Chapter 4

I wrapped up the injustice done to me by that faceless Crown Attorney and put it in a box. I slid that box onto a shelf at the back of my mind. There was a debt to be paid there, and I’d open that box and deal with it another time.

Here and now, I became a model prisoner. Attending mental health workshops, speaking about distance education and working out with an intensity that people noticed. I put on muscle but actual lost weight overall. Jake had me practicing slow movements nightly, stepping through shadows while we were working, and practicing closely observing those around me during mealtimes.

His lessons were thorough and meticulous, more than once I wondered who he had really been before he was Jake the Lion. I ran the portal for the third time, finding two rats on each island, except for the last one, which had three still. I managed to search a lot more, and found five more of the blue stones, and one green one for a total of six. I didn’t find any new items, but I made it through uninjured and collected all the Silver (24) from the Rats. I forced myself to stop and enjoy the last island for a quarter of an hour, just soaking in the solitude, sun (kinda), and smells. Back in the start room, I sold off the stones I needed to buy a scroll of identify, but didn’t use it yet, seeing as we had to get the pictures and camera back to the COs.

In bed that night I called up my inventory, carefully reading what was available about them. The small silver jug was titled ‘Rosewater Ewer : 1/2’ and I had no idea what that meant but vowed to spend some of my allotted internet hour looking it up. I was hoping that there wasn’t some sex act with that title, otherwise the search would be blocked, and my internet session would end immediately. I’d had that experience when trying to find out if I could get pizza -hot-pockets delivered.

Lesson learned, if you want to look up something new, put it at the end of your allowed hour. The Zippo lighter was the “Unidentified object” I was interested in. It was also titled “Bonded”? It worked, and I’d proven it worked outside the portal, but it wasn’t until I read its title in my inventory that I realized it was a magic item. The Store offered me 1 single silver piece for it. I wouldn’t have sold it for that, just based on the usefulness of having a lighter that I finally couldn’t lose. Every day in the yard, Jake would flick it open, light a smoke, and flick it closed. I would take it back to my inventory after that first cigarette. Jake would feign ignorance of the whole thing, asking those who questioned how he’d got a Zippo into the yard if they needed their hearing/eyes checked. There were many guys who followed him around every day to try to figure out where he put his lighter and another Legend was born about our resident Lion.

I was spending another fruitless hour online trying to figure out what this “Rosewater Ewer” was. The store offered me another single silver piece for it too, but anyone with even one eye knew it was worth a fortune. It was part of a set of two items (I figured that’s what ‘1/2’ meant), and the other part was a large dish/bowl that the Ewer. (Fancy-assed pitcher) sat in. These were old-timey things that people used to wash their old-timey, fancy-assed hands with. Nowadays they were often used as trophies. I had called up an image of a fit-looking girl in tennis whites holding one of these dishes above her head. Apparently, she’d just won Wimbledon.

I was lingering on the picture, wondering if they made those tennis skirts that short, just for show; when a fella leaned over my shoulder looking at the screen. “Girl like that would eat you alive Buddy...” he chuckled.

“That thing she’s holding, it’s part of a set called a Rosewater service. It’s called a Salver, it comes with a matching pitcher called an Ewer...” I explained. I can’t say why I said it, I had no reason not to be looking at the girl or be embarrassed about it.

Funny thing in jail, things normally happen slowly so when someone moves fast (even if it’s just their eyes) you pick up on it ... Like predators do ... or prey. The guy across the table, and one down the row ... his head snapped up and eyes found mine in an instant. I paused a second before speaking. “Ever hear of a ‘Salver’ before?” The big Mexican nodded after a few seconds. “We should talk about it sometime then.” I said, closing my browser after deleting the history (not that I really believed it had been deleted) and leaving the computer lab.

“Jake, I think someone else in here’s gotta Weapon!” I whispered, when I got to the ball court. Jake was working me with footwork and lunges, pretending it was part of some basketball lessons. “Later...” was all he said.

