Quest's End: The Broken Key #3 (8 page)

Cutting through the woods as she did, she skirted the town and came to Elle’s place in short order. A small home, it seemed larger now that two of their three boys no longer lived there. The third Kelon son, Eryl, was busily clearing snow as she approached the house.

“Good morning, Mrs. Borenson,” he said. Pausing in his work, he leaned upon the shovel.

“You too, Eryl,” she replied. “Is your mother home?”

He nodded then pointed to the house. “She’s inside,” he answered.

“Thank you,” she said. Hurrying past the youngest Kelon son, she hurried to the door. The sound of Eryl returning to work accompanied her as she came to the door and entered. They had been friends long enough for them to be able to enter each other’s home without knocking.

“Elle?” she said as she closed the door and entered the front room.

Elle poked her head out of the kitchen. A smile broke across her face when she saw who it was. “Kate!” she exclaimed. “How good to see you.” Then her face lost some of the smile when she took notice of the worry etched on Kaitlyn’s face.

“Are you busy right now?” Kaitlyn asked. Crossing the front room, she was met halfway by Elle.

“Why?” she asked. “Is there anything wrong?” Laying a hand on her friend’s shoulder, her eyes sought an answer in Kaitlyn’s.

“I’m not entirely sure,” replied Kaitlyn. Then she told of the stranger and his request to meet with her at
The Sterling Sheep
. “He said it had something to do with Riyan,” she explained. “I was hoping you could come with me. If you weren’t too busy.”

Elle reached out and took her hand. She could see worry and fear in her friend’s eyes. “We’ve been friends for too long for me to ever be that busy when you need me,” she replied. “Let me take the stew off the fire and I’ll get dressed.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“I’ll be but a minute,” Elle said. She patted Kaitlyn’s hand then returned back into the kitchen. A minute later she left the kitchen and headed to her room at the back of the house. When she reappeared, she had on her warmest jacket, a hat, and a wool scarf. “You don’t think this concerns my Chad too do you?” she asked.

“He didn’t say,” Kaitlyn replied.

As Elle opened the door, Eryl was standing outside knocking snow off his boots, about ready to come in. “I’m going into town for an hour or so,” she told him. “Keep an eye on the place while I’m gone.”

“But mama,” he replied. “Father said I could go over to Kaleb’s when I was finished clearing a path to the barn!”

“Don’t argue with me,” she said in that tone all mothers use on a child who balks at doing what he’s told. “You can go when I get back.”

“But…” he started to say, but stopped when he met her unwavering glare. Backing down, he said, “Yes mama.”

“Good,” she said. Then she and Kaitlyn left him by the door as they headed toward
The Sterling Sheep
.

On the way they passed friends and neighbors both had known all their lives. Other than a few quick words of greeting, they didn’t waste any time in reaching
The Sterling Sheep.

It was quiet when they entered the warm interior and made their way to the common room. This early in the day there were rarely any customers, though usually there was a class teaching the children of Quillim their letters and numbers. It had been canceled due to the snow. It was hard enough to get a child to stay focused on a regular day. But with a deep blanket of snow, forget it.

One lone figure sat at a table against the back wall. It was easy to recognize him as the man who had paid her a visit. He was six feet and muscular. Dark hair with piercing brown eyes, his appearance did little to put the two ladies at ease.

When he saw them standing by the door, he came to his feet and gestured for them to come over. He broke into a friendly smile as they drew near his table. “I’m glad you came,” he said. Then he glanced to Elle and asked. “And you are?”

She extended her hand. “Elle Kelon,” she replied.

“Ah,” he said as he took her hand and gave a slight bow over it, “Chadric’s mother.” After releasing Elle’s hand, he said, “My name is Daniel Sanderson.”

The smile that had come to her at him honoring her hand disappeared the moment he said who she was. The fact that a stranger knew who she was didn’t set well with her. “How do you know my son?” she asked.

Instead of replying, he gestured to two of the vacant seats at his table, “Please have a seat.”

Kaitlyn glanced to Elle, both were confused and a bit nervous of this man.

The man waited until they were seated in their chairs before he sat in his. “As to your question,” he began, “I have never met either of your sons.”

