The Castle Mount Book One of The Adventures of a Time Whore
Chapter 7

The town was very impressive. I’d expected lots of thatch huts and horse poop, but it was actually pretty clean and mostly stone constructs. The roads at this point were well traveled and easy to walk on, which was good, because I’d been carrying the little girl for the past three kilometers. I think she was actually sleeping when we arrived. I tried to get the boy to climb on piggyback, but he was having none of it. Future macho man, good on him. I got a look or two from some passers by, but the town probably had a lot of visitors, so I guess seeing someone with two small kids walking in was only mildly curious. I found a market place where there seemed to be a ton of family type traffic, lots of moms and kids and such, and pulled the kids into an alley.

“Ok, now I have to leave you two on your own. You can’t come with me. I’m going to go kick someone’s ass and I’m far less effective with this much baggage. There’s lots of nice people here, why don’t you see if you can use those big blue eyes to get someone to take you home?”

Stares.

“Don’t follow me, understand? I’m going someplace dangerous. You’ve got some food, there’s plenty of water at the wells. Find some nice lady and have her take you home.”

Stares. Crap. Tick, tock.

Then I had an idea. I took both of their hands and eased my way out of the alley. I took them over to a matronly looking woman who was waiting on a customer at a bread stand. She looked well fed, sort of smiley, not incredibly sharp. The perfect recruit. I listened carefully, as a customer talked to her. She called her Margaret. Perfect.

I led the kids over to the stand.

“Ma’am, have you seen these children’s mother?”

“Beg pardon, dear, what was that?”

“These kids. Their mother left them with me to watch for a minute but it’s been almost an hour and she’s not back. I wondered if you know where she went.”

“How on earth would I know, dear? Where are you from, darling? You speak strangely.”

“I’m aware of that. What do you mean, how would you know? She said she was your daughter. You’re Margaret, right? She told me you were just busy with the stand and she didn’t want to bother you, so could I watch them till you were free. These aren’t your grandchildren?”

Margaret looked at the kids and melted same way I did. Even though they were fed, the smell of the fresh baked goods still made them look hungry and forlorn. I saw her eyes well up.

“No, dear, I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m Margaret Welles, but I’ve never seen these two before in my life. But aren’t they gorgeous?”

“Yes, they are, but ma’am, I have to get back on the road. I need to get to by sundown. If I could just leave them with you and then you and the mother – “

“Oh, darlin’, as much as I’d like that, I can’t take two wee ones from you. I’m working! And I don’t know who they belong to. What if – “ she caught herself just in time. Lowering her voice to a whisper “What if their ma doesn’t show?”

“Oh, don’t even say that! Who could leave these two precious babes?”

With that, the girl plunked her adorable little ass down right beside Margaret’s feet and leaned against her legs. The boy took his place at her side. You’d have thought I rehearsed them.

“I have to keep moving, Margaret. Please, can you keep an eye on them? They haven’t been any trouble. I’m sure their ma will show any minute. And if not, you can always dump them at the sheriff’s office. It’s what I have to do otherwise, although I hate the thought – “

“Our dear and gracious lord, you wouldn’t!!”

“I don’t have any choice. I can’t take children with me on a mission such as this.”

“Is there trouble up at Duer again? I heard rumors old Duer was killed and someone came in and kicked the young one out.”

Ah! At last, something relevant to my work. Nice change.

“Yes, I’m carrying something for the new lord of the castle. I need to get it to him as soon as I can and, as you can imagine, that’s no place for children up there.”

“Aye. I hear there were three score of Duer’s men lost. The prince is still determined to get his family’s castle back, but there doesn’t seem to be any way. No one in town will fight with him. He’s spent all his life in fancy old and now comes back trying to reclaim his home. It’s a losing battle from what they say and old Duer was such a bastard anyway, no one’s really sorry he’s gone.”

“Oh.” Crap. That meant it would be awfully hard to recruit anyone to help me breach the castle. Maybe I needed to hook up with this prince guy. Well, at least Margaret’s propensity for gossip gave me some good info. And she’d unconsciously begun petting the little girl’s head, smoothing her hair. No way she was going to let me drop the kids off at what amounted to more of a prison than an orphanage.

“Well, I should be off. You want me to take the children to the sheriff?”

She couldn’t have been more offended than if I’m slapped her. “You’ll do no such thing. These darlins can stay with me till their ma gets back.”

“That’s very kind of you, Margaret. God bless your soul. You wouldn’t happen to be able to tell me the way to Duer, would you?”

