A Snoop Without Magic, page 11
As Sam stepped to the ground, the first snowflake hit his forehead. He looked up at the lowering skies and realized what snow would do to his invisible steps.
“We have to hurry!”
Sam began making planks on the ground. They huddled together as Sam worked his way to the double-blazed pathway, and then they stepped off his planks.
“Something for them to remember me by,” he said as he laid potent stink charms on the planks. The snow wasn’t as heavy here, but whatever light there was, reflected the blazes well enough.
Sam continued to cover their path with a few mild explosives, smoke and stink wards, not enough to do damage to a person wearing boots. They eventually exited the path, missing the sentries. Pyron led them from here. Sam still covered their retreat, but now he used a pollen rake to blur their path with the falling snow. If the guards didn’t come this way in a few minutes, their footsteps would be covered.
They had just about reached the camp when Sam heard the dogs. He ran up to his friends and told them to hurry. Pyron ran ahead to warn the others there would be a hasty retreat.
Sam thought of something and asked Harrison if he would prepare a different welcome. The healer grinned. “Bold, if I may say so.”
“We are trying to keep the bloodshed down,” Sam said as he walked towards their pursuers. His magic reserves were getting low, but he managed to create scaled armor and sat in the snow to rest.
The barking became closer, and soon eight guards surrounded Sam, including the officer who had captured him at the desk.
“Why are you here and not on the run?” the officer said.
“I don’t want to cause any trouble,” Sam said, rising to his feet. He quickly put pollen blocks on the three dogs the guards used. “I have disabled your dogs and can do the same to you, but I have no wish to.”
“What kind of pollen-master are you?” the officer asked.
“I am, what is called in Polistia, a pollen magician. I can do things with pollen other people can’t.”
Sam didn’t smell any of his surprise on the men’s clothing. “There must have been a different route out of the forest. I left non-lethal gifts among the trees.”
“We numbered twice as many, but your ‘gifts’ put my men and other dogs out of action.” The officer looked at Sam. “You escaped your friends?”
“And you helped. I’d like to thank you for that. I have some men with me, and I’d rather not have bloodshed.” Sam made a pollen rod and put a ward on it and tossed it into the darkness. When it hit the ground an explosion lit up the air for a moment. “As you can see, my talents are robust. Can we talk for a moment?”
“I won’t leave my dogs here on a night like tonight,” one of the guards said to the officer. “We can barely lift them up.” He looked at Sam. “Can you remove the armor?”
“Let’s talk first,” Sam said. “I am a supporter of Harrison Dimple. I am not a supporter of the Court of Nobles. They have gone too far and will bring Toraltia to ruin if left to rule the country. Our king has passed the point of being a reliably rational person. Harrison Dimple is next in line, and despite his pledge otherwise, he has agreed to step into the ruler’s place rather than see Toraltia sink into a mire of petulant orders given by nobles who have no regard for the common people.”
“So you want us to rebel?”
“I didn’t ask for that,” Sam said. “I only ask that you don’t fight my men, who now should have surrounded us. You will be our prisoners for a little journey to the north of Apple City where we will rescue Faddon Bentwick’s men, and then you will be free to exercise your consciences.”
The officer laughed. “An elaborate bluff,” he said. “Seize him.”
Sam suddenly held two pollen rods in his hands. The snow collected on them, showing the guards that he held them. The men stepped back. “Please believe me.”
“You better believe him,” Harrison yelled from within the trees.
“We do surround you,” Ommie said from a different direction.
The officer dropped his weapon. “I believe we are outnumbered.”
“You are,” Sam said, tossing the ward, and after hearing the explosion, he said, “It wasn’t a bluff.”
~
Three of the guards refused to give Harrison their parole, but the officer and four other men had eventually pledged to the healer. Sam had removed the pollen from the dogs, but they growled at Emmy, so they went into the wagons with new blocks immobilizing them.
Sam sat away from the other men in the wagon with Emmy and the other dogs. He needed food and rest. He kept his armor on, hoping it would last until they freed the prisoners.
The officer, Ladd Distance, knew the facility well enough. “The Gruellians and the prison guards shouldn’t have too difficult a time with the place.”
“There are more than three hundred men loyal to you in that camp,” Ladd said. “Not enough to storm Baskin.”
“I’m not going to attack the city walls if I can help it,” Harrison said. “I prefer Sam’s approach.”
“Your prodigy can’t be everywhere at once.”
Harrison nodded. “He doesn’t need to be. Sam is an excellent snoop, and he can get certain things done that others can’t.”
Distance nodded. “We wouldn’t have caught you at all if it hadn’t snowed. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the ledge around the exercise yard and the steps on the outside of the wall. We brushed off the snow and were amazed someone could create invisible pollen. Still, you are only one person.”
“We all have our roles,” Harrison said. “Sam is part of my personal staff. I will use him where he can be the most effective.”
“Of course, sir,” Ladd Distance said. “What is your plan, though?”
“I have others working for me inside and outside of Toraltia. It is better than no one knows the entire plan. I will say, there is a place to accumulate troops. We will need men, as a show of force that we are serious, if nothing else. Sam is right, we want to minimize the bloodshed, but I am afraid we won’t avoid it. I’ve never attempted to go against my cousin before for that very reason, but there is more at stake than my discomfort.”
