ISOF (26 page)

‘Where is this place those Jaresh guards told us about? We've got as much chance of stopping someone to ask for directions as we have succeeding in whatever it is we are meant to succeed in doing.'

Noj clapped Trep on the shoulder.

‘That's what I like, someone who thinks positively.'

Ben watched the crowd speed along the street.

‘Why don't we just go with the flow? Those guards said the inn was near the library and at home that's in the centre of town.'

Noj shrugged.

‘What have we got to lose?'

‘Only our sanity,' grumbled Mak.

Ignoring the snide remark, the group launched themselves into the human river and followed the current of bodies.

The noise and the smell of both people and the rubbish that spewed from alleyways became almost overwhelming. Buildings of all shapes and sizes flashed by, as the group became swept along with the crowd. Without warning they suddenly found themselves washed up at the section of a street where it divided into two channels. One channel snaked its way between buildings, which leaned nearer to each other the closer they got towards the sky, while the other channel opened out into a market place.

Edging their way towards the market place, the group stopped dead in their tracks. Even in the declining light, they could see stalls filling every available space as voices exploded into the air declaring goods for sale.

The group stood and gazed at the scene before them. They were dumbstruck. Words couldn't describe the hive of activity that took place in the market. Their daydream evaporated as suddenly as it had appeared as a body fell at their feet.

‘And don't come in here without any money in future.'

The body rose shakily to its feet and disappeared hastily in to the crowd.

‘What are you lot hanging around for?'

Spinning round, the group came face to face with a large florid face resting on top of a human barrel. The barrel folded its arms and scowled at the group of travellers. Noj took a deep breath.

‘Excuse me, but we're trying to find the Newt and Garter inn.'

The florid face narrowed its eyes.

‘What's your business?'

The stench of stale beer and sewers slapped the group in the face.

‘We're a group of travellers looking for a place to rest,' replied Ben, busily trying not to breathe the noxious fumes.

‘You got money?' rasped the florid face leaning forward.

‘Enough for a decent room, hot food and cooling drink,' replied Noj through another cloud of eye-peeling stench.

‘You show me the money and I'll show you the room,' said the florid face extending a podgy hand.

Noj duly placed a number of coins into the hand, which instantly clasped the money and, with a slight jerk of the thumb, bade them follow inside.

At first it was difficult to see anything, stuck as they were behind the huge barrel figure of the guy they assumed was the innkeeper. To add to their difficulties, as soon as they entered the Inn the daylight seemed to disappear, turning the already dingy interior into a no-go area for the eyes. The four travellers blinked as their eyes adjusted to the pale illumination on the grime-covered walls and food encrusted tables. Mak ran a finger along the edge of the nearest table.

‘Disgusting,' he said examining the detritus that had attached itself to his finger.

‘What was the that?' demanded the innkeeper, pushing his florid face at Mak.

‘Er, I sort of commented on the excellent dusting,' he said taking a couple of steps back, treading on Trep's foot as he did so.

The innkeeper stared at Mak for a moment and then pointed across the room.

‘Up the stairs, third door on the right.'

Carefully manoeuvring between bodies intent on consuming as much food as possible in the shortest amount of time, the group finally reached the stairs. Climbing noiselessly, they continued their stair-walk until they eventually stood in a long, vaguely lit, corridor. Noj counted the doors along the right-hand side and timidly pushed at the third one.

‘About time,' growled a voice. ‘If I'd known you would have taken this long to arrive, I would have had some supper first.'

Four shrieks echoed off the walls as they each jumped back into the corridor. Alisha was the only voice not contributing to the raucous noise.

‘Wimps!' she whispered. ‘You would have been gibbering wrecks after a couple of days in the company of those crones.' She pushed Ben forward. ‘Go on then, see who it is.'

Ben swallowed. He thought he'd heard the voice from within the room before. With pounding chest, he poked his head around the door and peered into the gloom.

