“Consider this your severance pay.” Giles said as distributed the pouches.
Maybel looked inside to find enough coin to fund several months at an inn and decent food to go along with it.
When Giles reached Guy and Ulf he gave them stern looks. “This has to last.”
“Yeh, yeh.” They echoed each other as they swiped their loot.
Giles was left with the purse that would have been for Thomas. He opened it up and began to distribute its contents. Every time a coin was added Maybel dreamed of another thing she could buy. An extra set of underclothes. New shoes. A frilly bonnet.
“With that taken care of, let’s get out of here before Thurstan changes his mind about not hindering us.” Giles said, and the crew obeyed.
Before Ulf could pick up the handcart Yaasmeen jumped on and squeezed between the luggage.
“Not walking.” She insisted.
Ulf shrugged and grabbed the handles. “I ain’t takin’ this the ‘ole way.”
The crew set off, although I can’t really call them a crew anymore. Now they were just individuals who each had to find their own way in the world.
The group didn’t say much as they traversed the rutted trail. With a change so sudden there was much to ponder. Decisions to weigh, anxieties to quell. The coin Giles provided was a blessing, but it would only last so long.
Except for Chrissy, of course. She was deciding between a white and ivory wedding dress and whether she would have lilies or roses for centerpieces. Or maybe both.
“I can hear the song of the last nightingale.” A woman’s voice said.
Maybel started and looked around. Apparently she was the only one that heard. She was walking by the cart and was closest to Yaasmeen. Had she said it?
As if to answer her thoughts, Yaasmeen turned to Maybel. “I ken take you to the sand basin.”
Maybel started again. Yaasmeen would only grunt anytime she had asked her about the Afsun or their magic.
“Really, Yaas? That would be wonderful!”
“I ain’t walking.” Was her only reply.
Maybel had always felt that she held the spark of magic. Getting tested and undertaking the trial had always been a pipe dream, but now it was in her grasp. Her dreams of new apparel were replaced with preparing for a great journey.
When they had reached the halfway point Ulf set down the handcart and started rubbing and stretching his arms. Guy took up the onus without being asked.
Ulf walked up to Chrissy. “I can go ahead and tell Owen you’re comin’.”
Owen was Chrissy’s finance.
“Oh, thank you, Ulf. That would be great.”
Ulf nodded and jogged down the path. His offer wasn’t entirely altruistic, as he had a mean thirst and a cache of coins burning a hole in his pocket.
Chapter 2: Pulling Threads
(4 pm)
David’s father, Shel Spatz, was more than a shipping baron. Shel had transformed the sleepy village of Ashbury into a center of commerce. Goods were transported from the port town of Cloud Harbor, which lie 30 miles east, to one of the many warehouses Shel owned, and Shel owned all the warehouses. The Merchants Guild, which Shel was the local Guildmaster of, would oversee the distribution of the goods throughout the Nordholt kingdom. This was a lucrative setup for Shel as he would reap profit from every item that passed through his warehouses. Though the Spatz family blended in well enough, no one thought to question how a person that was not of Nordfolk blood managed to acquire so much property and influence.
Lew and Gibbons only worried about filling their bellies as they received their pay after a long day of schlepping crates and barrels around.
“Come on Lew, let’s clean up and then head to the Pikes.” Gibbons said as he flipped his pay in the air.
“You want to clean up?”
“No, you want to clean up. Maybel could show up at any minute.”
“Oh, this again. Didn’t you say David’s rumors are “rot”?
“I did, didn’t I?” Gibbons mused. “Then we’ll have to make a side trip to the clothier shop.”
With plans set Lew and Gibbons left the warehouse and walked to their shared tenement that Shel provided. It was conveniently located right next door to their place of employment and inconveniently also located right next door to Shel’s main office. This put a real hamper on skipping out on work to go fishing.
Lew examined his face in the small mirror above the basin. He wasn’t one to give much concern about his looks, but as he studied his patchy beard and unruly hair he began to reconsider that lack of concern.
Lew took up the straight razor and sliced off the whiskers. He then trimmed up the hair around his ears. He examined his cleanly shaven face. Blue eyes contrasting with dark umber hair. His strong jaw was no longer hidden.
“Not bad.”
“Now, don’t go gettin’ too cocky.” Gibbons teased. “And hurry up, the girls will be closing up shop soon.”
Lew put on his nice vest over a clean linen shirt.
“Let’s go.”
***
“Hello ladies!” Gibbons said as he walked into the clothier shop.
“Gibbs, we’re fixin’ to close.” Eva complained. I guess pretty redheads were also allowed to call Gibbons “Gibbs”.
Tille looked up from her sewing machine. “Oh hi, Lew. You look nice.” she said and turned back to her machine before Lew could see her blush.
