Off Center (The Lament) (22 page)

She
didn't wait, just walking into Will's house and searching out his box of coins first.
He had a bit more than he'd mentioned, but it wasn't exactly a hidden hoard. She
smiled anyway and pocketed them all, and then went out to find the meat wagon, which
was smaller than she figured it would be, only being about two meters long, and
about that wide. It was heavily built though, with a lot of heavy timbers and iron
banding on it for strength. The wheels were wider than she was used to seeing too,
by about three times, and had metal rims on them, over the wood. It was set up for
one horse, she saw, and she thought she could get an animal hooked up to it, if
she had to. Which would, she hoped, be a thing. Two horses would be best, so that
they could take turns pulling.

She'd
read a story with that in it once at least. Hopefully the writer had been working
from experience, or at least common sense and not just making up fanciful sounding
things. It made sense to her, but what did she know about it?

It
wasn't hard to find the place in the tiny village with horses, though finding the
man that ran it was more work. It was, she realized, the father of the boy with
the horrible mustache. Eric. He came out with his son and looked at her as if she
were there to pick his pocket, or to beg a free meal, rather than buy things from
him.

"What
do you want?" The older man had a full beard, as most of the men in the village
did, and was less tidy about it than some. It was long, but didn't hide that his
neck hadn't been trimmed at all, so that he looked unkempt. It was a nice reddish
brown with no particular silver in it. After a second she smiled, realizing that
she knew the man, and that he had a reason to be a little surly with her.

She'd
shot him after all. In the leg.

She
glanced at it obviously and then her rifle, which the man didn't miss at all. Then
Pran tried to make herself seem concerned and pleasant.

"I
came to check on you and make certain you were all right? Or, to be more honest,
I came to get a good deal on some strong ponies, and then find you later. I didn't
know you were the same man that came to help us deliver Will Butcher to captivity."

It
would have been more awkward if she wasn't armed, she realized. The man kept eyeing
the rifle and it left her feeling more secure. Like she was safe. He also noticed
the truncheon and grimaced a bit before speaking.

"I
don't have any ponies." It was clear he was making an effort to speak well,
and trying not to seem like a total fool at the same time. "I have six horses.
How many would you be interested in? What would you be needing them for?"

Pran
shrugged. This was going to be the hard part. She needed to be honest enough with
the man that he wouldn't feel fooled later, but do it in a way that he also wouldn't
simply refuse to sell to her. She shrugged.

"I
have control of all Will Butcher's things. If he's found innocent they're his, minus
my agenting fee. If he's guilty then I get to keep them. That's the agreement at
least. He wants a few horses to pull his wagon. It's heavy, but not too big. You
know the one?" People that were thinking tended not to just say no, especially
if she could make it seem like he'd gain from it.

The
man nodded.

"Aye,
that one. I have a few horses that have pulled it before. Not fine beasts, but enough
for him to get away from here. Normally they'd go for twenty each, but this is the
slow season. I'll lower to seventeen, if you take them both today, so I don't have
to feed them."

Pran
thought about the coins she had, which totaled about thirty in all. She smiled a
bit and shook her head.

"I
was born on
a
day, but it wasn't
yesterday
. How about this. I'll go
ten each, but you throw in a week's food for them both. You don't particularly want
Will Butcher here in town because he can't travel, do you?" She thought it
was a fine argument, but the horse seller snorted at her, even if she was armed
and he wasn't.

"The
man ain't walking from this. Hadis may be only a child, but she ain't one to tell
false tales and even if she were, no one would believe them, if'n Mildred weren't
saying she saw it with her own eyes. You just want a special deal, so that you win
out in the end, from other people's misery." That came with a hard look, and
Pran snorted back at him, actually feeling a bit upset.

No
one wanted to be called a vulture after all.

"No,
it's that I only have twenty-five coin, and have to buy some other things too, before
the day is done. Travel stuff. It's my job. See?" She emptied her pocket and
held her hand out, several of the coins were still safe and warm inside, but it
looked about right. "If you take it all here, then I won't have any coin at
all if I need it later. If I gain from this or not later remains to be seen, but
I contracted to do a job." She nearly shot the man, she realized, but managed
not to point the rifle at him.

Eric
cleared his throat.

"Um,
well, that seems fair. Do you have anything to trade, along with it? Preserved meat,
maybe? That wagon is too little to take it all anyway. I bet that if you offered
fifteen kilo's dried on top of ten each for the horses, Dad will be a lot more likely
to think it's fair."

She
made a face and so did "Dad". She shrugged though.

"I
have control of that, yes. But I don't know if there's that much put by. We didn't
inventory that the other day, since it's personal stores, not held in common for
the village."

That
meant they had to walk over to the small barn behind the Butcher's place, which
wasn't locked, but was filled with a lot more than thirty kilos of dried and salted
meat inside. There were barrels of things, as well as some that was covered in wax,
inside large ceramic pots. At a guess it was close to enough for everyone in town
for the entire winter. That plus the fresh things he no doubt would have had on
hand probably kept him in business all year long.

She
tilted her head.

"Fine,
if that's a deal? Ten coin, twelve kilos of preserved meat, for each horse, as long
as you give food for a week for each?"

The
older man looked indignant, but Eric smiled.

"Given
this, how about ten and twenty-five each, but we'll throw in that straw feed in
a tight small bale, so that it will fit in the wagon, and an old saddle? It's nearly
useless, but might have a few rides left in it. More if he, or you, can do some
repair work on it." He held out his hand, as if they were done, but she crossed
her arms firmly, and shook her head.

