The Sage Seed Chronicles: The Unraveling (12 page)

“I guess I can understand that a lot of what
you have told me tonight would have been difficult to explain
earlier. As long as we are straight with each other now. I have
discovered some information but I don’t know that we can do
anything with it.” Erin was interrupted as Tempo darted past a tree
at the edge of the firelight. At the same time there was a Whoo-woo
of warning. Erin pretended that there was nothing out of ordinary
with the evening and raised her voice some to comment on Tempo’s
speed. “He must have heard a frog or something, I didn’t know he
could move that fast. It must be a delicacy!” She allowed Lor and
Alliz to carry the thread of that conversation while she listened
in on Nuit and Tempo.

“There was a person working his way slowly
through the woods toward your campfire. He didn’t hear anything but
had been moving with stealth. He would have been within hearing
range in another few moments. Apparently he has a healthy respect
for skunks as he veered away when Tempo cut in front of him. Tempo
put on a great show of challenging me over a snake I had caught. He
stamped and raised his tail at me. I have left the snake to him.”
There was a smile in Nuit’s tone as she relayed the message. “The
woods are empty of people again but the man is approaching the
commons by Kennet’s wagon.”

Erin nodded then spoke quietly, “Who is the
small man approaching the city commons from near Kennet’s wagon?”
Lor got up and turned to stretch, positioning himself at an angle
to see. Tempo pranced back across the edge of the campfire light
proudly carrying a small snake in his mouth just as a slender youth
with short blond hair crossed the common and entered the city. Erin
asked Tempo and Nuit if that had been the man and they both
confirmed. Three sets of eyes met over the campfire.

Erin paused and said quietly, “I have to tell
you before there are any further interruptions. ‘Brown beard’s’
real name is Targ. He is a metal worker and tool maker. ‘Dusty hat’
is his cousin Wras. Targ has a brother Bure. Wras and Bure are herb
gatherers that service guild members that make medicines, cosmetic
cream, perfumes and fabric dyes. Those three keep company together.
They are good at what they do and are tolerated only because of
their skill. Otherwise people avoid them. They have a reputation
for being mean and short tempered. Zinar just had a visit from a
bearded man that fit Targ’s description. That man had fabricated a
gear for his loom. The part was delivered wrapped in cloth. Zinar
became ill shortly after he fitted the gear into the power section
of the loom. Wras was in the area when Auntie Jes received a
delivery of herbs for the dyes she was mixing. I don’t know who was
in Sherroton to hand my father his new shovel but, my guess is it
was either Targ or Bure. I am not sure where they live but I was
told that they travel between communities all of the time.”

“I realize all of this is circumstantial but
the coincidences are adding up. Even if there was a witness who saw
one of them give the shovel to my father or herbs to Auntie Jes,
there is no proof. I don’t know how the Great One works but I would
expect that for laws to be respected and followed by the people of
the realm we can not rely on coincidence and information we glean
from special skills. There needs to be clear proof.” Erin raised
her hand in frustration.

“I have figured out that the contact
poison is used because it looks like sages have died from a random
virulent fever. If they had been killed in any other way it would
be clear that they had been murdered. More people can be targeted
and killed because no one is alert. Even if sages were aware, how
could they protect themselves. The stuff could be anywhere. It
could be placed on their door latch or their windmill gear box. Any
thing they habitually touch could be targeted by a careful
observer. My parents were never sick. As you said, Lor, they had a
very strong constitution. They were also intelligent, good people.
They were an asset to our world and they are gone.” Erin nodded to
Alliz, remembering her words. “We had the ‘how’ and we now have the
‘who’. We need proof. The ‘why’ will come.”

Cear was well up in the sky and casting a
warm ruddy light on the camp. Even the most intrepid in the caravan
were putting out their campfires. All three had a lot of
information to digest but more discussion was out of the question.
Lor and Erin returned to their wagon and got out their bedrolls.
Erin stretched hers out beside the wagon. Tempo was waiting for
them and was one satisfied little skunk having protected his friend
and gotten a feast! As Erin laid down Tempo curled up against her
with his rounded little belly. She stroked the little skunk behind
his soft small ears as she mentally thanked him and Nuit for
preventing the eavesdropper from getting close enough. Nuit
acknowledged the thanks and said, “ I will continue to watch. There
is enough nearby that I don’t need to leave you to hunt.”

