01 - The Price of Talent (18 page)

The following morning we ate a quiet breakfast of oatmeal before heading out to the road. Sapphire bid us a fond farewell soon after, taking the second cart and horse back to the longhouse.  I was sent north about 100 yards with Bevan, while Tiernan and Jarvis were sent south. Devlin was stationed between to prepare the barricade if we actually saw anyone. Fortunately for my nerves, we saw nobody that first day. Unfortunately, Sapphire turned out to be a prophet, because we didn’t see anyone for days. She was also right in that the boredom almost become worse than my fears.

It wasn’t till about a week later that we saw anyone at all. And after getting all worked up about it, it turned out to just be a farmer and one of his sons taking some extra harvest to market. Needless to say, we didn’t stop him.

The next day was a different matter. I was on lookout and Bevan was napping against a tree, I saw a shadow on the horizon. As the shadow grew it took the shape of a large cart being hauled by a team of oxen with two outriders. Suddenly all my nerves came crashing back all at once.

“Bevan… Uh, BEVAN!”

“What kid?” He said cracking one eye to look at me skeptically.

“I, uh, think I, uh, see something.”

“Probably another farmer or a tinker or something,” said Bevan. “But, I should probably take a look.”

              With that he got up from behind the tree and came over to the bush I was crouching behind and stared bleary eyed down the road.

“Huh… Looks like a large cart and a couple of guards,” he said. “Well, I guess you were right, that is worth waking me up for.”

              We backed into the woods a little farther and then ran the 100 yards or so to Devlin. There really wasn’t any reason to rush, large carts hauled by oxen move slower than a walking pace and they were still quite far off, but we had been bored for quite a while, so were a little excited.

“Devlin!” said Bevan with a smile. “We finally have ourselves some suitable game.”

“Really?” said Devlin, surprised out of a nap by our approach. “What sort of game are we talking about?”

“Looks like a large merchant’s cart with a couple of guards on horseback,” said Bevan. “About a mile or so off.”

“OK, that gives us some time. Bevan, I want you to help me move the barricade into place,” said Devlin. “Tyr, I want you to run to Jarvis and Tiernan and let them know we finally have some action.”

              I was so nervous that I didn’t even ask where they were hiding out before setting off at a run. I got about 100 yards before I saw Tiernan waving me over.

“What is it, Kid?” He said.

“We, uh, spotted a merchant or something,” I said. “Large cart. Two guards riding beside it. Devlin wants us to all meet up at the barricade.”

“Well, it’s about time.” Said Jarvis, walking towards us from his spot overlooking the road. “It’s been dull on our end, about damn time we got some loot.”

“Loot?” I asked.

“Sorry, forgot you’re new to this,” said Jarvis. “Loot is just slang for stolen goods.”

“We can go over jargon another time,” said Tiernan. “Why don’t we jog over to Devlin and get into position.”

              And with that we headed back. By the time we got to Devlin, he and Bevan had already gotten the barricade into place. Seeing it in place was a little less than impressive. The barricade was just a bunch of felled trees lashed together. Probably enough to briefly inconvenience someone, but not really the grand blockade I had pictured in my mind. I guess it was my fault for not actually looking at it before.

“All right boys. Now that you’re all here, let’s take positions. Nice and easy.” Said Devlin. “Tyr, follow Bevan, Jarvis and Tiernan into the trees. They will tell you what you need to do.”

              Devlin then turned around and walked out to the barricade. We, in turn, turned around and headed back behind some trees near the road overlooking the barricade. Bevan, Jarvis and Tiernan then pushed some arrows into the ground in front of them from their quiver and kept their bows handy.

“Why are you putting the arrow in the ground like that?” I asked.

“It’s easier to pull them out of the ground than your quiver,” said Bevan.

“Yeah, all you need is for the quiver to fall over when you go for an arrow when things are going on,” said Tiernan. “Then you are groping around on the ground stepping on arrows instead of shooting them.”

“So, yeah, consider putting a few near you as well,” said Jarvis.

“See, this is exactly why I was nervous,” I grumbled.

              So, I took off my sword, and leaned it on the tree. Then I put my quiver next to it and shoved a few arrows into the ground in front of me for easy access. Not knowing precisely what I was doing, I just mimicked Bevan, as he was standing behind the tree nearest to me.

              Looking out at the road, there was still quite a ways for the cart and guards to travel before it got to us. I was standing behind one of a line of trees about 25 yards off the road. Between me and the road were some bushes, scrub, ferns and other underbrush typical of where a forest meets a road. On the road itself was the barricade, which Devlin was calmly sitting behind, presumably to stay out of sight until the cart was stopped in front of the barricade. As he sat there, Devlin removed his sword from his sheath and looked over the blade. Seemed like an odd time to check your weapons, after all, there was nothing he could do if he decided the blade needed a polish or sharpening at this point. Also, the sound of a wet stone would likely tip off the marks that there may be someone behind the barricade.

              It seemed like an interminable amount of time passed before the cart arrived. As it did, I saw that it was a large cart pulled by a team of four oxen. It was enclosed, with the driver sitting on the top holding the reigns lazily. The two guards, who looked about half asleep, were following along beside the cart. Both were wearing some very weather worn leather armor, tarnished steel caps and were carrying cavalry spears. They also had swords strapped to their waists.

