The Gully Snipe (The Dual World Book 1) (11 page)

He eventually roused himself and prepared for his trip back to the woods and his childhood home.

~~~~~

Gully hefted his sack into a better position on his back and passed through the city gate nearest the apartment. This time of the morning, he had chosen to follow the road that hugged the outside of the city walls rather than wander through the city itself to the southernmost gate. There would be fewer people and carts and mules this way and he would make better time.

He followed the road south, keeping the city wall on his left and the open fields of the farms that supplied Lohrdanwuld to his right. The sun was already peeking from between Thayhold and Kitemount in the east. Lohrdanwuld and the western face of the Trine Range looked out across the plains and gentle hills to the River Tib and beyond. There, the farms outside the city walls grew all manner of vegetables to keep up with the city’s demands — greens, carrots, tomatoes, onions, parsnips, radishes, and more. There were also fruits that grew there in the orchards to the south — bear pears, apples, apricots, and the staple pannyfruit that was so common throughout Iisen. There were even some farms that produced the Behndish tobacco that Roald occasionally smoked in the pipe that had belonged to his father. A deep breath brought to his nose the scents of the grasses and farms nearby, a familiar and comforting smell as he hiked along the road.

The stream of farmers with their carts pulled by sturdy half-mules or Belder horses and loaded with the day’s crop to sell in the various markets of the city was already tapering off. He glanced up at the top of the city walls, twenty feet high along this section of the city, and spied a few of the Kingdom Guard patrolling along the wall walks. He waved up at them and was pleased to see that they waved back to return his greeting. Gully laughed to himself thinking how these fellows were always so much more pleasant to deal with from a distance like this.

When he approached the turn in the rutted, dirt road as it followed the city walls to the southernmost gate, right at the foot of Kitemount, a man in front of a mule and cart called out as he approached Gully, “Ho there, Bayle!”

For a moment, Gully was unsure whom it was hailing him since the farmer’s face was hidden under a broadly brimmed hat to keep the sun out of his eyes and off of his neck. As he got closer, Gully smiled and called back, “Delff! How are you?”

They stopped as they got even with each other to speak. Delff the farmer said, “Running late today. Me back is sore and took me longer to pick the radishes and carrots than what usual.”

Gully nodded and went to pet the man’s mule. He said, “And how are you today, Pepper?”

The mule shook Gully’s hand off and groaned slightly, in the same complaining dishumor as his master. Gully laughed and said, “But the vegetables look to be of top quality. As long as you can still get a spot to set up, you should do well today!”

Delff nodded as he took his hat off to wipe his brow. He said, “Aye. We shall see. The Chalk Market is probably all full up already, I expect.”

“You might try the South Peddle first, Delff. There were quite a number of vacant stalls yesterday. Could probably even get a deal on one from the market-master,” suggested Gully.

“The tip be much appreciated, Bayle. Are you back out to the woods again?”

“I am. Back to the cabin and then scouring the Ghellerweald for any signs.”

Delff sighed and said, “I wish ye luck, as always. Watch ye back for the cannibal monsters, though! I expect they to be hungry for even the sorry meal you would make, Bayle! I must go, though, or the city will be so cramped full they won’t let me even peek in through the gate!”

Gully waved him on and said, “On with you, then! Good luck selling today! I hope you make more coins than Pepper can carry home!”

“Aye,” grumbled the farmer, “you and the royal tax collector both! Always happy to lighten my coinpurse so much it puts me to no strain at all, he is!”

Gully laughed and left the farmer behind. The road ended when it joined up with the South Pass Road, which hugged along the southern foot of Kitemount until it veered off and plunged into the heart of the wood of Ghellerweald itself.

The temperature of the day had already risen along with the sun in the sky, but as soon as Gully entered the forest, the air cooled considerably again. Most preferred to follow further around the base of Kitemount to the northern edge of the wood until they joined up on the East End Road. But unlike everyone else, Gully never felt more at home than when he was in the wood.

