*
Tasha was beginning to get angry.
She and Garn had been hiding in the shadows beneath the lookout tower for far longer than they should have been. All of her doubts about Hal suddenly came back with a vengeance. But Garn had managed to convince her that Hal would be a bigger help going along with them than he would be as a member of the hunting party her father would send after them.
Nevertheless, Tasha thought sourly. If he doesn't show up in the next minute or so I'm heading out without him!
"Tell me again how big a help Hal is going to be," Tasha whispered sarcastically to the young mage.
Garnthalisbain eyed her coolly, keeping his thoughts to himself. Even then, he wasn't willing to admit that he might have made a mistake. Then he shrugged, as if to say that it didn't really matter to him.
Another long, quiet minute passed by. Then another. After the third, Tasha rose to her feet, unable to wait any longer. "That's it," she muttered under her breath. "You coming or what?" she asked as she crept almost soundlessly over to the side wall. On the other side was the short path that would be leading them through her father's vineyards. The mage shrugged once again and, after carefully retrieving his several bags of belongings, rose to follow her.
The wall was roughly twenty feet high and mortared out of solid stone with nothing resembling a handhold readily available. Not for the first time, Tasha was suddenly uncertain that this was what she wanted to be doing. It also occurred to her that she might have actually wanted to plan things out a little bit better than she had up to this point.
I can't believe I forgot to bring a rope.
"Sorry I'm late," whispered a soft baritone voice from directly behind her. Tasha started violently and just managed to keep from screaming in shock. She spun about and found herself staring into the barrel chest of an exceptionally tall man.
Tasha took a step back and launched a punch at the big man. "Where have you been?" she hissed angrily at Hal, who made absolutely no move to block the blow that bounced harmlessly off of his solid upper body.
"Again milady, I apologize. I was... I got here as soon as I could.". Hal was simply dressed, wearing his normal ragtag outfit with his vest open in the front. His trademark ratty pants and drawstring sandals were in place as well. He had a pack slung over one massive shoulder and he carried a well wrapped, meter long parcel in one hand. His battle axe rested against one hip, hanging from his belt.
"So, what's the hold up?" Hal asked politely, blinking as Tasha glared at him.
Garn snickered childishly. "It seems that our great leader here didn't consider that we might need to get over this wall if we want to leave the keep."
Hal looked twenty feet up to the top of the wall and had to agree with the mage. Silently though. Tasha glared fiercely at the mage in a futile attempt to quiet him. Garn spitefully snickered again, not really caring one way or the other by that time.
"Couldn't we just go out the front gate, milady?" Hal asked.
Tasha huffed impatiently. "No, Hal," she explained for what felt like the thirtieth time that day. "If we go out through the front gate we'll have to tell the guards where we're going, and I don't want to have to do that." she hissed, biting off each word with intensity. "Now, are there any other questions you'd like to ask me again? Because if not, we should probably get going." Tasha turned back to the wall with a puff of breath and stared at it in frustration, as if willing it to vanish of its own accord.
Garn looked at the two of his friends and thought about snickering once again. But, after catching the dangerous look in Tasha's eyes, prudently decided against it.
Hal looked down at the wrapped parcel that he held in one hand and hefted it once or twice. It appeared to be quite weighty as it smacked into his palm.
Tasha regarded the large man narrowly. "What are you doing now?" she whispered.
Without saying a word, Hal grasped the parcel in both hands and, with a mighty heave, hurled it into the air. Tasha watched in amazement as the oblong object sailed easily over the top of the wall, clearing it by a good ten feet. A second or two later there came a muffled thump as the parcel struck the ground on the far side of the wall.
Tasha was almost beside herself. "What did you do that for?" she hissed frantically.
Hal suddenly looked embarrassed. "Well... " he began uncertainly. "I guess, umm... . You see, that thing in the blankets weighs about sixty or so pounds. And... I figured if I could toss it far enough over the wall that... I might be able to... " He trailed off feeling too foolish to go on.
Garn was unable to stop himself from snickering again. Tasha however, was completely beside herself. "There is no way," she stated matter-of-factly. "That I am going to allow you to even attempt to throw me over that wall. None! You hear me?"
Hal hung his head. "Yes, milady... It was just an idea."
Tasha was about to continue her tirade but stopped when it hit her. It was an idea. And it came from Hal!
Admittedly, it wasn't a terribly good idea. But it was a start.
