Frost Arch (4 page)

The carriage trundled along, and I wondered how long it would be before Jefferson would stop to take a break. I was getting awfully claustrophobic in this confined space, not to mention a little bit lonely.

The sound of gnawing against the wood of the crate reached my ears. I eyed the wooden box and heaved a sigh, “Yes, it is a bit boring here, isn’t it?”

I wondered if this would be considered sane, talking to myself. I shrugged and didn’t really care as to whether this kind of behaviour was normal or not.

“What are you then?” I asked the crate, “You’re in an awfully big box … a ferret?” I tapped the top of the crate twice, lost in thought. To my surprise, whatever was inside the wooden crate gave two sharp raps against the wood in response. It had answered me. It answered? I raised an eyebrow, sinking back against the carriage wall warily. I tapped the top of the box twice again, and to my surprise the creature inside gave another two smart knocks against the wood. My eyes widened. This time I knocked slowly three times against the crate. I waited, not realising I had been holding my breath. Sure enough, after a few seconds, three slow knocks came from inside the wood.

“Hello?” I said trying to peer through one of the air holes. Of course, there was no response. I was being ridiculous, and there was no way I could see into this crate. I let my heart rate return to normal, and decided it was best to ignore the strange, responsive box.

Soon the sunlight was pressing against the windows, and shone weakly through the veil of clouds, yet the carriage did not slow down or show any signs that it would be stopping any time soon. I thought that Jefferson must be getting awfully tired and cold from being outside for so long. I hoped he hadn’t fallen asleep at the reigns. The thought was not reassuring. Somewhere in the back of my mind registered that at this moment my parents would be waking to discover that they were missing one daughter. I decided to ignore my worries and try to get some sleep despite the constant rocking.

My eyes closed thankfully, and to my great surprise, when I opened them again I found that it was already the evening. I had never fallen asleep so quickly in my entire life. As I adjusted myself the fullness of my bladder became very apparent. The morning had passed in the blink of an eye, and the bleary sun was now shining bravely in between the clouds. A chill lingered in the carriage. The windows were fogged up so I used the sleeve of my cloak to wipe at the misty glass.

We were passing a lush green field, and the dirt road we were on was full of potholes causing the carriage to jump and jerk as we passed over them.

I wondered if Jefferson had stopped at all to give his horses a rest, and to have a little nap himself. I was sure I would have woken up if we had stopped. I was slightly confused, yet a little impressed at the old man’s persistence. Perhaps he wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible. The idea sounded likely. I was dimly aware that this was the first time in a long while that I hadn’t had a single nightmare. The carriage remained completely intact. I smiled to myself, rather proud that I had managed to go over twelve hours without lighting something on fire.

I peered out of the carriage window again, and to my surprise I noticed that the land seemed to be passing by much more slowly. I blinked. Yes, we were definitely slowing down now. I straightened up in my seat, peering keenly out of the window. We were indeed coming to a halt. In the distance I could see what appeared to be a Tavern. A wooden sign hung out the front of the large stone building depicting symbols that represented food, beds, toilets, (hooray) and stables. This was a pit stop.

I peeked at the food I had left. There was definitely enough food and water to last me another two days, even though the bread was stale, and the water tasted like warm iron. It would have to do. I could not waste the gold I had saved on unnecessary spoils like roasted chicken covered with gravy … sparkling crystal water … wine … fruit platters …

My mouth began to salivate just as Jefferson pulled the carriage to a halt out the front of the tavern. Now we were closer I could see that the sign labelled it the Winking Dragon Tavern, and that it depicted a painting of a large black dragon with smoke emitting from its nostrils. One of its eyes was closed in an unmistakable wink. A subtle sniffing noise made my lips curve into a smile as I turned to see the little black nose sniffing hopefully from its box again.

A loud grunt from outside told me that Jefferson had hopped off the carriage. I fumbled with the handle of the door and staggered onto land. Quickly straightening myself up, I turned to face Jefferson.

