CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - TO CATCH A RAT

Fendig left the Constable’s Office shortly before noon. That was not out of character, from what Julian had seen. But instead of turning right toward Main Street and the tavern where he normally took his lunch, he turned left toward the makeshift archery range at the edge of town.

“He knows there’s a fight coming. Maybe he just wants some practice.”

Julian snorted. “Fat chance. He could have joined us there every day for the last week.”

Raedrick chuckled softly. “True. But give the man benefit of the doubt.”

Benefit of the doubt was one thing, but that was not their purpose this afternoon. They were out to catch a rat.

Julian and Raedrick were not making use of Melanie’s concealing spell this time, just good old fashioned cover and concealment. They wanted to be able to confront Fendig if their suspicions proved true, after all. So they crouched behind the door in the back of a shop that stood adjacent to the Constable’s Office. As Fendig walked out of their field of view, they crept out and darted around the next building, then the next, to keep him in sight.

Sure enough, he did not turn into the archery range. Instead, he continued on into the grasslands east of town.

Cover became more difficult as they left town, so Raedrick and Julian let Fendig get further ahead of them. Fortunately, there were a few hillocks, bushes, and trees scattered here and there they could use for cover. A good thing, too, since Fendig occasionally looked backwards, clearly checking to see if he was being followed.

“Being awful cautious, isn’t he? That says it all right there.”

“Not necessarily,” Julian replied. “He could be meeting his mistress or something.”

Raedrick gave him a look that practically screamed, ‘Are you serious?’

Julian just shrugged and smirked. “Hey, you never know.”

Fendig continued on for a couple miles until a large copse of trees came into view on a hilltop off to the southeast. He veered to the right, directly toward the copse, and picked up his pace. From time to time, he looked skyward at the position of the sun, but he no longer looked behind. Either he was convinced he was in the clear or he was pressed for time. Or both.

After a brief conversation, the two friends decided to risk being seen by closing the distance between themselves and Fendig. They set off at a jog, circling off to the side and following the rise and fall of the terrain toward the hilltop in question, being careful to keep the rise of a hill between Fendig and themselves as long as they could, to avoid being seen. But eventually, they came to a point where there was no more cover between the copse and them, and they were forced to wait until Fendig entered the trees before sprinting to the copse themselves.

For a moment, Julian thought he had given them the slip. The copse was larger than it had appeared from the distance. It would not be difficult for him to slip out while they were looking for him within the trees. But then the sound of a branch breaking, followed by a loud thud and a muffled curse, issued from the undergrowth ahead.

Julian bit back a chuckle and exchanged a sardonic look with Raedrick, who looked just as amused, and relieved, as Julian felt.

Raedrick indicated, using hand signals, that they should separate and circle around Fendig. Julian nodded and moved slowly around to the left, being careful to disturb as little of the underbrush as possible. It would not do to give away his presence.

In reality, he need not have worried. Fendig shoved his way through the copse without bothering to try to be quiet. Julian shook his head in amusement. Fendig would never make it as a…

“Took you long enough.”

Julian froze. The speaker’s voice was deep and gravelly, and came from the area ahead of him and to the right, right around where Fendig was. Moving slowly, Julian tried to see who it was, but even without more than the buds of leaves on the plants’ branches, there was too much undergrowth between him and them to make anything out.

“Sorry. It took longer than I thought to get away.” That was Fendig. He sounded nervous, but not surprised, to be meeting the other man here.

It looked like Julian’s suspicions were correct. Raedrick would owe him a drink after this. Smiling thinly, Julian cautiously moved forward until he reached a place where he could see what was going on.

Fendig stood facing three rough-looking men in a small clearing. They could only have been Isenholf’s men. They wore the same leather and steel armor the others of his band wore and they had the shifty look of men who prey off others. No wonder Fendig looked about ready to jump out of his skin from nerves.

“So what do you have for us?” The man in the middle was the speaker. A few years older than the others, he had several visible scars on his head, neck, and arms. No doubt who the leader was here.

Fendig swallowed and looked around the area quickly, almost as though he was afraid to speak. Finally, he replied, “What did you do with the Constable?”

