The Gully Snipe (The Dual World Book 1) (26 page)

Gully watched as the ocelot bowed his head a moment, then shook it. It was unmistakably a polite way of declining the food. What was so remarkable was that it appeared exactly as the kind of mannerism he had previously seen from the patriarch. The ocelot turned and bowed his head at Gully and then nodded towards a specific direction away from Exoutur’s and Raybb’s hut. Gully was unsure what the ocelot was telling him, but Exoutur interpreted for him.

“My father is probably still having his breakfast, but he’d like for you to come and join him when it is convenient. I’m sure he has thought of more questions during the night to pose to you,” said Exoutur.

Gully said goodbye to Exoutur and Raybb and followed the ocelot back to the campfire around which he and the patriarch had had their conversation the night before. Wyael was there with the patriarch, putting away the last of his breakfast.

Aian greeted Gully and told the young boy, “Thank you, Wyael. You may go play or see your parents if you like.”

“Please, patriarch, may I stay and listen?” asked Wyael.

“Of course you may, but after you finish the last bit of tidying up, please.”

Wyael ran off to finish his remaining chores. The patriarch smiled warmly after the boy and told Gully, “He is quite fascinated with you. Along with many others in the camp, as a matter of fact.”

They made themselves comfortable, the patriarch in his chair and Gully leaning back against a log. Gully said, “I’m not sure what would be so fascinating about someone like me, patriarch.”

Aian studied Gully with very sharp eyes for a moment before he answered, as if his response required much deeper consideration than most. “Oh, many things, I expect. Anyone brave, or likely foolish, enough to thieve from ruthless forest robbers would be interesting. The fact that you are the one who saved Gallun and Gellen and then appeared on our very threshold days later. That you are Iisen, and yet have just found out you are Balmorean, too, through very curious and remarkable circumstances. You grew up amongst the very bogs and marshes that are so dangerous for all others. All these are things that many in the clan find very interesting, especially when it all comes to rest in a single person. Our conversation was supposedly private last night, but words among the clan sneak around faster than scared little pip mice.”

Gully did not know what to say, and was more than a little uncomfortable that the fact that he had acted as a thief in the past had come up again, and worse, had spread among the whole clan. He wished he had not admitted that fact in front of any of the Merchers. But it was too late to take the truth back now.

“I count myself among them, young Bayle,” added the patriarch, his human eyes and his ocelot eyes watching Gully without blinking. Gully was so caught up in his own reverie that he didn’t even hear the comment.

Gully decided the best approach was to be even more honest.

“Sir, you should know—” Gully stopped as Wyael came racing back to sit near them, afraid that he had missed something. He was immediately followed by two large black and gray wolves loping along behind him. Gully stammered for a second as Wyael sat on a nearby log and Gallun and Gellen sat on the ground close to Gully, tongues hanging out and panting from their run.

“You were saying?” prompted the patriarch.

Gully looked at the new arrivals uncomfortably and wished he had not started to speak now that there were so many ears listening. But then he decided perhaps it would be best to be honest anyway. If they turned him out because of whom he really was, then so be it. It would be better to find out now than later. So he forged ahead and said with a heavy effort, “I must be fully honest with you.”

The patriarch’s eyebrows raised in curiosity, but he waited patiently. The wolves’ ears perked up at his statement.

“It is not strictly true that I have been a thief in the past.” Gully took a deep breath and continued, “The truth is... well, the truth is that I am nothing
but
a thief and never have been anything else.”

The patriarch watched him solemnly for a moment, then he asked, “Oh, is that a fact? Have you stolen from us since you became our guest?”

“No! I have not, and that never was—”

The patriarch held his hand up and Gully stopped speaking. The patriarch gestured towards the wolves and asked, “Was it your intention to steal from Gallun and Gellen that night, instead of freeing them?”

Gully was taken aback by the question some and he said, “Stealing from people held captive? Absolutely not!”

The patriarch smiled easily again and said, “Then your statement is inaccurate. You may be a thief, but it is quite obvious to me, if not you, that it is not
all
that you are. May I ask
why
you became a thief?”