“Mr. Sanderson, how do you know so much about them then?” Kaitlyn asked.

He didn’t answer right away. Reaching into his pouch, he pulled forth a copper coin. Holding it up before Kaitlyn and Elle, he asked, “Have either of you seen a coin like this before?” He rotated it so they could see the figure portrayed on one side and the symbol engraved on the back.

Kaitlyn looked at it then shook her head no. Elle did the same. “Why? Should we have?” Kaitlyn asked.

The man returned the coin to his pouch. “A few months ago, your sons sold a quantity of such coins to a man who fences stolen items,” he explained.

Elle’s eyes widened. She remembered the gold coins Chad had given them after the debacle with the grinding wheels. She glanced to Kaitlyn and saw that she, too, remembered the time just before they disappeared for a month.

“They said they had found gems while camping in the mountains,” Elle said.

“Are they in some kind of trouble?” asked Kaitlyn.

“Not at the moment, no,” he replied. “But if word of what they did reached the wrong people, they could be.” He could see the fear for their sons growing in their eyes. Inwardly, he smiled.

He let what he said sink in for a few seconds before adding, “There are some who believe they stole the coins.”

“My Riyan is no thief!” Kaitlyn said, a bit more forcefully than she had intended.

“Neither is Chad,” asserted Elle.

“But why else would they sell the coins to someone who is known for dealing in stolen merchandise?” he asked. “If they had found them legitimately, say buried somewhere, then why wouldn’t they have sold them to a dealer in rarities. They would surely have fetched more gold that way. Such questions cast serious doubt upon their actions.”

“I don’t know what…” Elle began defensively with a touch of anger before Kaitlyn stopped her with a look.

Kaitlyn turned to the man and asked, “Why are you here?”

“When word reached me about this situation,” he explained, “I immediately realized the serious repercussions that could fall upon your two boys.” The man paused a moment, he could see the worry and fear they felt for their sons in their eyes. “Either they stole the coins as some would believe, or they found them. If they found the coins, then by law, they must turn over twenty percent to Duke Alric. Which from the way things look, they didn’t.”

Elle’s eyes got a frightened look when she realized her son may have broken the Duke’s law. “What is going to happen?” she asked. Unconsciously, she moved closer to Kaitlyn who laid a hand on her arm.

Daniel shrugged. “That would depend on whether or not your sons can get the Duke’s twenty percent to him before he finds out what’s happened,” he replied. “And from the way the rumor is circulating, that won’t be too far off.”

“Oh my,” Elle said.

“What will the Duke do to them?” Kaitlyn asked. Her hand began shaking with fear for her son.

“They’ll stand before his court and will face a charge of thievery,” he explained. “If found guilty, they’ll lose their right hands.”

“No!” cried out Elle as tears formed in her eyes.

Kaitlyn patted her friend on the arm again. “It hasn’t come to that,” she said reassuringly in a voice tight with her own emotions.

Daniel nodded. “That’s right,” he said. “I have friends in the Duke’s court and could facilitate their paying of what they owe the Duke.”

“You would do that?” asked Elle.

“That’s why I’m here,” he said with a smile. “I’m sure your boys have no idea there was such a law, else they wouldn’t be in the trouble they are now.”

“Riyan would have done what was right if he had known,” asserted Kaitlyn.

“Chad too,” agreed Elle.

“I’ll be in town for awhile,” he said as he rose from his chair. “If they should return to Quillim, have them come to me immediately. The sooner we get this rectified, the better.”

“Thank you,” Kaitlyn said. Realizing Daniel was ending the meeting, she helped Elle to her feet. Her friend leaned heavily upon her as they turned and headed for the door.

“Just one more thing,” he said.

Pausing, they turned back toward him. “Yes?” asked Kaitlyn.

“It might be best to keep all this quiet for now,” he said. “The fewer who know about what’s going on, the easier it will be to get this reconciled without incident.”

Kaitlyn nodded, she could see the wisdom in that. “We will,” she assured him. Then turning back for the door, they left the inn.

Elle began sobbing in earnest as they passed from
The Sterling Sheep
and into the street. “There, there,” Kaitlyn said to her friend. “We have to be strong for our boys.”

