Chapter 4

They made their way towards the Traveller's Rest, gathering as they did a small crowd of inquisitive children. When they arrived Tom noticed that the crowd included what looked like wealthier merchants, as well as ordinary townsfolk. Tom looked around the crowd. It seemed a receptive audience.

"People of Small Cove" he called out. "Friends, I come to you today, with some disturbing news. There is a group of people who wish to take all that you hold dear, all that you have worked for, and even your own bodies away from you. You remember that when we were here last time we stopped Partri and his gang from practicing slavery. Now another group, a much larger group calling itself the Brotherhood, has decided to invade this Island and make you all slaves. They will not enslave all of you in shackles, but they will want your women, your livestock and your food. I have brought here today a lady and her children who have suffered at their hands. Listen to her story and then decide if you wish to live under these conditions, or if you will fight."

Amelia got on the table and started to speak. The audience listened to her story. Tom and Tony saw the growing anger as they heard her tale. When she told them that half the food and to have to choose out of their own women they were angry. When they heard the threat to rape all the women and young girls they went mad. "How dare they" went up one cry. "The animals" called another. When she told them of her rescue by Captain Peters in the Lord Tom a great cheer went up, and when told of her husband and Lord Paul's treatment of him there were smiles and cheers all round. When she had finished there was a loud round of applause. Tom then stood up

"You have heard her tale. If any of you doubt it, then go down to the docks and talk to the others in her party. Now, what are we going to do about these slavers? Are we going to sit here and let these people walk all over us, or are we going to fight?"

"We will fight!" came the reply.

"Very well! Now we need to decide how. It's no good just charging off, hoping to find them and defeat them. No, we have to plan, we have to build, we have to prepare. We will need several groups: to organise, to build the defences, to train the fighters, to store the food. This is what we need to do. This is how we will win!" He told them. Cheers rang out from the crowd. "I need the mason, the blacksmith and the chief hunter to sit with me. We have things to discuss."

The men stepped forward. Tom turned to Robert. "We need you, too. I need to get Amelia and her children back to her husband. Once I've done that, I'll join you in the upstairs room, here."

Tom took Amelia and her children back to the ship. He spoke to Paul.

"How's he doing?"

"He's sleeping at the moment; but his temperature is down, and he looks a better colour. I think he'll be okay," Paul told him.

"Good. I need you with me at the inn. Is there anything to keep you here?" Tom asked

"No, everything is good. Glenica is fine, she just needs to keep still, Arturio is asleep, and now his wife is back, I'm sure he'll be well looked after," Paul replied.

"Good, then let's go," said Tom.

They returned to the inn. As they arrived Amy was there to greet them.

"I suppose you're happy, now," she snarled. "He threw me out, the bastard. I was only looking for what was mine, and the bastard threw me out."

They ignored her and went inside. They went into the upper room. A group of men awaited them there. Robert introduced them. They discussed how they were going to defend the town.

"We need to build a wall around the town. It needs to high enough to stop men climbing it. We have an advantage here, in that we can use the river and sea to fill a moat. We also need to defend the town from the sea. It will take some kind of a boom stretched across the mouth of the cove. We will need to bring all the foodstuffs in from the surrounding countryside. All the local farmers will need to be on board. No food must be outside the walls. If they get this far, and I hope they never do I want them to be starving. We can then use bad rye and other things to poison their food and drink. I want guard towers built guarding the entrances. They will have large crossbows on top capable of hitting a man at five hundred yards. We take out their leaders. What with attacks on their supplies, the wall, and knocking out the leaders; I think we might have a good chance," said Tom.

They all looked at each other with astonishment. "And how exactly are we to accomplish all this?" asked a bemused Robert.

"That's where Sir Tony comes in. He's an engineer. He builds things. He understands how things work," said Tom, then he paused for a moment. "We need the wall first, and a sewage system, no point getting all the people together, and then having them getting sick. That's what we want the other side to do."

"How are we going to get the harvest in if people are off building your wall?" asked Cedric.

"I have some ideas on that," said Tony. "I have some designs that will revolutionise farming around here. There will be harvesters that will free up men from the fields, threshing machines to free up men there, better ploughs to cultivate more land and a seed sowing machine. I have studied the plans and I know how to make them. We will be able to grow far more food from the same amount of land, but with far fewer men. I will need the blacksmith and the carpenter to work together to make this. We should have the first finished in a few days."