“It was the only way to have some kind of living and still allow the time I needed to search for my father. My first few crimes were committed out of desperation, but I found I had something of a natural talent for it. Then it became more of a convenience. Criminal gain was the only method I could devise to have some kind of income and yet still spend as much time as I could time combing every spot of the bogs and marshes looking for signs of him, or signs of his fate, at least.”

Wyael piped up, “Can you teach me to be a thief?!”

The patriarch scowled at him and said, “This is your only warning, Wyael. You must not interrupt or leave.”

Gully added sternly, “I will
not
, Wyael! It is a terrible and shameful way to live.”

“Perhaps a dishonorable choice of careers, and yet it was made for a very honorable purpose, Bayle,” said the patriarch. “I have told you before how convinced I am that your father loved you beyond any other person, and now I find that same love returned to him from his son. And I am still amazed that there is a person so utterly comfortable wandering around in the deadlier portion of the woods south of here. I absolutely forbid the members of my clan from going there.”

Gully scratched at the back of his neck and begged, “Please, sir, if you would... call me Gully. That is really the name that fits whom I am.”

“Gully? A strange name, by both Iisen and Balmorean standards. How do you come by this name?” The patriarch’s curiosity was piqued yet again.

Gully sighed, “In Lohrdanwuld, I have something of a notorious reputation as a thief, not for stealing great sums of money, but more for my boldness in often acting in total daylight, and then also for how often I evade the swords and irons of the Kingdom Guard. I am known as the Gully Snipe among the Kingdom Guard and the people of the city.”

“I accept responsibility for whom I am and I accept the name given to me. It is fitting for someone of weak scruples such as myself. I will almost certainly hang someday for my crimes,” he said, glancing at Wyael to make sure the boy heard the end result of his choices, “but in the meantime I can search for my father.”

His eyes darted to the wolves, who had sat up and had what could only be described as a questioning look on their faces as they stared at him, something Gully never thought a wolf would be able to express. He diverted his eyes and tried to read the look on the patriarch’s face. He hastily added, before his admission did too much damage, “And if it troubles you, I give you my word that I would never act as such amongst—”

The patriarch held up his hand to stop Gully yet again. He said, “I believed you last night when you said that was not your intention, and nothing in my opinion has changed. I worry little about you plying your professional trade among the clan. My sense tells me that you are not the kind to turn on the people you put yourself at such risk to help.”

The patriarch nodded and said, “And if you prefer the name Gully, then Gully shall it be.” He smiled slyly at him. “But please humor an old man that would very much like to be able to call you Di’taro on sparing occasions.”

“Thank you, patriarch,” said Gully. Then he added without thinking, “Even my foster brother, Roald, calls me Gully.”

“Your foster brother is aware of your ways?” asked Aian, keenly.

Gully realized in horror, but too late, the betrayal he had committed.

The patriarch asked, “He is a swordsman in the Guard, is he not? Did I not hear you say that last night?”

“Yes, patriarch... he is.” Gully wanted to kick himself for the blunder.

The surprise in the patriarch’s face was almost tangible. “And he
knows
of your crimes?”

Gully chuckled nervously. “Yes. There is not much we keep from one another. But he knows I take little, and what I do steal is usually taken from crooked merchants or men so wealthy that they never even miss it. It has caused many interesting encounters between us, to be sure! At home, we are brothers. Out in the city, he is a guardsman and I am a scofflaw, and he would not hesitate to slap me in irons.”

“Remarkable!” exclaimed the patriarch.

“He has not managed to catch me yet, although there have been quite a number of close calls! He is one of the better swordsmen in the city,” said Gully with a hint of pride and a smile that felt surer on his lips.

“My brother is a good and honest soldier, a man the crown of Iisen can trust with unwavering conviction. And so do I. He is helping me to try to bring justice to the people behind the slave trade. But because they are powerful, I was hoping I could find you, Gallun and Gellen, and have you testify as to what happened. But that was when I assumed you were men of Iisen. I cannot and will not do that to you now since it would put you, and the clan, in an exposed position. I am now not even sure what I can tell Roald, if anything. I would like to tell him about meeting you and what I’ve seen, but I don’t want you to think that I would ever do anything to put you or the clan at risk, either.”

