The muscle-torturing journey continues with unexpected happenings appearing often

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Disclaimer:

The original characters and plot of this story are the property of the author. No infringement of pre-existing copyright is intended.
This story is copyright © 2018 - 2020 Julia Phillips. All rights reserved.

It uses some of the associated characters and situations that arise from the world called ‘Anmar’ created by Penny Lane, whose stories
are also copyright © 2010 - 2020 Penny Lane. All rights reserved.

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I groaned as I dragged myself out of bed and headed off to the bathroom where we women had another warm bath that eased some our muscles – even though we knew that today’s activities would sorely try them once again. ’Twas dawn as I first dragged my feet across those floorboards.

The bathing woke me and eased me sufficiently to walk properly back to my bedroom, where I also managed to clothe myself properly for the day ahead. I descended the stairs and headed for a spot of breakfast.

And then I was surprised, for Master Ruckem had been sent for, and he had agreed to attend, so that the necessary contracts and so on could be signed.

An urchin, at a cost of a day’s wender ticket, had been sent to the ‘Iron Spear’ to explain that signing business contracts would delay me by half a bell. “Tell them to enjoy an extra breakfast to fill both the time and their bellies.” The urchin grinned at that and dashed off.

Surtree, who was even now this morning still showing some signs of distress, went with the two boys to do some Tai Chi somewhere. I deemed that that wretched Tranidoran noise had hit young Surtree badly. Shall I ever have time again for Tai Chi? I promised to send them notice when we were about to be finished.

Then I started my own breakfast, with frequent apologies to Master Ruckem for talking with my mouth full.

Sigh! More ‘heard and witnessed’s, more herein, herewith and hereto statements, not forgetting one or two instances of hereinafter. Pyor, Steef, Gyth and Waxerwet joined with Epp and Shemel in bravely keeping the boredom and confusion from the myriad of facts from showing on their faces.

Pyor also took some time off from all this witnessing to inform me that he had been in touch with a Master Baran down in Haligo – North Haligo he told me, which sat awkwardly with me for some reason – and he would be staying at some inn named the ‘Northern Gate’. This was, unconfusingly, situated in North Haligo; which I suppose was really rather considerate of it.

“’Tis a fine inn, that one. By no means the cheapest, but good space in both sleeping and public rooms. The food is most decent too,” affirmed Ruckem.

“Then I too shall stay there the night, and tell my contacts to find me there for breakfast!” Steef added in.

We did a few more bits and pieces of document-work and then Master Ruckem took his, as always, polite leave.

Finally, finally, finally we set out astride our animals once more, those early muscle aches being soon absorbed. I stopped quickly at the west station to send a few semaphores to various people, keeping them aware of our progress. Pyor and Steef did too and then the tiny little jobs that crop up too often in business life were done and we could go down the road to the Rangers’ sleeping place.

Maker! Tranidor was busier than at anytime I had ever seen it – so much so that, even though we arrived at the inn on time, we still only got out of the last parts of South Tranidor and into what we had assumed was going to be the peaceful countryside as the second bell sounded.

We had stared, absolutely astounded, at a great swathe of destruction that had been wrought along the very edge of the township, hard up against the valley wall. Several houses had been demolished and a broad road bed was being laid there. ’Twas only as we approached the end of the township that we saw why. There, there on that broad way, just outside the threshold of the town, were laid two parallel tracks of railroad rails, steel rails nailed to the half trunks that were themselves laid, well actually nestled strongly would be better to say, down into low but broad piles of rock chippings.

Surtree wanted to dismount and inspect things which gave us all a jolt as we realised his intense fascination with all things railroad. It was with a heavy heart that I refused him permission to do so.

“Surtree, today we must say hello to Haligo as we race through it and out the other side. ’Tis as far from here as going from Blackstone, past Brayview, and reaching the border of Her Highness’ lands. And we are already later in starting out than we had planned – my fault entirely, I acknowledge. But I regret, we must push on. Mayhap we shall have another chance to inspect more closely these rails. If we’re lucky, there may be some more near where we break for a short lunch.”

Pyor backed me up by saying at the same time: “Nay, lad. That we cannot do today, we must needs push on as quickly as we may. You can always have a closer look on the way back. And anyway, there are only two or so casts of them here. I deem that the length of rails shall be longer nearer Haligo.”

I winced at that, but the confusion of two people speaking at the same time may well have masked a simple fact hidden in there. I don’t know if I was the only one to be aware that Pyor would return some days before we would. Surtree, it seemed to me, had thankfully not yet realised that, so we moved on with a minimum of fuss.

I was however now worried about the lad. He hadn’t slept well and we could all tell that today something was bothering him. Gone was the cheekiness that made him such a delight to be with normally.

Despite the slight awakening of his interest whenever we found something to do with the railroads, he was still mostly withdrawn. And he got, it seemed to me and was confirmed in a whispered conversation with Waxerwet, worse during that second, hard day. Even when the noise levels had dropped down from the ones in Tranidor; which I mentioned before had been my first thought as to his problem. There was one incident, late in the day, when he was roused from his morose self, but other than that he was a grave cause for concern.

We women discussed it again and again as we went along, whenever Surtree had moved out of earshot to travel alongside his railroad hero, Pyor. But we were completely unable to form any conclusion as to what it was.

I must report that all of us in the party, Rangers and us alike, were, for most of that trip down the west bank on that day, continually assaulted by all sorts of things; things that were a continuing set of real eye-openers.

First of all, though, I must describe that that road we followed was not one of the great trade routes, so was not, I assumed, as well maintained as the road over the other side of the river; I admit I was forced to guess at the state of that road over there, but we could see a busy amount of traffic using it in both directions with few hindrances. I was basing my assumptions upon what I knew to be the state of the road between Brayview and the Tranidor East Bridge, which was, of course, my only known thing that I could use as a comparison.

