Dwarven Ruby (10 page)

“I can’t help but think about it,” continued the first soldier. “How much longer do you think it will be before our food is cut off? The slop they are feeding us now is pretty bad, but it will get worse. You mark my word.”

“Kendal, you heard what Colonel Salvo said as well as I did,” frowned the second soldier. “It is because of these children that our rations have been cut. They keep stealing the food supplies meant for the army. I intend to make sure that they never steal any more of my food.”

“Do you really believe that, Bouts?” Kendal questioned. “Have you ever wondered why all of a sudden the citizens don’t have any food? We never had these riots before. We never had food shortages before. Oh sure, there have been shortages of individual items before, but these people have nothing to eat. That is why they are stealing food. The Council has taxed them dry. And where has all that tax money gone? Certainly not to bring in more food. It isn’t going towards new weapons or uniforms either. Heck, they have closed down half of the smiths at the barracks. You damage your sword now, and you have to wait in line to see if you can get a replacement or get yours fixed.”

“I don’t want to hear another word out of you,” warned Bouts. “You are going to get yourself hanged, and I will not be standing beside you. We were ordered to stop these food thefts, and that is exactly what I am going to do. One of those children places his hand anywhere near this wagon and he will become a cripple if he survives. You keep away from me.”

Bouts moved towards the front of the wagon, and Kendal shook his head. Kendal started wondering if he should leave Tagaret and find a different profession. There certainly wasn’t any glory in killing children.

Kendal heard shouts from the other soldiers escorting the wagon. He craned his neck to look farther down the hill and felt a squeezing in his stomach. A crowd of about thirty children was blocking the road far ahead. He frowned and bit his lip as the other soldiers started racing by him. Kendal urged his horse to go faster, but not as fast as the other soldiers. He had no wish to kill children today.

The children began to scatter when they saw the soldiers charging towards them. The soldiers, with Bouts in the lead, drew their swords and bore down on the children. Kendal bit harder into his lip as he tried to think of some way to avoid the coming slaughter. The other soldiers were far in front of him now, and he knew that he should have kept up. If he had been in the lead he might have been able to arrange some accident to give the children time to escape.

The children split into two groups, with each group charging into a narrow alleyway on each side of the street. The soldiers also split their force and pursued both groups of children. Kendal’s mind registered a girl crossing the street as he passed her, but his mind was focused on somehow helping the children. When he arrived at the intersection of the alley, he stopped and looked both ways. He could see the backs of the soldiers charging down the alleys, but they blocked all view of the fleeing children. He sat there trying to make his mind up about which way to go. That was when he heard the brakes of the wagon screeching behind him.

Kendal turned around and looked back up the hill. The girl who had been crossing the street had fallen, and the wagon was heading straight for her. The driver had pulled on the brakes and was trying to halt the team of horses, but Kendal did not know if the wagon would stop in time. Still, he was too far away to do anything about it. He sat there mesmerized as the wagon screeched to a halt. He let out a sigh of relief that the girl had avoided a painful death.

Movement alongside the wagon caught his attention. Kendal squinted as he watched a boy run alongside the wagon and leap onto the seat. The boy pushed the driver off of the wagon as the girl jumped to her feet. The boy released the brake and grabbed the reins as the girl jumped up to the seat. Within seconds, the wagon was rolling again. Before the driver could gain his senses and lift himself off the street, the wagon turned at an intersection and disappeared.

Kendal raced down the alleyway that went parallel to the wagon. As he reached the rear of the soldiers he heard a lot cursing. He slowed down and worked his way forward.

“What is happening?” he asked one of the soldiers. “Are they all dead?”

“Bah,” spat the soldier. “The little urchins had a trap waiting for us. They must have blocked this alley off long before the wagon even got here. I doubt that we managed to catch even one of them.”

Kendal dismounted and pushed his way through the crowd. When he got to the front, he saw the barricade, which was made from old pallets and barrels filled with sand. The soldiers were fiercely trying to clear a path through it. There was a crawlspace under the center of the barricade, and Kendal dropped to the ground and crawled under the debris.

