Chapter 13 – Daily Bread
Askaro stared at Blin in the weak light penetrating the boarded windows. “You steal from others?” His whisper seemed to echo in the dusty room.
Blin returned his gaze. “If you don’t steal, you starve. There ain’t no handouts and no jobs, at least not for me. What other choice have I got? You had a home and family to provide for you. I ain’t had nothing since me mother died and I was kicked out.”
Askaro closed his eyes. Even the slaves on the Falcon had a better life than that. “I’m sorry. I have no right to judge you.”
Blin didn’t say anything. After awhile, Askaro looked over at his host. Blin appeared to be asleep. He didn’t know what to do. He had to find a way to get around Golarin and his men. He looked up at the cracked and peeling plaster of the ceiling. The men on the dock had talked about another stairway that led up from the old harbor. He hadn’t seen another stairway so it must come up in a different part of the city. He wondered if there might be other buildings like the Sail Loft that had entrances on different levels farther down the dock. He closed his eyes again and tried to picture his grandfather’s map.
Askaro woke with a start when something grabbed his arm. Blin shook him gently. “The fog has cleared off. Folks are about. We can blend into the crowd now. It will be harder for the trackers to spot you.”
He could hear the murmur of voices from beyond the walls. Blin motioned toward one of the boarded windows and Askaro followed. He peered out through a crack. The street seemed packed with people. “Where did they all come from?”
Blin moved to the broken door. “Some live here. A few rent a real place but many use old shops like this. Some folks from other parts of the city come to the shops that are still open. I hear them talking. Things aren’t as expensive and you can find stuff here that you can’t elsewhere.”
Askaro waited while Blin surveyed the feet of the passing pedestrians. There seemed to be a gap in the foot traffic. Blin nodded and they slipped out into the street. There was nothing to hide behind. There were groups of people resting along the narrow walkways under the eves of the buildings and more moved along the street in both directions.
The buildings on both sides of the street were solid two story structures with gables in the roof adding a third story. They all had rough mortared stone framing with brick walls. “All these buildings look the same. How do you know where you are?”
Blin pointed to a sign that hung at an awkward angle from the overhang by a door. “Even if the shops are closed down, many left their signs behind. No use for them, I guess.”
Askaro looked up, hoping to see a tower. Instead the top of what Blin had called Snob Nob rose beyond the stone and brick buildings. Large multilevel structures draped down the side, their colorful walls a stark contrast to those around him.
Blin paused and Askaro bumped into him. He turned around and pushed Askaro back behind the corner of the building. “You have to pay attention. There’s more than just trackers to worry about.” He leaned around the corner and pointed to a couple of men in blue uniforms who were making their way down the side street. “Them is Authority. You can’t trust them. Some take coin from Golarin. They’d turn you over without a shed tear.”
Askaro watched the two men moving slowly through the crowd. They occasionally stopped people and asked them questions but Askaro couldn’t hear the individual conversations over the general drone of voices.
As they drew closer, Blin tugged on his arm. “Let’s go have a look in this shop.”
Askaro glanced at the window next to them where an array of gears were displayed. “What are we looking for?”
Blin led the way into the shop. “An excuse to be off the street.”
The shop keeper was working on something at a bench. He wore strange spectacles that reminded him of tiny telescopes. The man didn’t seem to notice them. Askaro followed Blin toward the back wall where a row of bins held small pieces. Some were gears and others were unlike anything he’d ever seen.
Blin paused at a bin but his gaze was focused toward the large windows at the front of the shop. The two officers passed by and he relaxed.
Askaro turned his attention to the old man who was still tinkering with an object at his workbench. “What do you think it is?”
Blin leaned over the bin and watched the man for a moment. “Probably a clock or some kind of timer. That’s what this shop specializes in.”
He wanted to get a closer look but Blin pulled him out of the shop. After watching the crowd for a few minutes, they turned down the side street. The buildings looked the same but more of these shops appeared to be open for business. Askaro looked at the various goods for sale visible in the windows on their side of the street. There were clothes, foot wear, tools, and even a shop with musical instruments.