As they started down the street back to Elle’s home, Kaitlyn saw Rupert emerge from around the corner across the street. Her breath caught when she saw him. What if Rupert found out? She was sure he would inform the Duke on Riyan since he was the only thing preventing his marriage to Freya from moving along.

She felt Elle’s grip tighten on her arm as she too saw Rupert emerge. Moving along quickly they were soon back at the Kelon home and sent Eryl on his way. There they talked for hours about their sons and what the future may hold in store for them.

As night deepened over the small town of Quillim, a second stranger rode through the quiet, snow covered streets. He made his way to
The Sterling Sheep
where he dismounted and secured the reins to the rail outside. Glancing around at the deserted streets, he made his way to the door.

Inside, he paused in the shadows before the common room and scanned the tables. When he didn’t find who he was looking for, he made an inquiry of one of the workers and was soon heading to the rooms on the second floor.

Knock! Knock!

Two firm raps on the door to room eleven, and two seconds later, the door opened a crack. “Yes?” a voice asked from within.

“It’s me,” the stranger replied. The door opened wider and he entered the room.

“About time you got here,” Daniel said.

Disregarding the comment, the stranger asked, “Well?”

“It’s done,” Daniel replied with a grin. Then as the other man entered the room, he closed the door.

Darkness had fallen on their second day out of Hunter’s Reach. Progress was slower than any of them had anticipated. In fact, they had been told the crossroads were only a half day from the inn where they spent the night before, yet it had failed to materialize thus far. Now they were caught outside in a night that was quickly losing what little warmth the sun had given earlier that day.

“C…can’t be much f…further,” Chad was saying for the tenth time. Ever since the sun had gone down, he had been making some comment or other to that effect. Glancing to the stars above, he saw a sky all but devoid of cloud cover. If it wasn’t for the fact that his teeth were chattering so badly, he would have enjoyed its beauty.

“Cold?” asked Bart. In the moonlight he turned his head back toward Chad and grinned. He saw the shadowy bob of Chad’s head as he silently agreed. He was cold too, but unlike the others, Chad was bemoaning the situation.

His father had always told him that there came times when you were put into an unpleasant situation that you couldn’t escape. Either you pushed on and made it through, or you whined and made the situation worse. Chad, he discovered, could be a whiner at times. Though it mainly manifested when he was cold.

Turning his attention back to the road, Bart saw an all but imperceptible glow coming from up ahead. “I think we may have arrived,” he announced to the others. Bart couldn’t help but chuckle to himself when he heard Chad give out with a sigh of relief.

Chad’s relief was short lived for they soon came to realize that the glow ahead of them was coming from a man carrying a lantern. If Bart hadn’t been cold himself, he would have laughed at Chad’s discomfort. Truth to tell, he had been just as hopeful as Chad that they had reached the inn.

As they continued riding closer, they saw that the man was moving across their path toward the right. Bundled in warm clothes as he was, it was hard to tell anything about him other than he was about six feet tall.

The man had moved a ways off the road before he became aware of their approach. Stopping, he raised his lantern high as he turned to stare in their direction. “Burdy?” he asked.

“No sir,” Bart replied as he came to a stop on the road near where the man had crossed.

“Damn!” the man exclaimed angrily. “Did anyone pass you going north?”

The others came to a stop behind Bart as he replied, “Haven’t seen anyone else all day.”

“How far is the crossroads?” Chad asked.

The man glanced in his direction, glared, then pointed down the road. “Not too much further,” he said.

“Thank you,” Bart said.

The man nodded and watched as they rode off.

When they had put some distance between themselves and the man, Riyan came abreast of Bart and asked, “Why didn’t we offer to help him?”

“He could have asked for help had he desired it,” he replied. “Besides, what help could we give, if any was in fact needed? We don’t know the area.”

Riyan glanced back to the where the glow of the man’s lantern continued to move off to their right. “Hope he’ll be alright,” he said.

“If he’s a local,” offered Soth, “I’m sure he knows the area well enough.”

“If not,” added Seth, “he’s a fool to go off by himself in the dark.” And from his tone of voice, he had little sympathy with fools.