"I'll be only too happy to help," said George the blacksmith

"Me, as well," said Ethan the carpenter.

"Okay," said Tom "You three go off and do what you need to do."

The three men left the room. The rest of them sat around talking of various things.

"It's no use," said Tom. "Until I see the lay of the land, and can show you what I mean we are wasting our time. Come on, I need to show you what I'm talking about."

They all left the inn, and Tom led them towards a large hill, just outside of town. It was quite a steep hill, and they were puffing a bit when they got to the top.

"This is where we need to build the stronghold, or 'keep'. This would be the holdout of last resort. Whoever owns this, controls the town. From up here you can see for miles. No ship can enter the harbour, and no one can approach the town without being seen. A motte-and-bailey castle up here would be a minimum requirement. I would like to see two towers: one there," he said, pointing to a small hill overlooking one side of the cove, "and one there," he pointed to a low rise on the other side of the cove. "We'll need a chain, or a barricade of some type, to stop ships from entering the harbour. Ideally I would like all three linked by a wall, with a deep ditch in front, and guard towers every two hundred yards. Each tower will able to give covering fire to the next," Tom told them.

Robert stood there looking out at the scene before him, and nodded.

"I see what you mean. From up here you can control the lot. We'll need a signal fire as well, to let all those in the outlying farms know of danger. Yes, Lord Tom, I really do understand what you are trying to do, here. I will do whatever I can to help."

"This is all very well," said one of the merchants Robert had introduced to him, "but who's going to pay for it all? Construction like this won't be cheap. We came here to get away from people who wanted to take our money in taxes, and now we find you turn up and want us to pay for your ideas."

"It's very simple," said Tom. "We can defend the port and the town, or we can allow the Brotherhood to just turn up and take over. You employ guards to protect your property, don't you? So what's the difference? If you don't pay now, you'll certainly pay when your families are enslaved and your goods are seized. We have a lot of refugees. Tell me, how many are destitute and starving? If we can give them work so they are earning money, they won't turn to crime to feed their families. We can also train the men up for the militia. We'll need men to guard the walls, once we've built them. We'll need to arm and clothe them, too. I'm sure a lot of them will work for just food and clothing. I would imagine some of these people are quite desperate by now."

"Well, yes," the man conceded "thefts have become a problem. We've had to double our guards. I suppose if we can get these folk to working, then they won't have to steal for food. Also, money spent now defending the town, will be money well spent in the long run. If the Brotherhood takes this place, then we'll have nowhere left to go."

All around him, the others were nodding their heads.

"You're right. If we don't protect this place, now, we'll be living under the Brotherhood's shadow again. I, for one, am not prepared to do that," said one of the other merchants

"Corin is right. I don't wish to have to live like that again, either. We only just got away, last time. We might not be so lucky in future," said another.

"Very well, we'll pay, for now," said the first.

"Good! Round up as many men as you can. We start work, tomorrow. Now, back to the docks," he told them.

As they left, a figure slipped away from the inn. A man was waiting for her.

"That's him," she said, pointing at Tom.

"Are you sure?" said the man.

"Yes. He came here about six months ago, killed my man, and had me put out on the streets. They say he killed a man called Orleck. All I know, is he turns up here with his friend, and one of those cockburners. They go into the bank and disappear, and nobody sees them for six months. Then they come back here, ordering folk around like they own the place," she said.

"Very well, here's your gold. Spend it wisely, or someone's sure to take it off you," he said.

With that the man made his way to the docks, boarded a small boat, and sailed away.

The friends made their way back to the docks. There were many ships loading and unloading their cargoes. Tom went among them, finding out what their cargoes were. Some had fancy goods, trinkets, coloured glass, that sort of thing. Others had grain, which Tom bought on the spot.

As they walked along, they noticed a new ship docking.

As it was tying up Tom called "What have you to trade?"

"Iron," the man on deck replied.

"How much?" he asked

"Lots!" came the reply.

They went aboard and inspected the iron, a sample of which they took to Tony. He and the blacksmith got very excited about this sample of iron.

"This isn't bog iron," Tony told Tom and Paul. "This is an ingot of fine steel. This has been refined to a degree that is not possible on Chaos." He looked at the puzzlement on their faces. "This has come from Earth."

"How?" exclaimed Paul "It's just not possible. You cannot take any metal through the portal. It just won't let you."