"Are we quite done here children?" asked the harshly sarcastic voice of the mage as he recovered from his momentary hilarity. "Or are you both going to stand there all night, wasting the precious little time we have, bickering over a moot point?" Both Hal and Tasha glanced at each other weakly for a brief second as Garn went on. "Now, in order to go over the wall, we'll need some rope." He then reached under his robe and withdrew approximately fifty feet of sturdy, rawhide rope. "Any questions?"
Tasha was astonished. "Why didn't you tell me you had that?" she asked accusingly.
"You didn't ask," he bluntly retorted. "Besides, if anyone's going to do the thinking around here, it's probably going to be me. Now let's get going before we lose our escape window." He began to unravel the rope, revealing a grappling hook on one end. "Shall we?" he asked, offering the rope to Hal.
"You and I are going to talk later," Tasha threatened the young mage.
"Promises, promises."
Hal took the rope from Garn and inspected it carefully. Satisfied that it would hold their weight, he pulled on his work gloves. As the other two backed away, he began to swing the grapple in a circle. When he felt that it had built up enough momentum, he let it fly.
The hook sailed easily over the wall, trailing the fluttering rope along behind it. After hearing it hit the ground on the far side of the wall, Hall started to reel it back in. It made a quiet, scraping noise as it slid up the side of the wall, searching for a place to stick to. Finally, near the top of the wall, it caught. Hall tugged on it mightily for a moment or two to secure it, then motioned for Tasha to go first.
She took the rope from the big man wordlessly and began to ascend with a fair display of agility. When she was halfway up, Hal motioned for the mage to follow along behind her. Garn shook his head minutely. "No thanks. I'll watch your back and go last." Strangely, Hal noticed Garn playing with a goose feather, twirling it with the fingers of one hand as he spoke.
But he shrugged it off, not particularly caring at the moment, and ascended the rope.
Hal heard the mage whisper softly beneath him but thought nothing of it as he continued to climb. He was slightly relieved to see Tasha reach the top without incident and look down in surprise. Hal was even more surprised as he watched the mage casually float past him with a snarky smile on his thin lips. Garnthalisbain continued to soar up to the top of the wall and hover above it, his robes flowing about his frail form in the gentle breeze.
Hal muttered a brief curse under his breath and continued up the wall.
After reaching the top of the wall, Hal gathered up the rope and let it fall down to the other side, just next to an animal trough. Holding his end of the rope firmly in both hands, Hal motioned for his friends to head down.
Garn snickered again and took a step out into the open air. Without a sound he floated down to the earth below. Tasha took up the rope and descended, hand under hand.
Hal's allowed his gaze
to wander up to the lookout tower, trying to see if anyone was taking note of their escape. He could dimly make out the silhouette of two people, men presumably. They seemed to be drinking and having a good time. He could even faintly hear them laughing in the distance.
For a brief second Hal's mind wandered to the last conversation he'd had with Aeros. More than anything, the big man wished that he could back there and properly say farewell to his surrogate father. But he had the feeling that he'd never get the chance.
A fervent tug on the rope suddenly drew Hal out of his reverie created a new predicament. The rope and hook fell harmlessly to the ground as Hal's arms wind milled back and forth in large circles. Desperately, Hal tried to regain his balance, throwing his weight backwards and forwards as the instant warranted. Realizing that he was about to pitch headlong to the stone floor of the courtyard, Hal twisted his body and lurched heavily in the opposite direction...
And thus, Hal fell from the wall.
Hal executed a complete somersault through the air as he plummeted. His arms were flapping like some over muscled, featherless bird as tried to right himself. He had almost completed a second spin before landing face first into the full animal trough with a loud splash and a strangled yelp of fear.
Garn clapped one hand over his mouth and dropped to both knees in the turf, trying with all of his might to keep from bursting out into laughter. As it was, his thin shoulders shook severely and several strangled chuckles managed to escape his lips.
Tasha took a step forward to assist the large man but stopped when he managed to push himself out of the trough under his own power. He was soaked from head to toe and his hair hung wetly over his face like some over-used mop. Pushing his hair away, Tasha saw the completely dazed expression on the big man's face and the way his eyes couldn't seem to focus on anything. In fact they seemed to be almost rolling around in their sockets aimlessly.
Then, despite all of her anger at his being late. Despite the uncontrollable problem she'd had in his dream and every other absolutely putrid thing that had happened that day, Tasha, too, began to chuckle slightly. "Oh, Hal" she muttered sympathetically, pushing the remaining strands of hair out of his face.
Hal spat out a long stream of water and said nothing.