Awaken (31 page)

“
Jax ain’t leaving us yet
Tara. He told me he wouldn’t leave us ‘til we found Lily...ain’t
that right Jax?”

“
Right you are,” he says to
Finn but his eyes don’t leave my face. Is he waiting for my
reaction to that? I don’t fall for his bait.

“
Whatever. We’ve put up with
you for this long...a few more days ain’t gonna make much
difference. Just don’t expect any more thanks when you finally do
leave...I’ve said my piece.”

I turn away from him so as to hide my
confusion. As angry as I am at him for being such a mule turd,
there’s this tiny part of me that is actually pleased that he ain’t
leaving us yet. What the hell is wrong with me? Angry at him and at
myself I focus my attention on Tater, who’s smiling at me like
something is amusing him greatly.

“
What?” I say crossly but he
just shrugs.

“
Nothing my dear. I was just
thinking we should get a move on. It’s early morning, the guards
are probably still snoring from their nights partaking, there is no
better time to enter the city.”

“
Fine...let’s go then,” I
say, grabbing the horse’s reins. “Finn, say your
goodbyes.”

He looks at me, then back at Cat, and
his whole face drops like he’s about to cry. I sigh loudly and rub
the back of my neck, dreading the next few minutes.

“
Finn we talked ‘bout this.
You know Cat cain’t go. She will be fine...she’s a wild animal for
crying out loud.”

“
But I ain’t ever left her
on purpose like before...” he says trying to be strong but his
quivering lip gives him away. I can feel the little patience I have
left slipping away but before I can say anything else Jax walks
over to the boy and lays a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“
She’ll be fine Finn. This
whole area is covered in caves and wildlife. She’ll have a place to
sleep, plenty to eat...and it’ll only be for a little while. And if
it makes you feel any better, until we find Lily we’ll come out and
check on her every day. It’s safer for her that way...she can’t be
in the city, you know that.”

He looks up up Jax and nods. “I know,”
he says. “You’re right Jax. Will you come out with me to check on
her...truly?”

Jax nods and the boy wraps his skinny
arms round his waist causing me to feel like my heart was being
ripped out of my chest. What was I doing to him! He was leaving his
beast who he loved more than anything in the world and instead of
comforting him I had lost patience with him! Irritated at the whole
situation, I watch wordlessly as Finn goes to his beast, hugs her
and whispers in her ear. He then straightens up and says
quietly,

“
Now you know what to do…so
go on…get outta here.”

She yowls a couple of times and licks
his face but as if she understands she shuffles slowly off as we
ride away from her. Finn keeps looking back and I can hear him
stifle a couple of sobs but he don’t cry. Finally he says “I cain’t
see her no more...she must be gone to find a cave like Jax said to
wait for us. You think so Tara? She’s gonna wait for us ‘til we’re
ready to leave the city.”

“
Aye,” I say, agreeing with
the boy but I don’t dare turn around to face him. I’m scared he
would see the deceit written all over my face. That he would know I
was lying to him and that when I did leave the city it would be
without him. Instead I stare straight ahead at the growing city
wall and push Cat and the thought of never seeing her again from my
mind. I had more important things to worry about than the animal.
Ben and Jane and young Thomas...they were my main focus now, as it
should be.

We pass through the arched stone gate
in silence, past the guard towers and I let out my pent up breath
in relief that no one tries to stop us. I almost feel safe when,
suddenly, we hear a loud “Oi! Halt! Who goes there?”

My heart pounds frantically in my chest
and I pull my wrapper further down over my hair as a brown robed
soldier approaches us. We do as he asks and stop, not wanting to
draw any attention to ourselves. He is dressed a little different
then the army that had chased us from the raiders but the long
shooter hanging at his side is the same. I’m glad we had taken
Taters advice and hidden our own shooters in one of the saddle bags
on Jax’s nag. I don’t think the soldier would have taken too kindly
to seeing them.

“
Hello Doyle...and how goes
it my friend?”