Warming his hands by the tiny fire stood Briel. Even with his back to the door, there was no mistaking the odd assortment of clothes that only someone with Briel's unco-ordinated sense of style could achieve.

‘Come in, come in,' he called over his shoulder. ‘You're causing a draught.'

As they shuffled into the room, Alisha tried to stay partially Noj's back. She wasn't sure whom the odd character was that stood in front of the fire or whether he had anything to do with her incarceration at the hands of the creatures. Briel smiled.

‘Ah, Alisha,' he said. ‘I'm so glad they managed to find you and bring you along.'

With an embarrassed cough, Alisha moved towards the glow of the fire. She looked directly at Briel's eyes.

‘Did you have anything to do with my abduction?'

Briel's eyes burned with an intensity that startled the others. Alisha, although wondering what might happen, held her gaze.

‘If,' began Briel, ‘you thought for one moment that I would resort to anything so cowardly, then, young lady, I am sorely vexed. But, I hasten to add, although I was aware of certain moves to remove you from your family, I was unfortunately, caught napping and you had been spirited away before I could do anything to prevent it.'

Alisha lowered her gaze and stared into the fire.

‘Forgive me,' she said. ‘I had no wish to cause affront. But, I have to say my freedom wasn't anything to do with these guys.' She pointed at the others with a grin. ‘If anything, I rescued them.'

‘Nothing of the kind,' spluttered Trep. ‘We had no idea you'd been abducted. In fact,' he said with a nod toward Ben. ‘He was the only one who seemed to know where you were.'

‘That's a lie and you know it!' replied Ben angrily. ‘I didn't know she was there until I saw a face at the window.'

‘Strange you should just happen to be in the right place at the right time,' Trep retorted.

‘How would you know about anything?' snapped Ben. ‘You were hiding your head under a pillow.'

Trep made a move toward Ben but found Briel's hand firmly placed against his chest.

‘I think,' interjected Briel. ‘That it is possibly time to make you all aware of what you have been doing.'

‘As if we didn't already know,' sighed Mak.

‘That,' snapped Briel, ‘may be what you think but the reality is, you hadn't a clue what was going on.' He returned his gaze to the fire.

The clock continued to function as it was intended as the fire consumed the wooden logs in the silence. Several feet twitched with uncertainty until, finally, Briel turned once more to face the group.

‘It was our intention to keep your mission as vague and unclear as possible.'

‘You certainly succeeded there,' grinned Ben. ‘Couldn't have done it better myself.'

‘Don't under-rate yourself,' said Trep coldly.

‘As I was saying,' continued Briel. ‘There are those who would go to any lengths to ensure that the Jaresh, and the power behind them, remain in control of the Higher and Lower territories. In some respects, the abduction of Alisha gave us the opportunity we had been waiting for.'

‘Thanks a lot,' said Alisha angrily. ‘Glad I could be of some service.'

Briel absentmindedly warmed his hands by the fire.

‘Oh we had plans,' he said dismissively. ‘But your abduction provided us with the perfect excuse to send these four young men on a mission that was of great significance. Far too important for anyone to get an inclination of their true purpose.'

‘Including us,' added Noj mischievously.

‘Admitted,' agreed Briel. ‘But under the circumstances, with an infiltrator in our midst and others intent on maintaining Jaresh rule, we could trust nobody, apart from Ben that is.'

‘You what?' exploded Mak. ‘You mean to say you put any kind of faith or trust in that imbecile.' He shook his head in disbelief. ‘Words fail me.'

‘They will,' replied Briel as a flicker of sadness crossed his face. ‘Words will fail you but your action will speak volumes.'

Mak suddenly turned to the fire with his back with his back towards the others. Words really had failed him and he hoped that whatever action he might be called upon to carry out would, indeed, speak volumes. Briel coughed for attention and to distract the others from Mak's thoughts.

‘Your mission, or search, was for four things. One you always had with you, the second and third you discovered by chance and the fourth is present in this room. But,' he said quickly as heads turned and eyes scoured the room for clues. ‘The fourth arrived with you and will leave with you. I will say nothing more for now.'