Catlin stuck a pin into its cushion, “ I ain’t going to darn your one pair of stinky socks you been wearing all day.”
“Ah, but I have two pairs of socks.” Gibbons countered and produced a bottle of strong mead from his knapsack. “I was hoping to exchange some information over a drink.”
The girls started tittering and grabbed some glasses.
Right now you might be thinking that ol’ Gibbs is the best pal ever. Truth was, Gibbons used any excuse to visit the clothier shop. He had a crush on every one of the girls. Foxy Eva, mousey Tille and Catlin as mean as an asp.
Eva took the bottle from Gibbons. “Yeh, it’s true about Woodsea Manor. Last night Ulf was just about upset as I’d ever seen him. He wasn’t foolin’, that rat Thurstan is takin’ over.”
“Thurstan ain’t so bad. Just a spoilt brat that needs a spanking.” Catlin said.
Eva eyed Catlin suspiciously. “Anyway, they haven’t shown up at the inn, if that’s what you’re wonderin’.”
“Hey, Lew.” Tillie said. “How about we get a drink with me so Maybel will get jealous when she sees us.”
“I’m not doing that!” Lew scrubbed his hair. “Does everyone in the whole town know that I like Maybel!”
Gibbons slapped Lew on the back and laughed. “Everyone knows. And we’re all here for you, brother.” He shoved a glass into Lew’s hand and sat him down on the couch.
“I’ll go get some snacks!” Eva proclaimed.
Suddenly the girls weren’t in a hurry to leave.
Chapter 3: The Other Door Opens
(8 pm)
Maybel savored her luck. Although it wasn’t really luck, rather circumstance. Mainly the circumstance of being female. July was peak hunting season for red deer and the inn was stuffed to the gills. Guy, Ulf and Giles had to share a room with at least three other guys, but the innkeeper wouldn’t dream of putting a “lovely young lass” with the likes of the hunters. The room reserved for the well-to-do types was vacant and rented to Maybel at the regular rate. Of course she could be kicked out at any time, but Maybel intended on leaving as soon as possible.
When the group had gotten into town everyone began to go their separate ways. Yaasmeen was dropped at the building where the Asfun apothecarist, Najwa, lived. Chrissy derived great pleasure from watching Guy and Ulf lug the heavy chest up three flights of stairs, but when Owen showed up Chrissy became as sweet as a bluebell. He shouldered her bags and they wandered off together. Finally at the sables Giles paid for the handcart to be stored “until further notice”.
Maybel played with the purse of coins, enjoying the sound of the clanking precious metals. She never had her own money before. She had worked for Lady Ariana for five years, since she was 14. Before that, Maybel had been a foundling, left at a church in Cloud Harbor where she was raised.
Maybel selected a thin copper coin from the purse. “I’m going to have a servant draw me a bath!”
As Maybel made her way to the bathroom she spied Giles talking to the barkeep, who was quite handsome. She waved to Giles, but her real intention was to get the barkeep’s attention. Perhaps Chrissy was right about getting a boyfriend. She would need a man to protect her on her journey after all.
***
Giles waved back at Maybel and blessed her timing. Turning back to the barkeep, a sturdy man named Odet, he continued, “As you can see, I think of Maybel as a daughter and want to protect her best interests.”
Odet filled up a tankard and handed it to a pretty serving maid. “Far as I know the only man with an eye on Maybel is a fellow named Lewis Hopewell. Decent enough chap. Works in one of Spatz’s warehouses.”
Giles sipped his perry wine. “That is a relief.”
“Don’t ya worry, mate, we all look after each other round here. The unsavory sort that pass through know that this ain’t the place for them.”
“You have greatly reassured me. Thank you.” Giles placed a coin on the table and moved to a secluded part of the tavern. Guy and Ulf not playing dice in the corner didn’t escape Giles’s notice. Perhaps they had taken his advice. Or perhaps they were gambling in one of those places that the unsavory sort frequent. Either way, Giles wouldn’t be seeing either of them again.
***
(12 am)
Lew’s eyes creaked open. Then shut again so he could scrub the crusty sleep from them. He sat up and realized he was above the covers fully clothed, his clean shirt now rumbled. At least his shoes were off.
Lew saw light seeping through the door and heard the scrape of chair legs on the floor. He got up and joined Gibbons in the main room.
“How bad was it?” Lew asked.
Gibbons finished chewing a hunk of bread and laughed. “You passed out on the couch after three swigs from the bottle. You should probably stay away from strong drink.”
“Probably.” Lew sat and grabbed his own loaf of bread and slapped on a generous slab of butter to assuage his feeling of foolishness.
There was a rapping at the door.
The two friends looked at each other. While it wasn’t unheard of to have someone show up during the watch, it wasn’t a regular experience either. Gibbons shrugged and answered the door.
