On the Road Again

“So we killed her and burned the cottage down,” Olive finished with a flourish. “Dead witches tell no tales.”

This wasn’t strictly a true account of our actions, by which I mean it wasn’t true in the slightest. But I thought it was best to let Olive have her moment.

“Ah, excellent,” said Walden Crane, eyes darting to the door. “Most excellent. No need to explain further. Let’s say no more about it.”

“The letter, then?”

“Ah, you know what they say,” he said with great dignity. “I am a bird of my word.”

Walden opened his desk drawer and slid a thick paper envelope over to us. It was addressed elegantly to the Birdfolk Council and sealed with a copious amount of red wax. It was so painstakingly official I could almost taste the bureaucracy. I snatched up the envelope before he could invent another reason to withhold it.

“Thank you, Mr Crane,” said Crispin. “Hath smiles upon you from the shadows.”

Walden looked around nervously. I suppose he didn’t quite appreciate the idea of a powerful Mapach god keeping tabs on him. But, as a bird of his word, he paid us for our troubles and we were again free to continue our quest.

“Thank goodness that’s over,” I said as soon as we got outside.

“A job well done,” said Olive, tossing and catching her full coin-purse with an air of satisfaction.

“If only we could meet more people in need of help,” said Crispin.

Before I could talk to him about how bleak that sounded, we found Eliza waiting for us in the middle of town. She wore her large merchant’s pack and had a well-seasoned walking stick in hand.

“I think your wish came true,” I murmured.

“Hello travellers,” Eliza said with a wide sharp-toothed grin. “It seems my business is concluded here, and I’m finally ready to continue my journey to Alderheart.”

“What a coincidence,” said Crispin. “So are we!”

“Fancy that,” said Eliza. “And there I was all worried that I’d have to find new guards to hire.” She winked. “If you get me to my shop in Alderheart in one piece then I’ll be able to offer you something from my private collection.”

I could almost see the gold coins spinning in Olive’s eyes.

With nothing else to keep us, we said goodbye to the Winnowing Reach and set off on the road to Alderheart.

---

We initially made good time, taking turns with the pack and discussing what we expected to find in the city. The way was well-trodden and we had no trouble with directions.

But during the afternoon of our first day of travel we came across three figures standing in the road ahead of us. There was a Jerbeen with a red handkerchief tied over his face and two Mapach ganged up beside him. One had a pegleg with a tiny foot carved into the end of it while the other had only an eyepatch and a chewed up ear.

“Bandits so close to the Reach,” I muttered. “What is the Wood coming to?”

“Ho there, friends!” Crispin cried, throwing away any attempt we might have made to surprise them.

One of the Mapach tentatively began to wave back.

“Stop it, Babson,” squeaked the Jerbeen and slapped his hand down.

“Sorry, Rochester!” Babson yelped.

“And don’t use the boss’s name when we’re out banditing,” growled the other Mapach.

“Sorry, Milton!”

Rochester cast a withering glance at Babson. I got the impression the poor Mapach was really going to be in for it later. Milton bared his teeth and leered at us from the Jerbeen’s other side.

“It’ll cost you three gold each to pass this way,” Rochester said as we approached. “If you won’t pay then we’ll have to teach you a lesson.”

“Hold on, friends,” said Crispin. “There’s no need for violence. How about I read all your fortunes? That’s got to be worth more than gold.”

The bandits looked unimpressed.

“We’re only interested in fortunes that we can spend.”

“Do you want to try talking them down?” I asked Olive.

“No,” she replied. “I choose violence.”

“Fine by me,” squeaked Rochester and a dagger appeared in his paw. “Get them, boys!”

Eliza ran for cover and the bandits charged towards us, weapons drawn. I drew my axe and saw Olive already had her rapier in hand and was beckoning the bandits closer.

Crispin, however, pulled some old animal bones out of a pouch and tossed them in the air. They fell to the ground where he studied them carefully.

“Beware, Babson,” he shouted. “The bones say you’ll lose your other eye if you strike us. Hath knows your secrets and you shall be exposed!”

Rochester gave a shrill war cry and closed in on Crispin, but somehow he fumbled it and dropped his dagger at the last second. Olive took advantage of the mishap and grabbed the dagger off the ground. She slashed wildly with her rapier, cutting the red handkerchief clean away from his face to reveal a gasp of surprise.

“Don’t— not my eye— stay back!” Babson babbled, waving a loaded crossbow. “Leave me alone!”

There was a sudden twang followed by a small shriek as the crossbow went off in his hand. The bolt flew harmlessly into the woods.

I squawked and let loose my rage. I was going to teach Rochester a lesson he’d never forget.

“Don’t kill him, Plume,” warned Crispin.

I charged at the Jerbeen and hit him with the flat of my axe blade to incapacitate him. Crispin stepped in after me and swung his mace. Completely ignoring his own advice, he bludgeoned Rochester square on the side of his head.

Rochester’s head twisted round with a grotesque crack. His eyes locked with Babson and he crumpled to the floor, dead.

“Oh no,” whispered Crispin.

Olive took the fight to Milton, swiping with her rapier at his peg leg, truly inspiring us with her bravery. Crispin ambled over to help, crunching his way over Rochester’s corpse and swinging his bloodied mace in a circle over his head.

“Alright,” I yelled and set my sights on Babson. “You’re next.”

The brave little Mapach took one startled look at me and turned tail and fled. I began to chase him down, crowing with the thrill of the fight. But Babson was too fast. He dropped onto all fours and scampered off into the trees and away.

Eliza peeked out from behind a rock. “Woah. That was awesome!”

Crispin got started digging a grave while Olive went through Rochester’s pockets. She quickly discarded the pictures of his family but held on to his hat and large hoop earrings.

We let Milton go with a warning and he set off to return home to Saltar’s Port, peg leg in hand.

After that we were shaken enough that we decided to camp for the night, settling down beside the road and getting some well-earned rest.

---

The next day we set off early, refreshed and restored.

As the day wore on we traipsed through the woods and eventually came across a small glade with a pool. The air was cool and the soft buzzing of insects made me feel quite sleepy again. Crispin knelt at the edge of the pool and took a drink, immersing his face fully in the water.

“What’s this then?” said Olive.

She combed through a patch of dirt to reveal a small leather eyepatch, abandoned by the edge of the pool.

“Babson,” I said under my breath. “We’ll find you yet.”

A little further on we came across a loop of rope that had been partially covered with leaves. I followed it through its patchy camouflage and traced it back to its end which was tied to a bent tree branch.

“A crude trap,” I said. “Not made with any real skill.”

“Just as I thought.” Crispin nodded wisely. “I’ll handle this, Plume.”

“If you’re sure,” I said.

Olive and I took a few steps back and let him take care of things.

Crispin spent so long examining the bent back branch that I was almost under the impression he’d never seen one before. Still, he found the right peg to release the tension and knocked it with his mace. The rope sprang up and whipped through the air. Inevitably, it caught Crispin by the hand and pulled him along, yanking him across the path and halfway up a tree before it stopped.

Once we had finished laughing, Olive was polite enough to offer assistance.

“Do you want me to untie you, Crispin?”

“No need to spend time fiddling with knots,” I said, hefting my axe. “It would be much faster for me to cut you down.”

For some reason, Crispin preferred Olive’s offer to mine.

It was in this way that we passed the rest of the day trekking through the woods. We set a watch at night, just in case whoever had set the trap made an appearance, but they left us in peace. I had trouble rousing Crispin for his turn and apparently Olive frightened Eliza by hanging upside down from a tree and pretending to be a bat, but aside from that the night was uneventful.

On the next day we arrived in Alderheart.