‘Can I ask a question?' said Ben. He pointed at the object that hung from a cord around Briel's neck.

‘Of course,' replied Briel with a smile.

Ben pointed at the object, which looked remarkably similar to his father's watch. ‘Where did you get that watch?'

‘What watch?' asked Briel. ‘And what's a watch when it's at home?'

‘That,' replied Ben as he lifted the watch from Briel's neck.

‘Steady,' yelped Briel as his neck was jerked forward by Ben. ‘That,' he said looking down his nose at the object, which was still attached to the cord around his neck. ‘Is something I stumbled across near my home. I thought it rather decorative so I decided to wear it.'

‘It's a device for measuring the passage of time,' explained Ben. ‘My father misplaced it ages ago and he's been looking for it ever since.'

‘Misplaced?' replied Briel. ‘How can one misplace time?'

‘Not time,' snapped Ben. ‘The watch.'

‘A novel idea,' mused Briel. ‘Misplacing time, I'll have to mention it to Achnacreadie.' He pulled the cord from Ben's hand and thrust the watch inside his shirt. ‘The object stays with me, and that's the end of the matter.'

‘Can I ask another question then?' said Ben with an arch of an eyebrow.

‘If needs must,' answered Briel, leaning over and patting Mak's shoulder.

‘It just that I wondered,' said Ben looking uncertainly at both Briel and Mak. ‘I just wondered how I was going to get home, that's all?' Ignoring the snorts of derision from the rest of the group, Ben raised his hands.

‘I don't belong here,' here said firmly. ‘I've a right to know how I'm going to get home.' He suddenly dropped onto the nearest chair. ‘I didn't ask to come here.'

Mak shrugged Briel's hand away. He felt patronised and simply wished to be back home where the only confusion he ever felt was whether to stay in bed a little longer or get up and make the most of the day. He sneered at Ben.

‘I, for one, never asked you and, based on your contribution so far, I never would.'

Ben hardly raised an eyebrow in response. He was getting used to the vitriolic remarks and couldn't be bothered with getting angry or even forming a reply. Briel sniffed noisily. He knew it wasn't particularly polite but it proved a useful diversionary tactic.

‘I would hazard a guess,' he said as he took a handkerchief to his nose. ‘That in answer to your question on how you are going to get home…' Briel blew his nose with such force that his face became as florid as the innkeeper's. ‘I would say,' he continued. ‘You will return home in a similar manner to that in which you arrived…wet!'

Noj picked up a small log from the collection arranged by the fireplace. Throwing it on the fire, causing an eruption of flames, he looked irritably at Briel.

‘Before we discuss Ben's situation,' he said forcibly. ‘Wouldn't it be more helpful to work out what we are supposed to be doing next?'

Screwing his handkerchief into a tight ball he attempted to push it into a pocket but only succeeded in allowing it to drop unnoticed to the floor. Briel nodded. ‘A good idea,' he agreed. ‘After breakfast tomorrow, go to the market place.'

He selected another log from the pile and threw it onto the fire. The room was suddenly engulfed in a cascading shower of sparks that burnt with a brief intensity before fading to nothing. As the room returned to its former pale light, the group looked at where, moments earlier, Briel had stood. The only evidence of his ever being in the room was the crumpled handkerchief on the floor.

‘Does he do children's parties too?' asked Ben.

‘Never mind that,' boomed Briel's distant voice. ‘It's time you lot went to bed and got some sleep. You'll need it.'

‘Please tell me last night was all a dream,' mumbled Trep through a mouthful of bread.

Ben wiped the sticky traces of jam from his mouth after a few urgent nods from Alisha suggested he remove the potentially embarrassing substance. She smiled encouragement at Ben's positive action before turning to Trep.

‘Wishful thinking,' she replied. ‘There can't be that many insane sages, so we must have each seen the same one.'

