An early rise was required the next morning. Neither Nedric or Rialto were particularly keen on this idea even though they had more than their fair share of early mornings over the last few weeks. Today there was another good reason; they were going to ride on the boardway to the end of the line! Not Herit but the other end, which was still under construction.

Only because they might be working there in a few months time were they being allowed to visit. There was a certain amount of security surrounding the workings of the boardways. Whilst the construction techniques of the carriages were simple enough, some of the developed techniques had been kept from the students. Likewise, the practical considerations of moving and placing the boards had required some development and the Duke of Asgril was particularly keen that no one from the neighbouring country of Nothering was to learn these techniques. The two countries were not the friendliest of neighbours and the Duke saw no reason to help his northern neighbours in their progress.

The students were eager to get going but not so eager that they missed a filling breakfast. There was no guarantee when they would be back or what the food would be like in the interim. Rialto had already packed a good supply of food and he was not the only one. Nedric had seen the sense of extra rations. There were very few inns in that direction and they were unlikely to be staying in the best accommodation.

The carriage awaited them. They were quickly aboard along with several workmen from the construction site. The carriage was different from the normal ones they had seen in that it carried one of the boardway planks on a support quite a way above the carriage proper. Master Karik was quick to point out that this was so that it would not interfere with the smooth running of the carriage.

The journey itself was completely uneventful. Once the passengers had acclimatised themselves to the slightly jolting motion of the carriage it soon passed from mind. The students were more interested in the scenery passing at a fast but comfortable rate. The carriage was no faster than a fast horse but the motion was continuous and there was no need to change horses. A rider trying to keep pace would be exhausted whilst the passengers were still fresh at the end of the journey.

The journey itself was about five hours and the end of the boardway was a bit of a surprise. Nedric had assumed that the carriage would roll up to the end of the line and stop but there was not just one end to the line. The line split into two and Nedric could see that there were several carriages similar to the one in which they rode sat empty on the other branch. As they dismounted Nedric was surprised to see another carriage, this one without passengers, pull up behind their carriage. He thought about things a little and it made more sense. There was no way that all the planks could be transported with just one carriage doing a ten hour round trip. So the carriages must all be sent to one end, loaded, driven to the other end and unloaded. Nedric could see that everything would be much faster if there were two boardways running parallel to each other but the expense must be prohibitive.

The large items of construction equipment used to move the planks were perhaps the least interesting aspect to the construction, although Nedric did notice that Arren was making sketches and idly wondered why. What was more interesting to Nedric were the way the boards had to be set into the ground on supports strong enough to take the weight of the carriages and this required different techniques depending on the type of ground. He asked a question of one of the engineer types who was sat drinking some sort of hot drink off to one side of the construction.

“Why is it that if the carriages don’t actually touch the boardways or even push away from them that the supports need to take the weight of the carriages?”

For an answer the engineer pulled out a large timepiece from his pocket and let it dangle down from a chain attached to it. “Why doesn’t the watch hit the floor?” he asked. “The chain is holding it up.”

The man brought the watch upwards so that the chain was at full extent. “What happens when I let go of the watch?”

“It will fall towards the ground.”

“So why doesn’t the chain hold it in place.”

“Well it can’t can it, the ground is pulling it in the same direction as the chain.”

“Well actually the chain isn’t pulling it at all. It is those pulls that matter though. When the watch is hanging down there is pull from the ground and an equal pull from the chain that’s why it doesn’t move. Now let’s look at a boardway, first the carriage. If it is over an impressed board then what are the pulls or pushes. There’s the pull from the ground and the push from the board and if there were nothing to stop it, that push would throw the carriage off the board so there must be a pull from the board as well. All these pulls and pushes have to even out or there would be a movement somewhere.”

“That’s how the carriages move, there is a push that isn’t cancelled out by a pull!” Nedric was getting the idea.

“Now lets look at the board and the supports, what are the pushes and pulls? There are pulls from the ground and then there are the pulls from the wheels of the carriage, which we know is a stronger pull than the pull from the ground. So there must be a push from the carriage as well and we know, because we’ve tried these things out that the push downwards on the supports is equal to the weight of the carriage passing over it. Actually there are more pushes and pulls than that but I was trying to simplify things.”