"No.
I don't know anything about saddles, and doubt a butcher would either. Ten and fifteen,
with the feed. I might be willing to trade for some other things, if you have them."
She held up her right hand. "Small things of value, so that they can be sold.
Food is good, especially sweets. But I'll listen to anything."

Then
she put her hand out and the older man moved in, pushing Eric out of the way. He
shook her hand, even if his words sounded negative.

"I
don't like the idea of Butcher gaining from this. I suppose I can put up with some
Bard getting the extra. We don't have much like that to trade. Some good Logan berry
jam, we might let go, in small pots and some candied fruit. We don't have a lot,
but Samtha does a good job with it. My wife."

They
traded for that right there, so that the men could carry some of the meat back with
them for it. It was heavy and she helped, and passed the coin over right away, even
without seeing the horses. The older man's eyes twinkled then.

"Ah,
you pay up front. Trusting. What If I bring out the old nags?" He eyed the
rifle, but she shrugged.

"Honestly?
You won't cheat me. It isn't worth it to you. Besides, I'm pretty sure we were bargaining
for the nags, weren't we? You said as much. You don't want Will Butcher to benefit,
if he walks. Not too much. I got what you meant."

"Good.
Well, I don't have any horses in that poor of condition anyway, so you're right,
I won't be cheating you. I do have some decently docile older mares. That serve
you well enough, you think?"

Like
she knew? It sounded about her speed, so she nodded, confidently.

"Lead
on. Eric, if you help me with them and with loading things into the wagon for a
couple of trips to the airfield and back, I'll pay in meat. There's some clearing
work to be done too, if anyone else wants to help? What seems fair for that? Brush
and such, so that we have an overnight shelter for them? In the trees, but..."
That took some explaining, but the boy seemed eager enough to help and was willing
to do it all for a kilo of preserved meat.

Pran
shrugged.

"Get
some helpers for us and I'll give each of them that, and you double, to act as the
boss." They shook on that too, and he blushed, as if it were a big deal. It
wasn't like it was her really paying him after all.

The
older fellow vanished, but came out with the horses, after Eric walked off. No one
here really hurried exactly. It was all a slow paced walk, with a lot of breaks
and talking, instead of working constantly. That the boy had scampered away meant
something. She realized it was probably that he thought she was pretty, she realized.

Since
she looked like a boy to these people, that also said something about Eric, didn't
it? Not that she cared that much. She wouldn't be around long enough for them to
become good friends that way, she didn't think. Still, she didn't know who she'd
meet again in life, so it wouldn't hurt to be friendly now. He hadn't suggested
they do anything alone even, so it seemed harmless enough. So far.

She
could also be wrong, and it might be that she was just overpaying them all by so
much that he was excited by the prospect. He came back with a crew of seven people,
most of them young, but Lyse was amongst them, smiling at her and looking vapidly
pretty. She was in a dress, but had a warm looking coat on. Eric introduced them
all, but she lost the names after a bit.

Generic
villagers, there to work for the day. Check.

"Ah,
trading first I think. Can you all help with that? Mainly carrying and such. No
more than will fit in the wagon." That had to be gotten before everyone had
a good idea and the "small, tight bale" still took up about a fifth of
the space in the back of the thing. Eric walked it over with a plain looking brown
horse pulling it along, the other tethered behind, just like she'd planned. It was
darker colored, but still brown. Most horses were, in her experience. Most paintings
of them were in white or black though, since those were more striking.

They
made the rounds then, with Lyse offering some of her hard cider in a hushed voice,
and Pran deciding that it was a good thing to get some of, if she could. They also
loaded up a lot of the dried meat, and then got dried fruit as well. It was actually
a lot more expensive to get the bedding she wanted and warm clothing, coming to
nearly what the horses and feed had cost, but everyone was willing to trade for
the meat, so she ended the day with some coin in her pocket. It wasn't hers, so
she sighed and trudged to the airship.

It
turned out, even if she hadn't seen them doing it, most of the people with her had
come out to see it, since it was different and important things were taking place.
Eric blushed when one of the younger girls mentioned it, but nodded along as she
described the grandeur of it all.

"I'd
like to fly on one, some day. Go up into the clouds and see the world lookin' all
tiny and small below me. That would be something, wouldn't it?"

They
all agreed, though in Pran's experience most of the time people just worked as they
flew. The only really good windows were up on the bridge after all. That was impressive,
but you didn't stand there day dreaming very often, did you? She smiled and suggested
they think about taking work doing that someday, then, if they got the chance. She
didn't promise anything, and they didn't either. Eric seemed almost a little sad
about it.

"We
all have things to do. Farms to tend, family businesses to run. We're kind of stuck
here."

It
was sad to hear, but also not true, really. They
could
leave, it just meant
letting go of what they already had. If they really wanted it, they could just be
gone, at any time. They just preferred safety to the unknown. She did too, come
to think of it. It wasn't what she had right now, but the idea of a nice and safe
future was very attractive.

She
had them help her unload half the things over the nearly overflowing wagon at the
ship, which had some of the hands out about the time they were leaving, to pack
it away in the hold, with Paul making a list of it all.

"Don't
worry, I'll sign it all into your name. This will just prevent confusion. This is
your portion?"

She
nodded.

"Unless
Will is found guilty, or says otherwise." It was the right response, it seemed
and the man called out, looking at what she had. "Set the apple jack in front
of the locked storeroom. If you want some of it for liberty, get with Pran and work
out a trade." He sounded pretty jovial about it all, but when everyone was
setting up to leave he leaned into her. "They'll have it all gone within the
week if we don't lock it up. Even threats of losing their work won't keep all of
them from drinking on duty. Not a bad little bit you're getting here for this. I
should have thought of it myself. Well, it's bound to happen again sometime. Things
do come up."