‘Later’ that night, back in the cell, we went over the particulars. Jake had me holding the Dagger on the back of my hand (over the bunk) training my arm and shoulder muscles. “You think that this guy was given a weapon, went into a portal, found this ‘Salver’ thing, and is going to contact you?” He asked, “All from the fact that he responded to the word ‘salver’?” He was laughing. “For all you know, it means whore-boy in Spanish!”

“Jake,” I said seriously, “You’ve been teaching me to be aware, to look, and watch peoples reactions and to try to sort out their motives ... I’m telling you, this guy recognized not only that word, but Rosewater service ... I mean, come on ... he’s got the other piece. He has been in, that means he’s armed and you and I need to be much more careful.” I was using a serious tone but was pleading with my eyes. I was worried about this guy. “He knows that I know, and since I’m your Footman, he knows that you know. What happens if you take the dagger to an ‘appointment’ and the other guy has a sword?” I asked, trying to get him to make some plans.

“Ok, ok ... let’s talk to him, maybe he will approach, maybe not. If he does, we dance around it, misdirect a bit ... tell me again about the time in the ‘Start Room’ and what you find in there...”

Two mornings later, we had four guys ask to join us at our table. Two smaller black guys and two Hispanics. I recognized the one big Mexican. Jake looked up from my toast and eggs. “Sure guys!, are certain that your Status won’t suffer from eating breakfast with us Gringos though?” he asked of the two obvious Spanish speakers. “And you two, would your Attributes suffer if you broke bread with us Crackers?” He asked the other two. Two of the men, the one Mexican I recognized, and the smaller of the two black guys glanced at each other. We ate in silence until the end of breakfast, about 5 minutes. Jake popped up and said, “I think I like you guys, real pleasant conversation. We should swap around work partners in the next few days and get to know each other better.” He nodded at the two silent blacks. One of you should get to know my Footman, and you...” he looked at the big Mexican, “ ... should fold laundry with me today”. I gathered up everyone’s tray, carrying the nearly spotless stainless dishes to the racks. When I got back, Jake laughed “Good news!, you and Anthony get to clean toilets today...” then he turned and slapped his new partner for the day on the shoulder as they walked away saying “You’ll love the laundry, it’s like a Portal to another dimension...”

I looked at the three remaining guys. “Who has the misfortune of working with me today? I don’t have as many stories as Jake, but I bet I have a few that you haven’t heard.” The smaller of the remaining guys shuffled up and said, “Let’s go then...”

It was the easiest toilet duty I ever had, ‘cause the other guy Tony (Anthony) actually worked. We’d finish up one room, chat for a bit, then go onto the next part and think up questions for the other guy. Anthony was cagey about his answers though (as was I). I did learn that the two guys had worked together from the very first run. The two pairs of guys had been working in ‘their area’ when Zane found the portal. They all came over and touched it at roughly the same time. Zane and ‘Tony were the only two to enter. Their Portal had Ants.

Lots and lots of Ants.

Tony told me that they had run the same Portal three times already. The Ants were a sort-of hard body, like a crab, but their joints were very vulnerable. A slashing weapon could decapitate an ant in a single swing, but you had to get it just right. A piercing weapon would go right through, but it had to be sharp and hit the right spot or it would just skittle-off to the side. It also might get stuck, taking time to work it free. There were (on the first run) 75 worker ants, 4 Big Boys, and a single Queen (which couldn’t even move). The Big Boys were three times the size of the regular ones and could spit an acid goo if you stayed a distance. They also had sharp bladed structures on their forearms if you got up close. It sounded like hell to me, and I told him so.

“Once you clear it out, it’s quite nice actually. I like how it’s quiet, and not ... here...” he finished. “You spend quite a bit of time there after yer’ done slaying the ants?” I asked. “Yeah.” he sighed “ ... you gotta go back to each one an...” He stopped talking. I suppose they had decided early what they were going to hold close to their chest. “Have you tried just collecting the Silver indirectly? Get real close, and ‘reach out for it’. You won’t have to dig through the damn things” I said with a smile. “Oh, thank Christ! That’s almost the worst part of the whole affair, hours and hours of digging through dead ant bodies for Silver” he exclaimed, obviously happy to be able to keep talking. (And also happy to not have to perform 100 Ant autopsies)