Into Eden: Pangaea - Book 1 (13 page)

“Now that feels good!” the dousee said not opening his eyes.

“C’on!” the woman snapped at Jesse, her arms crossed over her ample bosom. “Let’s get with it! I don’t have all day!”

Jesse just stood there for a minute, debating with himself whether he was willing to suffer the indignity of undressing in front of this woman, or continue to live with the combined accumulation of sweat and dirt from several days of walking cross-country in the summer heat. In the end it wasn’t his modesty that prevailed, but the woman’s nagging.

“Let’s hurry it up, boy! I’m not gonna see anything that I haven’t seen before!”

Jesse hurried to undress, wrapping the towel around his waist, then schooched down into the tub.

“You’re gonna get that towel all wet,” she complained.

“Yes, I am.”

“Hmmmph!”

Without saying another word, the grouchy lady with the hot water doused him with a bucket-full of extremely hot water. Jesse started, and then relaxed a bit as the water ran over him. “It does feel...” he began, and then another bucket rushed over him, stealing his words.

“Here’s your soap,” the woman snapped, handing him a bar. “Need me to scrub your back?”

“No. I’ll be fine.”

“Hmmmph!” she said again, then waddled toward the door. “Be sure to wring the towels out before you hang them up!” she called back at Jesse and the other man. “And no thieving! If there’s any towels missing I’ll know, and I’ll find you!” With that she stormed through the door, slamming it behind her.

“Nice lady,” Jesse quipped. “Why does the innkeeper put up with someone who treats his guests like that?”

“It’s his wife.”

Jesse extended one hand toward the stranger in the next tub, “My name’s Jesse, from the house of Nashon.” The man shook his hand and replied, “Seth, from many houses between Mountain Shadows and Atlantis.”

“Well, Seth from many houses, how long have you been in Whitehurst?”

“Too long. Twenty days too long, to be exact. I came to Whitehurst to buy articles carved from mammoth ivory which I resell downriver at River Bend and Mountain Shadows. But my business partner it seems is no-show. Found a retailer that would pay him a higher commission, no doubt. Anyway, I waited for him to show for four days, but when he didn’t I decided to catch the next boat south, only before I could do so a bunch of an-nef—jackal-heads to be exact—sunk every boat at the docks and no other has shown since they passed through, but I guess that you already know all that. So here I am, stuck in this dreadful town until either the boats start traversing the river again or the coach drivers get over their fear of imaginary lions. Bah! Who ever heard of such a thing? Lions on the road in this day and age? I think not.”

Jesse said nothing, but thought of the ox-cart of ivory that they had seen at the site of the lion attack. It had to be the same man—Seth’s “business partner.”

“What’s the matter, boy?” Seth said after a while. “Did I say something to upset you?”

Jesse then told him about the attack—leaving out the part about Enoch being a spirit-host and Castor-Pollex’s attempt to possess him. “I’m sorry,” Jesse said at last. “I’m afraid that we—I had to leave your friend and his wares where he was. I had to run for my life.”

“Poor Caleb,” Seth said. “He was a good friend and partner. I should have known that he wouldn’t have let me down like that. I’ve known the man for nearly two-hundred years. Well, that explains his absence—and the scars on your chest. I killed a lion once, many years ago. I was just a youth, a lad of seventy-six. My father had taken me hunting lions. We lived in the Cardassian Mountains back then. Most of the lions in the area had already been killed off. I think that my father thought that they were actually all gone and just needed a good excuse to take me out by ourselves for a while. Anyway, we came upon a pride of lions resting under a tree. My father told me to be quiet and just back away, but while we were trying to sneak off one of the big males charged. I held my spear just like he told me when it pounced and in a moment the lion was dead and the rest of them fled. My heart was beating so hard that I felt that it would come through my chest. Yes, young man, you’re a very lucky. That second lion should have finished you off. The gods must be looking after you.”

“Yes, I’m lucky,” Jesse agreed. “The gods are certainly protecting me.”

Jesse slid down into the tub, enjoying the feeling of the warm water that surrounded him, and just enjoying the feeling of being really clean for the first time in days. The room was warm from the stove and above he could hear the rain as it fell on the roof. Yes, it was good to just relax for a while. His serenity was disturbed, however, as Seth announced, “Guess I’d better get down to the common room while there’s still meat on the platter. Hate to miss my meal since I’ve already paid for it.”