              As they came to the barricade the driver slowed to a stop and motioned for the riders to clear the trees out of the road. It was at that time that Devlin stood up, with his sword casually resting on his shoulder and let his presence be known.

“Tyr, when I say put an arrow into the side of the cart, do so.” Said Bevan deathly serious and in a low voice.

“Uh, ok.” I said lamely.

              I grabbed an arrow next to me, and with a shaky hand put it on my bow string, ready to draw. I saw everyone else do the same. As this was happening, Devlin was just addressing the driver.

“Why hello good merchant!” He said. “What do we have here in the cart?”

“My wares, not that it is any of your business,” said the driver.

“And what are your wares?” Devlin responded.

              As he was saying this, the two riders came around with spears levelled at him.

“Again, none of your business,” responded the driver. “Now, I need you to get off the trees so my guards here can clear off the road and I can get moving. Or, you can stay there and they can decide which will have the pleasure of sticking a spear through your chest. I don’t particularly care who does it.”

“Perhaps I need to clarify the situation,” said Devlin who looked into the forest right at us.

“That’s the signal, shoot the cart, Tyr” said Bevan, raising his bow.

              I nearly dropped my bow when he said it, I was so wound up. Fortunately, I managed to keep a hold of it, draw the knocked arrow, and aim at the cart and fire. I even managed to hit it. Normally a large cart at a little over 25 yards would have been easy, it was much larger than the targets I was used to shooting. But a cart with people on it is not a target, and my nerves were shot. I was, frankly, lucky to hit it at all. Even still, my arrow hit the cart beside the driver, getting his attention. Bevan’s arrow hit the cart near the driver’s feet and Jarvis and Tiernan’s arrows both hit the ground near the guards startling them and their horses.

“As I said, perhaps I need to clarify the situation,” said Devlin. “You three are under the watchful eye of my archers. If you get out of line, they will shoot you. So, please, kindly get off your horses and the cart, unload your valuables and we won’t have any more nasty surprises.”

“And what if I pull my crossbow and just kill you now?” Said the driver.

“Then my archers will shoot you and leave your corpse for the crows,” said Devlin with a smile.

              There was a very tense moment while the driver sat there and thought about it and we all grabbed replacement arrows, and aimed at the driver. Or, at least, I found myself aiming at the driver. It looked like Bevan was too. I assumed Tiernan and Jervis were continuing to aim at the guards. Fortunately, the guards decided to drop their spears and get off their horses. The driver quickly followed suit.

“My friends and I thank you for your cooperation in these matters,” said Devlin. “Life is easier, and longer, for everyone when people see reason. Now if you could unload your wagon, you can be on your way.”

              I was shocked it was that easy. But as I watched, the driver and his guards opened up the cart and unloaded a variety of barrels, chests and boxes, while Devlin collected their weapons and watched. Under his direction they left the goods by the side of the road, and then Devlin let them clear off the barricade and continue on their way. I was also surprised he only gave the cart a cursory inspection before letting them leave. But it looked like we already had more than enough stuff to cart already.

              When the merchant and his guards had moved on, sans weaponry and the unloaded goods, we all joined Devlin on the road.

“Well, that went smoothly,” said Bevan to Devlin.

“Doesn’t it always?” He replied. “Actually, don’t answer that. Jarvis, Tiernan, I want you two to run to the camp and get the cart and horse. We need to get this stuff out of here as quickly as we can. Tyr, Bevan, help me pull the barricade further off the road and unlash the trees. We want this place clean before we leave.”

“Wait… uh, why are we unlashing the barricade?” I asked.

“Because we are going to move camp tomorrow,” said Devlin. “Never stick around after a heist, Tyr. If the authorities come to investigate, we do not want to be here when they arrive. We will be moving quite a ways from here, to one of our other campsites and setting up there.”

“That makes sense,” I said. “Also, why didn’t you inspect the cart more thoroughly? I bet they had more stuff hidden away in it.”

“I have no doubt that they did,” said Devlin. “But crawling through their cart puts me at quite a disadvantage if they decided to get violent. Also, they are more likely to leave in a hurry if they think they have fooled us and held onto some of their cargo.”

“Yeah, and the most precious things, the things they are most likely to hide, are the least useful to us,” said Bevan. “Let them keep their gold and jewels, we need food, cloth, and other goods. To spend money and pawn jewels, we would need to go to town. And towns have local militia, police, and even church patrols that tend to ask dirty woodsmen questions when they whip out a large sack of jewels.”

              So we proceeded to move all the goods for easy loading and then stand guard until the horse and cart arrived. Then we loaded all the goods onto it, which was much harder than it looked, because it required us to lift the goods up and into the cart instead of just high enough off the ground to move. Still, with two more people to help, the work was done without too much hassle.

              Once the cart was full, we headed back to the campsite to collect our gear for tomorrow’s move.

“Why didn’t you get the gear before coming to get us?” I asked Tiernan during the ride back to the campsite. “Wouldn’t that have saved time and let us get moving this afternoon?”