A Warden Born Page 6

  “Hello, master and your ladyship. I’m Pip and I will look after your horses,” said the boy.

  “Thank you,” said Finn.

  Pip held the reins in one hand and held out his other. Anna dropped two coins into it.

  “Thank you, my lady. I will feed and rub down your horses. They will be ready for you when you leave.”

  Chapter 9

  Finn and Anna entered The Bronze Perch Inn through a back door, which opened into a short hallway that joined the main taproom. A long bar, with its bench top made from a thick slab of dark wood, ran the length of one wall. The room had two blazing fireplaces, and a large, bronze fish hung over the bar.

  Even at that early hour, a dozen patrons sat at tables, drinking. Finn stood in the doorway and surveyed the room. No one paid them any attention. An old, grizzled man stood behind the bar and polished the wooden top. A solidly-built man was half-asleep on a stool beside the front door with a cudgel hanging from his belt.

  That must be the hired muscle.

  They went to the barman and Finn cleared his throat. “Excuse me, sir. I am looking for someone,” he said.

  “Across the street and two doors down—you can’t miss it,” said the barman, without looking up from his polishing.

  “What?”

  “The brothel is across the street and two doors down,” said the irritated barman. He looked up from his task and noticed Anna. “Beggin’ your pardon, ma’am. Sorry, I thought you were looking for the… never mind. How can I help you?”

  “We are looking for a man call Jonas Kalher. Do you know him?”

  “Yeah, I know old Jonas,” said the barman suspiciously. “What do you want with him?”

  “I am a warden from Freewater, and… I have business with him. Have you seen him recently?”

  “He was here last night.”

  “Is he still here?”

  “Nope. He left early this morning.”

  “Did he say where he was going?” asked Anna.

  “Are you a warden too, Miss?” Anna shook her head and the barman continued, “He just said he was looking for someone. Sadler might know something more—they spoke last night.”

  “Who?”

  “The bouncer, by the front door,” the barman indicated with a nod.

  “Thank you, sir,” said Finn. They approached the sleeping bouncer, who didn’t notice.

  “Excuse me, Mister Sadler?” said Finn.

  The bouncer stirred from his slumber and looked up at them. “What you want?” he said in a deep voice. “I am not Sadler.”

  “I believe you are looking for me,” said a voice from behind them.

  Finn turned to see a woman seated at a table, sipping on what looked like a cup of tea. He had mistaken her for one of The Bronze Perch’s patrons. She was tall for a woman, had broad shoulders, and was muscled. A long, thin scar ran across her cheek and spoke of a rough life. Sadler took a sip of her tea and waited for him to continue. Finn noticed that her knuckles were scarred.

  She looks like she can handle herself.

  “Well?” she said, “I am Sadler. What do you want?”

  “Did you speak to Jonas Kalher last night?”

  “Aye. What of it?”

  “Do you know where he is, now? We urgently need to speak to him.”

  “What if he doesn’t want to speak with you?” asked Sadler. “Maybe you are lookin’ at causing him some trouble.”

  “Ma’am, I am a king’s warden from Freewater. I need to find him—it’s urgent.” Finn stood a little straighter.

  “Okay, keep your shirt on, pup. He left here early this morning. He needed to speak to one of his contacts before he headed east, toward the mountains.”

  “We came from the east this morning. We didn’t see him.”

  “I thought Freewater was north of here? He might still be in town, for all I know,” she smiled. “He doesn’t normally broadcast what he’s up to. Well, not to me, anyway—I’m only an acquaintance.”

  “Thanks for your help, ma’am.” Finn turned to leave.

  “Kid,” said Sadler, “you need to lighten up a little.”

  Anna giggled at Finn’s discomfort. “You’re not good with the ladies, are you?” she whispered. Finn ignored her comment as they walked toward the exit.

  Without calling, Pip appeared from the stable with their horses. Anna thanked him and gave him a coin.

  “What’s the plan?” she asked Finn.

  “I guess we should wait for him at the east gate and hope he hasn’t left town, yet. We have no other information to go on.”

  They mounted their horses and rode back to the east gate. Anna asked, “How long are we going to wait here?” She sat down with her back against the town wall. Their two horses were tied to a nearby tree.

  “I guess until Kalher walks past.”

  “What if he doesn’t?”

  “I don’t know. I’m just playing this by ear,” said Finn.

  What do we do next? I wish I knew where Kalher was… and why didn’t tell me about the eldon bandit? He knows something.

  The day rolled on and Finn watched many travellers move in and out of the east gate. Kalher was not among them. Passers-by paid little attention to the pair, as they stretched out and waited. The shade from the wall grew longer as the afternoon crept on.

  By late afternoon, Finn started to become anxious. “It’s getting late,” he said, as he walked back and forth.

  “If he doesn’t come soon, what will we do?”

  “I don’t know!” he snapped. “Sorry.”

  “I think we’ve missed him. There are three town gates—maybe he left through one of the others.”

  “Or he left before we arrived.”

  “I have an idea,” said Anna, as a small group of men walked up the road from the east.

  “What?” He could see she was excited about something.

