It was late morning on the first day of spring when Coaldon departed for the West City Gate to meet with Robbet. As he approached the gate under the watchful eyes of the guards, the crowd of vagrants was finishing their meal. He felt uncomfortable because more guards were patrolling the area than usual. The seething animosity of the crowd was barely contained by the threat of military intervention. Coaldon had no doubt Crossmore would crush any further rebellion by the beggars.
The man wearing the red hat sat against the city wall. Coaldon reclined next to him. Saying nothing, Coaldon pulled the hood over his head and watched the crowd. A loud shout drew his attention to the west gate. As he watched, he saw Blind Hilda standing over Topple next to the guard station. Her anger was directed at Topple, who had just kicked the cowering dwarf.
The crowd showed distain for Topple’s unmerciful treatment of the poor dwarf. The guards supported Hilda with shouts of approval. As the guards focused their attention on Topple’s punishment, Pacer slipped past the guards and sauntered into the city. Hilda’s wrath ended as quickly as it started, allowing Topple to crawl into the crowd on his hands and knees. The crowd laughed at Topple being humiliated by the old blind woman.
Finally, Coaldon said to the man in the red hat, “Should we meet here?”
The man responded, “Yes, this is a good location. Robbet is sitting next to you.”
Coaldon glanced to his left to see Robbet wearing a black robe. Coaldon asked, “Can you help us?”
Robbet did not respond for several moments. He slowly replied, “What are you willing to pay?”
Coaldon said, “We will pay you two gold pieces now, and five after you have completed your task.”
Robbet’s body jerked in surprise when he heard the large amount of money he would be paid.
Coaldon continued, “If you fail us, your price will be painful and tragic.” Robbet smiled as he responded, “You have nothing to worry about. We accept your offer. We will be ready tomorrow morning. We have already picked the targets for our attacks.”
Coaldon slipped Robbet two pieces of gold, “Here is the down payment for your services. We will ask you to attack within the week. We will only give two hours’ notice. We will fire off several skyrockets over the city. The burst of the fireworks will indicate you are to attack within two hours. Your final payment will be found under a pile of rocks next to the entrance to Ringbond Cave on the day of the attack.”
Robbet nodded in agreement.
He responded, “It will be my pleasure to do something other than hide in the grass like a baby deer”.
With a broad smile on his face, Robbet stood up and disappeared into the crowd. Coaldon walked back to the campsite to rest in preparation for the ordeal looming before him.
In the center of the city, a different scene was being played out. Pacer walked slowly up and down the rows of merchants in the market place. After he had carefully examined most of the products for sale, he decided to sit in an obvious location next to the water fountain. The sun was exceptionally warm for the first day of spring. As he sat with his back against the base of the fountain, the warm sunshine massage his body into a tranquil state of serenity. Even though he had many concerns, it was pleasant to allow the problems of his life to melt away.
His eyelids were closing when someone kicked him on the leg. As he opened his eyes, he saw Magee standing over him.
She yelled at him saying, “Just don’t sit there! We have work to do. I am not paying you to sleep. Now grab these bags and carry them to the palace gate for me.”
Pacer jumped to his feet in a gesture of submission to Magee’s demands. He followed several steps behind her with his head bowed and body hunched over.
After they had entered a side street leading to the palace, Magee turned to him and said, “Well, what do you have to say for yourself?”
Maintaining his submissive pose, Pacer quietly responded, “We are almost ready to rescue you, Noel and Norbert. We have found a way into the palace and located a shaft in the East Tower next to Noel’s chamber. We have started to clear out the rocks plugging the shaft. Tomorrow we plan to clean the remaining rocks and locate Noel’s room.”
Magee realized several people were watching their exchange.
She ruffled in anger, saying, “No more excuses! Why are you doing such a poor job?”
In a whisper, Pacer continued, “We will tap on the wall of the shaft to locate the room. When you hear the tapping, please return the tap with a solid object. If there is an emergency, tap three times. We want to make the rescue within the next few days. We will escape the city on horseback. Do you and Norbert want to go with us?”
Feigning disgust Magee replied, “Of course, now get to work?”