“Toilets?” I inquired of him, asking which way for directions.

Jefferson walked me to the tavern door and pointed to a far corner where there were two toilet doors marked with signs. He was trying hard not to stare at me as I rushed off.

Once I was in the wash room and had taken care of business I stared at my reflection in the rusty old mirror which was hung crooked upon the wall. Black crusted my face where the lava tears had cooled and turned to tiny little rocks formations upon my skin. Washing them away was easy enough, as I had done it many times in my life.

Emerging from the bathroom I found Jefferson by the bar. Approaching him with a false smile I inquired, “Tired?”

“Not at all lass, just thought I’d get a pick-me-up seeing as I’m ahead of schedule.” He studied my face to see that it was free of solidified lava.

“Weren’t you up all night?”

“Indeed, but no rest for the wicked, eh?” He gave a toothy grin, showing two rows of browned teeth.

“Isn’t that a bit dangerous?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t sleep.” He said gruffly.

“You don’t sleep?” I repeated, “Ever?”

“Course not!” He said waving his hand abruptly in the air like it was common news, “Why sleep? It wastes so much time. Time that could be used for travelling! Meeting deadlines!”

I couldn’t understand what this man was trying to say. Everyone had to sleep at some point. Surely … couldn’t someone die from lack of sleep?

“Aren’t you tired?” I pressed on, as he ordered a drink from the bar man.

“Nope. Never. Not once. Not in my entire life.”

“Wait just a second,” I paused, eyeing him sceptically, “You’re telling me that not once in your entire life, have you ever felt tired? Not once in your entire life have you lay down, closed your eyes, and gone to sleep?”

“Are you slow or something lass?” He paused and looked at me as though I had suffered from some kind of brain haemorrhage.

Blinking away the insult, I continued, “No … I just didn’t know, that’s all.”

The tavern smelled of beer and men. Lots of men. Looking around wearily I noticed that I was the only female that occupied the Tavern. I could count at least thirty men spaced around the room, all of which were holding a pint in their grubby hands. I gave a shudder and kept as close to Jefferson as possible. The hearty chatter that occupied the Inn was harmless enough, but I couldn’t help but get the feeling that several pairs of eyes were watching me. Several old male eyes at that. Males that probably had too much beer in their systems. Males that had probably never seen an eighteen year old female in their midst. I gulped and kept my eyes on my feet, but not before I noticed a large man with an enormous beard wink at me from across the room. I scowled to myself and decided to ignore it, though I felt my skin begin to heat up.

“I suppose I’m not surprised.” Jefferson gruffed, “What with you being so unsociable. It’s a rare thing to see you emerge from your little cottage Avalon Redding.”

“Yes, well, I think it’s better that way.” I huffed, folding my arms across my chest.

Jefferson gave a shrug, “Maybe,” He grasped the pint that was handed to him, and flipped a coin onto the counter. He began chugging away at the beer, and when he surfaced for air almost half of it was gone. He turned to face me, “But a bit of fresh air every now and then couldn’t hurt anyone.”

I pursed my lips, not wanting to get onto the subject of my Power, or the reason I kept away from the general public. I leant against the bar while I waited for Jefferson to finish his drink, but he continued talking.

“It really is surprising though.” He began, “Everyone in Mortlock knows my Power. Hell, I’ve been around long enough; most people usually catch on pretty quickly. I’ve known your family a while Avalon, and you’re telling me that you didn’t know I was incapable of sleeping?”

I rolled my eyes, “I’m not familiar with most people’s Powers.” My face flushed a deep scarlet.

“Ah. My Power comes in useful for my job. I’m quick at delivering, as I don’t need to make pit-stops to sleep, see? I used to be a guard, back in my younger days.” He added, “Would stand guard over the Power-Seer’s doors, and never get tired.” His face looked somewhat smug, but I had no idea what a Power-Seer was.