Secondly, on our side of the valley, there was much bustle and building and scurrying going on generally. Wagons loaded with rails, with rock chippings, with ores as well as those with foodstuffs and clothing and tools and so on. And empty wagons travelling in both directions, having unloaded and now travelling to find their next loads.

We got to a piece where the ground was being cleared for the extension of what would be the railroad. There was a great pile of rock chippings some several casts further on, then a pile of halved and trimmed tree trunks, all cut to the same length, then a small pile of the steel rails. A worker opened a small metal storage shed, then turned back to a wagon and lifted out a large sort of bucket. We gawped with amazement as he poured an enormous quantity of sturdy nails into the storage shed.

Surtree was moved to observe: “Those must be the nails they are using to attach the steel rails to the tree trunks that keep them from sinking into the piles of rock chippings. And which serve to keep the rails tied to a constant width apart.”

Pyor grunted his approval and added: “Well done, lad. That is exactly right. You’re very observant, aren’t you?”

Pyor paused to think for a few seconds, heartbeats, then decided to give us all a little lecture, calling us to halt briefly as he pointed things out in a carrying voice: “I deem I see how they are doing this. Look ahead a couple of casts, the ground has been cleared. A few more casts ahead of that is the ‘normal’ ground with shrubs, bushes, trees and rocks. Nearer us the ground has been levelled, with run-off channels next to the roadway they have prepared. Then here next to us now, they have strewn the rock chippings and built it up to the same level as on the completed part just behind us.”

“Indeed Master, that is exactly as we do it,” interrupted a passing worker. “Are you involved with the coming railroads in any way, Master?”

“I am helping develop the splitting of rail tracks up at our test centre way up the valley in Blackstone. We have many things we are testing, including a number of different ways to set up the attachment of rails to the trees beneath them.”

“Blackstone you say? Have you met that Master Pyor up there? He has already invented one way of splitting rails that has been very useful to several of our colleagues downvalley. And the basics of another method has been finalised with his help apparently.”

We all looked at our spokesman and then turned away again, trying not to smile when he answered: “I have met him, indeed.” He tried then to change the subject. “What sort of length of track laying do you achieve in how long?”

We could see the man readjust his thinking to the question. “As you said Master, we have split the tasks into several phases. You mentioned four phases, but we actually have six, sometimes seven. We have them ongoing as we progress, just like you suggested. Each phase takes around a week on average. So for each cast or so, we have a total of about six or seven weeks. But in that time, the entry phases of the next stretch are being enacted, so ’tis almost impossible to say an accurate answer to your question. Also we have not so very many of the steel rails, for they are most difficult to make, apparently.

“We are just experimenting here at the moment, trying to get some good solid experience before the rains come. I dare say we shall be working far harder, once we can, when we start on the job properly. WE have started up here in Tranidor as you can see, and they have also similarly started down in Haligo. Some time next year we hope that both ends shall have grown sufficiently to meet somewhere around about opposite Holville. They are about to start the same thing over there on the other bank, by the way, sort of spreading out either way from Holville as the start point.”

“That is most interesting indeed, and there was some valuable information there, well delivered. Thank you for your time. Unfortunately we must press on, we have to be beyond Haligo this night.”

“Maker! That is a fair trek you have. You are most welcome, Master, Mistresses, Guardsmen. I wish you well. In one way ’tis a shame that you are parting, for in a bell or so, we will be bringing down a test load on our ‘hand-pump-wagon’. Which is a wagon bed with a railroad wheel at each corner, but which is powered up and down the rails by two men using a pump-type action on a great pair of handles. Someone over in Holville created it and it has been of great use to us as it travels up and down, using the rails. We even found one place where the rails gradually neared each other and we could then adjust the settings. That was quite ...”

“Yes, I see! Most clever of you. But I must again thank you and remind you that we are pressed for time, so therefore we must bid you farewell.”

We all of us turned and moved away, recognising that the man was one of those garrulous types and would keep us there talking for the whole day if we weren’t careful!

Even though we were, as Pyor had said, pressed for time, I couldn’t help but be mischievous, so I hung back just a little until there was only myself and Rakshak, who was to bring up the rear of our column, remaining. Then I called loudly enough for all concerned to hear: “Shall we have to go a little faster than we did earlier, Master Pyor?”

The worker spun round with his jaw dropping open. Pyor, fully aware of what I was doing, turned round and simply stuck his tongue out at me.

And he did indeed speed us up so Trumpa and I had to look sharp just to keep in touch. Rakshak and I shared a laugh as we hastened to catch up.

… … …

I could fill this chronicle with details of all the things we saw that were new or unusual to us – plants, bushes, shrubs, trees, crops as well as factory construction, barge details and new-to-me avians. And so on. My head was swivelling all around as we made our way ever southwards. We also looked across the valley and could see over there in the distance the busy trade route still with traffic in both directions. It wasn’t long before we women were looking at the much more salubrious roadhouses over there with a certain degree of longing.

I personally was interested in nearly everything. So I was sure I was missing much behind me as I scanned off in one direction.

However, I remembered Epp’s very strong suggestion to me, so I was also trying to scout out places where Meglina might have success in establishing an inn. Davvy and Gyth, with the occasional input from Waxerwet, were making suggestions too as we progressed. Steef also helped. Surtree, noticeably, stayed silent.

We continued as fast as we could given the generally crowded nature of the second class road we were on. Sometimes we pointed out this or that, sometimes we had a question for another and so the bells slowly passed.

At one point, later on in the journey, Steef was very excited by something that was happening on the water. I looked where he pointed but failed to see anything too much out of the ordinary.

“That barge there, the one going downstream – going with the water that means – see it, with the red stripe along the side?”