Pacer said, “Once we break through the wall of the room, we can make the final arrangements for the rescue. While in the palace, please do not say anything about the escape without using noise as a cover. Spies might be listening anywhere. We will see you in two days. Tell Noel that her brother is anxious to meet her.”
As several people approached them on the street Magee yelled, “Now pick up these bags and follow me.”
Pacer delivered the packages to the palace and returned to the marketplace. The sun was setting when he saw a crowd of people walking toward the West Gate. He joined the group, working his way toward the middle of the crowd. He left the city without being challenged. He returned to the campsite as darkness captured the last rays of sunlight. Later, as the group ate their evening meal, everyone shared the events of his day. The level of excitement was growing among the warriors as the actual time of the rescue grew closer.
On the following morning Pacer, Brother Patrick, Coaldon and Earthkin left their campsite before dawn with a full load of equipment and supplies. They arrived at the entrance to the drain tunnel at the first light of day. The journey under the palace and into the basement was uneventful. The group took extra care to examine all aspects of the winery and hallway leading into the basement for signs of any recent activities. Pacer’s expert tracking skills revealed that the last people to enter the basement were the soldiers three days ago. Upon arriving in the old guards’ quarters, the four men wasted no time in clearing the remaining rocks from the shaft. By mid morning the shaft was ready for someone to begin the ascent to the top of the East Tower.
Earthkin could hardly contain his excitement, “I want to climb the shaft. This is my type of job. I have the strength and skill to accomplish the task. It may take a while for me to complete my task, so you can relax.”
Earthkin loaded his chest pack with climbing supplies, food, a long rope and the pulley. Several days before, he had a rope specially made that would be twice as long as the tower was high. The dwarf crawled into the shaft, placed his back to one side and his feet on the other. With a grunt, he started to climb by rotating the pressure between his feet and back to slowly creep up the shaft. Earthkin’s strength made it easy for him to make steady progress. About half way, he found the area where the wall had collapsed. Using a torch he discovered that three sides of the wall had buckled under an unknown pressure. The collapse had created a large, open space that halted Earthkin’s progress. As he studied the area behind the collapsed wall, he realized it was part of a secret system of tunnels used to move covertly around the palace. By all indications it had not been used for many centuries. Out of curiosity he wanted to follow the passageway, but reluctantly decided it was best not to venture from the agreed upon plan.
In the rubble, he found several old oak beams that had supported the shaft wall. He propped one end of the beam onto the opposite wall of the shaft above the collapsed area and the other end on the floor of the passageway. He decided to climb up the beam, get above the collapsed area and continue his climb. As he crawled onto the old beam, he felt it shift and slide down the wall. He prepared himself for a fall, but the beam lodged in a hole. Earthkin gave a grunt of relief as he looked down into the black pit below him. With a renewed commitment he finished climbing up
the beam, carefully positioned his body and again wedged his feet and back on opposite sides of the shaft.
The climb up the remaining section went more quickly. When he reached the top of the shaft, sweat was dripping down his face; his muscles were tired; and his fingertips were raw from pushing against the wall. Beyond that, he was having a wonderful time. Even though he had to fight unending spider webs and many bugs, it felt good to be back in his natural element. The dark, cramped quarters of the shaft offered him a sense of security and belonging.
At the top of the shaft, Earthkin found a metal door. On the underside of the door he found several heavy metal support straps. He noticed there was a gap between the door and the straps. This would provide him a place to attach the pulley. He hoped the metal straps would support his weight.
He grabbed a strap, allowing the full weight of his body to test its strength. To his, relief the bar held. He made every effort to eliminate any unnecessary noise. He placed a piece of leather around the metal strap before attaching the pulley. He threaded an end of the extra long rope through the pulley, attached a weight to the end of the rope and lowered it down the shaft. The rope finally stopped dropping at approximately half its length. He felt a tug on the rope from his companions in the basement. It had been agreed that Pacer would anchor the rope to something solid at the base of the shaft.
Earthkin let his body weight test the strength of the rope. To his satisfaction the rope held.
Using the rope for support, Earthkin lowered himself down the shaft to a point where he thought Noel’s chamber might be located. Taking a metal spike from his chest pack, he struck the wall a sharp blow. He waited for several moments, but did not hear a response. He dropped down the shaft in sections and repeated the process of hitting the wall with the spike. At last he heard a tap in response.
