Dragonquest - Donita K. Paul [113]
Regidor turned to look directly at Lyll and bowed with the same grace Dar often displayed. “I admit I held some doubts as to Lady Allerion’s ability. I beg your pardon.”
She nodded graciously.
He paced to the edge of the pond and peered into the reeds. The sandy bottom showed through the water now sparkling and clear. “Although we know the enemy is encroaching upon this territory, with no bodies it will be difficult to convince our hosts that danger is imminent.”
47
WAYFARERS
The companions returned to the tavern. Fenworth and Cam had taken over the kitchen where they created elaborate culinary delights. Mistress Meiger muttered that she didn’t think her customers would take to such fancy food, but she sat at the table and sampled everything that appeared. Toopka joined her since food always claimed her interest.
Kale led Bardon, Regidor, and Lyll to a stand of trees near the road. She pointed to an empty field next to the last building, the Widow Ord’s cottage, on the edge of the village.
“Most wagons stop here, and the people walk into town. This is where the market is held once a month. We can’t see it from here, but there’s a sign facing the road.”
Twenty minutes later, a colorful wagon rumbled toward the village of River Away. Just as Kale had predicted, the driver pulled the house-vehicle onto the grass and stopped. She had seen these odd wagons before, but they still fascinated her.
On top of a rectangular wagon bed, a house built like a barrel on its side provided shelter for the peddlers. Red wheels carried the blue box. Yellow stars and blue stripes decorated the rear wheels. Green curlicues adorned the blue box and the driver’s perch.
The top had windows cut in the side, and elaborate swirls and stars in blue and purple crowded every spare inch. Yellow curtains flapped out of the open windows. In the back, a red door allowed access to the odd home. Beneath this, a pan box hung. Kale knew that the pan box folded down to make a step, but it also held the cook’s instruments for fixing meals over an open fire.
The driver of the caravan passed the reins to a young man sitting beside him. He stood and stretched before jumping to the ground. He patted the horse closest to him on the rump and walked to its head.
“The driver certainly isn’t a meech,” observed Bardon from their hiding place behind thick ernst bushes. “Nor the young man. They look like father and son, don’t they?”
“Has anyone been able to penetrate their minds?” asked Regidor. “I’ve tried with no success. This feels much like the shield around the core of the ship Dar visited.”
“I can’t get in either,” said Kale. “But I have detected Toopka trying to sneak up behind us.”
Kale turned and gestured for the little girl to abandon her hiding place.
“Fenworth said I could come,” she explained as soon as she plopped down beside Kale.
“You tricked him, then,” said Kale.
Regidor slanted a disapproving glance Toopka’s way. “Pestered him until he hollered at you to leave?”
She nodded solemnly, then smiled. She squirmed between Regidor and Lady Allerion, so she could see through the bushes.
“Where’s the meech?”
“We haven’t seen him yet,” said Kale.
“The door’s opening,” said Bardon.
The older man left the horses and came to the rear of the wagon. He let the fancy steps down, and an older woman with a colorful scarf wrapped around her head climbed out. She looked critically around the open field and spoke. The old man frowned and gestured toward River Away.
“What are they saying?” asked Toopka.
“I don’t know,” answered Kale.
“Just a minute,” said Lady Allerion. “I think I can fix this.” An intent expression invaded her eyes.
Kale’s efforts to penetrate the shield had been so great that when her mother broke its power, a flood of impressions burst with a clamor into Kale’s mind. She fell backward and landed on her backside. Bardon snickered, and Regidor