Where the Wind Blows Wild: Part Seven

      And he was also aware that if he said anything she'd be furious. She didn't want to be coddled – even now, the pack she was helping tote down to Brilforge was every bit as big and heavy as the one Kanrik had shouldered. She'd also pointed out that he'd only get into more trouble if she weren't here, and he didn't have a hope of convincing her otherwise.

      They also had a bit more trouble that Kanrik hadn't anticipated. The men-at-arms were principally for bandits, but they could also deal with any of their fellow caravaners who thought it was a good idea to make off with the gold. If Kanrik, Hannah, Kell, and Corbin needed to leave quickly, they might get accused of theft, and then they'd have another set of enemies on their backs.

      He wished he had Mortman and Paselle with him. Their situation wouldn't be any better, but at least he'd have some more muscle on his side. He doubted that Corbin or Kell were any good in a fight – if they had been, they would have been able to hold Hannah hostage with something more effective than some science experiment.

      And as everything had managed to go spectacularly wrong thus far, he had absolutely no confidence that this wouldn't come to a fight. Not when their plan was a trap with themselves sitting prettily inside it. He was pretty sure he'd convinced Grig and Everard that he wasn't actually much of a swordsman and that the sword was an heirloom from his father, at least. It would be a lot harder to slip away if he was recruited to fight.

      The road theoretically went down to Brilforge. But the ridges of the mountains meant that the climb was up often as not. Kanrik envied the Stone Shepherds their strong legs and their wings – he'd seen Svar, late the night before, on the cliffs above the cave. For such a massive creature, he'd moved as lightly over the treacherous rocks as Hannah did dancing.

      He asked Hannah, "Holding up?"

      She nodded. Despite the cold and the wind, there was sweat on her brow. "Well enough. My back and shoulders will feel this in the morning, though."

      Kanrik nodded. She wasn't the only one – these packs were heavy. The Unis were needed to haul the gold, and very few caravans had the spare money to hire extra Uni teams to haul supplies. The Unis all knew that they were valuable, and charged accordingly. And they called Kanrik a thief...

      The sun moved on through the afternoon, and Brilforge reappeared, crouching in its section of the pass. Kanrik could see Mayor Marius's house – it wasn't difficult, given its size. Kanrik didn't think Corbin's senses were wrong on the matter – a man like that would find a whole caravan of raw gold a very tempting target. Kanrik doubted he'd come steal himself, but he'd send footpads, and footpads were not known for their loyalty once caught.

      The campground for caravans wasn't too far from the house of the scholar that Kell and Corbin had been staying with. As they dropped their packs, Kell and Corbin looked longingly out in that direction – they clearly wanted to stay somewhere more comfortable than the campground tonight. Kanrik didn't blame them. But they couldn't cause trouble with Grig.

      Hannah asked him, "So, if we catch someone sneaking around the caravan, what do we do?"

      Kanrik snorted. "Improvise."

      Hannah frowned. "Well, we'll need to make a racket – we need to get them caught. Make a racket and hold them so we can question them."

      Kanrik nodded. "That's all fair enough. It's more of a statement of goals than an actual plan, though."

      Hannah retorted, still keeping her voice low, "Well, your 'plan' was improvise, so I think it's an improvement."

      Kanrik sighed. "It's a shame we were already seen – I wouldn't put it past Masila to have had Marius put up a wanted poster for me. I'd have liked to put an ear to the ground here, paying a little more attention to the stories of the mayor and his money."

      Corbin said, "I didn't bother to ask Celestina, either. All we cared about was that the statue was here."

      Grig stalked over. "Hey! What're you four loafers on about?"

      Immediately, Hannah widened her eyes and put on her most winsome face. "Are there bandits around here? Arston says there aren't any that would attack a caravan like this, but I'm worried. They came after our last mine, and a lot of people got hurt."

      Everard came up behind the striped Ruki – the tall yellow Lupe was a good deal friendlier, and said, "Don't you worry, missy. That's why we keep all these swords around. Bandits would have to be even stupider than they were greedy to crack this little nut." He patted Hannah's head.