Trep rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. ‘If that's the case then today is going to be a right ball of fun,' he said snatching a hunk of bread from the table. Spreading a large knob of butter across the ragged surface, he looked at the faces watching him. ‘Well, just don't expect me to be a bundle of laughs. I'm sure I can think of better ways to spend my time.' Without a further word he pushed the bread into his mouth and began chewing.

‘Nothing else for it,' said Noj as he sipped at the unknown liquid cooling his beaker. ‘We might as well follow Briel's instructions and see what happens.' He wiped his sleeve across his mouth. ‘What have we got to lose?'

‘Our freedom?' suggested Ben.

‘No such thing under Jaresh rule,' replied Mak.

Ben slammed his beaker on the table. ‘Don't you do anything but whinge and whine?' he snapped. ‘Nothing is right for you, everything is too much hassle, according to you we're all stupid and shouldn't be trusted to hold a bunch of carrots.'

Mak's face turned to thunder, his voice rumbled ominously.

‘Who wants to know what you think?' he stormed. ‘You're nothing but an unwelcome pest.'

Ben, unable to think of any words that would express his rising anger, lifted his half-full beaker and threw the contents in Mak's face. After the initial surprise, Mak leapt forward and tried to get his hands around Ben's throat. Fortunately, before Mak's fingers could leave an impression, Noj managed to wrestle Mak's arms away from Ben.

‘Cut it out, the pair of you,' raged Noj. ‘Don't you think we've got enough to worry about without you two losing your grip?'

Mak tried to wriggle free, but Noj held him tight. Mak's face was contorted with anger.

‘I wouldn't have lost my grip if you hadn't pulled my hands away from his throat,' he spat.

Noj turned angrily to Ben, who still held the now empty beaker in his hand.

‘Why did you do that?' he asked, nodding towards the beaker.

‘I'd had enough,' replied Ben ambiguously.

Noj looked quizzically at Ben. He wasn't sure whether Ben was referring to his breakfast or Mak's accusations. Deciding that the sooner they got on with the task they'd been given, the better for everyone, Noj released his grip from a sullen Mak. Shrugging his arms from Noj's grasp, Mak instantly reached for a jug filled with more hot liquid and was just about to throw the contents over Ben, when a large hand gripped his arm.

‘I'll have no more of that in my inn,' snarled a gruff voice. ‘Clear up and get out, now.'

The landlord prised Mak's fingers from the handle and replaced the jug carefully on the table. Brushing some crumbs into his hand, the landlord narrowed his eyes and spoke to Noj.

‘There was a couple of foreigners in here last night. Rough looking types, all brawn and no hair. Asking if we'd seen any other strangers here recently they were.'

‘And?' asked Ben nervously.

‘And what,' replied the Landlord. ‘I don't give information for free. Besides, I didn't like the smell of ‘em. Told ‘em to look someplace else.'

‘Sounds like the type we've met before,' muttered Ben.

‘Cutters,' mouthed Noj silently.

Ben nodded and, without another word, the group gathered their belongings and hurried towards the door.

The sunlight caused the group to blink away the gloom of the inn. Ben felt miserable. He felt angry with himself for having a temper tantrum rather than trying to find an explanation for his existence in this Otherworld. Ben, with hands deep in his pockets, frowned at Mak.

‘Sorry,' he muttered.

Mak curled his lip.

‘You soon might be,' he replied mysteriously.

Trep shuffled his feet.

‘Sorry will get us nowhere. We need to get on with what we came here for, and quickly.'

Noj grunted and walked into the street, leaving the others to follow.

The streets seemed less congested than the previous day as the group managed to walk in the direction they wanted rather than be carried along by the stream of human traffic. It didn't take long for them to negotiate the various streets and alleyways and through to the market place.

