Durch Ferne Welten und Zeiten - 7. Chapter 7: Return to Barrone

Chapter 7: Return to Barrone

The boys’ trip to Bowling Green was uneventful. “Alexis. Look.” Rudy bit off the words. He pointed to the horses tied in front of the smithy.

Alexis saw four horses. They were fine examples of the species, and almost certainly had at least some elven heritage. They were two stallions. There was also a filly, and a mare brown with white stockings on both nigh legs.

“They look very much like the horses of Arthur and his companions. Do you think . . . ? Alexis said.

“Don’t forget,” Rudy said. “I saw their horses only a few years ago during a blizzard. Those are Arthur’s and George’s, for sure; and Gary’s, too. I think Larry has gotten a better horse since then, though.”

The door to the shop was closed, and did not open when Alexis tried the latch. “Over there,” he said. That will be the entrance to the home.”

A boy responded to Alexis’s knock. “We have a letter for the family of Mastersmith Edgar,” Alexis told the boy. “Are you Severus or Prius?”

“Prius,” the boy answered. “How do you know that? I’ve never seen you, before. You are strangers in this town.”

“Because everyone comes here,” Rudy said. “And if we lived here, you would know us.”

“Yes,” Prius said. “And how did you know that?”

“Here is the letter, then,” Alexis said. “We are also looking for people who might be our friends. They ride horses like those, outside. They are Arthur, George, Larry, and your brother, Gary. Are they here?”

Prius’s eyes widened. “My brother, whom I never knew, has come home, and now, people with a letter for us come looking for him! Please, wait here.” The boy scampered through the door to return a moment later with his father and another boy.

“Gary!” Rudy cried.

Gary rushed to embrace Rudy. After a few moments, Mastersmith Edgar interrupted their kiss. “I suss you know these boys, eh?”

Gary smiled. “I met Rudy ages ago, well, a couple of years ago. I don’t know you, though.” He looked at Alexis.

“This is Alexis, my forever-companion,” Rudy said. “He knows all about you and Arthur and George and Larry. And, he has a letter from James and Cooper.”

Gary stood on tiptoe to give Alexis a kiss. “Be welcome, friend of my friend.”

By this time, the foyer was crowded with boys. The mastersmith gestured them away from the door. “Shoo! All of you. Back to the kitchen, now.”

Before they could move, two pairs of eyes met. One belonged to a tall tween with silver hair; the other to an equally tall tween with black hair. Something ineffable passed between them. Both shivered slightly, but the moment passed, and the crowd jostled into the kitchen. Gary took Rudy’s hand, and led him to a seat at the table. The silver-haired tween gestured Alexis to sit beside him. Alexis handed the letter to the mastersmith.

This is Arthur, Alexis thought of the silver-haired tween. He’s the oldest tween, and has silver hair. The tween across from him: black hair and violet eyes. That’s George. The tall boy with the brown hair. That would be Larry. The older tweens, they’re Gary’s brothers—Alan and Eddie. And that would be Severus.

George spoke first. “Rudy, where’s Sam? Is he okay?”

Rudy thought for a moment before answering, “Yes, he’s okay. He’s on the farm where I grew up. Tomorrow he will bring a wagonload of produce to Barrone for First Market.” And will learn that I am missing! No, I’m not missing yet. He just brought me to the college a few days ago! I won’t go missing for nearly another tenday. But I can’t tell them, that.

“But why are you here?” Arthur began, before the mastersmith cleared his throat.

“Alan, please read the letter to us.”

To our dear friends, from James and Cooper,

We are well, and hope that you are, also. Duke Ivan remembers your hospitality when we visited Bowling Green, and asks us to thank you, again.

Ivan and Alan want to establish a smithy at the castle, and wonder if Allen and Eddie and maybe Davey would like to come here. There is a wonderful smithy that lacks only someone to operate it. We have to take horses a day’s ride south for shoeing, which is not only inconvenient, but also potentially harmful to the animals.

Cooper has taken on duties at the castle as greeter (and sembler, which is where his talent is taking him, even though he is years away from becoming a tween). He and Ivan spend a lot of time together. Although there are other boys here, Cooper and Ivan are the youngest, by far, and are of a similar age—and mien. They’re both scamps. Sometimes, I think they vie to see who can get the other deeper in trouble with their pranks.

I spend half my time at the castle and half at the town a day’s ride south, where we have established a second temple and school. A dozen boys have enrolled as probationers, and are learning the skills of a warrior, as well as how to read and write. One or two may become healers, and at least one appears to have other magical talents.

The bearers of this letter are friends in whom I have complete confidence. They have told us many things about themselves and about the forces of Good and Evil that are currently battling for Arcadia and Elvenhold. Please invite them into your confidence. They have important things to tell you, and important information for Gary and his companions who are expected to visit you soon.

“How did you know?” Gary whispered to Rudy.

“When he finishes . . .” Rudy replied.

A trade caravan is scheduled to come through Bowling Green at the time of the Bila First Market. If Alan, Eddie, and Davie wish to move to the castle, they could travel with the caravan. They will need to bring only personal items, as the smithy, like the rest of the castle, is completely stocked with tools.

“Ha,” Alan interjected. “As if I wouldn’t bring my own hammer.”

“Does this mean we’re going?” Davey asked.

Alan looked at his father, who nodded. “Give me time to tell your mother,” he said. “But not right away. She’s so happy at Gary’s return.”

After supper, the mastersmith invited all the boys into the forge. From a drawer under a charcoal bin, he pulled a jug and cups. “This is cider . . . frozen and concentrated last winter. Just a sip, especially for the boys. It has a kick.

