The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (34 page)

“He’s right you know,” Jorry says. “No one
in their right mind would tackle a group such as ours.”

“Especially not one with as scary mug as
you’ve got,” Uther says with a grin.

Jorry gives him an annoyed look before
breaking into a grin himself.

All through the meal, James takes notice of
a couple sitting near them, a young man and woman. Neither of them
could be more than sixteen or seventeen. From the way they sit
close to one another, it makes him think they may be newlyweds. She
keeps laying her head on his shoulder and snuggling close.

Once lunch is over and they begin heading to
their horses, the couple gets to their feet as well and follows
them out. When they’re outside the inn, the young man approaches
and says, “Excuse me.”

They all stop and turn toward him. “Yes?”
asks James.

The girl is attached to his arm as he says
nervously, “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with
those other gentlemen.” His eyes flick first to James then to the
others, finally coming to rest back on James. “Am I to understand
you are planning on taking the road through the pass?”

“That’s right,” he replies. “Why?”

Jiron draws close as do the others which
only makes the man more nervous. The girl says, “Maybe we shouldn’t
bother them, dear.” She pulls on his arm as if she wants to move
away.

Turning to her he pats her arm and says,
“It’s alright.” Then to James he asks, “We were wondering if you
would allow us to accompany you over the pass. It’s just the two of
us and I’m afraid of what might happen if we go it alone, what with
all the talk of troubles.”

James glances to Jiron and Miko who both
shrug, Dave gives an emphatic negative shake of his head. “Are you
ready to leave right now?” he asks once he’s returned his attention
back to the couple.

Bobbing his head, the young man asks, “Yes
sir. Our wagon is around back.” The girl doesn’t look very happy
about this but will not gainsay her man.

“Sure,” he replies. Holding his hand out, he
adds, “Name’s James.”

With relief evident upon his face, the young
man takes his hand and replies, “I’m Kerrin and this is my wife,
Gayle.”

“Nice to meat you,” says James. “If you
wouldn’t mind going to get your wagon, we would like to leave as
soon as possible.”

“Yes, sir,” the man says. “Right away and
thank you.” The woman gives him a slight courtesy but still doesn’t
look happy about the situation.

As the couple goes to get their wagon, James
and the others begin mounting. “Are you sure this is such a good
idea?” Dave asks.

“What are you worried about?” exclaims Jiron
with a grimace. He hates the negativity which always seems to come
from him lately.

“Relax Dave,” James says. “It’ll be nice
having them along. The more we have, the less likely anyone will
trouble us.”

“True,” Uther interjects. “Not to mention
giving us something better to look at than Jorry’s sorry mug.”

Turning to his friend, Jorry says, “I wish
you would retire that sorry old joke. No one laughs anymore.”

Uther glances around the group and sees them
all staring at him, some with disapproving expressions. He says,
“Very well.”

Just then from around the corner a wagon
turns onto the street, the couple is seated upon the seat. “You
know that wagon is going to slow us down a little,” Miko says.

“Some,” replies James with a nod. “But I
just couldn’t say no.”

As the wagon draws near, the riders take up
position around it and they make their way through town, toward the
entrance of the pass.

This pass isn’t nearly as steep as the
Merchant’s Pass had been. The road rises much more gradually as the
mountains are not as tall. For the first couple of hours they
steadily rise toward the summit which looks to be a day or two
away.

Riding along, James casts glances back to
the couple on the wagon behind them. The man always gives him a
cheery smile while the woman simply looks scared. She looks as if
she thinks they are going to fall upon them and attack them at any
moment.

Miko is riding beside them and is regaling
them with stories of their exploits. James smiles at the
embellishments which have already crept into the often repeated
tales. At least he’s not making any mention of anything important,
like the fact he can do magic. He knows James doesn’t like that
little tidbit to be talked about, so glosses over those parts. Try
as he might, nothing Miko does seems to put the girl at ease. If
anything his stories are only making her more nervous.