Earthkin used a hammer to drive the metal spike into the mortar of the stone wall. He placed a piece of leather over the head of the spike to diminish the sound of each hammer blow. The rough surface to the wall broke away easily. Earthkin used the spike to loosen the rocks. After working for a half hour, he had progressed about four hand lengths into the thick wall. He was concerned about the noise caused by rocks falling down the shaft, but there was nothing else he could do. He paused to rest his arms and to readjust his awkward body position in the shaft. He had placed his legs and back into a wedged position allowing his arms to work freely. Earthkin’s physical strength and endurance were starting to fade. As he rested, he heard several male voices talking at the top of the shaft. He guessed the men were soldiers using the tower as a lookout. He listened to the muffled conversation of the guards.
One guard said, “Do you think the tower is haunted? I keep hearing sounds coming from somewhere in the tower.”
The other guard laughed saying, “With Crossmore in the city anything is possible. Maybe the ghost is a victim of Crossmore’s magic. It might be a spirit looking for someone to haunt. Ah! Ah! Ah! Maybe its Regee.”
The first voice responded, “Don’t be silly, I am serious. I do hear strange sounds.”
The second voice answered, “I was just joking. I agree with you; I think the tower is haunted by something unnatural. I would like to get a transfer to another unit, but we will be stuck up here for another three days. Let’s get something to eat and stop talking about ghosts.”
With renewed effort, the dwarf hit the spike an extra hard blow with the hammer. The spike met little resistance as it penetrated into the room. He saw a small point of light pass through the hole. He used the spike to quietly open a small hole. He did not want to create any more noise in the room than was necessary. When the hole was about the size of his fist, he paused to allow someone inside to respond.
Finally, he heard a woman say, “Good afternoon, how may I help you?” Earthkin was so stunned by the welcome, he could only pause in silence.
The voice continued, “I am very busy today, please state your business or be on your way!”
Earthkin had been so focused on achieving his goal of accessing Noel’s chamber that he found no humor in the situation. Yet, after several moments he had a shift in attitude.
He responded, “I am sorry for bothering you, I must have the wrong address. I will try next door.” After saying this, he plugged the hole with a rock.
To his delight, the rock popped out of the hole as he heard giggling erupt from the room.
A voice inside the room said, “My name is Magee. We will help you open the hole. Please be very quiet. We do not want to arouse the suspicion of the guards in the hallway. We think they are already suspicious.”
It took 10 more minutes to finish opening the hole. The dwarf crawled into the chamber and stood in amazement at actually being in Noel’s room. For months he had only dreamed of being in the room, now it was a reality. Magee, Norbert and Noel greeted him with enthusiastic handshakes and hugs. After the rush of emotions had passed, Earthkin bowed and whispered, “My name is Earthkin. I am a Warrior from the Dwarf City of Rockham. It is my pleasure to be at your service. I have been accompanied by Prince Coaldon, Pacer, Brother Patrick and Topple. Your grandparents send their love.”
Without further discussion, the dwarf rested while Magee and Noel silently cleaned up the debris and placed a large tapestry over the hole into the shaft.
In a quiet voice, Magee stated, “The change of the guard will take place in several minutes. They check inside the chamber to make sure we are present. You can hide in the closet until the room check is completed.”
With a nod of understanding, Earthkin found a comfortable position in the small, dark closet. Moments later, he heard a door bang open and heavy foot steps invade the quietness of the chamber.
He then heard a loud male voice dictate, “Emperor Crossmore has requested your presence at a formal dinner in his apartment tomorrow night. You are to come without your guardian.”
Noel answered, “I will not attend without my escort.”
The voice commanded “You will attend the dinner as ordered. You will be ready at 7:00 tomorrow evening. May the Light of Crossmore shine on you.”
Earthkin heard the door slam with an abrupt echo.
