Dragon Clan #4: Gray's Story

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The ship at the pier appeared as pretty as a drawing on colored paper by a talented artist, as Gray and Anna crept closer to the buildings of the town and peered through the underbrush. It had not anchored, which had been a fear of Gray’s. If anchored, he would have to find a way to steal a small boat and row.

It was tied up to one of the piers. Unfortunately, it was at the one closest to the town and all the activity, such as it was. A boom on the ship lowered crates loaded onto the dock, and listless men loaded them onto wagons that carried them away. A few crates waited on the pier to be loaded onto the ship.

There were few people on the street, as usual for the town. The sailors wore baggy uniforms made of coarse blue material, but even if they dressed the same as townsmen, they would be recognizable because they moved about in their duties quickly, often shouting orders or directing to others. Their arms waved, fingers pointed, and they ran as much as they walked. The difference between them and those from Shrewsbury was striking, even from a distance.

One man on the ship roamed the deck, observing all, hands clasped behind his back. No, more than roamed, he stalked the deck searching for problems. The Captain paused occasionally and offered a word, or shouted an order, but most of the time his well-trained crew knew their jobs.

Another, at the foot of the gangway, held a stack of papers in his hand. He directed the unloading while consulting them. He was directly in charge, and any comments made by the Captain drew his attention as if the comments were criticisms of his work. He was the bos’n.

The afternoon was late. Gray and Anna remained hidden in the trees at the edge of town. They quietly planned the best route to cross the street undetected, and race to the pier. The shipping agent they had purchased passage from walked out onto the dock. He shook hands with the man in charge of the dock. They passed a few words, papers exchanged hands, and he walked up the gangway to meet with the Captain.

The two of them spoke for some time as if they were old friends, or, at least, business acquaintances on good terms.

Anna said, “The ship will have a guard on watch tonight.”

“At least one. And the town may also have one or two. The constables might be watching for us. But on the bright side, I’ll bet our booking agent just told both the bos’n and captain to expect two passengers for the coming trip.”

“Good. Then they’ll know of us when we sneak aboard.”

Gray said, “Let’s move where we can see more of the street.”

He slipped back into the forest and made a wide circle, Anna at his heels. When they reached another place to watch the street, this time behind their apartment, the view of the pier was not as good. Gray crept closer to the building as he peered between it and the one next to it. The alleyway provided a good view of the street, and of the small bookstore.

“Looking for your girlfriend?” Anna asked, not bothering to conceal the smirk.

I should deny it. Instead, he simply said, “Yes.”

An unknown woman entered the store, remained for a short time and returned to the street. She carried one book, her motions slow and her eyes downcast as she walked by them no more than twenty paces away. Gray decided he could have done a fertility dance, and she would not have noticed.

Soon after, she walked past the door again. Kelby stepped outside, paused and looked in both directions. Gray, concealed by the two buildings on either side, stepped out of the shrubbery into the alley and waved, attracting her attention.

Kelby’s eyes finally found him. After a pause, she smiled. It was not the enthusiastic greeting of two days ago, but it was not the sleepy action of the townspeople either. It was somewhere between.

Gray waved her to come to the alley as he used the deepening shadows to move closer to her. He peeked around the corner, realizing how stupid and dangerous his actions were. A bench sat in front of one building, in plain sight of anyone on the street. He pointed to it.

She understood and angled her walk so she could sit, her head watching the street, not him. Her wits were not completely dulled. He said, “We have to get out of here.”

Her head nodded almost imperceptibly, as she sat and looked out over the bay.

“Tonight. Listen, do not drink any water or eat anything. The others are controlling the whole town by a drug, but we don’t know how they administer it. Stay outside as much as possible in case it is spread in the air. Say you are not feeling well and need air. Understand?”

Another nod.

“Where do you sleep?”

“In a room behind the bookstore.”

Her lips barely moved. Good. “Is there a back door?”

