Chapter 8

Andrew and Brena left the caravan grounds and went to the Inn they could see ahead of them. The sign over the door had a broken wagon wheel on it. Andrew figured the name would be the broken wheel or something of that sort. They could see it was busy with the number of wagons and animals in and around the stables. As they approached the building people both entered and exited the building, those coming out mostly not as steady on their feet as those going in. When the door was open, they heard the noise of dozens of conversations happening at once and badly played and sung music in the background. Andrew drew open the doors and started to step in, only to be pushed aside by a seriously drunk, very large man with a barely dressed woman on his arm. “Move it kid, only men in here, unless she belongs to you,” he said pointing at Brena. “Bet she’ll get you some gold’s easy if you sell her right.” He fell sideways suddenly as a small club smacked him in the side of the head. An even bigger man had come up behind him and had smacked the drunk with a club, dropping him to the ground out cold.

“Hey there Brutus, he was my trick this hour!” screamed the woman.

“He hasn’t paid his bar tab Glenis, and he isn’t likely on planning to pay you either.” The woman, Glenis looked down at the man, drew a leg back and delivered a blow to the place all men fear being kicked. He groaned and curled up in a ball from the pain in his now hurting nuts. “Not planning to pay? Off with you wagon driver, off with you, after you pay your tab of course,” yelled Glenis over the noise from inside.

The man called Brutus looked at Andrew, “Help me pull this pile of meat over to the side so he isn’t blocking the doorways boy.” He reached down and grabbed one arm. Andrew took the downed man by the other and lifted him to pull him to the side. “This bum is trouble every time he comes back. This is the third year in a row I’ve had to boot the idiot for not being civil or holding.”

Andrew looked at the man on the ground then at the big man, the guard or bouncer. “He runs caravans?” Andrew asked.

“Yeah kid, he runs one of the largest in the region. It’s due to head out in two weeks if the loading goes well.” He gave the groaning figure a shove with a pointed boot toe. “As well off as he is, you would think he would be able to pay up without having to be beaten so often.” The man turned around and reentered the tavern while muttering something about fools that seem to enjoy pain. Glenis looked the two over and waved for them to follow her in.

“You two be careful in here, you kids wouldn’t enjoy it if the roughs get to you.” She opened the doors and waved them into the noisy front room.

Andrew held up his arm to keep Brena from charging in. “Brena, I have a bad feeling here and I don’t want you to get hurt.” He said just loud enough for Brena to hear.

She gave Andrew a dirty look, “I am quite able to take care of myself Andrew Markenin, so get out of my way, boy.”

The look she continued to give him just made him shrug, “Ok Brena, it’s your head and virtue, not mine.” She pushed past him into the noisy, somewhat dark room. Andrew gave a short count and when he hit five, he heard what he was expecting.

“Hey, they hired a new serving wench! Get over here girl and serve me,” yelled a rough voice over the din.

This was quickly followed by a loud smack, a yell of anger from the man, then her yelling, “Get your filthy paws off me right now!” Brena shrieked.

“Smack me you little bitch? I’ll teach you manners, you stupid little whore.” Andrew heard another smack but it had little effect on whomever it was that had her.

“ANDREW!!! Help!” Andrew looked at the sky for a second as if asking for divine intervention, then looked at Glenis. “Sorry in advance if blood is spilled.”

Glenis gave him a look that showed general bemusement. “It’ll be just another night at the Broken Wheel kid. Get your girl and meet me at the stairs.”

With a sigh, he drew his sword and strode into the tavern. He looked around then spotted Brena struggling to break free from a small mountain of a man. He had torn her tunic and was getting ready to pull it off of her when Andrew figured she had had enough fun for the night. In a loud commanding voice, he yelled at her, “Girl, when I tell you to wait, I mean it.” He looked at the man holding her. “I strongly advise that you release her now, or I will have to make you do so. I guarantee you will not enjoy the experience.” The man looked at him as if he couldn’t quite grasp the fact that a mere boy had just given him an order.

“Or you’ll do what, Boy?” sneered the big man who was more than a bit drunk.

“I would think the removal of the offending hand might make my point.” Andrew pointed the tip of the sword at the offending hand to drive home his point.

“Hah! Look at this, a boy with a little toad sticker is threatening me. Come here kid, I’ll teach you some manners and respect after I take that fancy toy away from you and stick you up the ass with it.”

“Master, he will not survive long if he grasps me,” said the sword in Andrew’s mind.

“Now that would be a neat trick if you could mister,” said Andrew in a tone that said he was not in the mood to play these games. “Now let her go.”