Jesse stood, grabbing a towel and dried himself off, “Mind if I join you? I’d like to hear more of your stay here in Whitehurst, and what you can tell me of River Bend and Mountain Shadows.”

“Sure,” Seth agreed. “Don’t see why not. It’d be good to share a meal with someone who can carry on a real conversation. Or if you can prefer, we can join in with the sailors.”

“Not really, don’t know much about sailing.”

“Don’t have to,” Seth replied. “Just complain a lot and be sure to use the word, ‘gods’ every two or three words. You’ll fit right in and they’ll never know the difference. Might want to leave your shirt unbuttoned, though. Tell ‘em that you got the best of some highwayman in a knife fight. That way you’ll get their respect.”

Jesse chuckled at the man’s advice. He liked Seth immediately, and hoped that the older man might be able to give him some advice on how to get out of his current predicament.

In a minute they were dressed and walked down the stairs to the inn’s common room, where dinner was already in swing. The inn reminded Jesse of the White Moose in Albion, only on a much larger scale. The common room was furnished with long tables with attached bench seats. Jesse estimated that there were over seventy packed into the room on this rainy evening. Perhaps half were guests, while the rest were locals. Some just wanted to get out of the rain and have a drink. Others knew where to get a good meal. The menu was posted over the bar on a slate board in chalk. It read, “MEAT OF THE DAY, TURNIPS, CORN.” Momentarily a serving girl walked by carrying a platter covered with beer steins held high above her head. Jesse called to her as she passed, “What is the meat of day?”

“Mutton,” she replied and continued on her way to a group of sailors at the far end of the table.

Seth looked at Jesse, “The meat of the day was mutton yesterday, the day before and the day before that. It’s ALWAYS mutton. The only thing that changes is whether you get beets or turnips with your mutton and corn.”

In a few minutes three more serving girls came out and began to distribute platters of lamb and bowls of turnip and corn along the table, with loaves of bread. The food was hot and good, Jesse hoped that he’d eaten his last rabbit in some time. As they ate, Jesse asked Seth about other means of transportation to the cities downriver, “Have you tried to purchase a horse if there’s no coaches running?”

“I have,” Seth informed him. “The man at the stable told me he had some fine horseflesh that he’d sell me for fifteen denari.”

“Fifteen denari!” Jesse exclaimed. “There’s not a horse in all Pangaea worth that amount of money!”

“And certainly not the one that he showed me,” Seth went on. “The old thing looked like it had a hoof in the grave. If I didn’t know that horses only lived to be three-hundred, I’d have sworn that it had seen service in the An-nef War. Horses in this town are at a premium, and if you’re willing to pay the money the best that can be had probably won’t get you to where you’re headed.”

So much for plan C, thought Jesse. His options were quickly running out.

“Tell me about River Bend,” said Jesse, “and Mountain Shadows. Are there any an-nef there?”

“There are some in River Bend,” Seth continued, spearing another lamb-chop. “Many more in Mountain Shadows. Quite common to see them on the street there.”

Jesse thought of Perez’s tales of seeing an-nef in Mountain Shadows. “Roaming the streets like they own the place,” he had said.

“But none here in Whitehurst?”

“Heavens, no! That band that came through here and sunk the boats caused quite a stir. Why, there were some people in Whitehurst that didn’t even believe in an-nef before they showed up. Thought they were just tales to scare the kiddies. The wolf-heads’ll get you if you don’t eat your vegetables. That sort of thing. But now they know the truth of it.”

“And what of Eden? Have you ever been to Eden?”

“A man would be crazy to set foot in Eden,” Seth replied. “And I’m not crazy.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because—for starters—an-nef will kill any human that sets foot on their side of the Pishon. They are not as liberal with humans as the humans are with an-nef in Mountain Shadows. Besides, if you escaped one of their arrows and somehow made it into the jungle, you’d face monsters the size of this inn with teeth as big as that sword that you’re carrying.”

“You’ve seen these monsters?”