“I understand, sir,” Distance said. “None of us are comfortable with the new laws in Baskin, and they are spreading to the rest of the country.”
Harrison nodded. “The Court of Nobles think they know what the people want. They think they can pat you on the head and you will be obedient. What happens is that people lose their dignity when that happens.”
“It has always been that way, though,” Distance said.
“When the nobles played their games among themselves, it didn’t matter. What happened in Apple City, or Mount Vannon, or Cherryton,” Harrison gave Sam a quick smile, “was beneath their notice. That is what has changed.”
Distance nodded. “What do you want me to do?”
“Tell us how to get Chief Bentwick’s men out without starting a civil war,” Sam said.
Chapter Thirteen
~
T he ex-prison guards led the Gruellians through back lanes and little tracks east of Apple City until they arrived at a hill overlooking the old military fort that currently served as a detention center for disaffected Toraltian troops.
From a distance, the troops didn’t look like they were treated as well as Bentwick, Harrison, or the other prisoners at the Apple City prison. The barracks were wooden with paint peeling from the sides.
“At least they will know how to stay warm,” Bentwick said.
Sam still forgot that normal people could make pollen beds, blankets, and even coats to keep warm. He still couldn’t, but he didn’t feel disadvantaged, just a bit cold.
“Are you rested up?” Faddon Bentwick asked Sam. “We will go together on this one. I want the troops to know that you are one of us. They might not remember, and Harrison is too valuable to risk, although he asked.”
Sam nodded. He hadn’t been involved in the planning, but he had stayed in the wagon with Emmy and the pollen-bound dogs all the way from south of Apple City.
Winnie walked up to him. “Do you need me?”
“I’m not planning this one,” Sam said, smiling. He didn’t need to be the one to do everything. Lieutenant Distance was right. There was only so much of him to go around, and he had needed lots of rest.
Sam thought there would be little to gain by including Winnie in the escape attempt.
“Any wards to defeat?” Sam asked the lieutenant, who would be joining Faddon and Sam.
“Wards are for important prisoners. There is a fence and then the stockade.”
“It looks like it is wooden.”
“Indeed it is. The fence is there to discourage escapes. The stockade is manned at all times.”
Sam nodded. The three of them rode closer to the old fort. “What do you want me to do?”
Bentwick pursed his lips. “Do you still have enough strength to make a few wards?”
Sam had more strength than that. “I do.”
“Can you create a diversion? Lieutenant Distance and I will ride into the compound with the excuse to visit one of his men in particular. When they see Bentwick, they can make pollen weapons and overpower the guards.”
“How many guards?”
“About twenty,” Distance said, “on duty. That means there are about sixty men within the compound.”
Sam nodded.
“I will blow holes in the fence and the stockade,” Sam said, patting the crossbow tied to his saddle. “The men will be able to escape in any direction.”
Distance’s eyebrows rose. “You can do that?”
“I can do steps, but I think it is beginning to snow,” Sam looked up at the crystal clear sky and laughed. “The holes will be at ground level.”
“Very well,” Bentwick said. “Wait until we are through the gates.”
Sam rode into the woods to the left of the gate and waited at the tree line, in easy sight of Bentwick and Distance. He had waited to the last minute to put on armor and watched the two men being escorted into the fort.
Sam looked at his pocket watch for ten minutes. Neither Distance nor Bentwick rode out, so it was time to go into action.
He created a pollen bolt and put an explosive ward on it and started his circle of the fort. The fences didn’t require much in the way of a ward, but Sam wanted to use only one on the stockade holes.
He shot the first bolt, shattering a section of the stockade, and then did the same to the fence. His wards were almost too powerful, so he toned them down a little as he continued round the fort. He heard shouts. More torches appeared at the tops of the walls, giving Sam the ability to make a hole where he hoped there weren’t any guards.
By the time he had made a complete circuit, the detention center was in total disarray. Flames began to lick up past the stockade. Prisoners began to emerge from the holes, and Sam finally spotted Bentwick followed by Distance running from the fort. Sam headed toward them.
Distance had his sword in his hand. He nearly caught up to Bentwick and raised it to cut the Chief Constable down, but Sam sent a warded bolt at the Lieutenant before he had a chance to kill his friend. The explosion sent Bentwick sprawling into a pile of snow.
“What did you do?” Bentwick said. “We were escaping!”
“And Distance was about to strike you down, Chief,” Sam said.
“He was?”
Sam nodded. “Didn’t he act strangely in the fort?”
Bentwick nodded. “I thought he was nervous. In the midst of the explosions, he blurted out that I was a prisoner. I thought--”
“He was exposing you.”
“My men are still in there,” Bentwick said.
“Then gather who you can to safety, and I will free them.”
“Barracks Two. The guards put pollen chains through the handles of the doors.”
Sam grimaced. He wondered if Distance was the one to plan this debacle. Men scurried past him, chased by a dwindling number of guards. Enough pollen swords could defeat steel.