When he got to the other side, Kendal rose and ran to the next intersection. There were no children in sight. He turned uphill and ran to the next intersection. As he looked to the right, he just managed to catch a glimpse of the back of the wagon turning the corner a block away. He inhaled deeply and ran along the street hoping to catch the wagon. When he reached the next corner, the wagon was gone. He stood in the center of the street trying to catch his breath. Unknown to Kendal, the children were watching him.

“That is the same soldier,” Sheri said as she peeked out the small hole in the door.

“Well, just remain quiet until he goes away,” suggested Jon as he climbed down off the wagon.

“I wonder why he didn’t ride after us,” Sheri mused aloud.

“He probably tried to go down the alley to cut us off,” suggested Gwyn as he pulled his cap off and shook his short black mop of hair. “He must have run pretty good to get this close without his horse.”

“I suppose,” murmured Sheri. “He certainly could have caught up to us if he had just chased after us though. I wonder why he didn’t.”

“You give the soldiers too much credit,” laughed Jon. “If they had any smarts, they wouldn’t be wearing that uniform.”

“Don’t judge people that way, Jon,” chided Sheri. “At least his choice of jobs fills his belly at night. He doesn’t have to steal like we do.”

“Don’t go thinking that you will find any sympathy for our plight outside our group,” Jon warned sternly. “You will end up dead that way. Speaking of dead, you cut that fall in front of the wagon pretty close today. I thought I was going to have to leave you crushed on the street.”

“They ought to get their brakes checked on those wagons,” frowned Sheri. “I didn’t think the driver was going to stop.”

“Keep that in mind with your next plan,” advised Jon. “I do have to admit that using their wagon to bring the food here was clever of you. Now we have to figure out what to do with the wagon though.”

“We are keeping it,” declared Sheri.

“Keeping it?” echoed Jon. “Are you daft? What good is a wagon without horses? You do realize that we have to get rid of the horses, don’t you?”

“The horses stay too,” replied Sheri.

“You are crazy, girl,” argued Jon. “The horses are branded. They are absolutely no good to us, and they are an open invitation for a hanging for anyone found near them. You cannot be serious.”

“I am very serious, Jon,” Sheri said as she walked away from the door. “The soldier is gone now. Get the gang started on unloading the wagon and making up parcels for the neighborhood.”

“You are taking too many chances, Sheri,” warned Jon. “You barely survived today’s raid. Keeping the wagon and horses is just plain foolish. There is no possible use for them. Plus, the army will search every building to find that wagon.”

“That is why I have a task for you, Gwyn,” Sheri said.

“What do you want me to do?” the short boy asked.

“I want you to scrounge up wagon parts,” stated Sheri. “I don’t care what condition they are in. Find me four wheels, a yoke, and as much of the frame and canvas as you can.”

“You want that junk brought here or one of the other safe places?” asked Gwyn.

“That is not necessary,” smiled Sheri. “Pick a spot and make it look like a newly demolished wagon. If the soldiers are going to be searching for this one, let them find the one you are going to scrounge up.”

“Gotcha,” grinned Gwyn. “One instant wagon coming up.”

“The unloading has begun,” reported Jon. “Do you mind telling me what good keeping this wagon is going to do us?”

“We have to keep changing our methods if we wish to survive,” explained Sheri. “That one soldier almost caught us today. Why?”

“Because he was in the right place at the right time?” mused Jon. “Because he failed to keep up with the rest of the soldiers?”

“Because we were the only wagon on the streets that was moving,” answered Sheri. “All he had to do was look for a wagon. Now we have a decoy. And that is only one use for the wagon.”

“A decoy sounds smart,” nodded Jon. “What other uses do you have for it?”

“Right now they load the wagons and then wait for the escort before moving,” grinned Sheri. “If we can get our hands on a uniform or two, we can have them load our wagon full of food. We can then leave before the escort or the real wagon gets there.”

“You are a devious one,” laughed Jon. “I remember our first job together. You were so scared I thought you were going to wet the street. Now you act as if you were brought up in a family of thieves.”

