Chapter 13

Before dawn they set out for the final leg of their journey through Arvalla. After little more than an hour just as the sun was rising in the east they finally reached Eastgate, where the river Tyalume entered the Great Forest. Because the river originated in the Vinyanan Mountains and flowed south along the eastern edge of the wood before plunging into Arvalla at Eastgate the company had still to cross the river to reach Pilinon, for they still were on the north bank.
      Some distance they had to ride to the north before finally they found a place where the river could be safely forded. Across it they rode, and as they did so they looked back on the great enchanted forest with more than a little longing in their spirits for the comfort of its dreamy shade.
      Once they were safely across the Tyalume Raavan insisted that they increase their pace dramatically, for the summer was wearing on and there still was much left to do. Their next destination was Pencairn, the capital city of Pilinon and perhaps the mightiest of the cities of men, some two hundred miles from where they now were.
      And so they urged their steeds into a steady gallop, moving with all speed toward the south-east. Soon they were again passing farms and other homesteads. They found an old dirt road that led more or less in the direction they wished to travel, and this helped to quicken their pace a bit further.
      At noon they stopped for a half hour to rest their steeds and let them take some water, and then they hit the road again as hard as before. In the early afternoon they passed quickly through the town of Fortree, which featured a large wooden fort garrisoned by many of the King’s knights. Seeing the knights in their shiny armour the Elflings were reminded of Arnedia, of the many friends and acquaintances they had made there, especially during their stay at Greycastle. They were reminded of how wide the world is, how many people there were in it and how many friends yet waiting to be met.
      But now there was little time for wondering. On they rode, Raavan pushing them mercilessly in his attempt to make up for the many days spent passing through Arvalla.
      That night they could easily have accepted the hospitality of a local farmer or the like, but Raavan insisted that to do so would only incur additional delays for the obligatory hellos and good-byes, and so they ended up camping just off the road between two villages. They did not even bother with a fire that night, instead just chewing on some cold wafers and downing it with water from their skins.
      Before turning in for the night Alatar informed them that by his reckoning Pencairn was still over a day away. In the morning he had rather worse news. Checking on the condition of the steeds he discovered that one of the ponies needed to be re-shod as soon as possible and had begun to develop a limp. Raavan was not pleased.
      Before dawn they were on the road again, passing through a sleeping village in the dark. As there appeared to be no farrier in the place they continued on their way. Soon they arrived at the town of Eldernoch and here they were in luck, for between the respective establishments of Claev the Butcher and Limariman the Baker was the rather ingenious horse-shaped sign of Finny the Farrier.
      There was now a hint of dawn in the sky, yet it would be some time still before the shoppes opened, so they tethered their steeds in front of Finny’s and sat quietly on the steps. Raavan lit his pipe while the Elflings conversed in loud whispers, speaking in the main about how much happier they were on days when they were permitted to have hot tea in the morning. But alas, this was not such a day, for Raavan had been in a tremendous hurry that morning so that they would have plenty of extra time to sit idly on the steps of Finny the farrier while the rest of the world slept.
      ‘Shh!’ Raavan whispered suddenly, then pointed down the street with one hand while shrouding his pipe with the other. Looking in that direction they at first saw nothing, but then something moved: a shadow, and then a large black form. Quickly it leapt across the street and vanished into an alley.
      ‘What was that?’ asked Talen.
      ‘Someone who does not want to be seen,’ said Burak.
      ‘What do you suppose he is up to?’ asked Dannadar.
      ‘I have no idea,’ said Raavan.
      ‘Maybe it’s that Magorath fellow following us again,’ said Falco as he carefully retrieved his bow.
      ‘I doubt it,’ said Raavan. ‘But I suppose there’s no harm in making sure.’
      ‘Right,’ said Alatar.
      Burak stayed behind with his axe Tuin in hand to guard their steeds while Alatar led the others down the street to where the dark form had disappeared. Down the alley they went, Alatar in the lead, with Raavan, Falco, Dannadar, and Talen behind. When they reached the end of the narrow alleyway they looked out to see that they had come to another street. They saw no movement. A mist was rising.
      Almost directly across the street was another alley. They crossed and entered it. This one was darker and at the far end they found not a street but yet another corridor running across this one. They would have to choose which way to go, yet they saw no hint that the stranger had passed either way.