“Of course not, boy. It’s like I said, you’d be crazy to set foot in Eden. But I’ve heard the tales. I can even introduce you to some an-nef that I know in Mountain Shadows that have seen them and lived to tell about it. Why would you want to go there in the first place?”

“I have business there,” Jesse replied without thinking.

“Business? What kind of business? The only business that there is for a human in Eden is dying.”

Jesse said nothing for a long time. Then he turned to Seth and confided his purpose for being in Whitehurst, “You know those an-nef that came through here and burned the boats and killed one of the men of this town?”

“Yes.”

“Well, before they did they killed my father and my brother. I intend to make the one responsible pay for his crime.”

“Easier said than done, Son. You’ll never get within five-hundred miles of New Sodom—if that’s where you’re headed—before they kill you. They are not easy to kill.”

“Maybe not,” Jesse replied, “but I’ve already hurt one bad. Now I have to finish the job.”

“That was you?” Seth exclaimed. “You were the one that injured that jackal-head? The one that lay in the back of that wagon?”

“Yes. Stuck a spear in his side. But I paid a price. I took two of their arrows and nearly died.”

Seth whistled softly, “So you’re the one. Everyone wonders who got to the one in the wagon. Guess now we know.”

Jesse looked around, “Please, keep it to yourself. I’ve probably said too much already.”

“Your secret is safe with me, Lad. But if I were you I’d rethink my path. Nothing will bring your father or your brother back. No use in losing another of the house of Nashon in a fight you’re most certainly not going to win.”

Jesse didn’t reply, but looked around the room. It was still crowded, although most had finished eating by this time and the room seemed to be quieting down. At the end of the table the sailors were enjoying another round of beer. Across from them at another table some men had spread out a checked cloth and were engrossed in a game of “armies.” On one side were pieces carved in ivory with the shapes of various an-nef. On the other were legionnaires of Atlantis, some with bows, some with spears, and some mounted on horses. “Check!” the man with the an-nef figures said to the man with the legionnaires.

His companions urged him on. “You’ve got him!” they exclaimed.

The man on the other side of the table slid a carved horseman across the board to a ram-head figure, “Check-mate.”

In the corner several other men were down on their hands and knees throwing dice. A roar came up from the group as a man threw the dice to the floor as he stood, and tossed a handful of coins down as well. “By the gods!” he yelled. “You’re cheating!” With that he stormed away.

Jesse started to get up, mindful of the innkeeper’s warning about beating his bedmate back to the room, but Seth laid a hand on his arm, “Not before the first song. It would be rude.”

“Song?”

Seth didn’t answer, but smiled and pointed at a stage with a large harp and a vacant stool beside it. In a minute a young lady stepped up on the stage and sat by the harp and began to play. The girl was beautiful, with long, dark, unbraided hair and dark eyes. As she played the room grew quiet as she sang a song about a stolen love, and a jealous revenge.

“I thought revenge was sweet,” she sang, “I wanted her to pay. But bitter was the price I paid, and pay until this day.”

When the song was over you could have heard a pin drop in the room filled with big, burly, hard men. Half the men in the room seemed on the verge of tears. The other half—Jesse among them—were in love.

Jesse stretched out his new map on the bed when he returned to his room. He studied it carefully until he had his route as far as Prophet’s Pass memorized. Now he lay in bed listening to the rain and weighing his options. His first night in Whitehurst and he had learned that (A) no boats were leaving, (B) no coaches were leaving, and (C) buying a horse would cost him an emperor’s ransom. Not that he didn’t have the money, but his father had taught him too well to part with that amount of money for a horse that might give out before they reached their destination. It was blackmail, and he wasn’t about to be taken by some flim-flam artist from the Territories. No, there was still one way to get to Mountain Shadows. The Southern Highway ran for a thousand miles between Albion and Mountain Shadows. They had already covered one hundred miles of it on their way to Whitehurst. That left nine-hundred miles to go. Thirty miles per day. He and Enoch could cover the remaining trek in only a month’s time. Still plenty of time to cross the Fog Mountains before winter sets in. He thought that he’d come up with a new saying, “Every journey begins with the first step.” Well, they’d rest for one more day and then they’d begin their journey. He’d tell Enoch of his decision first thing in the morning. With the issue decided, Jesse quickly fell asleep.