The group quickly realised that the streets were less busy than the day before because everyone, it seemed, was in the market place. Traders competed with shoppers for volume as various shouts ricocheted from stall to stall and from one building to another. It was virtually impossible to talk without inflicting permanent damage on the vocal cords so, with a series of nudges and shoves, the group eventually found themselves at the epicentre of the noise trade. Beside them stood a wooden kiosk, decorated with bright orange bunting and painted in gaudy pink and yellow stripes. Inside the kiosk sat an old man busily fidgeting with a handful of small cards. Occasionally, without raising his head, he would bellow: ‘Screetch-kerds ere. Tries your luck and sees if ya git your sens a preeze. Getcha screetch-kerds ere.'

Every now and again, a figure would amble up to the kiosk, throw some coins into a large pot and the old man, in return, would throw one of the cards he was holding at the money-thrower. Ben was fascinated by these antics. The old man never looked up to see who was purchasing a card and the purchaser never spoke. It reminded Ben of some of the shops near where he lived. He recalled the times that he'd pointed at an item on the shop's shelf, placed his money on the counter and been handed the chosen article without anyone saying a word. Ben felt a nudge.

Noj placed his mouth next to Ben's ear. ‘Are you with us?' he asked a smile playing across his face. He jerked his head. ‘Take a look at that.'

In front of them stood a tall, imposing fence made out of a sort of linked-chain and topped with vicious curls of barbed wire. Behind the fence, a large, dead oak tree rose majestically out of the soil. Its branches hung in a sad arc, its tips pointing at the ground, as if begging for water. Just in front of the fence, tethered by chains to metal posts rammed into the ground, prowled two huge beasts. If anyone passed close to the fence, the two beasts would launch themselves at the passer-by, straining their chains to the limit. At that point the beasts would simply stare, open their large mouths and expose rows of needle-sharp teeth. If that didn't have the desired affect, the beasts would arch their backs and flex their skeletal wings and swish one, or all three, of their long, bony tails across the dusty ground.

Ben watched, open mouthed, as the hounds patrolled the area surrounding the tree. Trep tapped Ben's chin.

‘You'd better close that before something flies in to it.'

Ben snapped his jaw shut. He nodded towards the hounds.

‘What are they supposed to be?'

‘They're not supposed to be anything,' replied a tight-lipped Noj. ‘They are Trilligs.'

‘Anyone got a bone?' smiled Ben.

‘You offering?' snarled Mak.

Ben ignored the comment. ‘So?' he asked. ‘What do we do now?'

‘The bridge,' said a voice next to his ear.

Ben looked around but there was nothing or nobody to see. He stared at the old man in the kiosk who continued to fumble with the cards, his head gently bobbing up and down. Suddenly, he offered Ben a card.

‘I've no coins,' shouted Ben. The old man continued to thrust the card at Ben.

‘Take it,' suggested Alisha. ‘People are beginning to look at us.'

Ben took the card and placed it in his pocket.

‘Read it then,' said the voice next to him. Again Ben turned but there was nobody next to him. At the stall the old man still fumbled with his cards, throwing a card at anyone who dropped coins into his pot. Ben removed the card from his pocket and stared at the rows of numbers.

The voice sighed with exasperation. ‘On the other side,' it said.

Ben looked at the words scrawled on the back of the card.

‘What's it say?' asked Noj.

‘It just says…' mumbled Ben frowning at the card.

Alisha grabbing the card impatiently from his hand looked at both sides and shrugged her shoulders.

‘What does it say?' asked Trep, as Mak made a grab for the card.

Alisha held the card out of Mak's reach and shrugged again. ‘
Bridge
,' she replied. ‘Just the one word,
Bridge
, nothing more.'

‘Sorted,' said Noj ushering the others away from the market place. He said nothing more until they were well away from the hubbub of noisy buyers and sellers. Finally, Noj pulled the others members of the group into a side alley.

‘We're to go to the bridge,' he said. He held a warning finger as the others began muttering about stating the obvious. ‘Before you say anymore,' he said with a grin. ‘I realise what the card said and that there are many bridges that cross the various stretches of water. But,' he added with a flourish of his hand. ‘There can be only one bridge that matters and that is the one where the three rivers meet.'

‘So what do we do when we get there?' asked Ben hurriedly following after Noj who had strode off without waiting for the rest of the group. In reply, Noj simply gestured for the others to keep up with him.