The brigand snorted. “What do you care? He’s out of the picture, and now you’re no longer the Deputy. That was what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but…” Fendig wrung his hands anxiously, then tried again. “I thought maybe you’d scare him off, discredit him. Not… you know.”

All three men burst out in mocking laughter which lasted for almost a full minute. Wiping his eyes as he got himself under control, the leader shook his head. “Don’t worry, little Constable. He’s not dead.” His grin turned positively vicious. “Not yet.”

Fendig shrank back, his eyes growing wide.

The leader rolled his eyes and said, “What did you think was going to happen? Did you think we were going to just let them spy on us? Should we have just asked please, with sugar on top, stop doing that, and, by the way, please send us the Constable so our pal Fendig won’t have to live with his condescension anymore?”

Fendig’s gaze fell to the ground, and he shook his head. Clearly he was out of his depth. Scared, ashamed, guilt-ridden. Julian almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

Then the brigand leader pulled a small pouch off his belt and shook it. It jingled loudly; from the sound of things, it was full of coins. “Maybe this will help you feel better,” the leader said.

He tossed the pouch to Fendig, who caught it with a half-smile. The smile became a full-faced grin of avarice when Fendig looked inside the pouch at the coins.

Whatever temptation Julian had to feel sorry for him evaporated completely.

“What do you have for us today, Constable?” The brigand leader put special emphasis on the title, and Fendig’s grin expanded a little bit.

“They’re focusing on building defenses around the town,” Fendig said. “I think the incident with their scouts has them a bit spooked.”

“Is that right,” said the brigand leader. It was not a question.

Fendig nodded quickly.

“Anything else?”

Fendig frowned and stood in silence for a time. Thumbing at his lip, he appeared uncertain as he pondered things. Then his eyes widened.

“Yes! There is one more thing. There is a woman working with them now.”

“A woman?” The brigand leader looked surprised.

Fendig nodded. “The lone survivor of your attack on a merchant caravan in the pass, two weeks ago. For whatever reason, she is involved now. Though what she does, I could not say.”

The brigand leader frowned, but did not say anything.

Fendig apparently took his silence for disapproval and swallowed hard. “I…I know she gave instructions to the scouts. The survivor said…”

“Survivor?”

Fendig blinked. “Yes. You took the Constable, but the other man made it back to town.”

The brigand leader’s grimace made Fendig go pale until he gestured for Fendig to continue.

“He…he said she told him to bury things to protect the campsite, but didn’t say how they would. I’m not sure what that means. But she seems to have some authority with the two men the Mayor hired; they do what she says.”

Julian had to stop himself from snorting. They didnottake orders from Melanie!

The brigand leader had a different reaction entirely. His eyes grew wide when Fendig mentioned burying the stones. He glanced at his fellows, who had similar reactions, then returned his attention to Fendig.

“You need to get more information about this woman. Who is she? Where did she come from? Who does she spend time with? Every detail. Do you understand?”

Fending looked confused, but he nodded acquiescence.

“Good. Meet back here in three days. And you better have something useful to tell us.”

Fendig swallowed. He looked as though he was going to say something more, but instead he just nodded and backed away until he was out of reach. Then he turned and hurried back the way he came, snapped twigs and branches with every step.

“That’s bad news, Yosef,” said the man to the brigand leader’s right. after Fendig was out of earshot.

The leader, Yosef apparently, nodded, though he looked uncertain. “Possibly.”

The other brigand snorted. “Bollox. Just superstition from a woman who don’t know no better.”

“And the two heroes?” Yosef spat the last word in digust.

He snorted again. “The same. Only reason we know the difference is we’ve seen the real thing.”

The leader shrugged as though conceding his comrade’s point. “Regardless, Farzal will want to learn of this. Let’s get back to base.”

As they turned to leave, a branch moving on the far side of the clearing caught Julian’s attention. Looking there more carefully, he saw Raedrick through the branches. He had a deadly serious expression on his face. Pointing at the three brigands, he made a quick cutting gesture in the air.

Julian nodded in reply. He agreed completely; those three did not need to return to give that report to Isenholf.