      Alatar led them down the right-hand passage, which took them to the very edge of town. Crowding at the end of the alley they looked about for any sign of the curious character. At first there was none. Then, just as they were about to turn back and try the other way a movement was seen some distance ahead at the edge of a field, not far from a towering oak. The figure appeared to be digging in the earth with a small spade.
      Creeping quietly and with great care the companions moved to a position behind a blackthorn bush where they could get a better view. From here they watched as the stranger finished digging his hole, into which he then placed what appeared to be a small, wooden box. Once he had covered it over again with earth he fled back toward the alleyway and disappeared.
      ‘Strange,’ said Talen.
      ‘Yes,’ agreed Dannadar, ‘very strange.’
      ‘Well, I don’t think he poses any danger to us,’ said Raavan. ‘And it’s definitely not Magorath.’
      ‘Could it be some other spy sent by Silgoth?’ asked Dannadar.
      ‘I don’t see any reason to suspect anything like that,’ said Raavan doubtfully. ‘There are plenty of strange characters lurking about that have no connection to Tath.’
      ‘That’s true,’ conceded Dannadar. ‘Then again, like you said: there’s no harm in making sure.’
       
       
      They had no spade with them, so they dug with their swords. The ground was still soft and it was not long before they had retrieved the buried article. The tiny chest had an iron latch which they unhooked, and having done so they then carefully opened the mysterious box to peer inside.
      Within the chest they found two items: a gold key and a crudely drawn map of a town. The town did not look familiar to them. An X marked a spot on the map, though of its significance they could only guess.
      ‘How interesting,’ mused Dannadar.
      ‘It’s a mystery, to be sure,’ said Raavan, ‘but not one that need concern us.’
      ‘But we have no idea where this map leads!’ objected Dannadar.
      ‘That’s right,’ agreed Raavan, ‘and I have no desire to find out.’
      ‘Well, I do!’ said the Elfling.
      ‘Put it back,’ said Raavan, handing the key and the map and the box to the Elfling.
      ‘But—’ objected Dannadar.
      ‘Bury it,’ said Raavan. ‘We have no business here. Let us return to the farrier’s shoppe. I want to be there the minute he opens so there will be no additional delays.’
      With that the wizard turned and strode back toward the alleyway, Alatar and Falco following behind him.
      ‘Talen, what are we going to do?’ pleaded Dannadar.
      ‘Bury it,’ said Talen: ‘It’s none of our business.’ And with that Talen turned to follow the others while Dannadar placed the miniature chest back into the hole. But before covering it over he crammed the contents into his pocket, with the others none the wiser.
       
       
      When they returned the farrier had not yet come to open his shoppe, and indeed, they had to wait some time for him to appear. When finally he did arrive they saw that Finny was quite an old man, though he was certainly friendly enough. But Raavan was in a hurry and had little interest in the man’s amiable prattle.
      When the pony had been re-shod and Finny paid by the grumbling wizard they set out again. For now it was decided that Dannadar would ride behind Raavan on Windaris so that the limping pony would be unencumbered. Though they had enquired with the farrier as to ponies for sale in Eldernoch they were not able to get any definite leads and Raavan was not about to waste any additional time wandering the town in search of a replacement steed.
      So with Dannadar mounting up behind Raavan and the lame pony tethered behind the pack animal they followed the road south-east on the way to Pencairn. By mid-morn they had come to the northern edge of Arvalla and were travelling due east. On they rode in the sweltering heat of mid-August. Though they would like to have travelled within the shade of Arvalla, navigating the dense forest would have slowed them down enormously so they instead kept to the road which ran along the edge of the wood.
      As evening was approaching the road suddenly turned south-east to cut off a corner of the Great Forest before continuing on its easterly path toward Pencairn. Here the wood had little of the magical quality which they had come to know during their journey across the breadth of the main forest. The trees were mainly large oaks, with elm and walnut mixed in and an occasional rowan or two. No birds sang as the light faded from the sky.
      When they had gone about six miles into the forest they came upon a peasant vainly attempting to replace a wheel which had detached from his cart. Though the cart was empty it was far too heavy for a single man to lift. When the company reached him they stopped and dismounted in order to assist the poor wretch who in turn smiled gratefully through the filth which covered his face.