Nedric thanked the man but his head was reeling. He was trying to get his mind around the idea of all these pushes and pulls. He thought he had the basic idea. If there is a push in one direction, there is also a pull in the opposite direction, that was if everything were to stay in the same place.

They spent the evening around a campfire that the workers had built. There wasn’t much to do so Rialto was quite popular when he started to play his mandolin. The light wasn’t particularly good so Nedric couldn’t do any juggling. He was quite happy about this as the workers had offered them all some cheap wine and Nedric was now fairly relaxed.

They slept in large tents that held six people if they arranged themselves properly. There was talk amongst the boys of slipping over to the girls’ tent when the masters had gone to sleep but if it happened Nedric wasn’t aware of it as he went quickly to sleep. He awoke early the next morning to find that camping is much colder than sleeping in inns.

The next morning they were taken about two miles from the end of the line. There they were able to view the most impressive act of construction so far attempted.

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The boardway was intended to travel into the neighbouring country of Esteril and there was one major obstacle. That obstacle was the River Antrim. Smaller than the one down which they had travelled to Elseth, it was still over thirty yards wide and fast flowing.

The two rivers joined a few miles to the south and the engineers had little choice for a site for the river crossing. On either side of the river rose sheer, granite cliffs and the engineers were building a bridge between them. It rose from both sides to almost form a majestic arc. There was a gap of perhaps ten yards between the two constructions. The width of the bridge was more than wide enough for two boardways and Nedric wondered about this but then thought it was probably cheaper to build one large bridge rather than to have to build another later on.

As far as Nedric was concerned that was about the end of anything worth seeing at the boardway. They had been shown everything of any interest and if there were any particularly novel ideas that they hadn’t met, then they were unlikely to be told about them because of the security precautions. Anyway most of the next few days were spent with various workers on the site explaining the history of the construction and the particular difficulties that had been overcome to date. The engineer Nedric had met on the second day told one particularly humorous tale.

He had been explaining to the group about the strength of the forces present when the carriages were operating and how one of the older engineers had suggested that there could not be enough force to push a carriage as big as the ones they were building at any great speed. He had even gone so far as to state that on an uphill climb he would be faster than the carriage. To demonstrate this, he had climbed halfway up the steepest incline on the boardway and started to move when the carriage had reached the bottom of the hill. The group burst into laughter at the engineer’s description of the older man desperately trying to get out the way of the carriage only a couple of minutes later.

What particularly interested the students was the chance to get to look around the city. It wasn’t until the fourth evening that Master Ernick relented and said that they could leave the town house as long as it was in pairs or larger groups. Nedric and Rialto were out of the doors within seconds of him finishing speaking.

Nedric had never been to Elseth before and had no idea where to go or what to do but Rialto was in a hurry. He wanted to find one of his father’s colleagues before he went out for the night. As Nedric was stopping to look around at the sights that presented themselves as they passed along the city streets, Rialto had to practically drag his friend after him.

Elseth was not a particularly clean or attractive city. As the two boys moved through the place they had to avoid piles of garbage that were placed at the end of each of the minor roads. Rialto explained that workmen with carts cleared each pile during the night but that by early evening they had grown again. At least there were no open sewers. One of the earlier rulers had ordered sewers built after having something unpleasant thrown over him when passing through the city. A small river had been diverted to help keep things flowing through the underground routes but the smell from the drains was appalling. Rialto told Nedric that the major problem was that garbage was dumped in the sewers and tended to block the ways. If the flow was too constricted then the city had temporary open sewers until the blockage could be removed.

The houses were built closely together with only the larger, more prosperous residents having any form of a gap around their dwellings. The rest of the houses leant against each other like drunkards walking home after a heavy session. Nedric wondered if he was to remove one of the buildings whether all of the others would come falling down like piled dominoes.

The streets themselves were reasonably wide but it was hard to tell this, as most of them were crowded with people selling every object under the sun. Even where the streets were clear of vendors there was still a crush of bodies, as everybody seemed to be out enjoying the early evening air. The only gaps were where various guards were posted.

