Off Center (The Lament) (3 page)

Paul
nodded, his unshaved face showing just enough silver to give him character. He had
lines around his eyes, but wasn't old yet. Not even forty, she didn't think.

"Well,
they should have mentioned that part to you, but I'm sure the help was appreciated.
Are they going to need the wagon to get back into the village?" There was a
hard look to him, as if he were contemplating violence if anyone said the wrong
thing, but Apprentice Roy got down and patted the gray horse, petting its nose a
bit.

"I
think so. These two could use a bit more work. Pran and I can take them back, I
think. It's safe enough, now." He sounded confident, but the man she'd gut
shot nodded, holding his weathered hand over the wound still, even though the Doctor
had given him a very nice bandage.

"We'd
appreciate that, if'n it ain't too much trouble for you. Young lady there stung
me and Rory pretty good. If'n that be allowed, I mean. Don't want to take government
resources just fer us." The man was laying the "country hick" act
on a bit thick, Pran thought, and wasn't doing it all that well, but it did get
Paul to relax.

Clark
stared at the men that had been waiting for them, and spoke with a tone that was
almost pleasant. He was clearly a better actor than these others, if nothing else,
which wasn't a thing that Pran would have really suspected at all.

"Thank
you for your time, gentlemen. In the future, please make sure to communicate with
us before helping. It will save weeks of discomfort."

The
other men, no matter who they really were, seemed to understand enough not to run
their mouths at this moment, at least, and the youngest one smiled at her and blushed,
then turned to leave with the others. It wasn't that far of a walk, and, as she'd
learned over the last bit of time, the air-rifles like she and Paul had just weren't
that dangerous. It had been enough to get the men to stop, which was the real point.
She'd have felt bad if they'd really been hurt.

As
it was she still felt kind of crummy as the older man limped away, clutching his
middle. Doctor Millis called her over from the back of the wagon, then waved at
Roy.

"If
you two could help me move Mr. Butcher into the Lament? It would be a great aid
to me." He smiled, looking like an old, but gentle man from a play, and fussed
with his string tie. Normally that was a ribbon, but he'd changed it today for some
reason. This looked more manly, she realized. Still nice, but not
fancy
,
which fit the situation a bit better.

"Yeah."
Roy used a ground tie, which was just a weight with a rope, to hold the two horses
in place for the moment, and then clambered up into the back of the wooden wagon
like a monkey. He had big ears and a face that fit that image too well, but was
young and fit at the same time.

Pran
had seen him without a shirt on several times, and it wasn't a horrible view at
all. Thinking that, and not letting it show on her face, she moved to help Will
shuffle to the edge, wondering the whole time if he was really the kind of man that
would touch little girls, like the towns people thought.

Worse,
what if he wasn't?

If
that was the case, then there was going to be a lot of hard feelings over this,
weren't there?

Judge
Claire didn't even bother trying to read the injured man, "there isn't much
point to it, given that he's not going to be able to show the signs of either truth
or lie for a while. The shadow in front of my eyes wouldn't help either, but I might
be able to manage it, if I tried. Given everything, I can't recommend it. Perhaps
in a few days?" She looked at the poor man, an expression of empathy on her
rather stately light skinned features. Her blonde hair was put back with a green
ribbon tying it loosely in place, and she was wearing all white. That was the uniform,
Pran knew, but this wasn't a real robe of office. It seemed more like a heavy outdoor
dress. "He needs to be sedated, doesn't he doctor? That would be enough to
skew things anyway."

The
old man winked at her and smiled, his wrinkled face not exactly happy, but kind
enough.

"I
already have him on poppy tincture. A fairly strong blend too. They weren't planning
on keeping him alive much longer, I don't think." There was no comment about
why that was, but he sighed and shook his head, standing back then.

Judge
Claire nodded in agreement.

"That
does seem to be the case. We need to ensure that no further harm comes to him. Will
keeping him on the ship be enough?" This was directed at Clark, but it was
Mara, who was by the door of the sick room, who answered, her voice nearly cheery
sounding.

"Most
likely. I hate to lose the travel time, but justice demands to be served. Can you
head into town tomorrow? It sounds like there are a few others that might benefit
from your services there. I hate these little backwaters sometimes. They're so far
from everything that they think the law is more of a suggestion than a rule. Speaking
of that, any signs of cult activity?" She was clearly asking Clark, who shook
his head.

Not
that they had to worry about the man in front of them on the cot waking up.

"No.
Nothing at all. They're a bit run down here, but otherwise seem a wealthy enough
community. The people aren't fat, but they have enough on them to help through winter.
This is going to tear at them for a while, no matter what. If we have to ship off
ten percent of their men, that isn't going to help, not with the cold weather coming."

At
first Pran thought he might actually be engaging in idle speculation, talking about
things that weren't their business, but Mara started nodding over by her place at
the entrance.

"Pran
and I will go and check their food and energy stores in the morning. I can manage
that, I think. We should let them know we're coming so they can hide the extra.
Unless they ticked you off too much for that?" This got directed at
her
,
but Pran didn't understand why that would be the case at all. Why would she be angry
at them? For making her shoot a couple of men? It wasn't like that was a new thing
for her.

Clark
waved at her.

"A
good point. You and Roy are headed back into town anyway. Do a full walking guard
the whole way, since it isn't far. If it comes down to it, try to get Roy back safely,
even if it means leaving the wagon. Find whoever passes as a headman or woman here
and set that inventory up for us? Call it... What do you think Mara? Just after
daybreak?" Clark looked at the woman with her short dark hair and pretty smile,
waiting for a real answer.