As was second nature for him upon entering it, his footsteps instinctively grew quieter and he lowered his hood so his ears could listen more carefully. He had no real fear on the road, but there were sometimes dangerous creatures in it. And on a few occasions he had even seen robbers scouting the road for victims while he watched them from a thicket of bushes as they passed.

His nose studied the air as well, the cleaner scents of the forest a welcome change after the city. He was pretty sure he smelled a freshly killed piglet not too far away. He would need to be careful in case there was a wolf nearby that had made the kill. Mostly, he enjoyed what came to his awareness. Amongst the strong conifer smell he could also pick out the smell of some beetle’s sage that must be growing nearby. All smells that felt like home to him.

Another twenty minutes into the woods, Gully noticed the sounds around him had grown quieter and he sharpened his senses even more. His suspicions aroused, he treaded even more carefully and his ears strained to pull in even the slightest sound around him.

Off to his left, a sudden “thud” reached his ears and he saw movement in a small bush next to the road. He stopped and studied the bush, but saw no other movement. But then the breeze shifted direction, and Gully froze, frowning at the deadly critical mistake he had allowed himself to make.

He stood up straight and slowly turned to face behind him, berating himself for falling for such a childishly simple ruse and realizing he may very well pay with his life for the failure. He thought briefly of his promise to Roald, to be careful and to return before his twentieth birthday, and now regretted making it. But what was done was done, and whatever was behind him now had the full advantage.

When he finally turned, what he saw shocked him beyond anything he could have expected.

The deadly threat he expected to have snuck up behind him turned out instead to be... Mariealle. Any number of evils could have snuck up on him, and it happened to instead be the very girl that frequently crossed his mind in its more idle moments.

To be sure, she was standing defensively, and brandishing a small dagger in her hand, but whatever fear that had initially gripped Gully drifted away instantly. Behind the girl that had occupied so many of his thoughts was a basket half hidden behind a rotting tree stump. She was smiling confidently that she had the jump on him and was sufficiently armed, but he couldn’t help but notice that her hand was trembling slightly as it pointed the dagger at him.

Gully relaxed fully and laid his pack down next to his feet, causing Mariealle to hold the knife even further out in front of her warily.

She warned him, “Relaxed composure is hardly called for, thief!”

“Noblelady,” said Gully casually, “just because you hold the knife does not put me at any disadvantage to you.”

Mariealle’s smile of confidence faltered ever so slightly, but she held firm and replied, “I’m not of noble blood, Gully Snipe! Goodlady is sufficient for the likes of you to address me!”

Gully was impressed. He said, “My reputation precedes me! I’m honored that I warrant your attention, even if for my infamy.”

“Oh, I know all your secrets, thief! More than you think!”

Gully’s wonder and concern began to grow, and he decided that perhaps it was time to continue the conversation on more equal terms. He moved towards her very slightly, causing her to increase her defenses. Gully feinted at her with his right hand, causing her to jab at it to cut it with the dagger. As soon as she had extended her hand, Gully kicked up with his left foot, striking her hand and knocking the dagger cleanly out of it.

He reached up and snagged the somersaulting blade in mid-air, barely managing not to cut his own hand as he did so. Mariealle stood shocked at how easily she had been disarmed, and she looked truly afraid now that she found herself at the mercy of the Gully Snipe. Gully almost smiled when he saw the angry and defiant face she managed to foster in spite of the turn of events. Mariealle took a step back and Gully could tell she was considering her chances if she turned and ran.

She exclaimed in disbelief, “You kicked my hand!”

“It was for the good and safety of the both of us, I promise you. Having you wield a sharp knife between us would only likely lead to a bleeding wound for one of us, and it would hardly be me!”

The presumptuous comment seemed to aggravate Mariealle, but the angry flash of her green eyes accomplished nothing but captivating Gully all the more. The soft flow of her hair was a rich brown with a touch of a fire’s embers in it. Her eyes were as verdantly green as the spring leaves of a pannyfruit tree. It was the closest he had ever stood to her, and it was well worth having a knife pulled on him for the honor.

Gully expertly flipped the dagger in his hand and gripped it carefully by the blade. He extended the handle back to her politely, nodding at her with a smile. “Your poniard, returned to you. You need not have any fear of me, Mariealle, either for yourself or your belongings.”