* * *

Fendig’s expression when Julian and Raedrick pushed the leader of the three brigands ahead of them into the Constable’s Office was priceless. Surprise morphed into recognition combined with irritation, which then changed into shock, followed by dread and, no doubt, the recognition that he had been caught. Fendig’s eyes danced between them and their captive wildly and his jaw worked as though he was struggling to find words to say.

“Look what we found, Fendig,” Julian said with a jolly grin. “Care to open up a cell for us?”

Fendig nodded quickly and pulled out the cell door keys, then led them back into the cell block.

“We caught this fellow and his two friends about four miles east of town. They attacked us on sight. Between that and their attire, they’re Isenholf’s men for sure.”

Fendig nodded quickly. His hands trembled as he turned the key in the lock of the third cell door on the right. “Where are the others?" he asked, a noticeable tremble in his voice.

“Still out there.” Raedrick made a vague gesture toward the east. “Scavengers need to eat, too.”

Fendig paled. Gulping, he swung the cell door open and waited while Julian shoved the brigand inside. Then he moved quickly to slam the door shut and lock it. As he turned the key in the lock, Fendig avoided looking at the brigand, who was slowly collecting himself. Rubbing at his wrists where Julian had bound him, the brigand almost looked grateful to be in the cell and untied. Except for venomous look he directed at Julian and Raedrick, and the look of contempt he reserved for Fendig.

“Let me out of here, Constable, or you’ll be sorry,” the brigand growled.

Fendig blanched and turned away.

“Now, that sounds familiar, doesn’t it, Rae?" Julian said.

Raedrick nodded and fixed Fendig with a piercing gaze. “The first thug we brought in said almost the same thing to you, Fendig.”

“Well why shouldn’t he? Until you guys came here, they pretty much had free rein. I expect he thought Malory and the Mayor would be too intimidated to keep him.”

“He thought wrong.”

The brigand barked out a mocking laugh. “Wrong? They released him with apologies, didn’t they?”

Raedrick favored him with a smirk. “Because we told them too, so we could follow him back to your hideout.”

The brigand’s eyes widened momentarily, his mocking grin slipping a bit. He glanced from Raedrick to Fendig and back and ran his tongue over his lips as though suddenly uncertain of himself. Julian couldn’t help but chuckle.

Turning back to Fendig, Raedrick’s smirk faded, replaced by a grim expression. “Of course, both he,” he jerked his thumb toward the locked-up brigand, “and the first guy asked you, not Malory. Almost seemed like he knew you.”

Fendig spluttered. “Preposterous! I introduced myself when you came in. And this guy knows they have Malory captive, so he can’t be Constable anymore.” His tone was affronted, but his expression was frightened. The little weasel knew he was caught but was trying to feed them a line anyway? He had more nerve than Julian thought.

Raedrick nodded slowly and pursed his lips in the way he did while considering something carefully. After a moment, he looked at Julian and gave a little shrug.

“Relax, Fendig,” Julian said and he stepped forward to clap the deputy on the shoulder. “It’s just that we’ve been thinking Isenholf must have a mole here in town. So we followed you this afternoon.”

Fendig’s eyes went wide and he tried to pull away.

Too late, little man.

Julian took a firm grip on the former Deputy’s forearm and used his own momentum to twist the arm behind his back, slamming him into the bars of the cell next to the brigand’s.

“How long have you been feeding them information, you slimy little worm?” Julian growled into his ear.

Fendig cried out in a mixture of pain and despair. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he did not say anything. Next to him, the brigand’s eyes grew even wider, then narrowed in chagrin. There would be no release for him. Not unless Isenholf emerged victorious. That had to look like long odds from where he was sitting.

Julian snatched the cell keys from Fendig’s hand and tossed them back to Raedrick, who proceeded to open the cell across the hall from the brigand.

As he pulled Fendig away from the bars and shoved him into his new cell, Julian quipped, “Enjoy your stay.”

Glimmer Vale is the first book of the Glimmer Vale Chronicles, an ongoing heroic fantasy series set in a world of valor and magic. It will be published here, one chapter per week, on Tuesday.

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