The Unsuspecting Mage - Brian S. Pratt [30]
“Most likely,” laughs the mayor. “I’ll see you there if I can get away.”
“I hope so.” He indicates to James that it’s time to leave and that he should precede him out into the hallway.
Once they leave the office and are descending the stair to the first floor, James asks, “He doesn’t seem too busy, why wouldn’t he be able to get away?”
Ceryn chuckles. “It’s not the town’s business that will keep him away tonight, but his wife. She thinks that because he is the mayor, that he shouldn’t mingle with the ‘common people.’ He has to sneak out just to visit with his old drinking buddies.”
They find Ceryn’s wagon out front, the bodies of the dead outlaws have been removed and most of the blood stains rinsed out. Ceryn unties James’ horse from the hitching post and secures its tether to the back of the wagon. Meanwhile, James works his way up onto the wagon and waits for Ceryn.
Climbing up to take his seat on the wagon, Ceryn grabs the reins and flicks them to get the horse moving. Turning the wagon back around the way they came, he heads through town on the way to Corbin’s farm.
The sun is nearing the horizon by this time and the streets are beginning to empty as everyone has either gone home or is heading there. A few lone people walk the streets, stragglers from the marketplace or shopkeepers on their way home after closing for the day.
Several wave a hello to Ceryn, or call out a greeting. Ceryn answers back in his usual cheerful manner. They leave the town behind them and turn down a somewhat well-maintained dirt road. The sun is just dipping below the horizon when they leave the road and enter a dirt lane, at the end of which sits a welcoming-looking farmhouse.
No sooner do they start up the lane when two dogs appear. Barking with tails a-waggin’, they greeted the new arrivals. Shortly after the onset of barking, the front door to the home opens and two little girls emerge who race down the lane toward them. James recognizes one as Elizabeth. The other can only be her sister, a younger version of the older sister. A shout from the other side of the doorway brings them to a halt.
“Ceryn, Ceryn!” the girls holler as the wagon rolls closer. The two dogs race in circles around the wagon, barking and jumping. In the doorway stands a man with the look of having been hard at work in the field all day. James figures it to be their father, Corbin.
“Good evening, Master Farmer,” Ceryn greets with a slight nod of his head as he brings the wagon to a stop.
“Master Farmer indeed,” snorts Corbin, then breaks out with a smile. “Ceryn, it’s good to see you again. I heard you brought in Garrett the Snake?” To the dogs he yells, “Cyne, Tor, quiet!” They cease their barking and confine their actions to racing about within the space between the wagon and the house.
Climbing from the wagon, Ceryn replies, “It was Garrett the Snake and his band. They came for me last night and if it wasn’t for the aid of James here, we’d not be having this conversation.”
Nodding approvingly to James, Corbin says, “Any friend of yours is welcome in my home. Won’t you both come in?”
James starts to get down off the wagon when the dogs come and jump in friendly greeting up the side of the wagon at him. “Down, boys!” Corbin yells. The dogs back off and give him room to come down off the wagon. Corbin notices how he’s using his spear for support and favors the leg where the wolf had bitten him. “Are you alright, son?”
James nods his head, “Yes. I just had a run in with a pack of wolves in the forest. If it wasn’t for Ceryn, they would have had me for dinner.”
Corbin looks over to Ceryn who nods agreement. “There’s a story there or I’m a three legged dog. But that can wait for later.”
“Devin!” Corbin turns his head and hollers back into the house. A lad of about fourteen emerges. “Take Ceryn’s wagon and the horses and see to their care.” The lad nods and takes the reins as he leads Ceryn’s wagon around back.
Coming into the house James finds a homey, well-cared for country home. A woman is in the kitchen