I am surprised to hear Tater call him
by name...he knows him? He smiles down at the soldier and removes
his hat in a friendly gesture. The soldier peers up at him for a
bit then breaks into a toothless grin.

“
Tater! Is that you? By the
gods...I thought you had been killed out in the sand lands long
ago!”

He gives a hearty laugh like the
thought of that was truly amusing to him, causing his gigantic
stomach to jiggle up and down. Tater don’t take no offense, he
merely laughs along with the man like it was the funniest thing he
had ever heard.

“
Ah no such luck old
chap...I’m afraid those two bits of iron you owe me will indeed
have to be repaid.”

The soldier laughs again showing his
toothless gums and starts scratching himself in several undignified
places.

“
That’s damn bad luck... for
me. I’ll have to buy you an ale at the Two Heads as payback. You
here on trading business?”

“
Unfortunately not...met
with some rather nasty business in the mountains. Got robbed by a
bunch of raiders and lost all my wares. Have nothing to trade at
the moment. Was rather hoping to pick up some coin in town, maybe
do a bit of storytelling at the Two Heads, earn some
iron.”

“
Raiders!’ the man says in
disgust and spits on the ground. “Bunch of worthless shite heads.
Don’t know why The Prezedant don’t just order for them all to be
killed. I’d gladly go on that hunt.”

Tater nods as if agreeing
wholeheartedly but I can feel the sweat beading my upper lip. Why
don’t he cut this conversation short and get moving? Why is he
talking to this soldier like they were long lost friends? We don’t
need him paying any attention to the rest of us.

As if suddenly reading my thoughts the
man in question turns and peers at me and Finn and Jax.

“
And who you have with you
then eh? Didn’t think you had this many friends half
man.”

Tater laughs again like he ain’t got a
care in the world.

“
Not friends...apprentices.
Orphans whose parents died out in the sand lands. Had no one else
to look after them so I took them under my wing, thought I’d train
them in the way of the entertainments. Why do all the work myself
when I can get paid thrice over.”

The soldier almost bends over with his
laughter and points a dirt encrusted finger at Tater.

“
Hahaha...you ain’t changed
a bit old man, always looking to make the most iron in the quickest
time possible,” he says taking his gaze off of us. I can feel
myself breathe again.

“
It has been a pleasure my
friend but it was a long journey indeed and I am very thirsty. The
Two Heads awaits,” Tater says and nods a farewell to the soldier
and with relief we start to ride away. I don’t look back but I can
feel the soldier’s eyes following us. Did he suspect anything? I
don’t think so...it seemed like normal conversation. We follow
Tater slowly through the crowded streets....don’t seem like anyone
is paying any attention to us. We’re just another group of dirty
tired travelers as far as they were concerned.

The sharp fear at being stopped by the
soldier is quickly replaced by the wonder at our surroundings. I
ain’t ever seen this many people all crowded together, all in one
place! The noise was ear splitting. There were people yelling back
and forth, gesturing wildly with their arms, and I finally realize
they were bartering...trying to sell or buy the many wares that
hang all around us. The whole road is awash with stalls of goods. I
see bolts of hanging cloths, every color of the rainbow. Animal
carcasses picked and clean just waiting to be cooked. Baskets of
taters and corn and things I don’t recognize. Trinkets and beads
and bangles and objects of trade.... there is so much! Where did
they get all this stuff? I am baffled at the abundance of it all. A
young boy, probably no older than Finn runs right up to Tater and
starts yelling at him, thrusting a basket of round orange colored
balls up at him. I don’t know what they are but Tater shakes his
head at the boy and I realize that he is trying to sell his wares
to Tater. At Tater’s refusal he turns to me but Tater kicks at him
like he was a rabid dog and he scampers off, cussin’ at the half
man over his shoulder.

The smell of freshly baked bread
suddenly hits my nose and my stomach lurches violently. Oh
gods...my mouth is watering. Where is that coming from? Finn
squirms behind me and I know the smell is affecting him
too.