When
it came, the woman actually seemed to be thinking about something.

"I...
Yes, that will work. I need to do some laundry first, if I'm actually getting back
to work. I've been putting it off." Which made sense, given that the lady hated
to do it and they'd been moving in fairly short hops the last few days.

Plus,
Pran, her favorite clothes washer, being that she was the only one that would do
it for free on the ship, had been mainly asleep or actually on duty, covering the
things that Mara herself was missing. Doing wash on the ground meant going outside
for it, or they'd end up sitting in a puddle of water, which had to be bad for the
airship. Doing it in the
cold
was going to be less than fun. Especially if
it started raining.

Sighing,
Pran wrinkled her nose, trying to make it cute seeming, rather than annoyed by the
inconvenience.

"I'll
do
two
outfits for you. But don't blame me if they won't dry right. Get them
out and I'll try to get it done after Roy and I get back." She smiled though
and shook her left fist playfully. The left hand, because that signified deviousness,
in plays and shows.

It
was a thing that Mara got, faking an overdone wince. After all, she'd seen plays
most of her life, just like most people.

"I'm
in for it now, aren't I? My lazy ways are finally catching up to me. Well, let's
just hope I learn my lesson then. Otherwise who knows what will happen?"

It
was strange, but the others, except the unconscious Will, all nodded. Then, one
by one they tried to get her to wash things for them too, but she put her foot down.
Sort of. She really wanted them to rely on her after all.

"Not
until we're in the air. This is a special onetime thing, for Mara. The rest of you
can just wait a bit." She nearly relented, and said she'd do an outfit for
each of them too, if they needed it, but Clark cleared his throat.

Loudly.

"That
seems more than reasonable, Bard Pran. We're taking a lot of your time as it is.
We should check your schedule with Bard Benjamin."

That
was kind of a temporary thing. Pran was technically being sent off to Bard Clarice
for training, but as a fellow Bard, and being a whole three years older than she
was, the man was sort of being put in charge of her. It had been real, for about
two days, until things changed.

Life
was change though. Sometimes good. Mainly bad. You dealt with it and took advantage
of every opportunity you got. At least you did if you wanted to survive, which she
still did.

"He's
on Bard time, so I have a few hours. I do need to set up some songs however. That
and get access to a wood working shop, so I can make some new instruments. Bard
Gina will want hers back." That was a bit embarrassing, since Pran had damaged
the case on her lute, throwing it in the mud to stop some would be killers.

Everyone
knew about that, so she just shrugged. No need pointing out how criminally stupid
that would seem to any Bard in the world.

Roy
called from the hallway, since he'd actually gotten himself out of the way, like
a good low ranked person should have, after they managed to get the prisoner tucked
into the cot. In a lot of ways he was a good role model, Pran decided. She needed
to study him a bit more, to see if he had traits she needed to copy like that.

"Hey,
if you can get some materials in town, you can use the wood section on ship, I bet.
The Captain will have to sign off on it, but she actually likes you, for some reason."
He smiled though, and no one said it was a bad idea. Now all she had to do was magic
up some wood, cat-gut and glue.

Well,
really she'd have loved to have wire strings, but she didn't think the tiny village
of Pumpkin Hollow would have anything like that. It would be amazing if they had
a blacksmith, but asking for them to also have a wiredrawing expert was probably
pushing things a bit. The problem was that she had a distinct lack of coin at the
moment. She didn't even have anything to trade, except some singing and playing.
That and a few new tales...

It
was her job, after all, and getting paid for it wasn't that much to ask. Or might
not be, if she explained herself clearly.

"Good
plan. I'll ask around first and see if it's possible to find anything before I bother
the Captain. I don't want her to get mad and 'forget' me at some port or another."
That wasn't a thing that she'd ever seen happen, but her whole ten days on an airship
didn't exactly make her an expert, and it had to be tempting, from time to time,
didn't it? People could be annoying.

For
some reason everyone laughed like she'd been telling a joke, so she smiled a bit,
claiming it.

Roy
waved at the people in the room, but didn't act all that deferential really. He
just called out softly, so that he wouldn't bother the still sleeping Bard one room
over.

"We
need to be about that then. I have to tend the engines as soon as I get back. Otherwise
Captain Mina might actually be dumping someone off at the next field. You people
don't want to make my mother cry in shame do you?" The image of the poor and
by then no doubt bedraggled Ship's Apprentice coming home, destitute and with hat
in hand poured into her mind then.

Not
that the young man helping with the Judge and Guardians' work would get him tossed
off. Normally that would have gone to the First Mate, but he was temporarily down.
That they were sending the Apprentice wasn't as a treat either, but a sign that
Captain Mina didn't know who she could really trust anymore. After the last days,
Pran couldn't blame her for that either.

Several
of her crew had turned out to be infiltrators from a technological movement, or
cult. It was hard to be sure which, but what were the odds that it was only the
one ship? No, this movement was no doubt huge. It wasn't a good thing.

Not
that Pran hated tech. She actually enjoyed working with lights and electricity,
since it was a bit like creating magic and part of a Bard's job. They had to get
permits for it, to make certain they weren't harming the world by making too much.
It was part of what Mara had been talking about, with the inventory, in fact. It
was when the town would be searched for things like that, normally. It wasn't house
to house, and people might have their own secret stash of things, but it was hard
to hide the really dangerous stuff. Large industries and whatnot.