Erin felt a hand on her shoulder and looked
up to see Lor with a concerned expression on his face. “I know you
have questions. Let them go for tonight. We will find time to talk
tomorrow. Rest well.” He looked at the little skunk and gently
rubbed a finger over the bulging belly. “Good job, my small friend.
Glad to have you on my team. Get some sleep.” He returned to his
bedroll at the end of the wagon. Erin closed her eyes and, though
her head was was filled to bursting with what she had heard, she
was soon breathing deeply in sleep. Lor’s eyes were slitted as he
scanned the area. His thoughts were troubled. Finally, with a
mental shrug that he couldn’t do anymore at the moment, he too fell
asleep.

Shortly before dawn Tempo sat up in alarm.
Immediately he was on his feet and pouncing on Erin’s arm to wake
her. She propped herself up on one elbow and blearily looked at the
little skunk. “What is it Tempo? What’s wrong?” but all she got out
of his mind was the immediate need to move away from the wagon!
Just then she felt a tremor which almost knocked her elbow out from
underneath her. She sat up as another wave rippled below ground.
The quake lasted several seconds before subsiding. Erin quickly
grabbed her boots and put them on. There was a cacophony of voices
and noises around her. “I have to get to the horses and make sure
they are alright. I will be back.’ she called over her shoulder to
Lor as she scooped up Tempo and ran toward the paddock with the
skunk in her arms.

The horses were moving restlessly, with a few
high strung ones squealing in panic as they got bumped by others.
She set Tempo down and crawled through the fence working her way
cautiously through the chaotic mass of animals. Her hands were
outstretched as she spoke “Settle down. Whoa there. Settle down.”
pitching her alto voice just a little lower. At the same time her
mind was trying to reach out to each animal, in turn, to soothe
them. Finally their restive movement became more quiet and they
clustered near the fence or in the center of the corral and away
from the barn.

Erin scooted back through the rails and
glanced toward the skunk. “I’m okay, I’ll run with you. Go where
you need to be!”, said Tempo. That was all she need to hear as she
took off again toward Lor’s wagon. She could hear a confusion of
raised voices all over the gather grounds. Lor was circulating
among the wagons and checking with everyone in the caravan. There
were people in their night wear streaming out of the city and into
the open area. After a time, when nothing else happened people
started to cautiously go back into the city. It was an old city and
had been in that cliff face for centuries without harm but all
walls and beams were inspected very carefully anyway.

Dawn finally came which made examining wagons
and structures a little easier. Most everyone was alright. A couple
of older wagons were found to have loosened wheels or axles and
some of the merchants had not totally secured their goods and there
was some breakage. Flar was exceeding glad that she had not been
carrying any perfumes. It would have made for an extremely pungent
caravan. As it was, her wagon had been damaged when one wheel had
cracked. She had fallen and had scraped her left knee, hand and
elbow. She was already putting on salve and Tassy was wrapping the
injuries with cloth. Lor had touched base with each guild member
and was now talking earnestly to Alliz.

Erin was approaching them when Kennet called
out to her from behind. She turned as he approached her. “Terran,
much thanks for immediately going to the animals. By the time I got
there you were well on your way in calming them down so I left you
to it. That could have been a catastrophe. I heard them whinnying
and carrying on from my wagon but a load of hides had shifted and
slid on top of me.” His gruff face took on a sheepish expression.
“I thought to stack and secure them today so last night I
celebrated the great day of business we had.. and paid for it a bit
by having the stuff fall on me this morning. You did a good job,
settling them down so quickly. Remarkable. You aren’t even full
grown. You could have been hurt going into that paddock with
panicked horses. But the caravan owes you because we would have had
seriously injured beasts. For sure from me you get a warm winter
coat!” He slapped a dumbfounded Erin on her back, gave her a grin
and trotted back to his wagon.

Erin looked down at Tempo and bent to lift
the little skunk to her shoulder. “You are the hero, little one.
Thank you.” She turned to Alliz’s wagon and found that Lor was gone
again. Whatever they had been speaking about, she had missed.