What stood there was about the last thing expected, an old Asfun woman wearing a deep blue chador.
The old woman did not wait to be invited in. “Which is Lewis?” She asked as she took a seat at the table.
“That’s me.” Lew answered.
The old woman stared at the space around Lew. “See it, yes.” She said and before the guys could wonder what she wanted them to see, she unceremoniously planted a pouch of coins in the middle of the table.
“What’s this about?” Gibbons asked, hoping some of that money was for him.
“You, Lewis, take Maybel, me, to the sand basin.”
“You want me to take you– and Maybel– into the desert?”
“Yes.”
Lew sat there stunned. This level of dumb luck shouldn’t have been possible. Little did he know that it wasn’t dumb luck at all, rather circumstance. Mostly the circumstance of being a person of interest regarding an ancient prophecy, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Yaasmeen pushed herself off the chair and headed out. “Build a wagon.” She said before she shut the door behind her.
“That was about the queerest thing I’ve ever seen.” Gibbons declared. “I don’t think I’m going to get back to sleep tonight.”
Chapter 4: Rolling Wheels
(7 am)
Maybel enjoyed a fresh pastry in front of the inn in the cool morning air. The bread was flakey and filled with a tart hawthorn jam. She watched the travelers setting off and workers hurrying to their jobs. Children were running hither and thither. A sot that had passed out in the common room was being chased from the premises. All expected early-morning activities of a busy inn.
What wasn’t expected was seeing Guy emerge from the inn, looking alert and well rested to boot.
“Guy!” Maybel shouted.
Guy walked over to Maybel and sat beside her. “I thought about what you said. I’m going to go get a job at the coal mines.”
“That’s great!” Maybel tried to sound enthusiastic.
They both knew it wasn’t actually great. Back breaking and dangerous work in the trenches was not the walk in the park that working for Lady Ariana had been. Still, he would earn a good wage and be availed of the temptations that idle hands bring.
“Yeh. I suppose.” Guy replied.
“Are Giles and Ulf still sleeping?”
“Ulf is. I haven’t seen Giles since yesterday.”
“That’s odd. I hope he’s ok.”
“I’m sure he’s fine. I get the feeling he’s up to something that he doesn’t want us to know about.” Guy stood. “I gotta go.” With that he left.
Maybel never considered the possibility that Giles could be hiding something, but after she questioned the inn workers she found out from the baker that Giles had left with a bag on his back before dawn. She must have looked quite doleful for the baker gave her an apple tart.
As Maybel was leaving the kitchen she almost tripped over a small figure. Maybel recognized Yaasmeen’s blue chador before the woman’s weathered face looked up at her.
“Passage is arranged. Prepare with haste.” Yaasmeen took Maybel’s apple tart and shuffled away.
Maybel just stood there, too excited to be mad about the pilfered pastry.
***
Lew was the kind of guy that would always do favors but never ask for them. It was time to ask. Frank the cartwright was all too happy to assist with building the wagon. More like it was Frank who built the wagon while he ordered Lew around like an apprentice.
A rugged fur trapper named Toby gave advice on surviving in the wilderness and loaned him a scrappy alaunt named Tullymully. You wouldn’t want to get on Tullymully’s bad side.
No one could help Lew tell his boss that he would be gone for at least two months. Shel was an intimidating man and Lew was prepared to get his head chewed off. Instead, Shel was understanding and even curious about Lew’s trip. Shel assured him that he would have a job when he returned and wished him the safest of travels.
Everything had fallen perfectly into place and Lew saw nothing but smooth roads ahead.
***
“Did anyone see you?”
Gossom Lynx laughed, it was the sound of dried-up forests. No human could see him when he did not want to be seen.
As Gossom pulled his hood down Shel regarded him with disgust. Gossom was the combination of every undesirable feature Shel possessed intensified to the extreme. A bulbous forehead, fleshy lips the color of a corpse. His nose was so hooked that it nearly touched that dead mouth. And the smell. Shel likely felt this disgust because he would look like Gossom if it hadn’t been for generations of, often forced, interbreeding.
Gossom was physically weak, but no less dangerous for it.
Shel swallowed his revulsion as Gossom’s rheumy eyes bore into him.
“An old Asfun woman is taking a young Nordfolk couple into the desert basin. It could be nothing. I have doubts that it is nothing.” Shel reported.
Gossom licked his cracked lips. When he spoke his voice was shockingly nasal, “Tell me their names.”
“This was reported to me by my employee, Lewis Hopewell. The young girl’s name is Maybel. I do not know who the Asfun woman is.”
“Is Maybel an orphan?”
“I, I do not know.”
“Find out. Find out everything!”
Gossom pulled his cloak back up and oozed into the night.