Garren, chapter 4

“If the boy is sick, how will he be ready to go out for us?” Wadril banged his fist on the table by the bed he was sitting on.

“He’ll be ready, I’ll make sure of it,” Ocuric grunted. “He’ll be back on his scrawny legs in no time.”

Wadril stood up and paced about the room, frowning. “I’m worried the brat is going to fail us. I don’t trust him.”

“He has to listen to us. I saw the fear in his eyes when I caught trying to run away back in the forest.”

The door flung open. Horus stepped into the room, grinning. “The stage is set, mates. Tonight there is a going to be a parade and celebration in honor of the town’s new constable.” He slammed the door behind him and sat on the bed.

“That will give us the perfect opportunity to set Garren out,” Wadril cheered, cracking his knuckles. “I wonder how our little friend is doing, anyway.”

Ocuric opened the door and stepped into the hallway. “I reckon he is just fine.”

Garren walked out into the hall, at the top of the stairway that descended to the main part of the tavern. “Ocuric…” Garren froze, remembering his earlier reaction when he tried to escape.

“I see you are awake, Garren. We were worried about you. What happened?” There was an insincere look of concern on the man’s face.

Garren didn’t dare tell Ocuric about his prophetic abilities. Any feasible lie would suffice, Garren hoped. “I drank the ale a bit too fast. I am well now.”

“Horus heard that there is going to be a celebration tonight honoring the town constable. You can create a disturbance at the celebration.” Ocuric patted him on the back.

Garren felt like his legs were made of jelly. He wanted to slip downstairs and into the cracks in the floor. “I have something planned for what I’ll do.” He faked a smile.

Wadril and Horus joined them out in the hall. “Glad to see you are better, Garren,” Horus said, grinning. Wadril didn’t say a word.

The clang of a dropped tray rang out from below, followed by shouting voices. Tables and chairs were then being knocked over or smashed.

“I’ll be damned if I miss out on a good brawl.” Wadril rushed downstairs with a boyish smile. Horus gave Ocuric a funny look before the two men followed after him.

Why not? Garren thought, and slowly stepped down the stairs.

The room was a circus of arguing and brawling men, flying across tables and crashing into others. Mugs and plates were hurled across the room as well as all sorts of taunts and insults. The barmaids shrieked and ducked behind the bar, shouting for peace but to no avail.

“Where’s Liana?” asked one.

“She’s upstairs,” replied another, screaming as a plate crashed just above her head. Garren assumed Liana was the woman who was helping him.

Wadril was now part of the act. He leaped at one of the fighting patrons and knocked him to the floor. The man looked at Wadril in a drunken daze and tried to throw a punch at him, but missed completely and swung at the air in front of his face.

Garren scrambled back upstairs, making sure to stay ducked behind the railing so a cob of corn or a stale roll or any of the other food items now being thrown wouldn’t hit him. Apparently now the kitchen had been raided. Garren didn’t know what could have started the fray, but he had to get himself, and Liana, out.

Liana sat on the bed, looking out a small window. She appeared unmoved by the commotion downstairs. Instead, she just sighed and then turned to Garren when he entered the room. “Garren, you must leave here, and hurry.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be fine. While you slept, I paid a man with the same description as Wadril to start a fight and then slip away so he would get blamed for it. You better leave now before the constable comes and arrests you as well.”

Garren nodded and glanced out the window. The constable was on his way, leading a dozen armored guards. He could hear the man’s hearty voice. “Surround the tavern! Don’t let anyone out without questioning first!”

“Hurry, Garren!” Liana slid one of the wall panels aside, revealing a dark room on the other side. “This leads to the hay loft of the stables. Jump down one of the chutes into the stables and make your escape from there when it is clear.” She smiled at Garren and kissed his forehead before he ducked into the secret passage.

The loft was filled with total darkness as Liana moved the panel back into place. Garren lingered for a few minutes to let his eyes grow accustomed to the dark. He could make out voices in the adjoining room, two of which were recognized: the constable, loud and robust, and Wadril’s raspy slurs. What was said Garren couldn’t make out. He did as Liana instructed; he groped through the hay until he found one of the chutes and jumped down though it. With his backpack he almost wasn’t sure if he would fit.

As Garren landed into one of the stalls in the stable, his nose wrinkled at the smell of horse manure from the other stalls. He appreciated having landed in an empty stall. Brushing the hay off his body, Garren stood up and headed for the exit to the stable.

But there was some commotion in the streets. Garren’s three “friends” were shackled and chained by their legs and paraded through the town by the guards. Ocuric kicked and hollered. “Where’s the boy?! This was Garren’s fault!”

The guard scoffed at Ocuric’s tantrum. “There was no boy in the tavern. Stop with your lies.”

“There was a boy,” Wadril insisted, “and we heard that he planned to disrupt the celebration tonight, by attacking the constable.” There was no reaction from the guard, except for a few murmurs.

Garren considered running out to argue, but decided against it. That would only draw more attention to himself than he wanted, making his escape more difficult. He remained out of sight, watching the men being dragged off, until the street was clear, and then rode out of town quickly on one of the ponies from the stable.

The pony was swift and nible, but as a rider Garren was as clumsy as a chicken trying to balance on a ball. He flopped about on the back of the pony as it galloped through the forest, going on and off the main path.

When the pony finally stopped (though not by Garren’s command), Garren was lost. He hadn’t come out the say way he entered the town, so what lay head he didn’t know.