At this point, the bouncer walked up to the big man and smacked him in the head hard enough with his lead-filled sapper to drop any normal-sized man. The big man turned his head, looked at the bouncer and smiled a gapped tooth smile. “Uh Oh,” said Brutus. The drunk threw Brena to the side, slamming her into the table next to his, causing numerous drinks to spill. With a stuck bulls roar, he charged into the bouncer, slamming him back into the bar hard enough to slide it back a few inches.

Most of the crowd made for the doors and exited as fast as they could. The Bartender had stated pulling a rope and an alarm was sounding outside. It had to be a fairly large and loud bell to be heard over the racket in the common room. Andrew knew this would have the local law enforcers coming in a hurry. He made his way across the room and helped a stunned Brena to her feet. He spotted Glenis on some stairs waving at him to follow her up. He half carried, half dragged Brena to the stairs and up, in spite of the loaded packs they both still wore.

Brena yelled at Andrew to put her down. “I need to check the animals you idiot, they could be hurt or stolen by that lot.” Andrew looked at her blank for a second, and then it hit him as to what she was saying. He dropped her to her feet so they could start down the stairs. Glenis stopped them and told them to wait a minute.

In less than two minutes, the city guards in light armor entered the tavern at a run and started breaking up the fight. Several other members of the caravan crew had gotten into after Brena had knocked over their table. The staff and a number of the patron’s of the inn were willing to back down from the fight now. The guards started bashing heads with heavy clubs of banded wood and the fight soon ended with most of the combatants out cold and bleeding on the floor. One of the guards noticed the three on the stairs, “You lot, come down here now!” he shouted at them.

“Horus,” shouted Glenis in return, “These kids are done here for the night. I just finished instructing them on how to please each other before they marry.” Glenis went to the guard and shoved him to the side and gestured for the two kids to follow her out of the mess. She also ignored that both kids had suddenly turned beet red. Once she had them outside, she said, “Get your animals and head into town to the Rusty Shovel. That Inn is much safer than this hole.” She shoved them towards the stables and they went without a word. They could hear her yelling at the guards about the mess they had made of her tavern and the repair and cleanup cost.

Andrew carefully took Brena’s arm and led her to the stables. They found the mule standing in the middle of the yard looking down at Spook with a slightly annoyed look that only an annoyed Mule could give. Spook was sitting next to the bigger animal, holding the halters lead in his jaws, growling up at the mule every time it tried to start moving. Andrew went to the pair and checked the mule for missing gear. Not seeing anything amiss, he turned back to Brena, only to freeze at what he saw.

Her ruined top had fallen away from her shoulders and she hadn’t noticed it quite yet. He got a view of both large, firm looking breasts. They stood out straight as only young teen girls tits could. The nipples sat in a field of light brown that had to be at least three inches across and the nipples themselves standing tall and firm. As he watched, stunned by the lovely sight, the cool air caused them to crinkle up a bit. This examination only took a few seconds before Andrew was able to get his wits about him again. “Ah, Brena, you may want to do something about your top. You’re hanging out quite a bit there.” He pointed at her chest.

She looked down, went red-faced that was visible even in the torch and lamplight of the stable yard. It had been near sundown when they had arrived. In the short time they had been inside, full night had fallen. She squeaked brought her arms and hands up to cover herself. She dropped her packs and squatted down to open the bag with her clothes in it. She quickly found a tunic that would do and pulled off the ruined top, then slipped the new one on. Once she had herself mostly covered, she stood up and laced the front ties, closing her assets from view. She glared at Andrew, “Well, did you see enough?”

He smiled because he was not the one that had screwed up so badly. “Plenty of an eye full for now Brena. Now, the next time I tell you to wait, you wait. Out here you are not known nor are you in charge of anything when you step into a place like this.” He secured two of his smaller packs to the mule to take a bit more of the load off his back and motioned for her to join him. “Secure a few of your smaller packs to the mule Brena. It will make getting around town easier.”

She continued to glare at him but did as he said. “Well, once I make contact with a few of my counterparts in this city, which will most definitely change.” She started to throw the torn tunic in what looked like a rubbish bin.

“Brena, save that top, it can be repaired.” He said when he saw what she was doing.

“I suppose you can sew then?” She replied in a way that indicated that boys and men would never be able to sew properly.

“Yes, I can.” Andrew lifted the right arm of his tunic, “I’ve had to repair all of my clothes since I’ve been on the road. I can fix that up once we’re settled at the other Inn in town. What did the lady call it?”