“Errrm, the one that is ever so, ever so, ever so slowly turning?”

“Indeed. It has broken loose from its controls. There could be a major accident soon.”

“How can you tell from this vantage?”

“There are no ripples running down the side of the barge, which means that it is moving at exactly the same speed as the water. And if it is doing that, then it cannot steer itself unless it can be rowed or sailed. It has no mast, so therefore must be rowed. I see no oars.”

“Why can it not steer itself if it is on the water?”

“Ah! That is because in order to steer any boat, it requires the water to be passing the vessel, no matter how slowly. It is the passing water that allows the steering to function. Let me think a moment for a good example to help you understand.”

He said that last because all our faces were looking very confused. We were again stopped on the road, an operation that was filled with difficulties for we all wanted to hear what was being said and yet we needed to keep the throughway clear. It took appreciable time for us to arrange ourselves. Time in which there was noticeable change on the breakaway barge.

“Look you now. This is what I would have done. They have launched a small boat which the crewman shall row away from the barge. You can go either way, but ’tis a lot easier to start by heading downstream, for that grants him a little more time to make things secure. Because he is rowing, he can get away from the barge quite quickly. He will have a light line with him. I look now further downstream and indeed I see a helping committee collecting.

“If he was alone, the rower’s task would be nigh-on impossible. He has to get the line ashore, then pull ashore a thicker line, then secure that line to something sufficiently tough to take the huge strain that is about to come onto it.

“Maker! That rower is a strong man, look at his speed. Oh! Well done, he has two lines with him. The strain of trying to hold the weight of the barge and suddenly stop it is such that often the line is broken – and, by the way, flailing lines are always dangerous, just to let you know of yet another potential hazard here – men have been killed in the past! If the line breaks, and then only if the men are still capable, then the process needs be repeated. This is why I am so very pleased to see the two lines. That tells me immediately that someone knows what they are doing over there.

“Once the lines get stretched, then, immediately, the barge shall become steerable – yes, I shall explain that later, when not so much is happening – so I hope the steersman is a good one. If he can use that brief moment, he could steer the barge over to the bank and any other crewmen can then scramble ashore and tie the vessel more securely. Let us watch what happens.”

We all sat still and silent, staring from the bank across the broad river. So much so that our actions attracted others to stop and look too. It was not long before the entire roadway by us was blocked, rendering our previous manoeuvring totally redundant..

Uncle Steef continued with his commentary, just a little louder for he noticed some of the others were straining to hear: “Ah! Now, THAT’s a good move! See? One of the helping committee has waded into the river whilst being held by a chain of men. He snatches one of the lines from the rower who himself then continues rowing still faster, so he can deal with the second line. That first line is being hauled now by the helpers, see how quickly the heavier line is already being pulled in. Meanwhile, the rower has reached his spot farther down and is tying up his skiff. He too is now hauling his thin line in to get the heavier line across.

“Oh no! Surely that would be a disaster, the strain that would com… oh wait! That too is a good move. Indeed, a clever move! The first line, look, has been transferred to a moored barge and at first I thought they would attach the line solidly to the barge, but they haven’t, they have simply wrapped it round a bollard with one loop of rope. When the strain from the runaway barge comes on the line, the line will not be held fast but shall slip and it shall slow the barge but not stop it. Less strain that way. If ’twere indeed held fast, then ’tis possible the bollard could be ripped out of the moored barge, maybe even taking the barge’s wall with it!

“The runaway barge is just about to come by them now, see them frantically shortening that first line. Get ready now. Here we go. Yes! It has worked! The barge has slowed now. The steersman can steer. Downstream a bit, the second line has now been tied tightly, that will be their backup line, ready just in case the first line parts. The first line, oh look, they loop the slack now around a second bollard and haul it all taut. And sure enough the two bollards have managed to take the strain without breaking up the barge they are attached to. Well done all. Well done, indeed!”

A smattering of applause broke out from our watching crowd which by now must have numbered close to thirty.

Then a shout much closer at hand made all eyes turn this way. After a swift all-round visual searching, it wasn’t difficult to focus upon Kabarad who was surprisingly holding a man at sword point. I gasped, for I only then saw that the man was holding one of our packs in his hand, a pack he had plainly cut off from one of our loads whilst we all were attending the other spectacle. Vakter then drew our looks as he rode down another man, knocking him over with his frayen’s shoulder. This one too was holding one of our packs. Pyor was quickest to jump off and help keep the would-be thief quiet.

I gasped yet again as a thought occurred, and quickly went to each of our loaded beasts, scaring a man who was observing matters from a point nearby. I rapidly counted the packs that were still attached to our seven carriers. I called loudly: “One more pack is missing. Three are gone.”

There was consternation from all around us for a moment or two. Then we heard a voice half a cast or so away shout: “I have one here. Is it yourn?”

Mompik was nearest and managed to immediately identify it as indeed being one of ours. It was being held by a third thief who was wriggling as he tried to break the grip of the powerfully built worker who had apprehended him. As soon as it had been confirmed, then two more workers grabbed the man as well. His struggles soon ceased.

And then came the awkward and highly embarrassing moments. And tough decisions.

The three were dragged before Mompik who shook his head and pointed to me. Despite their surprise, the crowd then parted so the three could be forced marched over to stand by my right foot, staring up at me. As I looked around from my elevated viewpoint a furtive movement took my attention over at the back of the crowd. I focussed in on one man over there, only later realising I did so because he was dressed the same as the other three and also slightly differently from all the others in this crowd – and because he was the one that had been hovering near our pack animals!

He saw my attention sharpen so he swore loudly and turned, shouldering aside his neighbours, running out through the last rank of all the onlookers. He was last seen heading up the road towards Tranidor, although Tranidor was by then a good thirty and more marks away. We had passed Holville, on the other side of the river, some appreciable time before. We had even passed Toomer’s Gully over there, Uncle Steef having pointed it out to us some time before the barge incident.