The group quickly became disorientated following the seemingly confident footsteps of Noj. His stride never faltered and, without looking either right or left, he led the group away from the market place and towards an area where the houses gave way to more regular shaped and styles buildings.

Finally, Noj paused where several groups of people had gathered in small clusters. To one side of the buildings, a long line of metal railings marked the boundary between the buildings and a sluggish river of mud. Beckoning the others, Noj nodded at the river.

‘This is one of the three rivers that flow into Janring. The other two,' he said pointing along the line of railings, ‘meet this river down there and that is where we'll find the bridge.'

Ben looked at the river of mud with disgust. ‘Firstly,' he said frowning, ‘how did you know where to go and, secondly, that's not a river,' he said with disdain. ‘That's more like the overflow from a slurry pit.'

Alisha wrinkled her nose. ‘It does stink.' She held a finger under her nose. ‘It can't be doing the other two rivers any favours.'

‘There all the same,' sighed Noj. ‘Since the Jaresh have occupied the area, the rivers have become nothing more than a repository for their waste.' He looked at Ben's face. ‘Yes,' he added. ‘All of their waste!' He grinned at the facial expressions his comment had caused. ‘To answer your first question,' he added indicating the river. ‘I made sure to take a good look at the layout of the buildings and where the rivers flowed when we were halfway down the mountain. Always a good vantage point.'

Ignoring any further questions, Noj led the way for the others to follow. It wasn't long before they reached the point where the railings butted up against the round, brick pillar that formed one side of the bridge structure. At one time, the bridge would have looked a majestic piece of architecture with its intricate patterned brickwork and swirling metal framework spanning the rivers. Now, time and neglect had wrought havoc with the structure leaving it a jaded and precarious monument to the past. Standing next to the pillar, Ben gestured at the bridge and the gurgling confluence of three rivers.

‘Now what?' he asked.

‘Throw the bell and diamond into the point where the three rivers meet,' said a voice.

‘What? Hey? Who?' asked Ben anxiously looking around. ‘Where are you?'

‘Just do it,' said the voice with an edge of irritation. ‘Are you always this contumacious?'

‘If I knew what it meant I'd deny it,' snapped Ben.

Mak, who was growing increasingly impatient, nudged Ben. ‘Why are you talking to yourself?'

‘I'm not,' replied Ben defensively. ‘I'm answering the voice I keep hearing.'

‘Oh great,' said Trep, ‘he's hearing voices and holding conversations with them.' He shook his head in disgust. ‘Absolutely brilliant.'

Ignoring the comments, Noj looked directly at Ben. ‘What have we to do?' he asked.

Ben shrugged. ‘We've to throw the bell and diamond into the point where the three rivers meet.'

‘That's not going to happen,' said Alisha sternly. ‘This bell goes with me. After what I've been through I deserve to keep the one thing that aided my escape.'

‘I thought I helped you escape,' said Ben with a grin.

‘Sort of,' replied Alisha, allowing a slight smile to form. ‘But you're not only too big to keep in my pocket, you don't resonate quite so sweetly.'

‘I think,' said Noj firmly. ‘That we have no choice but to do as we are bid, otherwise why are we here?'

Mak spat on the ground. ‘You're surely not acting on the say so of that idiot?' he said pointing accusingly at Ben. ‘He's a fully qualified nutter!'

‘He's here for a reason,' growled Noj. ‘And for that reason we're going to do what is necessary.' He turned to Alisha. ‘I'm sorry,' he said. ‘But it's the only way.' He held his hand out expectantly towards her. Slowly, Alisha removed the bell from its resting place and placed it in his hand. With a nod of thanks, he then turned to Ben. ‘The diamond.'

Ben felt the rough shape of the diamond inside his cloak. ‘We could do a lot of good with this stone,' he said thoughtfully. ‘Just think of how many people could benefit from the sale of the diamond. Hundreds or even thousands,' he added.