  “Instead of looking for one man, let’s look for many. We can’t find Kalher, because he is a lone man travelling around the countryside. There are many bandits, though, and to find Kalher, we just need to find them. They’re robbing people, people will talk. Someone will know of their whereabouts, even if it’s just the area they were last seen. It will help us narrow in on where he could be.”

  “That may work,” said Finn. “We have one problem, though, we have no weapons, except for a knife, and there are only two of us, so we’ll be outnumbered—and they’re probably all killers.”

  “That’s three problems.”

  “Okay, we have three problems—three big problems.”

  “We can’t just go home empty-handed, Kalher needs us.”

  Finn agreed and they decided to ask the locals about the bandits, starting with the group of men that was almost at the gate. Without hesitation, Anna stood and approached them. She cleared her throat with a small cough.

  “Good afternoon, gentlemen. Can I ask you a question?”

  “What do you want, little girl?” one of them asked gruffly. He had a crooked nose and was missing a front tooth. A sword hung from his belt, and his two friends also carried weapons. They looked like mercenaries or soldiers.

  “Sir, my husband and I are travelling east and we are worried about the recent bandit attacks. Do you know where these attacks occurred?”

  The man stared at Finn, who stood beside Anna.

  “Your husband, eh? The bandits are everywhere, little girl. It’s only safe back in your mama’s house, with the doors locked,” he said with a cruel laugh. His two friends laughed along with him.

  “Thank you for your time,” said Anna, and she took a step closer to Finn and put her arms around his waist.

  These are not the type of people you want to meet after dark.

  “We are headed to The Bronze Perch, little girl, if you want to join us. The drinks are on me. Just ask for Wolfgang—everyone knows me there,” he laughed again. “You can even bring your… husband.” All three of the men laughed and continued into Treemere.

&nb
sp; “I don’t like the look of them,” said Finn, “and I don’t like how he looked at you.”

  “I can handle myself,” said Anna. “Anyway, I think we should follow them.”

  “What? Follow them? Are you joking?”

  “Think about it. They look like soldiers, but they’re not wearing the king’s colours. So, what are unemployed soldiers going to do? Become bandits!”

  “Hang on,” said Finn, as he tried to calm Anna’s excitement. “The bandit leader is an eldon. They were all humans.”

  “Maybe they are in the bandit gang, or know of their whereabouts. Anyway, we need to follow them and see if they lead us to Kalher. What have we got to lose?”

  “Our lives.”

  “Well, what’s your idea?”

  Finn thought for a moment. She is right. We have already spent two days and still haven’t found Kalher. We could ask a hundred people and not get any information.

  “Let’s ask a few more people about the bandits. If we don’t find out anything more, we’ll investigate them—but, at the first sign of trouble, we’re heading home.”

  “Agreed,” said Anna with a smile.

  They questioned many people as they entered or left town. No one knew anything about the bandits or was not willing to speak about them openly. They waited until just before sunset before heading to The Bronze Perch to find the mercenaries.

  The streets were almost empty, as people prepared their evening meals at home. They entered the inn’s rear courtyard just as the sun went down, and, as if by magic, Pip instantly appeared from the stable to take their horses’ reins.

  “Good to see you again, sir and my lady,” said Pip. “Are you staying the night?”

  “We’re not sure,” said Finn. “What is the latest time we can get our horses?”

  “Any time, day or night, sir. I sleep in the stable and will wake, if you call.”

  “They will know our faces—and they showed particular interest in you,” said Finn.

  “Were you jealous?”

  “No. We should wear disguises,” he said quickly, and she smiled at his discomfort. “Let’s wear our hoods. They should cover enough of our faces.”

  They left their packs on their horses and walked across the courtyard to the inn’s back door.

  “Remember, we are just watching this Wolfgang and his friends,” whispered Finn. “Nothing more.”

  They entered the taproom and looked around the full room. People filled every corner, as they drank, ate, and talked. Even through the noise, a familiar laugh could be heard, Wolfgang and his friends were seated across the room, near one of the blazing fireplaces. He sat with three men, a dwarf, and an eldon who was of similar age to Finn. They all appeared to be in a jovial mood as they laughed and raised their mugs in toasts to each other.

  “Let's get a drink and find somewhere to sit—somewhere we can see them,” he said.

  They ordered two beers and found a space at the end of a table on the opposite side of the room from Wolfgang.

  As the evening wore on, Wolfgang and his friends grew louder.

  “They appear to be celebrating something. Maybe a recent windfall?” Anna wondered suspiciously.

  “They are definitely happy about something,” replied Finn. “I was hoping Kalher would have turned up by now.”

  Over the course of the evening, many of The Bronze Perch’s patrons left. Wolfgang’s group continued to drink, though. One of the humans of the group had so much that he could no longer stand on his own two feet. He stood from the table and tried to make his way to the bar, hungry for more alcohol, but, after one unsteady step, he fell head-first into an adjacent table. He sent a group of dwarves’ drinks flying into the air, creating an uproar. The dwarves demanded to be compensated but Wolfgang’s group stated that it was the fault of the dwarves and not their drunken friend. A fight looked imminent. All the while, the drunk who had caused the problem lay on the floor, forgotten.