The crowd is becoming almost impassable
now the further in we go and the nag is getting skittish. Just like
me she is unnerved by the throng of people. The noise of it all, it
vibrates in my ears and a pain starts blossoming in the middle of
my forehead. How can people live like this? So crowded and on top
of each other? I find myself longing for the openness of the sand
lands and I’m very relieved when Tater finally turns out of the
crowd and down a narrow alley way carved out between two stone
buildings. Away from the crowded street now, the noise level drops
as we go deeper in. But the noise is the least of our worries in
here seems like. An overpowering, sickening stench hits us and I
gag reflexively before I get a chance to cover my nose with my
wrapper. Finns “ugh!” hits my ears a second before he buries his
nose in my back. And at Jax’s cussin’ I know the smell has hit him
too. Shizen! What is that? Then I see the piles of half rotted
debris ...and other things. Things that out in the sand lands would
have been buried if you had any decency. Ugh! Disgusting! This is
what Tater called civilized? The half man don’t seem to be the
least affected by any of it though, he keeps ambling on ahead of us
on Winnie and I swear I can hear him singing to himself!

Seems like forever but we finally
emerge out of the narrow pathway, into an open courtyard. The
buildings surrounding us are worn and old, their exteriors mostly
crumbling away, but at least the stench is gone. Or maybe my nose
was by now so burnt by it I couldn’t smell it anymore. Either way I
was glad to be out of that disgusting tunnel of filth.

Tater dismounts and we quickly follow
suit. I stretch my tense back and look around, wondering where
Tater has brought us. Jax is the first to ask.

“
What is this
place?”

“
This, my dears, is my home
away from home, my utopia, my oasis, my shining beacon in the
darkness. This will be our haven,” he says, smiling from ear to
ear.

Loud rowdy laughter reaches our ears at
that moment and the door closest to us in the courtyard flies open
with a bang. A man falls out into the road at our feet. He is
quickly followed by a woman, scantily dressed, her face painted
with such colors I fear for a split second she must be a raider.
She stares at us with bleary eyes then quickly dismisses us to help
the man to his feet. They stumble away into the narrow alley,
obviously under the influence of the whiskey.

“
You can’t be serious!” Jax
says staring at Tater like he had lost his mind. I don’t understand
and I look from Jax to Tater as the little man shrugs.

“
A safer place in all of
Littlepass you will not find. Trust me many a soul has hidden here
and the occupants...they know how to be tight lipped. As my dear
mother would say, ‘what happens here stays here!’ Besides, the
proprietor is a friend of mine.”

“
Tater we can’t! Finn can’t
stay here!”

I cain’t understand why Jax is
protesting so. If it was a friend of Taters then what was the
problem? And Tater says it was safe enough. Jax looks over at me
and Finn and I can swear he is flushed with
embarrassment.

“
What’s the problem Jax?” I
say.

“
This place is...
it’s....it’s a service den,” he almost whispers the last words but
don’t make no matter. He could have yelled them and I still
wouldn’t have known what he was talking about. He must see the look
of confusion on my face ‘cause he tries again.

“
A service den! A house of
ill fame!” I can tell he’s getting frustrated with me but I still
don’t understand. An ill house? Did that mean the house was sick?
Maybe Jax was right! We shouldn’t be staying in no sickly house!
Before I can voice my objections though, Tater jumps in.

“
What our prudish friend is
trying to say Tara, very in-eloquently I might add, is that the
ladies that reside in this residence....they are visited quite
frequently by men. Many men. And that they treat those men as a
wife would treat her wedded husband. Sometimes much better.” He
smiles at his words, then continues on. “And in return they get
paid for their unique...services. Do you understand?”

I do understand. Somewhat. I mean I
ain’t a complete idiot. I’ve seen animals and their breeding
acts…and I kinda know that people ain’t much different. But Jax
seems to be real put off by the whole idea so of course I, on the
other hand, don’t mind it at all.