Blin crossed the street and paused at the corner of a narrow walkway that intersected the first story of that building. Two men stood near an open door. The older of them was shouting at the other. His accent was so thick, Askaro had difficulty understanding what he was saying. The younger man tried to say something.
The older man threw a piece of white fabric at him. “Enough of your excuses! You’re fired!”
The younger man’s face wrinkled. “But Master Jestro, I swear it wasn’t me. I haven’t taken anything from the pantry except what you requested.”
“No more words! Look at how plump you are, fattened off the goods from my shelves. Go away! I don’t want to see you again in my establishment.” The older man went inside, slamming the door behind him.
Blin sighed and looked away. Askaro gasped. “You didn’t!”
Blin turned and faced him. “Do you know what it’s like to be starving? Not just hungry, but so desperate for something to eat that you’re ready to chew on your own fingers. You’ve tried everything, even begging, but no one will give you a scrap. You learn to steal to survive.”
The young man was leaning against the wall crying. Askaro felt sorry for him. “And what about the people you steal from? Or that man who just lost his job?”
Blin looked away. “In this city, you fend for yourself or you die.”
“Then why are you helping me?”
The young man threw the white fabric to the ground. The apron was stained with grease. He staggered in their direction. Blin pulled Askaro away from the opening. The man walked by them without seeming to notice. He started down the street.
Askaro backed away from Blin and followed the man. Blin caught up with him. “What are you doing?”
He ignored the question and concentrated on keeping the man in sight without stumbling into a tracker or a uniformed officer. Blin sighed loudly but kept up.
The man stopped in the doorway of a small shop. The sign above the door labeled it as a bakery. A woman came up to him. “What do you want?”
He bowed slightly. “My name is Zane. I’m looking for a job. I was schooled by Master Apegio in the art of baking.”
The woman shook her head. “I do all the baking myself. I don’t have enough business to hire another.” She turned away to help a customer inside the shop.
The man continued on. He tried numerous shops with no less luck. As they followed him through Old Town, Askaro started to get a feel for the layout. He caught occasional glimpses of Bright Tower and Snob Nob that helped him orient himself within the maze.
After yet another dismissal, Blin tugged on Askaro’s sleeve. “How long are you going to follow this guy around?”
“I don’t know.” They turned down another street that teed and Askaro was surprised to see a building that looked totally out of place at the intersection. It had wood framing with plastered walls. The second story hung out over the first and it looked like there was at least one more story above that if not more by the gables on the roof. He couldn’t see the sign as it faced the other street. “That is an odd looking place.”
Blin laughed quietly. “That is the Dockside Pub. The new one. The old one bur
ned down a couple of years ago with nothing but the fireplace left of it. They kept it and built a new pub around it. I wonder how long this one will last with all that wood framing.”
The man opened the door to go inside but a heavy swaggering brute blocked his path. “What do you want, boy?”
“I’m looking for a job, sir. I’m a cook and a baker.”
The man laughed loudly and turned to someone inside. “Do you hear that, Munali? This plump blodger is looking for work!”
Laughter echoed out from within. Zane put up his hands and backed away. “I meant no offense.”
Askaro could now see the long black coat the drunken man wore. “He’s an airman, a Second Officer by the stripes.”
Blin pulled him closer to the building beside them. “How do you know?”
The airman took a loose swing at Zane, who easily got out of the way. His grandfather would never have allowed his crew to become so inebriated. It was a bad mark against the ship. “My father is an Officer.”
“Hmm, that would explain how your mother was stolen during a raid.”
Askaro ignored Blin’s derogatory tone. “My mother was the daughter of a chieftain of the Tree People. My father was protecting her.”
“By dragging her away from her own people and bringing her to this hell? How nice of him.”
Askaro glanced at Blin. “It’s not my fault. I wasn’t born yet. There’s nothing I can do to change it. Besides, my mother loves my father. He once offered to let her go home but she didn’t want to. She wanted to stay with him.”