“My family and my home have been a locus of events” he continued as Alan poured. “Some of those events have been magical. I told Arthur years ago that I did not fear for Gary, because he had been brought up in the Light.

“I still do not fear for him, even though Arthur has said they will be pursuing a great Darkness. Still,” Edgar turned to Alexis, “I would like to know what is behind your visit.”

Alexis began the telling. “A thousand lifetimes ago, there was born a boy who would become a mage and a storyteller. This boy lived many lives. In each life, he was a redheaded boy, a storyteller, and a powerful mage. His stories are recorded in a book, called The Book of Heroes. Tonight, he sits with us. His name is Rudy.”

Alexis paused.

“You’re that Rudy?” George whispered.

Rudy nodded, and continued the telling. “My stories include the story of Arthur and George, and their first visit to Bowling Green. The story is based on what they told me two winters ago, when we met on the Southern Mountain Road.

Rudy looked to Alexis, who picked up the narrative. “Rudy wrote that story, as well as others, in a book. George, you have a copy of it. I have a copy, as well. In my copy, the story continues, and tells of your travels to Barrone and your stay at the College of Magic; of the attack on George and the dagger Larry intercepted; of the death of the gnome; of your departure from Barrone and of the two sounds you heard.”

George interrupted. “Your copy tells about us? Mine doesn’t!”

“That is correct, George,” Alexis said. “But yours does tell about Marty and Chandler, and their rescue, doesn’t it?”

George nodded. “Your copy tells you what you need to know. So does mine.

“Awesome!” George concluded. Alexis nodded.

“We have talked with Ivan and his friends about the sounds you heard. We have told them that you seek the dark echo in order to counter it. They are most anxious that you visit the castle. They, too, believe the echo came from near them, perhaps on the other side of the mountains.

“There are many other stories in the book. Some of them, we dare not tell, because they foretell future events. Some are hidden even from Rudy, who wrote them—or will write them.”

The mastersmith uncorked the jug once again. “I remember telling Gary that where he was going there wouldn’t always be small beer.” He chuckled. “It appears that small beer isn’t the only thing that may be hidden from our heroes.

“Yes,” he added. “I know that Gary and his friends, and now you”—he nodded to Alexis and Rudy—“are heroes.

“I’m happy that Gary has a place in this story; I hope that my other sons find their place, as well.”

Alexis responded. “All of your sons are remembered in The Book of Heroes. Not every hero wears a sword. Not every hero is a knight errant.

“Arthur, you once told George that you were, in an earlier life, a blacksmith whose life was spent making weapons and armor for soldiers of the Light, and who died when defending his town from Darkness. You were then no less a hero than you are, today. The same, I think, applies to others.”

Arthur raised his eyebrows. “We told that story to Rudy only a few years ago,” he said. “We are glad to be in Rudy’s stories, but I do not think we are heroes.”

Alexis collected his thoughts. “I don’t know quite how to say this. Let me try.

“What is a hero?” Alexis asked.

“A hero is an ordinary person who does something extraordinary, at some risk to himself.”

Alexis looked over the boys and tweens assembled in the smithy. “You all have done that. You and your companions. You,” he looked at Mastersmith Edgar. “You were willing to put your family in harm’s way because it was right. That makes you and your sons, heroes.”

Leaving Bowling Green

“Rudy must return to Barrone, if only to reassure his friends, including Sam, that he is safe.” Alexis told Arthur

“And because you are driven there?” Arthur asked.

I cannot tell him the last bit of the story. I cannot tell him about the mage who watched him and who may have guided him. I cannot answer his questions about destiny and whether he is a cat’s-paw, Alexis thought.

“I do not know if we must go there because it is ordained,” Alexis said. “But I do know that Rudy left friends, there, friends who will certainly be worried about him. It will take us another two months to reach Barrone.”

“You could travel faster by boat,” Arthur said.

“Hmm?”

“It takes a boat only a ten-day to reach the City of Arcadia; a boat from there to Barrone would need perhaps another ten-day. That would cut your travel time more than in half.”

“I cannot imagine Orion on a boat,” Alexis protested.

“Leave him here,” Arthur suggested. “For I believe that someday, you will return here and to the castle to the west. There’s a herd of Clydesdales at a farm near here. They’re all mares. The owner—one of them, at least—is an old friend. He’s mighty secretive about where he got the horses, but I’ll bet he’d like a stallion.”

“The farm of Master Granville,” Alexis said. “That is where my master obtained Orion. He didn’t tell me about the mares. I wonder, I wonder if he foretold this.”

Arthur took Alexis to the horse farm. Master Granville recognized Orion, but was startled by Alexis’s offer. “Will you take Orion into the herd until I or someone I designate should have need of him?”

“You wish to sell the stallion? I can offer you no more than—”

“Not sell, board with you in return for his services at stud,” Alexis said.

Master Granville stuttered at the generosity of the offer until he realized that Alexis was serious. “I shall do as you ask,” he said. “He and the others I will hold in trust for you until there is need.

“I think,” the hyperion said, “I think that destiny is at work, and that I’ve been given a chance to do something important. Thank you.”

Alexis and Orion looked into each other’s eyes.

“You will be happy, here,” Alexis said. “There are seven fillies of your kind.

“I think that you are the father of a new race—a race that will become the destriers of this age. I think that you and I will find one another, again.

“However, for now, we must part. Rudy and I have to reach Barrone quickly. We must take faster transport than you have provided.

“This is something that boys say, but I think it means something between us, as well, If I do not see you again in this life, I will look for you in another.”

Alexis put his face against Orion’s huge nose. The boy’s tears flowed down the horse’s face. “I will be here when you need me.” Orion thought. “Thank you for keeping my feet clean.”