She reached out and took the dagger suspiciously from his offering hand. She started when she realized that the thief knew her. “You know my name!” she exclaimed.

“Aye, goodlady. I do,” he said. “Which puts us both in something of a quandary. Perhaps you would care to instruct me on what secrets of mine you claim to know?” Gully wasn’t sure what she thought she knew, but he was willing to spend quite a bit of time listening to her as long as he could expend it in her presence.

He added, “The fact that I am a thief and a low-life and a menace to the kingdom is hardly a secret.”

Mariealle seemed to consider holding him at knifepoint again, but then decided against it and held the knife casually at her side instead. “A low life, without question, but not a very accomplished or ambitious one,” she said.

“Oh, your words wound more than the knife could!” exclaimed Gully.

“Yes, you steal,” continued Mariealle in explanation, “but rarely much, and mostly from the nobles and greedier merchants. And if you steal from the common folk, you seem to try to pay it back when you can. That is why they don’t turn you in to the guards. But again, most of the common people of Lohrdanwuld know this.”

Gully listened patiently, trying to hide his surprise that she indeed knew as much as she did about him. It was true that most of the common citizenry let him alone even when they recognized him. To the nobility and those in the merchant class as she was, he was a thief and a criminal and there was nothing else worth knowing beyond that.

Mariealle continued, “I really speak of Roald, the lieutenant in the Kingdom Guard.”

That statement was truly unexpected. Gully’s heart skipped a beat and he could not help but feel like he was now in grave danger whether there was a dagger present or not. He steadied his voice and tried to play ignorant, though.

“What of this Roald of whom you speak?” he asked, as if the name was of no consequence to him.

Even in the dim light of the forest, Gully caught the reddening blush on Mariealle’s fair cheek. Even in his fear that she somehow truly did know things no one else did, the blush on her cream-colored skin accented with the most charming freckles he had ever seen sent a shiver up his back. She said, “I... watched you one day... I followed you. You went to his house, where he lives with his mother. I snuck to the door and listened at it while she welcomed you as a son. You are his brother! Your brother is a Guard of the Iisendom, sworn to bring in the likes of you to answer before the law!”

Gully bit roughly at his lip and blanched at the terrible predicament in which he had found himself. He had been so very careful for years and years to protect his relationship with Roald, for Roald’s sake, and now the secret had been spilled.

He still attempted to bluff his way through it, though. “You? You managed to follow me unawares? Completely impossible! You followed someone else to this Roald’s home!” he snorted.

He was about to say that he would never be able to miss a shadow as fetching and as charming as she, but stopped himself before his mouth betrayed him as an utter fool in front of her.

“I’m too skilled to have been followed by anyone! And, forgive me for saying, especially a girl!” he added with appropriate bluster.

Mariealle raised a beautifully sculpted eyebrow at him. “And yet your face tells me I’ve discovered exactly the truth, no matter what your puffed-up ego tries to tell you about my ability to do so! Perhaps you’re only that good in that soft head of yours, thief!”

His bluff was not working, and Gully found it impossible to deny her the advantage she now had over him. He could pretend otherwise, but the consequences were beyond his control now. He looked down at his feet, his face honest with dejection this time, and said, “Not brothers... he is my foster brother. His mother took me in when I was of nine years aged and orphaned. I hide it to protect Roald. He is a good man and a loyal guard of the crown.” His voice cracked at having to admit the truth, especially to one who held such a fascination for him. “His... our... mother passed away a year ago, and I should have been turned out as nothing more than an embarrassment to him. And yet... and yet he still treats me like true family.” In his mind, Gully thought,
he treats me like the true family that I never treat him as in return.

He wondered, even if he ran, if he had seen his last day in Lohrdanwuld now that the truth was in someone else’s hands. But even if he ran, it did nothing to protect Roald. No longer paying attention to Mariealle, Gully strode over to the side of the road and sat heavily on a fallen log to mull over his unraveling secrets and limited options and the ruin he had brought upon the Delescers.