I desperately needed some time and space in which to think. I had not expected to have this responsibility thrust upon me. And I knew immediately that this was not going to be an easy thing to do.

And I also needed time to swallow a lot, for I knew I needed to say whatever I might say with a strong and firm voice. Get this first announcement wrong, and the crowd gathered around us could turn nasty.

To gain some more of that precious time, I just beckoned my colleagues to hand over to me the stolen packs. I made a bit of a show of looking into them. One of them had been my own bag.

Then I finally looked at the would-be thieves, really looked at them. Up and down. With some fire in my eyes and a slight curl to my lips.

The man who had been holding my bag was quite thick set and wore a big and bushy full set of facial hair. He was about as tall as Pyor, who was looking at him menacingly and with ill-hidden distaste.

“I see you tried to make off with my spare clothing, man! Are you one of those who would wish to be a female, then?”

I could not have said anything better as the crowd roared with laughter. I suppressed a feeling of guilt towards dear Venket back up at home, but at least I had not made an error with my opening remark.

I held up a hand and was surprised at the instant silence and attention I was afforded: “What do you normally do hereabouts to thieves that are caught?”

The answer made me go white.

As it also did to the three captured convicts I had before me.

“We brand them on their faces, cut off their dominant hand and then throw them in the river. Life is tough enough for us without being preyed upon by people who are too lazy to work for their coin.” A low but insistently menacing murmur of agreement sounded all about, and the crowd seemed to take a half step nearer.

My mind was racing as I sought a better solution to it all. I could strongly sense the mood of the crowd and I knew they were thirsting for a harsh punishment, but I also knew I could not allow them to do what they had so barbarically suggested.

I had to make up my mind before things could get any uglier. But I needed more information. Oh dear. Do ALL my decisions always require extra knowledge?

At this point, my sensible mind broke through after battering on the wall of inefficient thinking that surprise had thrown at me. I asked myself a simple question: ‘What would Fedren and Suril do?’

I beckoned Mompik to me, along with Steef, Pyor and Waxerwet.

I called out to the crowd that we needed to have a small conference. I confess I lied slightly. “We are on a special mission for the Prince Keren and are rushing to catch up with him. We have need to be beyond Haligo this night, so cannot afford any long delay. I must consult with my colleagues to see if there is any way we can afford to devote some of our precious time to you all.”

One man replied: “Mistress, that is a very difficult thing to achieve now. I doubt you shall be able to get through Haligo and out again all the way to the other side much before dark, even though dark is just about the latest of the year nowadays. And Haligo’s Gorge is even more restricted now they are starting to build the towers there.”

I was intrigued to find out what the ‘Gorge’ was and what those towers might be, but deemed that that conversation might take an overly long while. “Nevertheless, we must try,” I said firmly, before bending my head to the others.

Keeping our voices low, I started by saying: “We need to pretend to be talking about our ‘duty’ to the Prince. But we can’t let this mob just brand and mutilate these men. They didn’t actually get away with anything so technically speaking they haven’t stolen anything! Mompik, you are the nearest thing to authority here, your commands will carry weight. Can we just say that we shall ride to this North Haligo and from there send some sort of Watchmen or Guardsmen to fetch the miscreants?”

The others all thought about that whilst murmuring as though we were having discussions. At the end they agreed that that would probably be best. Our little conference broke up and the crowd as well as my companions waited for me to announce our hoped-for solution.

Using my teacher’s voice, I called for order once more, to quell the few small conversations that were taking place. Again it was granted immediately. I scanned the crowd before me.

“Men, and a few women I can see over there, we have conferred and regret that we MUST attempt to catch the Prince at Dekarran by tomorrow night, ...” There was an audible gasp from all around. “… so we have no choice but to leave here immediately. It is your responsibility to hold these three men until the Watch or the Guard arrive from Haligo, which may not now happen until the morning.

“It is NOT our duty as citizens to punish these men, they should be fairly tried first, so I will be telling the Watchmen where they can be found, and in what condition they were in when we left. I too abhor thieves and find that they should be dealt harshly with. But I am not an authority of any sort that can impose punishments. Our Guard commander here is named Mompik, and HE shall give the report necessary to the authorities. Mompik!”

Mompik straightened his legs which enabled him to raise himself above his saddle. He used a strong voice that rang with authority, which surprise managed to startle most of us in our party: “Be aware that, technically speaking, these three have not actually succeeded in stealing anything, so there shall be no mob-law branding or anything happening here. I shall instruct the authorities as to what happened. No doubt they shall appear and drag the prisoners off to their cells. Now my Prince’s commands mean that we must make haste. Thank you for your help, I will be sure to mention THAT too. Fare you all well.”

He turned to us all and gave authentic-sounding orders: “Blackstone to Dekarran group! Attend! Vakter, lead us out!”

We all acted as militarily as we could and rode off, the crowd actually pressing back to give us passage.

I let out a heartfelt blow of relief as soon as we were out of earshot. “Pheeeeeeeew!”

And the others all let out a similar noise, which made us laugh somewhat nervously in more relief.

This event cost us, though, nigh-on half a precious bell in all.

I remembered to thank Kabarad for being so alert, and the guards generally for doing their duties. Again Waxerwet supported me in that, as did the others shortly afterwards.

… … ...

Unfortunately, that was not the only delay we had that afternoon and into the evening.

The attempted theft had forced me into a deal of self-introspection. I understood just a part of what Her Highness had had to go through at the trials up in Blackstone – and it made me feel for her. Such responsibility carries with it a difficult amount of remorse, it appeared to me. So I was less aware of my surroundings as we continued down the road. I cannot say if the others were quieter or not, but my recollections suggest they were.