      They quickly tethered their horses and took up positions along the side of the heavy cart. Then, lifting with all their might they brought the cart up high enough for the peasant to replace the lost wheel. But the peasant instead dropped the wheel where he stood and gave a shrill whistle. Nearly thirty men now jumped out from the edge of the wood. All of them held a bow of yew in one hand and a drawn arrow in the other. The party was surrounded.
      As the companions let down the cart a burly man approached with a dirk in one hand and a smile on his broad face.
      ‘Good avenin’ to yeh,’ said the man. ‘Moy name ez Bruno, and dis ’ere ez deh king’s rowd. An’ if yeh wants teh use it, ye’ve gotter pay da king’s towl.’
      ‘The king’s toll,’ said Raavan wryly. ‘Right.’
      ‘Dat’s royt,’ said Bruno nodding his big head emphatically, ‘da king’s towl. Now, what kinder valuables ’ave yer got wit’ yeh?’
      ‘Uh-oh,’ said Dannadar, ‘I think they’re going to want the Earlstone, Raavan.’
      At this Raavan’s eyes opened wide as he turned to glare at Dannadar. ‘Will you please keep your big mouth shut !’ said Raavan angrily.
      ‘Hey, don’ talk to da liddle fellow dat way!’ said Bruno. ‘Now, lemme see dis ’ere erl-stown, and oy’ll decide ef et’s an adequate pymint.’
      ‘Well, we haven’t got it yet,’ said Dannadar. ‘All we’ve got is just this map and key—oops!’ Now the Elfling covered his mouth with one hand and backed away from the glaring wizard, whose furrowed brow showed only a barely discernible expression of puzzlement.
      ‘Ah, so ye’ve got a map to dis ’ere erl-stown,’ said Bruno, obviously quite pleased with himself at having extracted this bit of information from the reticent travellers. ‘Well, ye best turn et over, royt away.’
      At this Dannadar drew forth the folded and wrinkled map and the gold key from his pocket. Turning toward Raavan he said meekly, ‘I’m sorry, Raavan.’
      The wizard glared.
      ‘Alroyt, enuf o’ dat,’ said Bruno. ‘Hand et over, liddle ’un.’
      When he received the articles Bruno first looked appraisingly at the gold key, which he then placed in his jaw and bit soundly. ‘Real gowld!’ said the man. Then he examined the map, with ever a shrewd glance up at the companions, who waited anxiously.
      ‘The king thanks ye, gen’l’men,’ said Bruno at last, placing the key and the map in his pocket. ‘Ye all’r fray to gow!’ Then with a gruff laugh the man turned and made off into the woods with the others, including the peasant at the cart.
      When they were gone Raavan turned to glare at Dannadar with renewed anger. ‘Now, would you like to explain yourself, Mr. Hawksbill ?’
      ‘Why are you shouting?’ said Dannadar, backing away from the wizard. ‘I just saved us from those brigands.’
      ‘Brigands I can handle, but you ,’ accused the wizard, ‘you shall be the death of me! Did I not instruct you to bury that box where you found it?’
      ‘I did bury the box,’ said Dannadar evasively. ‘I just didn’t put the map and key inside before I buried it.’
      ‘If you can’t learn to listen to me, Mr. Hawksbill, then you had certainly better learn to hop,’ said the wizard, ‘because when I get done with you you’re going to be fit for doing little else than hopping about and catching flies. I hope you get my drift.’
      ‘Very clearly,’ said the Elfling, squirming painfully under the old man’s gaze.
      ‘Very well, then,’ concluded Raavan. ‘Let’s put a few more miles behind us before dark. I want to get into Pencairn early tomorrow.’
      With that they mounted up and rode off, emerging from the forest as the darkness was virtually complete. Lighting torches Raavan then made them continue at a snail’s pace for another two hours before finally relenting and instructing them to set up camp beside the road.
      Though it would be only a few days before even Raavan could laugh with the others over the episode with the map and the key and the highway robbers, he continued to maintain that the forest bandits would likely find little of value when they followed the map. Against this none could convincingly argue, though of course no one knew for sure.