She shook her head minutely. “A window.”

“Slip out right after dark and hide in the bushes. Wait there. I’ll come get you.”

She stood, her head still facing away. Her voice came clear and loud. “Good afternoon, Constable.”

“How is your visit? Are you planning on staying on with us?” The constable’s voice was no more than a few steps away.

Gray kept his back to the wall and moved to the rear, but before reaching the safety of the corner the constable came into view. He froze. The constable was half-turned, looking at Kelby, but any movement by Gray would draw attention.

“It’s very peaceful here.”

“That it is. Have you seen those two newcomers today?”

“The man and the girl?”

Kelby’s voice had taken on the slow, soft patter of the other residents during the conversation. “Let me see. They did come into the bookstore yesterday. Earlier I may have seen them, but I’m not sure.”

“You don’t remember if you saw them?”

“I don’t think so. That was yesterday, I think.”

She’s letting him tell her what he wants to hear. The constable turned his head away, and Gray took two sliding steps further away before the constable turned back to her.

The constable said as if losing patience with her, “If you do see them, fetch me.”

“Are they in trouble?”

“We don’t want their kind in Shrewsbury. Don’t you worry about it, we think they have gone, but look out for them.”

Kelby stood up and walked across the street without answering. The constable watched her, and Gray used his inattention and turned head to get to the corner and slip around it. Then he darted into the brush at the edge of the trees.

“That was close,” Anna said, punching his shoulder.

“Kelby is drugged. Not as much as the others, but we have to rescue her.”

Anna punched his shoulder again, harder. “Your girlfriend is not part of our job.”

“Actually, she is. The only reason she’s here is because of you and me. She was sent, just like we were to help the Dragon Clan. We won’t let her become a victim of what’s happening here.”

Anna balled her fist again, ready to punch him a third time, then relaxed. “You’re right. We don’t have so many friends among normals that we can let them face danger. What did you say to her?”

“I told her not to eat or drink. Plead illness, if she had to. Then sneak out her window tonight and hide in the bushes and wait for us.”

Anna considered what he’d said. Then she half-smiled. “Quick thinking. We can get her on our way to the ship. We owe her at least that much.”

“This is maybe the best place to cross the street. Fewer people living in the buildings near here, and once we’re over there, we can use the beach as cover. Lots of old boats, sheds, and places to hide.”

“Then when we get to the pier, we’ll be closer to the ship. But we’ll have to get across an open field, then the pier itself,” Anna said. “If I was searching for us, and I knew we had paid for passage, I’d set a trap there at the foot of the pier.”

There’s no way past the men waiting there. “I may have an idea.”

“If it involves busting a few heads of constables, I like it,” she said.

Gray said, “We need to move to the back of the shipping office.”

“Why? If I may ask.”

“Because that clerk was helpful and does not like it here any better than us. I think he might help us. He has a daughter your age.” Gray led the way, reaching the spot he wanted on a building only two doors away. He watched the area, knowing the constable may be searching for him, and there may be more to help him.

Gray said, “Stay here.” He darted to the rear of the building and put his ear to the wall. Nothing. Then he heard footsteps inside. No voices. He went to the back door and tried the handle. Locked.

Taking a deep breath, he paused and considered all that could go wrong, then knocked, anyway. When nothing happened, he knocked again.

“Who is it,” a hushed voice asked.

“Gray. Your passenger on the Pearl.”

The door opened, and a hand reached out like a claw to grab his shirt. Gray found himself yanked inside as the door shut behind him.

“I shouldn’t be telling you this. But are you aware that they’re searching for you? They’re planning on preventing you from getting onto the ship.” The shipping agent pulled a curtain and blew out one of the two candles.

“I suspected that. Listen, I have an idea if I can get your help.”

“I won’t put my life in danger,” the clerk said, no give in his tone.

“Will you just go to the ship and borrow three of the uniforms the crew wears? That’s all I’ll ask. You can say I stole them from your office.”