I only really came back to more attention when we had stopped for another natural break. I was the last of us to come back out from behind the bushes. My attention was grabbed as I was sure that I heard Davvy whispering something to Surtree, urging him to do something: “… tell her. You MUST. ’Tis not fair to either of you. Hushhhhh – she comes.”

… … …

By now, the valley itself was beginning to have some problems.

The walls were closing in and anyone could see that there would soon be great difficulty to fit in a river with a road on either side of it. I supposed that was why, when we came across some more track-laying for the railroad, we could see the … bed, I suppose I must call it … of the works following a track that had long ago been chipped out of the rock of the valley wall. There were maybe two, possibly three, casts of track already laid, this time heading upvalley towards Tranidor, rather than the track heading out of Tranidor heading for here.

Pyor’s eyes were everywhere, and even Surtree’s surliness was in abeyance for a little while as he to tried to take everything in. Pyor pointed out something to the lad, but loud enough for us all to hear: “See they have chipped out a path wide enough for parallel sets of rails here at the bottom, but are only doing a width wide enough for one set of rails further along. I deem the two sets shall come together just there, whenever a reliable design for the points or switches or whatever the final name shall be can be finalised.”

I looked across to the other side of the river, and yes there was the same sort of work going on over there. My eyes followed the direction of that track and before long came across a bit that was obviously much wider, for there was a great conglomeration of men and beasts and tools at that point. I had to squint a bit but then it suddenly resolved itself. There had been a substantial building up there which had been partly demolished and they were cleverly using the foundations of that to minimise the work of progressing the rail bed.

… … ...

“If you look closely, you can see that he has not quite got the balance right. The boat is down at the stern – at the back end, that is. But I have to confess that ’tis very impressive. I must think through the ramifications though.”

We were all gaping astounded at the sight of a small boat being obviously tested on a pond to the right of the road, away therefore from the river. We were making our way along, approaching, nay, limping into Haligo. Pyor’s frayen, Pyor was the heaviest set of the men, was exhausted and he had changed onto a pack beast, Surtree, the lightest load possible, had mounted Pyor’s and the load was placed onto Surtree’s. The beasts beneath the other men were also showing increasing signs of weariness.

I had been forced to realise that we had been overly ambitious in our targets of distance we could travel. I had, somewhat bitterly, appreciated that we could not make it all the way to Dekarran by the following evening. We would therefore cut this day short relatively soon.

We would overnight in Haligo this night – hopefully at the same place as Pyor and Steef – and take a more leisurely trip down to Teldor for the following night, maybe just stop in Teldor on the south side of the ferry, then finally get into Dekarran on the 4th day of our travels. If the beasts had managed to recover sufficiently for us to do a little over 30 marks a day, rather than the near 70 we had managed on the first day and the roughly 50 we shall have managed today.

But this small boat had stopped us all from our journeyings. It was of interest to all, even the ever-surlier Surtree. Gathered along the low wall that formed the road-side edge of the pond were a crowd of onlookers, some of whom were jeering, some cheering.

On each side of the boat were a pair of wagon wheels kept apart by many short planks, each of the same length. Both pairs were mounted upright, as on a wagon, on an axle the went the entire width of the boat and which was somewhere in the middle connected to a steam engine. The steam engine drove the wheels around, the bottom third of which were under the surface of the water. The short planks caught on the water and drove the boat forward, like an engine-driven rowing machine. The man testing it needed a lot more practice because he kept driving from one end of the pond to the other, parallel to the road, and crashing his boat into the sloped edges to stop himself. At least that’s how it seemed to me.

I managed to persuade the men to leave this utterly fascinating sight and to press on. As I said, I had by then resigned myself to the fact that there was just too far to go for us to get to Dekarran the following day and we would have to add in an extra overnight. But I wanted still to reach the town of Haligo that evening if at all possible.

In retrospect, I cannot really say why.

I think, however, that ’twas probably a good thing. Knowing that Pyor and Steef were to leave our party and we would continue without them, I somehow wanted to part in a sort of town environment rather just any old roadhouse on the less popular side of the river. That seems a silly reason, doesn’t it?

Now I had never been this far down the Bray/Palar valley so all I had to go on was what I had been told by others. I had built up in my mind a picture of what it would look like as I approached. The description I had in my head was mostly from the life-story Epp had long ago told me. Older Julina: You will find that long description of Epp’s life way back in the chronicle I have numbered as ‘001’.

The reality was extraordinarily different. But even then, I did not learn of the full differences until we continued on our way the following morning.

We approached what we assumed to be the town where we could see some houses. But the sight was just a little puzzling. These were big houses, rich people’s houses. Maybe two hands of them, maybe a dozen. Three hands perhaps? I didn’t actually number them. However, we could see little of the normal infrastructure of a town hereabouts. It was almost as if this part was just homes. Surely that couldn’t be? There was one building that was different, but we could soon see that that was a smallish guardhouse.

The valley walls had swept in now, almost meeting. The Trade Route that ran up and down the east bank rudely shouldered its way across our little road and made just one route for continuing upon.

There were three parallel arcs of nets strung across the mouth of the river as it gathered force and tumbled into the deeply-carved gorge. Steef told us they must be the last line of defence for water craft, to prevent them from being dashed to pieces. Although he somehow doubted that the flimsy netting would stop a fully-laden barge.

Further down the Gorge, we could see that the road straddled back and forth across the river on several bridges as the constricted space scarce allowed anything else in there. Even though we were in the evening sun here, the gorge ahead looked dark and somehow daunting.

But of a town, a thriving and busy town, we could detect no presence.

None at all.