"I know, but here it is. Somehow, someone has brought steel through the portal. The question is why? We can make things on Earth so much better and faster it doesn't make sense. I could make the things I want, there at home in my factory, within a couple of days. Then I'd just set the machines to carry on. It's the setting of the machine would take the time, not the manufacture. You want ten thousand arrowheads? No problem, set the machine to what you want, feed the rolled steel in, and the stamping machine will do it in a couple of hours. Here it will take you weeks, months even. I must talk to this man and find out where he got it, and more importantly, if he can get any more."

They made their way back to the ship. "Hello, there. My name's Sir Tony. Tell me," he said to the ship's captain, "where did you get this? Can you get more?"

"I'm Captain Tyler. Where I got it is my business. As to whether I can get more, is something else. I might be able to, if the price is right," he told them.

"Well, let's have a look at what you have here, and then I'll decide if I want any more," Tony told him.
The man led them down into the hold; there was a large quantity of the steel.

"I'll need to get it up on deck to see for myself, but if it's all the same quality, how much?" asked Tony.

"Depends on what you got. My supplier likes gold. Don't know why, can't do much with it, but he likes it. Myself, I prefer goods. Things I can trade."

"How long do you intend to remain in port?" Tom asked him

"Well, that depends on how long it takes to sell what I have, and pick up a new cargo," he said.

"That stuff's heavy, you could carry a lot more cargo without it," Tom argued.

"Yes, you're right. But it's valuable, can't get stuff of that quality around here. I want to trade, so show me what you have."

They left and went to the Lord Tom. They spoke to Captain Peters about Captain Tyler.

"Um, not got the best reputation in the world. If you're going to trade with him, make sure you get what you pay for. He's not known for asking too many questions on where his cargoes come from. Shady is a polite way of putting it," Captain Peters told them.

"Thanks for the information. Tell me, we never seemed to get round to it last time, but what cargo have you apart from the refugees?" asked Tom.

"Ah, now, I'm glad you asked that. I have managed to acquire some fantastic silks. It was our friend Ahmed again, he put me on to them, said they might come in handy. Also I have some fine wines, and some brandy. This stuff is beautiful, it just glides down the throat." He led them to where the silks were stored. He was right; they were beautiful.

"If you don't mind Captain, we may need these things. They will of course be taken as part of our payment. I wouldn't want you or the crew to be out of pocket from this," Tom told him.

"That's alright sir, the men understand. Anyway, once Sir Tony has made his machines, they will need to be traded all over the place won't they. We'll soon make back any losses. We know you'll do right by us, you always have."

They took the silks and the wine, and also secured the services of a wagon. When Captain Tyler saw the silks his eyes lit up. There was no hiding the greed there.

"So here's the deal, you can have the silks for the iron, or here's a golden conch," said Tom pulling a coin out of his purse.

The man looked at the coin, and then at the silks. "Um, the gold's not much use to me." They could see the cogs in his brain turning. Trade the silks, and then steal the gold. "I'll take the silks for the iron. If I get another load, then you'll trade the gold?" He asked.

"Yes of course. We will take all you can supply. Gold, silks, wine. It's all the same to us. We'll pay you in whatever we can," Tom told him. "We'll load this lot up and we'll be back for the rest."

They started to load the wagon. As they did so they asked a young boy to find two more wagons for them. As the other wagon's arrived they saw the scowl on the captain's face. He was obviously planning some kind of scam. Tony noticed him nod to two men. These men then left the ship and disappeared.

Tony walked over to Tom. "Tom, can I see that gold coin for a minute, please."

"Yes, sure, here it is. Why do you want it?" said Tom, handing the coin over.

Tony took the coin, turning it over in his hand and examining it closely.

"This is not from Chaos. This is from Earth. Look, this edge is milled. This has come from a pressing machine. Nothing like this exists on Chaos. Tell me, how did you get these?"

"We found them when we took the ship. There was a large chest of them. Apparently he traded the slaves for them. Orleck was his name," said Tom.

"Curiouser and curiouser," said Tony. "First iron from Earth, and now gold. Just what is going on?"

"Well, I think this Brotherhood has something to do with it; but what, or how, or why, I've no idea," answered Tom.

"I have no idea either. Just one thing though, two of his crew have just got off this ship, and they have vanished. Just watch your back on the return journey," said Tony.