      Grig rolled his eyes. "Keep close, lazybones. There're tales of funny doings around Brilforge. Wouldn't be surprised if there were bandits lurking about."

      A Uni called, "Heard there was a witch, living not too far from here!"

      Kell bristled. Fortunately, before anyone could notice a Tonu jeered in return, "That's no witch! That's a librarian! You so dumb you think books are magic?"

      "You so dense you think they can't be?"

      Grig stalked off to break up the fight, and Everard hurried behind him. Kanrik said, "If those 'strange stories' are unrelated to Marius's or Masila's dealings, I'm a Faerie."

      But there was little else to do but help set up tents and unpack bedrolls for the night – they arranged to keep their own watch as well as the regular sentries. Kanrik had the first draw, and he was glad of the warmth of Magjan's coat as he sat outside, nursing a cup of tea and pretending that he couldn't sleep. Grig rolled his eyes as he stumped by. "If you're such a delicate lily you can't sleep after a march like this, I wouldn't want to be you in the morning!"

      Galem had always talked like that – he'd never missed an opportunity to bully someone or cut them down. Now that Kanrik was Master Thief, he was through with bullying bosses, and he wished that he could tell Grig exactly what he thought of his never-ending stream of complaints.

      Hannah crawled out of her tent. "What a jerk."

      Kanrik sighed. "You don't typically get to be in charge of a caravan by being pleasant."

      Hannah said, even more softly, "You're worried."

      That was how it always was – he could lie successfully to every last person in Neopia, except for a little Usul with long brown hair and big blue eyes. He put an arm around her shoulders. "Yes. Ever since we ran into those two blasted Monster Hunters, everything's spiraled out of control, and I don't like it. We don't know enough about what's going on, and I really don't like our odds."

      Hannah said, "But we met the Stone Shepherds. And now we're helping to protect them. That's something good. That's something worth doing. I didn't mind stealing a statue from a greedy mayor, but that can hardly be called noble."

      Kanrik smiled down at her. "Me? Noble? I don't think those two concepts go anywhere near each other."

      Then she looked up sharply. "Kanrik?" There was a slight tremor in her voice.

      Kanrik looked out. They were close to a thin stand of trees here, similar to the ones that surrounded the scholar's house.

      And in the trees was the shadow, faint but unmistakable to a thief's eye, of a small figure in a dark cloak. The figure stepped forward and threw back its hood.

      Masila.

      She looked almost as Kanrik remembered her, a petite, elfin-faced Acara with silky black hair. But the life she'd lived on the run had clearly worn on her – even at this distance Kanrik could see a silver streak in her dark hair, and the harsher lines on her face. She gave them the nastiest, most joyless smile that Kanrik had ever seen and a little wave, and then disappeared back into the scrubby undergrowth.

      Hannah said quietly, "We're in trouble."

      Kanrik corrected, "We've been in trouble. We're now in worse trouble. She's up to something – get Kell and Corbin out of bed!"

      Hannah did – Kanrik took off his heavy, thick coat to allow himself freer movement, and drew his sword.

      Grig had circled back – he scowled at Kanrik once more. "What do you think you're doing?"

      Kanrik said, "If I tried to tell the whole story, it would take too long and you wouldn't believe me anyway. But I think we're about to have some major trouble."

      Hannah said, "Masila's out there – we just saw her!"

      Everard had circled around from the opposite direction. "Masila? The Mistress of the Double-Cross?"

      Kanrik nodded. "You've heard of her. We had heard she was in the area."

      Grig mocked, "We're just a poor mining family looking for work... blast the lot of you! Why didn't you tell us we were in danger?"

      From the other side of the circled wagons, a horn blew three short blasts, then three more. Everard said, "Bandits. A lot of them."

      Hannah drew the long knife Kanrik had given her. "Keep an eye out for Mayor Marius. Short, elderly Bruce. We think he's mixed up in this."

      Kanrik had two spare knives – he handed one each to Kell and Corbin. Kell asked, "What in Fyora's name do you expect us to do with these?"

      Kanrik didn't have to answer – Grig replied for him. "Fight."

To be continued...