Chapter 13

In which Hal makes a shrewd suggestion, seeks to confound the bandits that infest the desert, and finds a surprise therein!

The audience listened, and many there were among them who were now bleary of eye; but the old bard was yet going strong, and soon he resumed his tale.

“Hal soon settled in to his new duties and joined in the work with a will. He circulated during the packing and loading of the horses and in but a trice had the caravan ready to leave.

The absence of Billy and his gang left the men happy, and the small amount of work the vanished few might have contributed was cheerily made up by others who were glad to do so, in sooth. For Billy had been feared rather than liked, and his supporters detested by the men, so it was that when Trader Padraic came to see how preparations were going he was most-pleasantly surprised!

Leo made it known to Trader Lord Padraic that Billy and his followers would not need pay in the future, and a portion of what had been intended for them should be added to what Hal would earn, that Hal had stood with him against Billy’s gang, along with an additional small increase due to his new responsibilities. Trader Lord Padraic was happy to do so, that his expenses be less now, and that his new hire had shown boldness and strength of liver! For the next stage of their journey was into lands where desperate men bided, that they had nowhere else to go!

Leo led the caravan away from Two Palms that afternoon a good half-glass earlier than had been planned. Know ye, as Factotum Leo certainly knew, t’was best to gain time when starting out ere common bandits didst bestir themselves! So it was that the caravan passed unmolested through the dangerous lands, and arrived each day earlier than expected.

Traveling at night when the moon permitted, pausing long enough during the mornings to trade while the caravan’s workmen slept, then heading forth ere word could reach the bandit bands; such was Trader Lord Padraic the Bold’s practice ever. He himself slept when the bartering was done and dozed on the trail as well, while Leo and Hal watched and the men drove the caravan onward.

Know ye that Hal slept of a morning whilst Lord Padraic traded, but he spent an hour each afternoon fencing with Leo as soon as the two did wake. His old sword, guarded now by his rat companion, remained affixed to his saddle, for Leo had dulled practice blades that suffered little when an errant stroke went awry, and were also less-likely to create serious injury during use. His methods were not those of the weapons master who’d formerly had charge of Hal, known then as Holisz.

So it was that under Leo’s tutelage, Hal progressed rapidly. Indeed, the weapons-master of Castle Baldwin’s Junction would likely have been astonished at Hal’s newly-acquired facility with the sword! Time permitting, Hal also practiced with the bow and practice arrows Leo had provided. Soon, ‘twas clear to all; Hal took to fighting as readily as an otter takes to the water! And well it was, for the caravan had traveled a long way from where Hal had joined the company; this land, still desert, was controlled by no lord, prince, duke, count, baron, nor king. If ruler there was, he was no more than leader of a band of bandits or tribe of thieves!

Such men as found themselves here were outlaws, most with execution hanging over their heads were they taken up, whence they would be taken up in sooth by a rope! Desperate they were, and they dared much; but dared they not to return to civilized lands! Perforce, they lived, and often died, by the raiding of caravans that crossed the sun-blasted wasteland. None wanted control of this desert, barren as ‘twas, for it would have brought no profit from farming nor yet the husbanding of animals. Even the lowly sheep and goat would have been hard-pressed to eke out a miserable existence, so scant was the graze that nature provided!

Yet know ye, the most evil miscreant doth take on new odor, aye, and new acceptability among men should he rattle enough gold coinage! Some few who did became successful raiders, even in this barren land, and gained greater wealth and prospered thereby. Men claim this is ever so, though I know not; rarely have I had coins two to rub together, and they but miserable copper! ‘Tis shameful that masters of the bardic arts such as myself must rely upon the generosity of patrons to buy a simple jack of ale, perhaps even a joint of beef instead of the goat which is nigh given away in this tavern for the lack of tooth when ‘tis roasted! Nay, we do live in shameful times! But I digress, when my task be to complete the tale of the hero Holisz.

Bandits there were in sooth, and the worst of all was one known as Warren the Untaken, belike because he could disappear into a burrow of rabbits when pursued by thief-takers and gaolers! His only rival was one Jake the Unclaimed, a low sort that had been drummed out of a duke’s service for that he engaged in low and seditious mutterings. Men reckoned whether the military knowledge of Jake the Unclaimed did rival the cleverness of Warren the Untaken, and some there were who said ‘twas the one, whilst others said—well, the other. Yea, verily, there was little to choose between the two scapegraces, for neither were reputed to stand by their fellows when the battle went against them, disappearing instead into the hills until a new band of low-life outlaws be raised! Know ye that there was always a fresh supply of such, driven from service for thievery and mopery, aye, and other heinous offenses such as thieving of bread and pissing where the sight of such might offend a passing noble’s vision. For this desert, inhospitable as ‘twas, was their last refuge! Beyond the next range of low mountains lay a truly barren slope leading down to a salt sea.

Villages there were, lining the shore as fleas and ticks do line a dog’s ear; but they traded with ships, and rarely caravans, that the cost of goods carried were less dear. Should a caravan be forced to enter there, the result would too often be not profit, but ruin! Yet was Lord Padraic the Bold well named! Aye, and press he did, beyond even whence none had gone, before that lesser men would never dare!

Bandit bands there were, in sooth, for ‘twas in this land they found more reward than one might think. On the one hand, they could raid a seaside village and retreat with booty and captives into the desert, there to wait for ransom. Few there were among the townspeople who were bold enough to follow! And on the other hand, they could count on an occasional caravan, slow-moving that their animals had been weakened by the journey across this pitiless land.

Factotum Leo gained a grim aspect to his visage during the journey, and even young Hal cast a worried eye to the distant hills.

Betimes, the caravan of Padraic reached the village of Last Water. Men claimed that it had once been known as Bad Water, but the village’s elders scented profit where there had been none, and changed the name. Now, good or bad, the village charged travelers exorbitant fees to water men and animals and provide low quality, weedy, fodder for their poor horses.

Lord Padraic howled at their reckoning, but perforce, paid, for truly this was the last water and fodder to be found inside two days travel. So claimed the village elders, and there were none to dispute them. But know ye, shrewd Lord Padraic raised his own prices on the goods he traded, so that the village elders howled in their turn.

But the distance from other oases, the quality of the water to be had, and the reckoning charged travelers discouraged traders less bold. Lord Padraic smiled, though only in secret, as his money-chest grew heavier.

“Keep your bow ready and loose ye no more arrows in practice, Hal,” Leo warned, “for my eyes be sharp, and I have seen men of evil aspect haunting hidden coverts within the town, and casting eyes on our caravan.”

“Might it not be, good Leo, that they watch innocently, for are we not the only strangers in town?” asked Hal.

“Mayhap thou hast the right of it, innocent Hal,” agreed Leo, “but ‘tis best to think the worst, that we be most pleasantly surprised if ‘tis false!”

“I shall carry my sword on the saddle now,” Hal said thoughtfully, “and also thy gift of bow and arrows. Mine good horse Arrow is well-rested, so I shall ride him tomorrow against need of a horse with speed and stamina. Know ye that he has heard the war-drums before, and the clash of metal on metal and the merry screams of men, and thereby will not be affrighted if attack should come.”

“Aye, Hal,” Leo agreed, “do ye so, that a war-trained animal is worth a dozen men in a melee! Know ye, the time of greatest danger will come after we leave this miserable village, perhaps tomorrow morning when we must pitch dry camp. Then must we remain alert, you and I, lest we become surprised by the minions of the fierce robber Jake the Unclaimed or the dreaded bandit Warren the Untaken.”