Maybe it’s the heavily tattooed Qyrll that
has her spooked. He does make a rather menacing sight. Qyrll
generally keeps his hood over his features since he realizes the
reactions people in this part of the world have to him. So it
wasn’t until they were an hour into the pass when the hood came off
for one reason or another. She gasped in fright when she saw his
visage and the others tried to put her at ease but to no avail. Her
husband grew nervous for a time but his good natured personality
resurfaced and came to accept Qyrll as non threatening.

Near the end of the day, a river appears. It
flows through the pass ahead of them alongside the road and then
turns more northerly before disappearing into the mountains again.
From where the river disappears to the north, the sound of a mighty
waterfall can be heard.

They continue along the road as it makes its
way along the banks of the river for another hour until the light
begins to fade with the coming of night. Finding a suitable spot,
they make camp at the edge of the river under the cover of a
cluster of trees. Their overhanging branches afford them some
protection from the rain that’s still coming down. It’s been
falling continuously all day and even though they’ve worn rain
gear, it has managed to infiltrate and soak a good portion of their
clothes underneath.

Other than the occasional drops of water
which make it through, the area under the trees is relatively dry
and large enough to accommodate them all. Off to one side they
stake the horses near the wagon and then begin setting up camp.

When Kerrin notices them taking their food
out in preparation to fix their meal he says, “You let us handle
dinner tonight. It’s the least we can do for you allowing us to
travel with you.”

His wife gives him a glare behind his back
which says feeding them is the last thing she wants to do.

James notices the look on her face and says,
“We don’t want to be a bother.”

“It’s no bother,” Kerrin assures him as he
turns to his wife. “Is it dear?”

As he turns to look at her, her expression
changes from one of annoyance to that of willingness. “No,” she
says. “No bother at all.”

Before James can come up with a way to turn
him down, Uther says, “That would be wonderful.”

“Good, good,” the man says and then turns
back to his wife, giving her a smile. She smiles back until he
begins walking from the trees to hunt for firewood, then her smile
disappears. With a brooding expression, she goes to the wagon and
begins removing several pots in which to cook their dinner.

Jiron comes up behind James and says with a
grin, “I don’t think she wants to cook for us.”

Glancing back to him, he replies, “I got
that feeling as well. But it’s too late now, Uther’s gone and
accepted for us. Set up the watch for tonight, we can’t afford to
be caught unawares if bandits make an appearance.”

“Already taken care of,” he says. “Uther
gets the first watch and you’ll take the last. Everyone is taking a
turn but Dave.”

James arcs an eyebrow at that. “Why?” he
asks.

“We don’t trust him to stay awake,” Jiron
replies. Lowering his voice, he adds, “Actually some of us just
don’t trust him at all.”

“I know,” James says sadly. He glances over
to his friend who has staked out a spot with his bedroll near the
center of the trees. Lying down on his back, he has his arms
crossed behind him under his head as he stares up into the trees.
James goes over and sits down next to his friend.

“You okay?” he asks.

“A little depressed is all,” Dave admits.
“Homesick.”

“I know how you feel,” he says.

Turning on his side, he props his head on
one hand and looks at James. “I miss the arcade,” he says. “Not to
mention tv, pizza and milkshakes.”

“Pizza we might be able to manage here,”
James says. “Maybe a pepperoni one when we get back to The
Ranch.”

Perking up a little, Dave says, “You think
so?”

Grinning at his friend, he says, “I don’t
see why not, it’s just dough, sauce, cheese and toppings. In the
winter we may even be able to do milkshakes.”

“Or snow cones,” adds Dave with a grin.

“Now sure what to flavor them with but we’ll
figure something out,” he says.

“Would be nice to have some things from home
like that,” Dave says. “Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.”

“That’s the spirit,” James says
encouragingly. “Since we’re stuck here, we may as well make the
best of it.”

“When life gives you lemons make lemonade?”
asks Dave with a grin.