Barracks Two hadn’t yet caught fire. Sam couldn’t see any other building with pollen-restrained handles. He dismounted and ran to the first door.
“Get back! I’m going toward the door.”
He didn’t have a chance to see if his warning was heeded. He stepped back and let a bolt blow open the doors. Men immediately spilled out.
“Head east!” Sam said. He ducked his head and rode his horse into the barracks, continuing to get men out of the building. The far end had just caught fire. His wards hadn’t caused that. The guards must have set fire to kill the prisoners before they escaped.
A cluster of guards began to assemble at the entrance of the barracks now that the men had gone. An arrow pierced Sam’s armor, hitting his shoulder. He couldn’t go out that way, but he was underestimated again. He blew a hole in the side of the barracks. The fort seemed to be empty of prisoners, but Sam couldn’t fight off any remaining guards injured as he was, so he rode away through one of his holes and into the night.
Sam couldn’t pull the arrow out by himself. His reserves were lower than he thought they should be. He had hoped he would run into some escaping prisoners, but Sam didn’t meet a soul. He began to sway in the saddle, unable to hold himself up, and then fell into a snowbank.
There wasn’t anyone about to help him. His horse shied as Sam screamed in pain as he tried to pull himself up with the reins, then the animal bolted into the darkness. None of the prisoners appeared to have headed this way. Sam collapsed back into the snow, nearly out of strength and in a great deal of pain. The last thing he remembered doing was making a mattress, rolling over onto it, and then making a thick pollen blanket before his vision blurred.
~
Sam woke to smells of a fried breakfast. He was covered in gooey pollen that had already begun to break down.
“You are a mess, young man,” an old woman said.
Sam looked around his surroundings. He was in an extraordinarily tidy cottage.
“How did you get me here?”
“My son found you just about gone not more than fifty paces from here early this morning when he went to check on me, as he does every morning on his way to milk his cows. His farm is on the other side of this property. I like my privacy, but I make exceptions for the half-dead. You don’t look as bad as I thought you would.”
“I am a fast healer,” Sam said. “Is that food I smell?”
“It is,” the old lady smiled. “My son raises prize hogs, as well. I raise the chickens and provide the eggs for the family. You will get a taste of our labors this morning.”
Sam looked at his crossbow, standing on its nose by the fireplace.
“You wouldn’t be one of those that let all those prisoners out last night?”
“I am,” Sam said, propping himself up on an elbow.
“How did that pollen get all invisible and gooey?”
“It is a special technique that I learned in Zogaz,” Sam said.
“That country on the bottom side of Polistia?”
Sam brightened. The woman knew more than he thought.
“At a place called Alloren.”
“Alloren,” the woman said, testing out the sound of it. “Can you make it to my table?”
“I’ll try. I have to take off my armor.”
“Is that what it was?” she said. “I was able to remove the stuff covering your wound. Are you a warrior?”
Sam smiled. “More of a snoop, actually. It didn’t help very much,” Sam said. He looked at his bandaged shoulder. “You removed the arrow?”
The woman shivered. “Not me. My son did before he left. I was ready, though. There is always a gush of blood when that happens.”
“You are a healer?” Sam asked.
“Was. I’m a granny now, and I like that much better. I used to be attached to the army as a nurse, but I did more healing than nursing in my time.”
“I was with a healer. You may have heard of him, Harrison Dimple.”
The woman’s eyes brightened. “Harrison! The reluctant healer. King’s cousin and all that, but it did him no good in his relative’s army. They treated him worse than a latrine digger, all at his cousin’s instructions. I worked with him a couple of times. I could see the difference when he finally got what healing was all about. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a body learn to heal as fast as he did.”
Sam nodded. “I went on a healing tour with him once in the northern mountains.”
The woman nodded. “He sort of disappeared after he left the army, and there was that unpleasantness with his cousin. He was just like every other noble I ever knew when I first met him. Angry and arrogant like they all are until he had to make peace with his situation. I hope he comes to realize the country needs him differently, now.”
“He was in the Apple City prison, the one on the south side.”
The woman nodded. “They would put him there.”
“I helped free him,” Sam said. He felt he could trust the woman.
“Don’t tell my son. He never did like Harrison Dimple. He doesn’t like any of the nobles. You aren’t noble, are you?”
Sam laughed. “My name is Sam Smith. No nobility here.” He peeled the gooey white pollen off his clothes and rolled it into little balls.
“This stuff burns tolerably well,” Sam said. “Can I toss a ball on your fire?”
She shrugged. “Neither my son or I could see the stuff, but we could feel it. Go ahead. Just don’t burn the place down.
Sam put a hand-sized glob onto the fire. The room brightened.
“Ooo, I like that,” the woman said. “People my age need a bit more light, Sam Smith. Can you come over here?”
The wound felt tight, but Sam was able to make his way over. His strength had not returned in any great amount. His energy had to have been at a low ebb.
“So where is Harrison Dimple now?” the woman said.
Sam grimaced. “I don’t know. I was with him last night, but I don’t know where you live in relation to the fort.
“Southwest. We are between Apple City and the commoners’ prison.”