I looked up at the sides of the valley here, sides that seemed so close a man could almost stretch out his arms and touch both at the same time. This proved rapidly to be an optical illusion though. The walls were actually a few casts apart. But noticeable on the walls on both sides were tracks and very narrow roads that weaved back and forth as well as up, down and along the walls. A semaphore station was perched high up on the western wall above us.

But still, this so-called town was lacking anything to say that it actually was a town.

However, we knew we were in the right place, for there, not too far in front of us, was a large and unmissable sign announcing the ‘Northern Gate’.

… … …

“… most comfortable, we thank you, Mistress.”

“Now what did their animal man say?”

“He agreed that the beasts require time for recuperation, most of them anyway. Those with the lighter loads have fared better, but are still weary.” He laughed a little bitterly. “He said we must breed frayen tougher than normal up in Blackstone; to have achieved around one hundred and twenty marks in two days is actually an excellent result. Then he went on to show me that one of the ones with more work to do is also footsore. Since that beast belongs to Master Steef here, and he shall not be going on with us in the morning, then I must leave the decisions there to him himself.”

I looked round the table.

The place itself was clean and well-appointed. We all (quietly) agreed that Meglina standards were higher when it came right down to it. I had been a little surprised at the rates they charged me, rates which I knew they had not attempted to inflate, for they were clearly written as we came in. I deemed it was for that reason that they could accommodate 11 travellers and 18 frayen at such short notice. A cheaper establishment would doubtless have been filled by now.

Frankly, I was by then so weary that I would have paid almost anything just to get us all off the road, now we knew the original schedule could not be adhered to.

The rooms were indeed comfortable, and the space in them was larger than most we had seen. Pyor and Steef shared one room, Vakter and Surtree another, Kabarad and Rakshak a third. Mompik had declared that he didn’t mind being the one to be alone, which left Davvy and I together, Gyth sleeping with her mother, of course. Once we had stabled the animals and relieved them of our loads, we split up to freshen ourselves up.

We women were nearly late for our agreed meeting time in the dining room with the others simply because that deep and warm bath was just SOOOOOO … required.

We fetched Vakter and Surtree as we passed their sleeping room and descended to the common room. On the way, we discovered that Surtree had been teaching Vakter some of the throws of that unarmed combat stuff. Yes, Surtree was teaching Vakter, not the other way around! The two had consequently become quite close, it was apparent. But the lad was still strangely subdued.

We reached the common room where we saw the other three guards sitting at a large grouping of tables that had been pushed together. The managers of this place had kindly shoved smaller tables together to create something that would seat all eleven of us at one big array.

I looked a question at Mompik who was sitting facing the stairway and the door through which all must come. He jerked his eyes and chin in two differing directions. I looked here and there and soon saw Steef at one table of men, and Pyor at another. I also noticed that both had a foaming tankard in their left hands!

I led us women to the table where the guards were sitting, followed closely by Vakter and Surtree. Once seated next to Mompik, I looked over again at the two adult men in our party. I saw Pyor sketch a wave to his new-found companions, stand up and walk over towards us. It was as he reached us that Steef scraped his chair back and he too took his leave of the men he had been chatting with.

Thus all eleven of us were seated, and a serving girl came over to offer their fare and to take our orders.

Formalities were impossible to maintain in such a setting, so ’twas not long before we were all chatting with no need for titles. Mompik told us that he had ridden over to the guardhouse to make his report and that they had thanked him for the courtesy. We chatted briefly about the earlier incident, but we dropped the subject quite quickly, moving gratefully on to another topic.

A quarter of a bell passed before the drinks arrived and maybe half that time went by after that before our opening courses were delivered. In the Salon, I would have been angry if my staff took so long, but here there were many more diners and the food had not been pre-ordered.

The Food? On the good side of adequate, Davvy, Surtree and I all thought. Gyth and Waxerwet could find no fault and yet said ’twas difficult to praise. Pyor and Steef said they found nothing wrong with it, and reminded us that the standards in the Salon are considerable higher so we should not judge using them as a basis, whilst Mompik spoke for the Rangers when he declared this to be better than their usual fare. This made me tell Davvy to make a note. Not for the first time, I had thoughts shooting through my head about the quality of food served in the Barracks. When we got back up there next week, I really had to go and stick my nose in there!

And so we had settled down to a comfortable and indeed light-hearted (except for Surtree) meal at which we all got to know each other more personally. The main course dishes had been cleared away, replenishments for drinks had been ordered and we awaited the final course.

And it was at this point, after a painful dig in the ribs from Davvy, that Surtree tentatively spoke: “Errrrm, Mistress Julina …”

I was suddenly widely alert and highly concentrated when he said that, for he hadn’t ‘Mistress’ed me for a long while now.

“… I find I have to say something, and I am torn.”

I plastered a smile to my face, and nodded supportively, hopefully positively, even while my heart was dropping as some unknown worry hit me: “Go on, Surtree.”

He swallowed, sneaked a sideways glance at Davvy who glared back at him, forcing him with her will to continue. He looked around the table at the rest of us, one by one, and finally getting back to me.

Suddenly the dam broke, tears sprung to his eyes and he started gabbling. “The fun has gone, ’Lina. I find I fiercely miss Blackstone, I want … all that noise … not enjoying … Kissa ... I don’t think I can anymore … I must leave your employ … can I borrow the fare for wagons to get back home? I will manage somehow on my own.”

I suddenly realised what his problem was. He was homesick, scared a little by all the new sights, by the strangenesses of it all, by that overly loud atmosphere in Tranidor, all that. And I noted he included my young sister’s name in his gabble. It seems he misses her fiercely too.

My heart sank as the ramifications started to become apparent. I knew I could not bring myself to deny him, but I could not just send him, a young lad, home, travelling on his own. Maker! What on Anmar could I do?

I knew too that I had to reply as soon as I could, to help him calm down, and to try to allay some of his fears.