He slowly opened the closet door and saw the three captives sitting around a table in shock. Noel’s angry face was blanched with helplessness, frustration and desperation. Her eyes were not focused on the room but gazed off into the world of her thoughts. After several moments, her attention returned to room. Never before had she faced such a dangerous and humiliating situation. She knew it was necessary to act in a decisive manner. She had to establish what she would accept and reject. With her eyes staring at the floor she proclaimed, “I will not go to Crossmore’s apartment as directed! They will have to take me screaming and kicking! He is not my master! I must do what is right, not what Crossmore tells me to do!”
In an unusually soft voice, the dwarf said, “I compliment you on your resolute attitude. You are responsible to do what is correct, not convenient. I must say this adds a new complication to the rescue. It will be too dangerous for Noel to be alone with Crossmore. I believe we must make the escape tonight.”
This declaration caused the three captives to show anxiety at the new turn of events. The thought of escape had always been a dream. Yet, to actually face the escape was disturbing and frightening. In silence, Earthkin allowed time for the three captives to adjust to the rapidly changing circumstances.
In a positive tone, Noel finally declared, “I am ready to go, but I will not leave my friends!”
The dwarf responded, “They are invited to join us.”
Decisively, Noel followed, “Then let’s get started. How do you plan to get us out of here?”
Earthkin responded, “You can climb down the shaft by rope. We will need to figure out a way to get Magee and Norbert out of the palace. We entered the palace through the old winery in the basement. You could escape the same way.”
Magee answered, “Yes, but very few people ever go down the
re. We would create suspicion if we were seen in the basement.”
Earthkin said, “Maybe this evening you can make a trip to the old winery using the excuse of needing to put old furniture into storage. You will not return to the room, but join us on a vacation trip to the mountains. How does this plan sound to you?”
The three captives glanced at each other. Then Noel said, “What choice do we have.”
She looked Earthkin in the face, proclaiming, “We accept your gracious invitation.”
After a small meal, Earthkin stated, “Noel, I will need to prepare you for the descent down the shaft. Have you ever repelled down a cliff?”
Shaking her head, Noel responded, “No. I have lived a very sheltered life. I have not been allowed to learn anything that might increase the possibility of escaping.”
Earthkin followed, “Well, it is time to learn a new skill. You should wear pants and a loose top. You will need to move freely.”
He reached into his pack and pulled out a rope. With expert hands he tied together a harness for Noel to wear around her waist and shoulders. After Noel put on the harness over her dress, Earthkin adjusted it for a snug fit. He explained how the rope was to feed through several metal clips and wrapped behind her body. Earthkin threw the rope over a beam in the room, requiring Noel to practice rappelling down the wall of the chamber.
When Noel had performed to Earthkin’s expectation, he questioned, “Well, are you ready? Is there anything else we need to consider before I return to the basement?”
Magee responded, “We can not begin the escape until the guards do their last room check. That is usually at 9:00 o’clock.”
Looking at Noel, Earthkin concluded, “When you enter the shaft you can brace yourself by placing your feet on one side of the shaft and your back on the opposite. This well give you time to attach the rope and prepare for the descent. You can practice by using the walls in the closet. It is best to slowly descend down the shaft. It will take time for you to learn to coordinate releasing the rope and walking down the shaft wall. You can do it, but do not panic if you have a problem. We will be ready to help you. Also, the wall of the shaft has collapsed about half way down. You will only have one wall to place your feet. So be ready for this obstacle. When you are ready to begin your descent, drop a rock down the shaft. Please be careful. We want to present you to your brother in one piece.”
With the plans in place, Earthkin quickly climbed down the rope in a hand over hand descent. When he arrived in the basement, he provided the details of his day to his three companions. He said, “There has been a change of plan. It is necessary to complete the rescue tonight. We cannot allow Noel to fall into Crossmore’s hands.”
The room was quiet for several minutes before Coaldon responded, “I suggest I go to Hilda’s home and let her know of the change of plans. We will need to get the horses ready. Hilda can make the arrangements to shoot off the rockets and pay Robbet.”
After a short pause he continued, “Brother Patrick, please wait in the winery for Magee and Norbert. You can escort them to Hilda’s house. I will ask Topple to keep a magical eye on Crossmore. We do not want him to do something that would endanger our plans. Pacer and Earthkin will wait here for Noel. If there is no further discussion, then let’s rescue my sister.”
~ ~
Let It Begin