Chapter 3
1762 Words
CHAPTER THREE
I glanced at the steep stairs. The old man’s light illuminated a large space, and even as I stood there more lights were lit down below. I took a deep breath and eased myself down the steps. The narrow stairs opened into a room as large as the shed and cabin combined. The walls had been hewn from the rock and earth but then been smoothed and plastered over with a thick coating of whitewash.
The walls were also covered in all manner of hiking gear and preserved foodstuffs. Shelves contained cans and pouches of dried meats and vegetables and hanging from hooks beside those were small leather pouches, toothed saws, and even hiking boots. It was an emporium of simplistic survival gear. There was even a small rack of homemade clothes. They were like the simple threads Giles wore but made of sturdy leather and wool.
The only thing out of place among the rugged supplies was a wooden sign above the long counter at the back. The wood had been stained to a shine and the words ‘Giles’ Store’ had been written in a neat, flourishing hand.
I nodded at the sign. “That’s a cute sign.”
The old man looked up and puffed out his chest a little. “Catarina made that for me. Thought it would brighten the place up.”
Ros grasped the handle of a pair of short herb shears and examined the shiny blade. “You’ve expanded your inventory since I was last here.”
Giles shrugged. “Got a lot of people lately looking to make a quick profit on the herbs. Apparently, the city folk have gotten a taste for some of them, and what’s fashionable there makes a nice coin here.”
I swept my eyes over the room and lifted an eyebrow. “Why do you hide the stuff down here?”
“Lots of folks have come here searching for centuries for any treasure left at Rivenburn,” Giles told me as he shuffled over to the counter where a cushioned wooden chair stood. He eased himself into the seat and leaned back with a soft sigh. “Some of them want to make as much profit as they can, so they used to break into the shed and steal what they needed. That was fifteen years ago. It took me that long to get this place dug out and fixed up, but now I’ve got a pretty good store with everything anybody could need.”
Ros turned to me and held out a pair of thick elbow-length gloves. “Even gloves. Give them a try.”
I took the gloves and slipped them on my arms. They were slightly snug, but that meant there wasn’t any chance of them sliding off. Ros held out his hand to me with his palm turned upward. I bit my lower lip but set my hand in his palm. Nothing.
Warm glee filled me as I grinned up at his smiling face. “A perfect fit.”
He grinned back at me. “Good. Now let’s get a few more things and we can start heading up the path.”
“Wait a moment,” Giles spoke up as he held out his hand. “Let me see those coins before you start pawing over the merchandise.”
Ros had a look of amusement on his face as he drew out the wrinkled leather pouch, worn by many swimmings, and dipped his hand inside. He drew out one of the barons and dropped it into Giles’ wrinkled palm.
The old man’s jaw hit the ground and his eyes bulged out of his head. “A baron!” His eyebrows crashed down and he rolled his narrowed eyes up at Ros. “Is this real?”
“As real as you or me,” Ros assured him as he pocketed the pouch. “Now how much food can we buy with that?”
Giles bit into the coin and stared in amazement at the undented metal before he pocketed the money. He leaned back and stroked his chin between his thumb and finger. “Well, you might be able to buy some food-”
“You mean all the food,” Ros mused as he picked up a packet of meat and weighed the morsels in his hand. “Unless your prices have gone up.”
Giles frowned at him. “There’s been some inflation!”
Ros laughed as he snatched a backpack from its hanger which he began to fill. “Not enough to make you give up your integrity, and what would Catarina say if she saw you swindling paying customers?”
A pained look passed over Giles’ face before his shoulders drooped. “Very well. You know what you can take, but” He wagged a finger at Ros, “mind you don’t take any more than that!”
Ros filled one backpack and pushed it into my hands. “I don’t think we could carry any more than that. And do you have some of your homemade lamps?”
“‘Course I do,” Giles affirmed as he eased himself out of his seat and shuffled over to a wooden locker in the corner behind his chair. “I just don’t give them out to anyone, you know.”