Alliz was facing her wagon, her hand resting
on the side, lost in thought. Erin approached her and was reaching
out to touch her shoulder, when she hesitated. Erin’s hand paused
in mid air. There was something about the way Alliz was standing
and the tension in her long pretty hands that said something more
was going on. Erin’s fingertips felt funny and goose-bumps
immediately rose on her arms as she slowly lowered her hand to
stroke Tempo. The little skunk turned his face into her neck,
sensing that now was not the time to speak to her though her mind
was open. There was an almost imperceptible flutter in the tree to
the right of them. Erin quietly turned her head and made eye
contact with Keir. All three of them remained silent. Alliz seemed
to come out of her revery and started to turn away from the wagon.
As she moved she saw Erin and Tempo and their stillness.

“Who?” said Erin softly.

Alliz looked at Erin. She saw the goose-bumps
and the expression in her eyes and said simply, “The Great One. We
are linked. When he needs to get a hold of me he can come into my
mind. He knew of the tremor.”

“How much were you able to tell him? Was this
a disaster report or were you able to share what we spoke about
last night?”

Alliz looked at Erin’s serious face and
realized how deeply she and Lor had hurt her trust. Well it
couldn’t be helped and now was not the time to go into details. She
reached out and touched Erin on her forearm. “Both.” was all she
said.

Erin turned to go. They didn’t have the time
or the privacy to talk. She paused just a moment and said, “My
friend Keir is in that tree”, and she cocked her head to the right
and over her shoulder, “You need to know my companions. They’re
part of my team.” then she strode back in the direction she had
come.

All the way back to Lor’s wagon, Erin was
stopped several times. Others had either seen her calming the
horses or had heard of it. Everyone knew how disastrous it would
have been if a horse had broken it’s leg or had been otherwise
injured. Erin had thanked each person in turn and had simply told
them that Tempo had alerted her and that had given her the few
extra seconds of warning.

Lor was back at the wagon when she returned.
“Do you know the status? Other than Flar and her wagon I didn’t see
any casualties.”

Lor looked up, from checking the wagon, when
Erin spoke. He gave her a small smile. “We got off easy with that
one. The city seems alright and Flar’s wagon is being fixed. Thank
you for taking care of the animals. Without your quick actions we
might have had to put down some horses and definitely there would
have been a few injuries. Several guild people liked you before but
you are totally a welcome addition now.” As he looked at her his
smile slipped. “What is bothering you?”

“I went to check on Alliz”, Erin said in a
whisper, “I just missed you because Kennet stopped me. He is
grateful about the horses and wants to repay me with a winter coat.
When I turned to complete my trip to Alliz you were gone. She was
busy. Talking to the Great One. I know we do not have the time or
the privacy to completely clear the air but I am a little tired of
not being informed. Yes, I am glad she has a line of communication
with him and that he is informed. Yes, I am grateful that I am not
alone with this problem but I have the very distinct feeling that
you and Alliz are not being completely forthcoming with what you
know. Frankly, it’s beginning to really irritate me. What do you
want from me? I have given you information that you didn’t already
have..” her voice dropped even lower, “and I have asked troubling
questions that you have not answered. Now I find that your lack of
transparency with me is raising more questions. Lor, if you hadn’t
noticed, unanswered questions can be deadly!”

Lor gazed over the caravan and the field in
front of Morraton. “The problem is that for every question you have
there is a very long answer. You are correct. We don’t have the
time. I know I am asking a lot of you right now when I ask that you
trust me. Here is one piece. You may have figured out that your
parents were sages. It is not always the case that sages marry each
other. It worked for them. Alliz told you that we know who are
sages and where they live. You are young enough that though we knew
that your parents had a child we didn’t know if that child was a
sage. You have described how your father’s legacy passed to you.
That was not a certainty. He apparently knew it would because of
things he saw in you, like your early ability with your mother’s
gift. Neither of them had shared that information with anyone. What
I want you to take away from this conversation is that you, my
‘lad’, are a completely wonderful surprise. We are utterly
delighted to have you with us.”