He huffed and began drinking again. I was vaguely aware of the fact that the wood beneath my arms was starting to smoke.

“Oi!” The bartender snapped at me, “Get your ‘ands off there!” He shooed me away from the bar with a wave of his hand. I jumped back, muttering sorry as I realised that I had left a scorch mark across the bar, in the perfect shape of my arms as I had leant on it.

Jefferson drank the last swig of his ale before putting the pint back on the bar, “I think that’s our queue to leave.” He gave a hearty laugh as we made our way towards the door.

Once outside I breathed in the fresh air, glad to be away from the stench of stale beer and unwashed men.

“Jefferson, can I ask what’s in that crate? The one on the seat, with air holes?” I inquired as we approached the carriage.

“That?” He said pointing at the box I meant through the window. Seeing my nod he rolled his eyes, “Ah, just a delivery I need to make to someone important in Frost Arch. That little bugger will be sold for quite a price. No one knows how he came about, see. A lot of high up people interesting in the little thing.”

Jefferson could see by my expression that I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, so he pressed on.

“Some young Mages found him scurrying around … hadn’t seen anything like him before. Sort of like a cross-breed between a couple of totally different species. Seems to have evolved or something.”

I nodded in understanding now. A new breed. A new species. We had been told stories as children of the animals who had evolved as well as the humans. My stomach gave an uneasy lurch. That animal was going to be sold, to god knows who, and for god knows what. It would probably be poked, prodded, dissected and studied by some Mage who craved the knowledge. I felt sad as I looked at the stationary box, and I wondered what it was … what it looked like.

“Can I see it?” I asked Jefferson hopefully, though I already knew the answer.

He chortled, “Best not.” He said opening the door for me, “And best not go sticking your fingers in those holes. He gets a bit vicious when he’s mad from what I can tell.”

I clambered into the carriage and Jefferson closed the door behind me before hopping up to take the reins. Within a few seconds we were moving again, trundling up the dirt road, getting closer to Frost Arch every second.

A new species. I was intrigued with what this box contained. Not only was this a new species, this was a creature that responded. That seemed to be learning. I licked my lips, suddenly noticing how dry my mouth was. I didn’t know what was going to happen to this creature. It was probably going to be sliced down the middle, and a Mage with a brain that could solve impossible equations in the blink of an eye would take a glimpse at the poor things brain, and try to create clones, replicate what nature had done.

I was overwhelmed with a sudden sadness. Why did this thing need to die, whatever it was? From what I had gathered it was absolutely harmless, curious, hungry, and learning from something as simple as a tapping on wood. My brain seemed to be working in overdrive. I could save it, whatever it was. After all, this box was only wood, not much of an obstacle for a Fire Mage. I could save it, hide it in my rucksack and disappear into the city of Frost Arch before Jefferson even realised it was gone. But what if it was dangerous? I bit my lip, deciding I might soften it up a little bit before I did any rescuing.

I pulled my lump of stale bread from my pack and broke off a bite-sized piece. Maybe this animal could be trained, I thought to myself.

“Okay.” I said seriously to the box, feeling rather silly, “I’m going to tap on this crate, and you’re going to repeat it exactly. Get it right, and you get some more food.”

Hesitantly, I reached my knuckles to the box, and gave three short raps. I waited. This was silly, I realised. I was talking to a dumb animal, there was no way … my thoughts were cut short.

Tap, tap, tap.

I abruptly poked the piece of bread through the hole, careful not to get my fingers too close. Not even a second had passed before, to my astonishment, the bread that I had inserted, was suddenly being pushed back out of the hole. It’s a picky eater, I thought.

I sighed and retrieved what chicken I had left. I suppose I didn’t really need it anyway. I popped some into the crate instead, and a scuffling and chewing sound reached my ears. I smiled to myself. This wasn’t so bad.

I put my knuckles to the wood again, this time doing a more complicated pattern of knocks, with different timing between each one.