I lifted both eyebrows at Ros. “Homemade lamps?”
“This,” Giles spoke up as he turned to me with one arm extended.
He grasped in his hand a metal wire handle from which hung an old-fashioned oil lamp, much like the one he had used to light his way down into the cellar. However, the oval-shaped glass framework in which the wick and oil were supposed to be contained was empty of everything except for two small rocks. The stones were pinned to the top and bottom by wire clasps, and they both showed off a soft white glow.
Giles shuffled over to the counter and set the lamp on top. “I’ve only got one of these, so you’ll have to make do with that.”
Ros shouldered his own full backpack and walked over to the counter where he snatched the lamp. “That’s good enough for us. I don’t expect we’ll be heading very far off the torches, anyway.”
Giles nodded at me. “See that you don’t, at least for her sake. When you get her back down the mountain then you can look around for Agatha.”
Ros grinned. “I don’t make any promises, but we’ll see what happens. Anyway, thanks for the supplies.” Giles grumbled a few words of welcome as Ros turned to me. “Ready to go?”
I adjusted the backpack that hung over one of my shoulders. “I guess.”
We climbed out of the cellar with Giles following behind, and he shuffled out of the shed and onto the road. He cast a quick look at the cabin. The door was still shut. “Mind you take care of your lady friend there, Ros. She seems too good a sort to be following you, and that means she deserves to get back without getting the Shade on her.”
Ros turned to the old man with a slightly grim look on his face and nodded. “I’ll be sure to do that, and I hope when we come back, we’ll sit down to eat Catarina’s good strew.”
Giles’ face fell. “So do I…”
Ros clapped a hand on the old man’s shoulder and gave him a soft smile. “I’m sure she’ll be fine, and we’ll see you later.”
Ros led me up the gentle curve and onto the narrowing road. Trees and bushes surrounded us on either, and they stretched all the way up and down the mountain. Their thick foliage meant we couldn’t see more than the straight road ahead of us, and that turned a corner only a few dozen yards ahead. A few small boulders also crowded the road, though many showed signs of having been chipped down over many centuries.
My mind was full of questions as I looked up at Ros. “If the Shade stuff never lasts very long then why is Giles so worried about Catarina?”
He pursed his lips as he stared ahead. “Wouldn’t you wonder that maybe, just once, the effects didn’t wear off?”
I shuddered. “I guess I would, and I guess that stuff they can eat to make it last longer wouldn’t help me feel better.”
“Drim is definitely a concern,” Ros agreed as we rounded our first bend in the road and were presented with a longer stretch to the next corner. He stopped and pointed at a small bush no taller than a foot that resembled a pepper plant. “There’s some of it now.”
I stooped and studied the plant. The leaves were long and pointed, with six veins on either side of the main artery. A few fluffy balls like cotton hung from the spindly branches. The herb gave off a strange odor I couldn’t quite place and didn’t quite like. “Can it hurt anyone if it isn’t cooked?”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t seem to, other than people with the Shade.”
I plucked a bit of the cotton and lifted it to my nostrils. The moment the herb touched my face, however, a burning sensation struck me. I gave a yelp and threw the herb to the ground before I stumbled back. My careless legs would have carried me through the narrow divide and down to the lower part of the path if Ros hadn’t grabbed my hand and yanked me against him.
He cupped my chin in his hand and pulled my face up. His eyebrows crashed down as he studied my features. “Does it sting?”
I nodded. My lips felt puffy enough that it was a little difficult to talk. “Yeah. Can you see what’s wrong?”
Ros pursed his lips. “You have swelling on the lower part of your face. Have you ever had this reaction to anything before?” I shook my head, and he turned his attention to the small plant. “We’ll have to make sure you don’t eat anything with drim in it.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Do you think I’ll die?”
“I’d rather not find out.”
- Writer