“Take the southeast road out of town. You can’t miss it. Big ugly stone thing jutting out of the countryside.”

“And the prince? Wouldn’t want to run in to him on my way there, would I?”

“Well, that I don’t know for sure, but there’s a rumor he’s set up camp a few miles out of town here, on the same road, but off the road, know what I mean? Watch yourself, lad.”

Lad? Huh. Guess I was less attractive than I’d planned. Or maybe it was just the hat. Yeah, that was probably it. But, actually this could work well.

“I will. And thank you Margaret.”

I gave the kids a last look. I’d only known them for a few hours. No big. So when the baby girl gave me a huge sleepy smile, that stomach roll was just because of the work ahead, right? I waved and left. I hate kids. No, really, I do.

Next stop was the tavern. Anything and everything you need to know you can learn at a bar. How the society is structured, who holds power, if the people are happy about it, their attitudes about religion, sex, and politics, all of at your fingertips if you stay long enough and chat with the right people. And buy the ale. Never forget to buy the ale. It gets you in every time.

Judging from the sun it was late afternoon when I went in. Only the out of work citizens peopled the place so far. Mostly old men. Perfect! You want the scoop on who is doing what to who in a town, talk to the lonely old men. I left the hat on. We hadn’t reached Victorian era yet where it was mandatory to take them off. Kept my face in shadow and my voice a little lower than normal and I could easily pass as a messenger boy. Nice.

I sidled up to the bar and ordered ale. Remember, there’s real alcohol in there, my stomach reminded me with a roll. I put the water pouch in an easy to reach place so I could keep watering down the beverage while I chatted up the townsmen.

I waited for one of the men at the bar to glance my way. I nodded politely. He nodded back. We drank for a few minutes more. I missed sports vids. Stare at the beer for a moment. Look back up. Same guy still eyeing me. Well, that didn’t take long.

“I’m not from around here.”

“Aye.”

Oh good, the one old guy in medieval who doesn’t want to chat my ear off. Stare at the beer. Miss vids. Not like I could pull out a paper and read or anything. Damn Gutenberg. Get on it. A few minutes pass.

“Where you headed?”

I looked up as if surprised he would still be talking to me.

“Oh, me?” He nodded. “Duer.” He nodded again.

“Bad lot, that”.

“Bad lot. You mean the Duers or the guys that threw them out?”

“All bad, you ask me.”

Ok…so I’m asking? Stare at the beer. Miss vids.

All right, I’ll take charge of the conversation. “Any advice on getting up to the castle?”

“Don’t go.”

There was a universal chuckle around the room.

“Thanks.”

I peered around the room and tried to make eye contact with someone who might be a bit more chatty. One gent took me up on it.

“The southeast road’s the fastest way, but I’d be careful. Prince Duer’s been doing his best to shut down supplies and things coming from the town. He might not bother a lone lad such as yourself but then again, if he’s in a foul mood, he may just kill ya for being on the road. And sure ’nd I’d wait till morning.”

“Prince Duer known for his foul moods?” I got the distinct impression my new friend didn’t shed any tears for the poor little prince.

Everyone laughed at that. Apparently I was on fire.

The barkeep filled me in. “No one knows what Prince Duer should be known for. Lad never spent more than a few months at a time on his father’s lands and never deigned to step foot here in town. Too good for the likes of us.”

Ah, so it hadn’t just been apathy that made the town turn a blind eye. They just didn’t like the little snot. For some reason, I could picture a Little Lord Fauntleroy on a horse, aiming his jousting spear at Daddy’s castle and charging, only to look back and see no one following.

My sullen old friend spoke up again, finally. “What’s your business at the castle?”

“Delivery.” See, I can be laconic, too.

“For San Martin?”

Bingo!!!

“I guess. I was just told to give it to the man in charge.”

“That’d be him. Ain’t no one seen him here in town. They say he’s strange.”

“Strange how?”

“Not from these parts.”

That’d be my boy. All right, I was making a leap, but there weren’t a whole lot of overrun castles to choose from, right? I had a starting point, at least.

Knowing I’d gotten what I could from the talk, who and where, I polished off the last of the beer and tossed a coin at the barkeep.

“You’re not trying to go tonight, are ya?” So suddenly the old curmudgeon was getting protective?

“Yeah. Places to go, things to do. Want to get on them while I’m fresh.”

“Ya bin warned, lad”.

I could hear the dramatic duh, duh, duuuuh as I left the tavern.

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