“I think I did wet the street,” laughed Sheri before she turned serious. “Jon, I am not going to let our people starve. I will do whatever it takes to keep enough food coming in here to feed the neighborhood. If anything, I would love to expand the number of families that we can feed. There just is not enough to go around. I cannot bear seeing good people starve to death. I would rather die myself than watch that anymore.”

“If you die,” frowned Jon, “many of the people who depend upon you will starve. This used to be my gang, but now they all know who to listen to. Don’t you even think about dying. These people need you.”

“These people need food and hope, Jon, not me,” retorted Sheri. “I know what you are trying to say though, and I appreciate it. I will be careful, but we need to stay one step ahead of the army. As soon as we become predictable, we will all die.”

“You know I will follow you, Sheri,” smiled Jon. “Just be careful is all I ask. The gang has the parcels all ready. We are going to start delivering now before any of it spoils.”

“You go with them, Jon,” responded Sheri. “I want to think for a while. The horses probably need tending, too. I also need to wait for Gwyn.”

“Okay,” nodded Jon. “We will be back in an hour or so.”

Sheri wandered off to the corner of the large room and sat down. She pondered about the plight of the people of Tagaret, as she always did after a close brush with death. And those close calls were becoming more frequent. She knew it was only a matter of time before she was caught or killed. She wondered if she was missing some grand solution to the city’s problem. She pondered many thoughts. She became so lost in thought that she never heard the door open.

Sheri heard a scuffling in front of her and looked up. The soldier who had followed them stood right before her. Sheri tensed as her eyes darted right and left. She knew that there was no escape. If she had been standing up, she might have been able to push him and escape before he gutted her, but it would not be possible with her sitting tightly in the corner.

“You have good cause to be nervous,” declared Kendal. “The wagon and those two horses are enough to cost you your life.”

“What horses?” Sheri croaked as she tried to assess her options. “I don’t know where they came from.”

“Where did all the food go?” Kendal asked.

Sheri just shrugged as she resigned herself to her fate.

“Look,” sighed Kendal, “you shouldn’t be stealing the Crown’s food, and I shouldn’t be standing here talking to you. I have a decision to make, and it matters to me where the food has gotten to.”

“What do you care?” snarled Sheri. “You don’t look like you are starving any. If you are going to kill me, why don’t you just do it and satisfy your thirst for blood.”

“I have no intention of killing you,” declared Kendal. “You do present a problem for me, though. I saw you fall in front of the wagon to get it to stop. I followed you to your hideout. I could get a medal for bringing the wagon of food back to the barracks, but it isn’t here. I could get a promotion for bringing you back to face charges of stealing from the Crown. You see I have many decisions to make. The one thing I must know before I make those decisions is where the food went.”

“It is too late for you to get a medal,” scowled Sheri. “The food has already been distributed to the needy people of Tagaret. The very people your Crown is starving to death. I guess you will have to settle for the promotion.”

“Are you telling me the truth?” Kendal persisted. “Do you expect me to believe that the gang of children are not stuffing their faces with the food at this very moment? Do you take me for a fool?”

“That gang of children has more guts and dedication than the Targa army,” spat Sheri. “If we did this just to feed ourselves, we wouldn’t need but a fraction of what we steal. Oh, I do take you for a fool though. A fool who wears the uniform of a once great city, but also a fool who serves only the rich and powerful. The Targa army is supposed to protect the citizens, not starve them and then kill them for feeding themselves.”

Kendal stood staring at Sheri for a long silent moment. Finally he asked, “What did you eat out of the wagon before these supposed deliveries began?”

Sheri frowned and looked up at the soldier as she realized that she had not eaten anything. For some strange reason, a shiver ran through her body as she realized that she would be going to the dungeon hungry. The feeling bothered her.

“I didn’t eat anything,” she said haltingly. “I forgot to.”

“I believe you,” smiled Kendal. “You really do think of the others before yourself. I guess that explains your foolish dive before that wagon. You do realize that you came fairly close to death today, don’t you?”

“What does it matter?” scowled Sheri. “I could die under the wheels of a wagon or at the dungeon. No matter which way I die, I will still be dead.”