The town guards were required to maintain order and were renowned for the efficiency with which they did this. Street crime was rare, although pickpockets and other skilful criminals were still about. The less skilful were often found unblocking the sewers or clearing the garbage, the King believed in giving criminals every possible incentive to have honest jobs. Repeat offenders had increasingly long sentences. Those criminals who believed in a more aggressive approach to their victims were normally killed. Violence upon the Kings’ subjects was not just frowned upon; the King believed that everybody should be able to walk safely around his city.

Nedric saw a juggler working in front of a crowd in the distance and wanted to watch. Rialto grabbed him by the shoulder and forcefully led him in the opposite direction. As they walked the nature of the houses began to change. There were more that stood alone and that suggested that there were more people with money around. Rialto told Nedric that they were in the region of the city primarily habited by those who made their money importing and exporting goods. The goods themselves if they were ever to see the city were stored in large warehouses by the river.

The man that Rialto wanted to see, lived in one of the larger residences. The particular area was unusual in that the houses overlooked a grassed area on which there were a few benches generally next to trees. Nedric assumed that this meant that the area was particular expensive and wondered how Rialto expected to get to see the obviously wealthy merchant.

It seemed that Nedric’s fears were to be realised when Rialto knocked at the front door and a particularly impressively built doorman, who by his manner suggested that he felt that the boys had no business there, answered it. Even so, Rialto just asked for the merchant by name, gave his name and waited.

The response was almost immediate. A large, dark-haired man appeared, his voice booming as he welcomed them inside. He had an arm around Rialto’s shoulder as he swept that boys into a spacious and expensively furnished guesting area.

“Rialto, good to see you, what brings you to my humble home?” he seemed almost deprecating about his house.

“I need to get a message to my father, Uncle Yurin!” Rialto sounded extremely urgent and Yurin gave him a questioning look.

“I’m not in trouble. I just have some information that he can make use of. I need to get the information to him quickly and without others knowing it.”

“Well I owe your father a fair bit so I guess I can arrange that he gets a letter, are you sure that it is that important and urgent? If I contact your father by messenger one of my rivals might notice and have your father watched.”

“I don’t suppose you have any samples of new cloth at the moment that Rialto’s father might be interested in?” Nedric felt that he should offer some comment in this conversation.

“That’s a good idea young man! I have some cloth which is a bit richer than Rialto’s father normally deals in but he might be interested in it if he has a new customer.”

“Well that’s all sorted then, the letter can be included with the samples and you’ve sent enough samples to him in the past that no-one will be surprised. So what’s new with you Uncle? Have you any interesting new tales to tell us?” Rialto settled back into his chair and Nedric sensing that he had no choice did the same.

It turned out that Yurin was an excellent raconteur and Rialto and Nedric had an excellent evening listening to tales of the various machinations that the merchants tried in order to gain an advantage over each other. At some point in the evening Yurin rang a bell and an elderly servant appeared with a tray containing a selection of sweetmeats and cordials. Nedric had never tasted a finer selection.

“A weakness of mine,” said Yurin, pointing to the sweetmeats. “My doctor says that I should keep away from them, that they’re bad for the heart but what does a quack know?”

Before they knew it the evening had closed and it was time for them to be getting back to the others. They both gave heartfelt thanks to Yurin for the entertaining evening and Rialto slipped a letter to him before they went.

There was no hurrying through the city. Although it was dark that didn’t mean that the streets were not still busy. People still filled them and vendors still plied their wares although now there were more sellers of food and less of crockery and ironmongery. Surprisingly to Nedric there were still a lot of people trying to sell jewellery of all types. Rialto told him that the trade flourished when men came out of the drinking houses and felt guilty about leaving their partners at home.

They were within five minutes walk from their residence when, with little warning, the heavens opened. Suddenly the route was clear and the two lads found themselves running through nearly empty streets. Nedric cursed as the rain turned the cobbled roads into streams and tried to flow over his boots. He had a perfectly good waterproof waiting for him in their room but he had forgotten to bring it.

The two stumbled through the door to the town house amongst calls to close the door and then further calls describing their bedraggled appearance. They ignored everyone and went to find a change of clothes after a warming bath.

“Tomorrow evening we go find that juggler.” Nedric remarked to his friend.