“You’re thinking of walking right out in the open to the ship? That might actually work. I heard they’re going to hide under both sides of the pier because they expect you to sneak along the shore if you make a try for the ship. They’ll be waiting for you there.”

“Will you help?” Gray asked.

“You said three uniforms?”

“We’ll pay the extra passage. We’ll pay a premium price.”

The shipping clerk said, his voice becoming stern, “Who is the third person?”

“There is a friend who works at the bookstore. She needs to get home and away from this town.”

“Kelby? I met her when she arrived. She already has paid passage to Fleming. Nice girl. I’ll help her. And you.”

Gray felt a wash of relief. He took the hand of the agent and pumped it, holding back a desire to clasp him in a bear hug. “I can’t thank you enough.”

The clerk said, “Let me go talk to the Captain. I’m sure he’ll allow this. He does not like it here either. He won’t even allow his crew ashore, except on errands.”

“I’ll wait in the bushes out back. When you return just open the door, a little and I’ll get the uniforms.” Gray slipped out the rear door and ran into the shrubbery again.

Anna said, “How did it go?”

He filled her in, including the constables planning to guard both sides of the pier. Their earlier plan would have had them walking right into the trap. It was almost dark when the back door of the shipping office opened slightly. Gray met the clerk there.

“The Captain is expecting you if you try to get aboard yourselves, but he offers to help you further.”

Gray said, “How can he do that?”

“If I set a lantern in my front window, he’ll send eight or ten of his men onto the pier as if they have a job to do. They’ll wait there until you show up, and everyone will return to the ship in a group. He doubts they will even realize more return than went ashore.”

“If they do figure it out?”

“There are eight or ten of his sailors spoiling for a fight with the locals. I think those are his exact words.”

“That’s perfect. We have to go get Kelby and get dressed. Give us time to slip across the street and get set, then set out your lantern,” he reached for his coin purse.

“No, you just get yourselves away from this awful place. I’ll sleep better knowing, at least, three people escaped, and they did it with a little help from me.” The clerk stuck out his hand to shake.

The door closed as Gray went to where Anna waited at the edge of the forest. He outlined the plan as they changed clothing. Then they went to the side of the building. Nobody was in sight. Together they sprinted to the other side and waited for the alarm to be raised.

Anna jabbed him in the ribs. “We made it. Let’s find your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my. . . never mind.” He led the way behind the buildings and found the rear of the bookstore. He moved into the bushes and whispered her name, but received no answer.

“She should be here by now,” Anna said. “If she’s not, we can’t leave her.”

“What other choice do we have?” Gray looked at the extra uniform in his hand.

Anna leaned closer, “Follow me.”

She kept to the shadows and moved to the closest window of the bookstore. She moved her head slowly and peeked inside with one eye, then ducked back and shook her head before moving to the next. At the third window, she nodded quickly and pulled her knife from her leg. Anna stood on tiptoes and examined the finger lock on the window. She slipped the thin blade of the knife between the frame and worked it back and forth, then flashed a wicked grin.

She lifted the window with a slight protesting screech and climbed in, almost in one move. Gray peeked inside. Kelby was on a mat, sleeping. Anna knelt beside her, trying to wake her. When she didn’t, Anna shook harder.

Kelby managed to sit up, but her eyes were listless and dull. Anna hissed at Gray, “Get in here. Help me.”

Gray climbed in, not nearly as gracefully as Anna. As he did, he noticed a lantern appear in the front window of the shipping office.

Anna whispered, “Let’s get that uniform on her.”

Together they dressed her in the dark, Gray trying to not look at Kelby as he tugged and pulled the uniform over an almost unconscious young woman wearing little. They lifted her to her feet and managed to half-walk, half-carry her to the window. They rested her on the window sill, intending for Anna to climb outside and help pull her. However, her weight shifted, and her head and upper body went out the window.