“Surtree, that was a very brave thing you just did. I do wish though that you had told me earlier, for maybe we could have arranged something last evening with Mistress Megrozen up in Tranidor. I now though find myself in a very difficult position. I cannot, would not, force you to come with me, and yet – as you well know – I must complete my task here. I cannot with any good feeling simply send you home alone for that would be ...”

“Julina, mayhap I have a solution?” interrupted Pyor.

Waxerwet too had been about to say something but she subsided when Pyor spoke up. I was pleased to grab at anything, any chance, any suggestion. I raised my eyebrows at Pyor, getting him to continue, even while acknowledging Waxerwet with my eyes.

“Surtree is an intelligent young lad. He has shown interest in the railroad – great interest. Maybe I could take him back with me, for I shall start back in the morning. But on one hand, that would probably prolong his return beyond anything he would actually like to do, since I shall be travelling far more slowly and will have many questions of those we pass. On the other hand, that way he could learn more about this rail business too, and I would be there to support him on his journey.”

Ping! An idea shot into my head, fully formed. I turned to the lad: “Would the fact that you know you are returning allow you to take just that little longer?”

“Er… I deem it might. But Mistress, I am contracted to you, and I am not fulfilling my contract which indicates I am to stay with you. I confess I wish to leave this noise and hectic and chaos and … stress. I want to get back to where I know everyone. Where I feel on safer ground. And I miss your sister too. And yet I need the coin I get from being employed by you.”

“Hah! Young lad, you have known me long enough now, I do not believe that you deem me to be so cruel. I have a solution, if Master Pyor agrees.” I glanced at Pyor, who was looking interested. He indicated that I should continue. “What say you two that Surtree is from now on employed by Blackstone Rail?” My eyes looked up at Pyor and he didn’t disappoint me. He understood immediately what I was trying to achieve.

“That would be a wonderful solution, Mistress.” He turned to the lad. “Surtree? Do you want to become my apprentice? Help me down here to learn – and up there to develop? We could go back home, but a little slower than we travelled to get here? And I can explain all that I know as we go?”

Surtree looked at me, a little wonderment in his face: “Just like that? You would let me go, release me from my obligations?”

I smiled at him: “Surtree, you have been a good friend to me as well as a cheerful and willing helper. You have still to achieve your majority and I have been wondering, when not struggling with other decisions, what I am to do with you when you get older.

“I invited you – remember it was an invitation, I made it clear you didn’t HAVE to come on this trip …” He nodded his agreement. “… because I thought you would appreciate seeing something more of our world, have something else as experience behind you for you to make up your mind when you decide what you might want to do with your life. I see now that the changes in culture and habits have been too much of a shock for you at too young an age.

“Will you go home with Master Pyor here? Be a good apprentice to him? Will you go with my thanks for all you have done, including introducing me to Davvy here? Will you let me let you go from my personal service, will you agree to at least work with and for Master Pyor until my return in a week or so? That we can then all sit and decide what to do?”

He looked at me and I’m sure he was again a little misty-eyed.

I continued: “And if you were to go with Master Pyor, then I deem you would be back home in the safest and swiftest way any of us could arrange.”

“You would do that for me, ’Lina? Really?” He swung round to Pyor. “And you too Master Pyor?”

“Indeed,” said Pyor, with a sincerity that could not be doubted. “And if it helps, you should remember that Blackstone Rail is a company that is also owned by Mistress Julina here, so in one way you would still be working for her.”

Pyor’s was a sincerity that brought back a little of the old cheekiness to the youngster. He dried his eyes on a cloth that Gyth offered him, sniffed a couple of times, and said: “I shall always be in awe at your ability to find solutions, ’Lina. I accept those very generous terms. And apologise once more.”

And so our evening meal conversations continued in a lot lighter vein than I had at first feared.

And Surtree, plainly happier now his great burden had been lifted, later added in some good questions as we went along.

Somehow, in between mouthfuls just a little earlier, we had talked about the Rangers and we learnt much from them about their life. The subject continued even after the plates and cutlery had been cleared away, and another round of drinks had been served.

After that, we covered a wide range of subjects but the greatest emphasis was on all the things we had seen that day. Surtree asked Pyor an intelligent question about the building of the tracks that we had seen. And then they were off. We had a good half a bell on railroads which educated us all, Rangers included.

“These towers in Haligo’s Gorge. What of them, why such a restriction?” asked Mompik.

Pyor smiled. “Ah Mompik, this is what one of the men over there said: ‘Master there is a thing called the railroad coming and there is much construction for it up and down the valley, on both sides. It appears that ’tis necessary for some connection for the railroad tracks from one side of the valley to t’other, and Haligo Gorge is by far the narrowest part of the entire valley. There shall be bridges built up in the sky atop these new towers.’ Not entirely complete news for us, of course.”

Kabarad asked if Pyor had discovered anything more about the subject so Pyor borrowed a reedlet and a small piece of paper from Gyth as he sketched a diagram. He explained even as he drew it.

“These outside lines are the tracks that shall be built against and along either valley wall, high up. This does not mean that the railroad shall climb, at least not so very much, but more that it shall remain roughly level here, letting the valley floor, or the Gorge floor, drop ever more away from it.”

He looked up from his drawing then, to explain some of the current thinking of the designers and builders.

“There are existing animal and foot tracks high up along each of the gorge’s walls. These will have to be widened which will not be the easiest work. However, they run along the valley walls from above Haligo to below it on both sides. The only other way to have a railroad come down here would be to have a giant bridge-like thing they call a viaduct, running down the middle of the gorge, as well as the road as well as the river. They shall try not to have such a large construction for a number of reasons, not the least being all the extra constriction it would cause on a very busy thoroughfare.