Blin said nothing but quickly crossed the street. Askaro hurried to catch up. He noticed that the young man had moved off and was headed for the open space in front of Bright Tower. Blin was staying as close to the building as other pedestrians would allow. They crossed the street and stayed close to another building that ended a short distance from the door of the lighthouse.
Zane went up to an old man who had a pushcart. He was selling hot pies to people coming and going from the lower docks. He began to talk to the old man, who turned away from his cart to face Zane.
Blin grabbed Askaro’s arm. “Stay here. Whatever you do, don’t follow me.”
“What are you doing?”
Blin didn’t look at him. “Watch and learn.” He started moving through the crowd toward the pushcart.
Askaro leaned into the wall of the building and watched as Blin ducked around people and ended up behind the cart. Askaro lost sight of him but noticed him moving away a few moments later. He cautiously made his way back with something held close to his body.
Blin grinned as he came back to where Askaro was trying not to faint. There was a good smell coming from the cloth bag that the boy held. He patted it. “That was too easy.”
Askaro looked toward Zane who had moved away from the vendor. He was walking on the other side of the street. “Doesn’t look like he got anywhere with that one either.”
Blin nudged his arm. “Take a look at what we’ve got.”
Askaro looked down into the bag that Blin held open in front of him. There were several good sized steaming pastries. He glanced at Zane. “That’s a lot of food for just the two of us. We should share some with him.”
“What?”
He grabbed Blin’s arm for a change and followed Zane. “Well, he did loose his job because of your pilfering and he did distract the seller so you could get close to the cart. Don’t you think we at least owe him some food?”
Blin plodded along beside Askaro. “I suppose. But I’m not telling him anything and you better not either.”
“Fine. It looks like he turned down that street up ahead.”
Blin tensed. “I don’t like that street. It’s too easy to get trapped there. It swings around that building and turns back to this street by Gable Tower. Why don’t we just wait for him to come around?”
“And what if he doesn’t?” Askaro didn’t wait for Blin’s answer. He turned down the street. He quickly understood what Blin had been saying. The street turned again at the corner of the building. The buildings on the other side of the street must face the ocean. There were no openings that indicated more streets on that side. He noticed Zane about halfway down the block.
Blin was looking everywhere else. “Have you forgotten that Golarin is looking for you? His men could be anywhere. Coming this way is inviting trouble. We could easily get trapped back here.”
Askaro looked down the street. He could see the buildings at the end that forced the street to turn back toward the one they had left. Gable Tower rose above the rooftops in the very corner. Both the building across the street and the one at the far end had lower roofs. “If we get into trouble, we’ll jump up onto the roof.”
“Are you crazy? How are we going to do that?”
“I’ll help you. I can make that leap without a problem. I’ll boost you up first then follow.”
Blin put a hand on Askaro’s arm. “I have a better idea. It looks like our boy has been rejected again. He’s moving off toward the corner. Let’s go back to the other street and wait for him.”
Askaro could hear the note of fear in Blin’s tone. Had he been trapped here before? Maybe it was better to trust Blin’s experience. “All right.”
Blin turned and almost ran back to the other street. They hurried toward the far corner. Blin stopped before he reached it and pointed through a shop window. Askaro could see Zane inside talking to a man wearing an apron. He looked at the colorfully wrapped tiny parcels displayed in baskets. “I wonder what those are.”
Blin gasped. “Are you serious? You really don’t know? Remind me to grab a handful for you sometime. Candied fruit is wonderful.”
Zane left the shop. Askaro moved toward the corner. He cleared his throat as the man passed. Zane whirled and took a defensive stance. “If you’re out to rob me, you’re wasting your time. I have nothing.”
Askaro backed up in alarm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Zane relaxed slightly and tilted his head to one side. “You’ve been following me all afternoon. If not to rob me, what then?”
Blin leaned into Askaro’s side. He was shaking. Askaro thought fast. “We saw you were having a rough day. We just wanted to...”
A large hand clamped tightly down on Askaro's shoulder. Zane’s eyes went wide. The hairs on the back of Askaro’s neck stood up as someone exhaled behind him. “I’ve got you now, boy.”
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