The rest of her followed. She sprawled on the ground in shadow, then curled into a ball, one arm still flung out as if to stop herself. Gray climbed out and leaned close. “Kelby, can you walk?”

“Sleep,” she mumbled.

Anna said, “Get her standing and we’ll each carry one side.”

Gray glanced at the lantern still burning and bent the help her stand. The sailors the Captain sent onto the dock couldn’t remain there indefinitely. They moved her a few steps at a time, more carrying her than walking. From in front of them there came a commotion of men shouting and angry yelling. Rounding the end of a warehouse the pier was directly ahead. So were the sailors.

So were three constables, or, at least, the one they knew by sight and two of his friends who were not drugged. The constables were ordering the sailors back to the ship, shouting and pointing. The sailors refused.

“Let me help.” A sailor who had been hiding under a tree near the end of the pier replaced Anna as he carried Kelby. He said, “While they’re all together on the other side of the pier, we’ll walk up this side. Don’t look at them. Just walk as if we’re doing what the constables want us to.”

“What if they stop us?”

“My shipmates will see us. If we’re spotted, they’ll probably start a fight with them. Or with each other.”

The pier was, at least, fifty paces wide, the Pearl’s gangway a hundred away. As they started walking, Gray noticed a stir as a few of the men spotted them. One sailor leaped to the nearest constable and raised his fists. All eyes turned to him. He waved his fists and danced around in front of the constable, but never threw a punch. He shouted insults and threatened to fight all three constables at the same time.

Another sailor wrapped his arms around the boxer. Two others joined him in restraining the potential boxer, all of them shouting and yelling at the same time. By the time the confrontation settled down, the four had slipped beyond and were at the foot of the gangway. As they started up to the ship, the fighting sailors on the pier agreed with the constables to return to their ship peacefully.

Men were waiting on the deck of the ship to help them to a cabin. The Captain watched silently from a deck a level above, but gave Gray a wink as they passed by. They were escorted to a cabin, a tiny interior room with two bunks, one built over the other, each large enough for one small person.

Gray and Anna had left everything they owned in the forest behind the shipping agents building. Their food, water jars, bows, and blankets were all sacrificed to board the ship. Kelby brought nothing with her and was placed in the lower bunk where she promptly fell into a deep sleep. Gray pointed to the top bunk for Anna. She climbed in but handed him the blanket.

A knock came from the door. Gray opened it.

“Sir, compliments of the Captain.” He held out a handful of blankets, and a thinly rolled mattress carried under his arm.

“Please thank him for me.”

“The Pearl is a good ship, sir.”

The door closed. Gray spread the thin mattress on the floor and pinched out the single candle burning in a wall-mounted holder. There was no porthole. The sounds of the ship’s rigging clanging and timbers creaking sounded almost soothing until raised voices spilled into the night. Another knock came at the door. The same young sailor who had escorted them to the cabin stood outside.

He said, “Excuse me, but the Captain sends his regards. There are three officials from Shrewsbury demanding to board and search the ship. You are asked to remain in your cabin and do not come out under any circumstances.”

“They’re going to search?” Anna asked, sitting up in the bunk, looking ready to fight or flee.

“Not while a single crewman on this ship is alive. Land-crabs don’t tell our Captain what to do.”

Gray said, “It sounds like quite an argument going on. Do we need to be worried?”

“If they see you it might be different.” He pulled the door closed.

Gray looked at Anna. “I suggest we trust him. How’s Kelby?”

Anna said, “Too dark to see, but from her breathing, I think she’s fine.”

“Whatever affects the people in town took her suddenly. I told her not to eat or drink the water.”

“Maybe she had already eaten,” Anna said, her voice sounding odd in the dark as it bounced off the hard, bare walls.

Gray settled down and tried to make out individual words from the shouting on deck, but although he could understand one here and there, only the angry tone was definitive. He fell asleep listening to the sounds of the ship and the staccato of angry shouts.