The patriarch leaned back in his chair and his eyes turned far off as he thought for a while. When he looked back down at Gully, he said, “You have trusted me, and all of us, with the full truth about yourself, Gully. I will trust you with the truth of us that you have seen and heard here. I believe you fully when you say you would not do anything to put us at risk, and I am most thankful that you care for our well-being.”

“I am sure it will take a little time for you to acclimate to the idea, but you are one of us, too. I will tolerate you referring to us as separate from yourself for only so long, Di’taro,” he said gently. “Your fate, by blood seal, is now twined with ours.”

Gully nodded that he understood. He was quickly growing fond of the patriarch.

“You have my true word that no harm will come to the Mercher clan as a result of my telling my foster brother about you,” said Gully.

The patriarch nodded and said, “I accept your word.”

“To be honest, there is much about you as a people that Roald would like very much,” added Gully, feeling a slight flush in his face. He wondered, however, if he’d be able to convince Roald of anything, of gypsies in the woods, of people that were wolves and ocelots and bears and owls, of his father’s secret heritage, without his brother dragging him to a healer immediately to find out what has driven him to such fevered delusions in such a short time. It would not be an easy task.

There were many other things to talk about, but there were also many things to take back to Lohrdanwuld and discuss with Roald, so Gully prepared to take his leave of the Mercher clan.

Quite a few came to see him off, not the least of which was Wyael, to whom he had to promise many times that he would return soon. Even Encender, his wife and daughter, Abella Jule, came to watch as he departed. And despite Encender and his wife watching his departure with stone faces, at least Abella Jule waved him goodbye along with many others in the clan.

Before he could leave, the patriarch took him aside by the elbow for one final private conversation.

The patriarch pulled the worn shawl on his shoulders a little tighter around himself and he said, his voice low and shrouded so no one would hear, “Do not forget that you are one of us now, Gully, no matter where you are. I would suffer the withering stares and recriminations of Encender if he heard me say this, but I believe distinct events are drawing to a point. I believe things are moving in a direction with purpose. Listen well, Di’taro... if there is anything at all that we, the clan, can do to help you end these crimes against all of us, let us know and we will do whatever we can.”

“You have my gratitude, patriarch, for everything. You and the Mercher clan have been very gracious hosts to me, even if Raybb did try to have me for his dinner last night!” said Gully happily. “I promise to come back before long so that we may talk more. I have enjoyed my time here, and you have made me feel most at home.”

“We will keep our senses, human and animal, alert for any signs of your father, Gully. We may be years too late to discover anything in this part of the woods, but we will help you find what you seek if we can.”

Gully bowed his head to the patriarch in deep appreciation and began his trek home, to the city of Lohrdanwuld.

He assumed he would be travelling alone, but he had no sooner set out through the woods than he had a pair of overly-sized wolves bounding along with him, on his either side.

Gully stopped and looked back at the Mercher camp. He told them, “You need not join me. I will find my way back to the road with no hesitation, and I do not need your protection.”

One of the wolves, he was unsure which since he had not learned to tell the twins apart in their wolf form, sat on its haunches and “humphed” at him indignantly. Gully decided it had to be Gellen.

He knelt down in front of the wolf, Gallun approaching next to his brother, and said, “I yield then. The company is good, and we can protect each other. But when we get to the South Pass Road, you must promise to turn back. I would hate for one of the Guard’s archers to be along the road and take practice shots at a wolf in the wilderness.”

The two wolves looked at each other to consult on their answer, and then Gallun nodded his head to Gully to signal their agreement.

They walked along further, amongst the black ash trees, the spruce and pine, passing the arrowwood, ferns, and buckthorn. In the silence as they walked along, Gully had a feeling that nagged and tugged at his insides as his thoughts roamed over the last day. For the first time he could ever remember, he felt ashamed to be a thief.