“As was said, Haligo Gorge is the obvious narrow point in the whole valley – all the way from our home in Blackstone, all that way behind us, and on down to the mouth of the Palar as it joins the Sirrel at Dekarran. And so, therefore, it is sensible to make a bridge here. At that very narrowest point.”

He then went back to his diagram.

“Such a bridge to connect those lines that shall run down the very edges of the valley here, allowing traffic to change to the other side of the valley if necessary ...” He drew a straight line across the middle of his diagram then, not touching the outside lines though. “… Here shall be the main bridge. Each end shall have a tower for the main bridge to rest upon.” He added in two square blocks at either end of the line he had just drawn.

“But railroads cannot do sharp turns so we need curved stretches of line to join onto the ends of the main bridge, one each way at both ends.”

He added in the curves and then plopped a circle in the middle of each curve. “These circles then are the towers that shall support the railroad curves that connect the main bridge to the outside lines.”

We were all again amazed at how simple he made his explanation. We called for some drinks to savour the moment.

Before we go any further, I need to report that Waxerwet had been elected in some unspoken fashion to be the ‘mother’ checking on her children that they behaved properly. She prevented any of us from drinking too much that evening without actually saying a word.

The need for curves occupied my mind for a little while as I pondered aloud the requirements up at Bezlet, particularly by the wharf. We discussed that for a short while.

And thus we got onto Steef and his barges. We asked him for more details of his mission down to here, which he readily supplied, but in a roundabout fashion; for he started by talking of that little steam-engined boat that we had seen. I must say, Steef was very clever to involve us all; he asked questions such that we all had to think about matters.

“What made that boat go through the water?” he said, looking first at Rakshak.

“The steam engine.”

“Exactly. ’Twas driving those wheels around which pushed on the water. And how many steam engines have YOU seen, Kabarad?”

“Many, Steef, many. Usually used for pumping or lifting though.”

Steef nodded at him before turning to the next man: “They also do a good job of turning, do they not? Mompik, what do they consume?”

“Coal, coke or wood for the fires and water for the steam – and a lot of operator’s time.” We smiled at that.

“And have you, Mistress Julina ...” I realised then that he was going round the table person by person “… ever seen a steam engine run out of any of the things it consumes?”

“That I have not,” I was forced to concede. But his question made us all think about it.

Waxerwet, who incidentally was NOT the next person round the table, surprised me then. “I have, Steef, I saw one pump stop because the steam engine couldn’t produce steam any more. There was nothing to keep the fire alight.”

“Ah hah! Thank you. Now what would happen if that was to occur when such a boat was in the middle of the streaming current in a river?”

Then I suddenly realised where he was going to go with this. “So such a boat must also have aboard the … the … the … food for the steam engine?”

He grinned at that: “Are you so strongly fixated by food, ’Lina?

“But you have my point exactly. And, not only for that reason, must so a boat carry at the minimum a set of oars.”

And so we went on about barges for a good half bell.

Steef revealed that the special barge he had come downvalley to see was going to be a steam-powered one, again with two of what he called paddle-wheels – a neat name that, I thought – one on each side. But each paddle-wheel was to be driven by a steam engine, a more powerful one than we had yet seen.

“Some steam engines could be built bigger now that they had some steel for the cylinders on them. And the amazing thing was that more steel could be produced now that they had bigger steam engines. And then, with more steel, even bigger ones could be built, and so on.

“You were going to explain,” said Gyth at the point when Steef started to slow down his chatting, “how a barge needs running water to be steered.”

“Ah yes!” said Steef as we all nodded our heads.

He looked around, scanning the room rapidly. He stood swiftly as he said: “I’ll be back in just a second.”

He went over to the serving girl and borrowed her serving salver. He dashed back to us as she followed more gently.

“Waxerwet, do you have a spare cloth about you by chance? I will wish to dry up some water. Ah! Thank you!”

He placed the salver on the table and poured just a little water onto one side of the salver’s upper area.

“Look you! The water stays where it is. But now! If I raise the edge where the water is, it runs down the salver to the other side. That is what a river does, it flows down. As I am sure you all understand.”

He dried the salver thoroughly and then picked up the small length of wood that carried a number on it, so the staff could deliver food and drinks to the correct table.

“Again, I place a small amount of water at this edge. This time I place this wooden block in the middle of the salver and hold it tight. When I do nothing, the water and the wood are unaffected. But when I tip the salver again – see the water is deflected by the wood.”

He then wiped everything down again, and reset it as before with water and wood back into the places on the salver.

“Now I hold the wood in place at just one end, so that it shall pivot under my holding finger.”

Again he demonstrated. We saw the wood pivot as he claimed it would.

“So you see, the water presses on the wood and forces it to pivot. Do you all understand that?”

We nodded.

“So when the water hits the wood, it presses upon the wood. There is a force applied to it. If the wood is held fast then the water is pressed out of the way. If the wood is not held fast then the wood is pressed out of the way.

“That is how a boat is steered. We place an equivalent in such a way as to cross the straight stream of the water. We call this thing either a rudder or an oar. The water then presses on the rudder and pushes it to one side. If that rudder is attached to a boat, then that part of the boat is pushed to one side.”

Again we all nodded, picturing in our minds what he said.

“But for that to happen, then the water must be pressing upon the rudder. As the rudder is attached to the boat, then if the boat is just drifting on the stream, there is no water pressure upon the rudder.”

Aaaaaah! So simple really.

We all thanked him even as he thanked the serving girl for her help and handed her back the salver, with a small coin – which made her smile at him and curtsey her thanks.

We agreed to meet at the same table at the first bell to break our fasts and I arranged for us women to have a hot bath before then, with mugs of pel available to us.

We felt a little guilty towards the gathered and waiting staff that we were the last to leave table and make our way, just ever such a little unsteadily, to bed.

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