“You know it,” agrees James with a nod.
“Remember that time…” It’s an hour before Gayle has dinner ready
and all the while he and Dave reminisce about the old days back
home. Seems they’ve been doing that a lot lately. Those are the
times when Dave seems to perk up the most and be his old self.

Gayle finally calls everyone to eat. She’s
made a stew with plenty of meat and vegetables. They bring their
bowls over and are given a hearty portion, then take position
around the campfire.

“We are very grateful that you have allowed
us to accompany you,” Kerrin says as he takes his place near his
wife.

“Glad to have you with us,” James assures
him.

Through a mouthful of stew, Jorry says, “You
make a good stew ma’am.” The others offer their praise as well.

“Thank you,” replies Gayle, a shy smile
coming to her face.

“My Gayle is one of the best cooks
anywhere,” Kerrin says as he gives her a one armed hug about the
shoulders. “Don’t know what I would do without her.” She blushes
from his words and lowers her eyes as she continues eating.

“May I have more?” Uther asks, holding his
bowl out.

“Of course,” she says as she gets up to
ladle more into his bowl. “Anyone else?” she asks when his bowl is
full. Miko of course comes to his feet quickly and gets more. Qyrll
stands and comes forward with his bowl as well.

She glances to his tattooed face coming
toward her and gets a nervous look on her face.

“I would like some more too if you don’t
mind,” he says to her.

Her hand has a slight tremor in it as she
ladles more stew into his bowl. “Thank you,” he says when his bowl
is again filled and retakes his seat. All they have to go with the
stew is some slightly stale bread. But you dip it into the stew and
it’s edible.

By the time the meal is over, night has
settled in and the temperature continues to drop. They throw more
wood on the fire to keep the chill at bay as they begin to settle
down for sleep. All that is but Uther who has pulled the first
watch.

James lies his blanket down next to Dave,
Miko settles in on his other side. Soon they’re all fast
asleep.

Suddenly awakened by a tugging sensation,
James comes awake. He opens his eyes and the world swims in front
of him. He looks up to see Kerrin standing above him, his hand
around the chain securing the medallion around his neck. He tries
to stop him but his movements are lethargic, his muscles not
responding well to his commands.

“Get the rest of their money,” Kerrin
says.

“Yes dear,” he hears Gayle reply.

“You did good work,” another voice says.
James scans the area and finds the voice belongs to another man. He
starts in shocked recognition when he realizes it’s the older
gentleman from the inn back in Feld. The one who had warned them
about the bandit attacks in the pass.

“Was easy enough,” replies Kerrin as he
finally manages to remove the medallion from around James’ neck.
Holding it up, he mumbles to himself, “Might bring a couple
silvers.”

He then reaches down and removes the pouch
from James’ waist which contains the crystals. At first excited
when he opens it thinking he’s found a stash of gems, he’s quickly
disappointed when he finds all there is are some common crystals of
little value. “Don’t you know what real gems are?” he asks James.
Grunting in disgust, he dumps out the crystals on the ground next
to him and continues rummaging through his pouches, removing all
things of value. The necklace James had found in the underground
temple near the fortress of Kern goes into Kerrin’s pouch as
well.

When at last he finishes with James, he
moves to Dave and begins going through his things.

“Gather the horses,” the older man says.
James notices the younger one from the inn is there as well and
begins putting the reins on their horses and securing them in a
line to the back of the wagon.

Unable to move other than small movements,
he tries to look around the campsite. He finds most of the others
are passed out, Jiron seems to be the only other one besides him
even conscious. He fears the others may be dead, no way to be
sure.

They must have drugged us!
His eyes
come to rest on the stewpot and the realization hits him that that
must be how they did it. But Kerrin and Gayle had eaten too, maybe
they had taken the antidote before they consumed it.

Gayle is remaining by the wagons while the
three men continue removing everything of value from their victims.
Once Kerrin is finished with Dave, he stands back up and moves to
the wagon to deposit the items he’s removed. The older gentleman
joins him and together they help to get the horses secured in a
line behind the wagon.