Chapter 16: Springing the First Trap

A few days before their expected meeting with Hastert, they separated into their two groups. Pēteris and Maggie were in the common room of yet another inn but dressed in clothes taken from former attackers. It had taken a boiling to get rid of the vermin, but with Pēteris’ continued beard growth and Maggie dressed as a young man, they bore little resemblance to that when Hastert first appeared.

Shortly before the midday meal, Stumpy appeared and looked around. When he didn’t find the object of his search, he ordered a bowl of stew with bread. Sitting near the fire, he began to eat slowly.

He hung around, and finally perked up when Robyn appeared with her entourage. Showing no malice towards the three, he approached and asked Robyn to look at his wound. “It still hurts, but it ain’t turnin’ green or anything. You bein’ a healer, it may be my last chance to have someone knowin’ look after it.”

“I’ll look at it once I’ve had a meal and cleaned myself from the road,” Robyn told him.

She approached the innkeeper and hired a room and meals for three, telling him that she would be staying for at least three nights if he would allow her to see patients in the common room. He agreed for a fee of three extra pinches per day, knowing that she would also increase his profits with the increased traffic to his inn.

She asked that a bath be set up in her room, and while they waited, she ordered a meal and watered wine for herself and her comrades.

Clean and fed, Robyn, Miriam, and Charles entered the common room, and Robyn took a table near the fire. Miriam and Charles continued standing and surveyed the room for potential dangers, then summoned Stumpy over.

With her invitation, Stumpy sat and extended his wounded arm. Robyn unwound the bandages and had him place his arm on the table, his stump on a clean cloth she had placed there for that purpose. As she examined his wound, he talked, “I know that you could have let me die, and Hastert could have thrown me out, but he didn’t. I’m not happy with what I lost, but I follow orders. So here I am.”

“So here you are,” Robyn repeated. “Is Hastert happy with his potions and salve?”

“Well a few days ago, he got real happy! He’s on his way and should be here tomorrow.” Stumpy sounded puzzled, “He says he doesn’t have much time - I don’t know why - and he sent me ahead to make sure that you were here and ready with his potions.”

“I’ll have it tomorrow when he gets here,” Robyn assured him. “Does he still want enough for two cock burners?”

“You had better believe it,” Stumpy replied, obviously at least partially in the know, “He has both of them with him.”

“You can tell Hastert that I’ll have six flasks of potions ready for him, along with the salve,” Robyn’s smile was deliberately evil, “When he hands me the agreed upon price, I’ll give them all to him. One flask each will have enough potions for the two cock burners, and one flask will have enough for him for two weeks.”

“Can Hastert read? she asked.

Receiving an affirming nod, she continued. “When he and his men have been gone from town for a week, I will give you a note telling which of the last three flasks has the remainder of his potion. The other two will contain poison and must be thrown away.” She looked at him, “You know what will happen if you don’t deliver the note?” Stumpy nodded. “And I will have one of my assistants check to see that he leaves.”

That part of the arrangements finished, Robyn offered to examine the two cock burners to be sure they were in good health, but insisted that Hastert accompany them alone to her room. Her assistants would remain in the common room, and all but two of Hastert’s men must remain outside the inn. She explained, “I’m after repeat business, and I don’t want any accidents or misunderstandings.”

“I’ll tell him all,” Stumpy assured her. He went over to the innkeeper, ordered another bowl of stew, this time with watered wine, quickly ate, and departed. Unnoticed, Pēteris and Maggie waited a small while, then slipped out and followed.

It was a dreary afternoon and the roads were muddy from an earlier rain. Now, the road conditions made it easier to hang back and follow Stumpy’s trail. Several miles from town, horse tracks left the road to follow a track that went to the right. Reasonably certain that the turnoff would be watched, Pēteris and Maggie rode something over two miles further. When the road turned rocky, they turned off from a section bordered by a dense bit of forest and waited.

Perhaps ten minutes later, three heavily armed horsemen rode slowly past. The pair waited for an hour, and when the three rode back, they followed them at a distance. It was growing dark, and only the fact that they were following a party of three made it possible to reassure them that they had turned onto the same track that Stumpy followed.

They rode past the turnoff and exited the road on the opposite side and about a quarter mile closer to town. Well off the road, they hobbled the horses and took turns napping until after dark. Then they went looking for the camp that they were sure they would find.

It was long after midnight when they approached the camp. Hastert appeared to be more competent than Pēteris had been led to believe of most warlords on Chaos. Guards were posted and awake, a latrine had been dug away from the camp, and the Damsels were sitting in the camp’s center, near a fire. They were clearly tied together to prevent their escape, but one of them was nursing a baby!

Maggie stared wide-eyed and pointed. Pēteris nodded that he saw. He wasn’t sure how that would affect his plans, but he surely needed to rethink before acting on the final phase of his plan. He figured that Robyn could adjust on the fly, so he tabled deliberations for later.

After spending the time necessary to determine the guards’ routines - especially the times and intervals between changes, Pēteris and Maggie returned to their camp and slept. They were wakened by the sound of a troop of horses riding towards town. After waiting for an hour, they rode back towards Hastert’s camp. They dismounted at the turnoff, and quietly walked to the clearing where they had seen the men.

Pēteris was in the process of rescuing his assigned Damsel, so he was free to act as he saw fit. As a Chaos native, Maggie was governed by no Crossroad rules requiring her to wait until attacked.

Without the presence of their leader, the five remaining guards were careless. All were sleeping and were easily and quietly dispatched. Maggie happily bagged more than her limit.

Because the camp was intended for more than fifteen people, stripping the bodies, gathering all the supplies and weapons, and packing everything on horses took at least an hour. Then Pēteris and Maggie rode off on the road towards Hastert’s fortified compound.

Hastert’s return to Robyn’s inn was almost anticlimactic, at least until Robyn spotted the Damsel with a baby. Thinking quickly, she greeted Hastert and ignored his cock burners. “Your man told you of my preparations and conditions?” she asked.

“Indeed,” he replied. “You can see that I brought my cock burners so that I can take you up on your offer to check their health. I’m laying out quite an investment, and I want to be sure it’s worth it.”

“It’s well that you brought them, at least the one with the babe,” Robyn told him. “Suckling a baby might change the effect of the potion or potentially harm an infant. You might wish to hire a wet nurse or rid yourself of the child and mother. Let’s see what’s available.”