The Defender: Elderwood

  ***

  Allan knocked on the back door to Merrick’s shop. He knocked twice, paused for an instant, then knocked once more. He waited for a moment, then repeated the pattern.

  Allan was certain, as soon as he questioned the skinny boy about his boss, that the boy would have some sort of signal to let Merrick know he was at the man’s door. Rather than wait for the boy to offer the information, Allan asked. Suspending the boy upside down in the air was enough to get the boy to tell Allan the signal.

  Not long after repeating the signal, the door opened. A man about Allan’s height stood just past the doorway. Allan cast a wind spell to blow the man back into his shop. Allan dashed through the doorway, slamming the door behind him.

  The man had been through against an interior door. The room was lit with a single candle. It was a typical owner’s room, with a table, a chair, and parchments and small boxes on the floor and the table. The walls were unadorned.

  Allan took a look at the man. There were a few lines around the man’s eyes. His brown hair was thin on top. His belly appeared stout through his dressing gown. However, his arms and legs were muscular. The man’s limbs were the only aspect of him that was remarkable.

  Allan pulled the man away from the interior door by his ankles. He put his left foot down onto the man’s right arm, so that the man could feel his boot. “Master Merrick,” he said, more statement than question.

  “Who are you?” The man’s voice was nasal. “What do you want?”

  “Callum told me all about you, Merrick.”

  “Do you want a cut? Is that why you’re here?”

  “I don’t want a cut. I want you to stop taking advantage of those boys.”

  “Look, friend, I’m not a bad fellow, honestly.”

  “Honestly?”

  “No. All I’m doing is just trying to keep these children from starving to death. So what if a few baubles from rich folk go missing?”

  “But it’s not just baubles from the rich, is it? Those boys steal from anyone they can. Even from those who have a lot less than you.”

  Merrick’s head bobbed back and forth, but he didn’t say anything.

  “And if you’re not such a bad fellow,” Allan continued, “why do you ask those boys if they have pretty sisters?”

  Merrick’s eyes widened.

  “If I went upstairs, would I find such a girl in your bed? Tell me, Merrick, do you keep those girls from getting pregnant? Or are you using them to make more poor children? Planning to keep your little kingdom going into old age, are you?”

  Merrick opened his mouth to scream.

  “Sleep!” Allan cast his sleep spell.

  Merrick’s attempt at a scream turned into a yawn. He was out in a moment.

  Allan went through the interior door. It led to the main area of the shop. To his right was the shop counter. To his left were four tall cabinets full of odds and ends, from rings to hats. Between the shop counter and the interior wall was a spiral staircase.

  Allan climbed the staircase. It let to a short corridor, that in turn led to a hallway. There were two doors on Allan’s left and two on his right. One on the left was partly open. Allan headed for it and pushed the door open all the way.

  Sitting up in the bed was a girl. Her hair was brown and curly. She seemed to have light brown eyes and a small upturned nose. She started shaking the instant she saw Allan. “Please, don’t hurt me,” she said in a small voice.

  “I don’t mean to hurt you.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I have what I want. I came for Merrick.”

  “Merrick? You killed him?”

  “No. I plan to hand him over to the guards.”

  “What about me?”

  “Open the shop when he does. If anyone comes to buy, sell them what they want. If someone comes to sell something, tell them Merrick does that, and he’ll be back in a few days.”

  “Then what?”

  “Keep what you make, but don’t steal from Merrick’s till. When the guards come, and they will, tell them your story. What’s your name?”

  “My name? Um, Elsie.”

  “Elsie, you may have to look out for yourself from now on. If there’s anything I can do to help you, I’ll try to find you and give you that help.”

  “Who are you?”

  “You may call me Defender. That’s what I do. I defend people like you from men like Merrick. Be well, Elsie.”

  Allan stepped back and closed the door. None of the other doors had opened. He decided not to check on what might be behind those doors. If no one came out of them, they don’t matter. Getting Merrick to talk is all that matters now.

  He headed back down the spiral staircase. Behind the shop counter he found a roll of twine. He used the twine to bind Merrick’s wrists behind his back, and to bind his ankles. Allan pulled Merrick’s sleeping body out to the alley behind his shop. He stuck himself through Merrick’s bound arms. He drew his rod, tapped it, and flew away.