  Sadler and the other bouncer moved quickly to separate the groups.

  “Out, now!” shouted Sadler.

  The three dwarves were instantly quiet and raised their hands to indicate their compliance. Finn was impressed, they appeared to respect the female bouncer as someone not to be messed with. Without a word, the dwarves collected their belongings and left through the front door, sneering at Wolfgang and his friends as they went.

  Sadler and the other bouncer dragged the drunk to his feet. Wolfgang and one of his human friends grabbed the drunk’s arms and held him upright. Wolfgang looked like he was going to say something, but he must have thought it was better not to. After a moment, they, too, headed out the front door, dragging their drunken friend along with them.

  “Let's follow them,” Anna said softly. With their hoods still covering their faces, they left through the back door. “What about the horses?”

  “They are on foot, and we should be, too. We’ll come back for the horses later.”

  Finn and Anna grabbed their packs from their horses and moved to the corner of The Bronze Perch and watched Wolfgang’s group stagger down the street toward the market. The street was deserted at that late hour, and even the three dwarves had disappeared into the night. Every thirty yards, an oil street lamp added an eerie light to the darkness. Anna shivered and drew her coat tighter around her shoulders. The moon, still low in the night sky, provided little light.

  “I don’t like this,” she said.

  “It will be okay. We’ll just follow them and see where they go. They’re so drunk that they probably couldn’t even see us if we stood in the open.”

  They followed Wolfgang’s group at a safe distance and kept to the shadows as much as possible. The group spoke loudly and laughed as they walked. The drunken man fell down every few yards and his friends helped him to his feet. On his sixth fall, they left him lying in the gutter and staggered on without him. When Finn and Anna reached him, Finn reached down and felt the fallen man’s pulse. He was alive, but unconscious.

  Wolfgang’s group reached the end of the street when three dark shapes leapt out of the darkness. Axes arced through the air, two bit into flesh, and their victims went down screaming. In the dim light, Finn watched Wolfgang draw his sword, and, in one fluid motion, cut one of his assailants from groin to shoulder. Blood sprayed into the air. The rest of his gang fell on the other two attackers with savage fury. They went down quickly, with multiple blows coming from all directions.

  Finn and Anna watched from the shadows as the battle played out. Within a blink of an eye, five people were lying on the cold, cobblestone street. It had happened so fast—and in the middle of town, nonetheless.

  Wolfgang and his remaining friends, a dwarf and a human, looked over their fallen companions. After they picked through their pockets, the three surveyed the dark street, and then headed off in the direction of the east gate.

  Anna went to move, but Finn grabbed her arm. “Let's wait a little while. We don’t want to bump into them.”

  “Okay.” She was visibly shaking. “That was terrible. I—”

  “Hey, it's okay,” said Finn, as he touched her face. “Kalher says, ‘If you live by the sword, you die by the sword.’”

  They waited a short time before they went to the five bodies surrounded by pools of blood.

  Anna turned away. “I going to be sick,” she said.

  Finn looked them over and tried not to step in their blood. The assailants had been the three dwarves from the inn. He looked at Wolfgang’s two dead friends, the eldon and a human.

  What a waste of life.

  He did not have any experience in investigating crime scenes and wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do or look for. The two dead thugs appeared to have been seasoned warriors, as they wore leather vests under their coats and had swords on their belts.

  Wolfgang’s friends looked like thugs to me, he thought. I wonder what Kalher would do...

  A dog barked not too far away, but no one looked out their windows or opened the
ir doors.

  “Come on, Anna. We better get out of here.”

  They, too, looked around to make sure they had been unobserved. Someone shouted at the dog and the street fell silent.

  They headed in the direction of the three thugs took and met no one on their way to the east gate. Lamplight revealed the gate’s drawbar lying on the ground with the gate partially open. Towns like Treemere and Freewater were too small to have permanent gatekeepers, and they relied on people’s honesty to keep the gates closed at night.

  “Now what? They could be anywhere,” said Anna.

  “We saw them come from the east today, and now they’ve exited through the east gate,” said Finn. “I think we can safely guess that they will be heading back down the Kalteberg Road. We’ll go east after them.”

  “What about the horses?”

  “They will be safe at The Bronze Perch. I’m sure Pip will look after them for us. Besides, we couldn’t sneak up on anyone riding horses, anyway.”

  Without looking back, Finn and Anna slipped through the gate and onto the east road. The night air was colder on the open road than in town and Anna buttoned up her coat.

  The dark road ahead was empty and eerie under the rising moon. Finn wished that he was back in the warm inn beside the fireplace.

  If this is the life of a warden, I better get used to it.

  Chapter 10

  Finn and Anna walked along the eastern road. It was midnight and the night was still. The only sound was their own footsteps, as they crunched on the gravel surface. Finn looked ahead and then back toward Treemere—nothing moved. There was no sign of man or beast.

  He felt alone, but this was not a reflection on Anna, who he had grown to admire greatly in the last few months. Maybe his feelings for her were more than admiration, but this was not the time or the place for such thoughts. The stress of their current situation had started to take its toll on his confidence. He was not sure if he was made for a warden’s life, unlike Garm, who seemed to take everything in his stride.