Mayor Tims was forced to stifle a chuckle as Timothy walked through the door of the town’s jail. He was covered in a light coating of snow from his head to his feet that made him look like a human snowman.
“Are you okay?” the mayor asked between chuckles.
Timothy gave him a crooked smile and a nod.
“What happened?” the mayor asked.
At the same time Nava walked in behind Timothy with a smile that nearly split her face. Timothy looked over his shoulder and then thumbed in her direction. The mayor looked from one to the other and shook his head.
“This is happening too often,” Timothy said to Mayor Tims, “I need to find a spell to clean off the snow afterwards.”
“Ya, I bet this will happen a lot,” Nava retorted dryly.
The mayor smiled, “You should go to the tent market after this,” he paused a moment thinking to himself and then nodded, more to himself than Timothy, “It sounds like a simple spell, one of the merchants should have something.”
“Thanks,” Timothy said to the mayor, then turned to Nava, “I’m not taking that bet.”
“Anyway, come in my boy. I have set everything up with Brian, the McManus brothers should be available soon,” the mayor waved him in, “You too Nava. Come, sit while we wait.”
Timothy and Nava made their way over to the waiting area, Nava sat down, Timothy started brushing himself off when Brian walked into the waiting area. He looked at Timothy, then over at Nava before pausing for a moment in contemplation. His massive hand started scratching his chin, then his posture changed, and he straightened up.
“Did you lose to her?” Brian asked.
“No…” Timothy paused, “Actually, I was beating her.”
“That’s where you went wrong,” Brian replied with a smile.
“I figured that part out on my own,” he said to Brian. It came out a little more harshly than Timothy intended, but it did not seem to bother Brian.
“You cheated!” Nava cut in.
“I didn’t cheat! I took advantage of your situation,” Timothy replied.
“Which you put me in!”
“Well, ya…, but still…” Timothy searched for what to say next, “You should always be prepared.”
She punched him in the arm. Not too hard, but hard enough for it to sting.
“That’s gonna leave a mark,” Timothy said.
“It will match the other two,” Nava replied.
Timothy looked up at Brian, “Can I file charges?”
Brian looked from Timothy to Nava then back to Timothy, “No,” he said in that deep rumbling voice that was more felt than heard. There seamed to be a tonal shift in Brian’s voice that left Timothy wondering if the big boarback was aggravated at his question.
Everyone in the small room paused, even Nava, and looked from one to another. They were all thinking the same thing, Did they piss this big man off? Brian eyed Nava and Timothy, little puffs of air erupting out of his nostrils, then, he smiled and the tension left the room.
The snow was beginning to melt from Timothy’s clothing and little droplets of water began puddling on the hardwood floor at his feet. Brian took notice to this and reached behind the counter and pulled out a large towel, then tossed it Timothy’s way.
Brian’s tone shifted again, “Take that and dry off at the entrance. I will not have water stains on my floor.”
“Yes sir,” Timothy replied without hesitation and made his way to the entrance.
Brian reached behind the counter again and tossed a smaller towel to Nava, “You! Clean up the puddles. I know you put him in that state,” his demeanor left no room for discussion and Nava started to dry the floor. Her shoulders showed that she was laughing as she dried the little puddles.
As Timothy dried off, he took a moment to look around and what his eyes told him made him understand why Brian was so adamant about not dripping on the floor. Timothy had never seen the inside of a police station or county jail, but this was one of the cleanest rooms he had ever been in. His mother would have approved.
After drying off, Timothy returned to the waiting room and handed the towel to Brian, “Good enough?” He asked.
Brian looked him over, inspecting him for any other snow, “You’re clear.”
He tossed the towels to one of the other guards behind the counter then looked over the group, “I acknowledge that there are rules on the books that allow for you to question the accused,” he paused and looked at Nava, “I will not allow anything to happen that could jeopardize the charges. Is that understood?”
Timothy and Nava nodded, the mayor just watched.
“Good. There is no physical contact allowed. No talking about the fight or the aftermath. If any of you two raise your voices, I will escort you out,” he paused again, “Is that understood?”
Brian certainly had an air about him that demanded respect and Timothy saw no reason to challenge this.
“Yes sir,” Timothy said while Nava nodded.
“Good. Please follow me.”
Brian turned toward a large, iron bound, wooden door that was almost big enough for him to pass through without ducking, but not quite. He pulled a large key ring from his right side and unlocked the door.
The group of three followed him into a short hallway that was maybe ten to fifteen feet long with an identical door at the other end.
“Please close that door,” Brian said to the mayor.
Mayor Tims turned around and closed the door they had just passed through. It took him some effort, but he managed to close it without any help, and it clicked locked as soon as it shut.
Brian repeated the process with the next door and the four of them entered the area with the holding cells. The room was a perfect square, at least to Timothy’s eyes, with three holding cells. There were two smaller cells, one on his left and one on his right, that stopped about 15 feet short of the far wall. The hallway that went down the center of the room was a little more than ten feet wide. The third cell was against this back wall and was much larger, spanning the entire width of the room. This was the only cell that was occupied, the residents, the three McManus brothers.
The three brothers stirred from the sounds of the group entering the room and sat up on their beds. Timothy looked them over and tried to remember which one was which, but the three brothers looked so much alike that he could not be sure. The one in the center of the cell rubbed at his face with his hands and cleared the sleep out of his eyes. He looked the group over.
“What is she doing here?” He scoffed when he noticed Nava in the group.
“They have some questions for you,” the mayor interjected.
“Talk to that bitch!?” the dwarf yelled as he stared daggers at Nava.
“You will watch your language in here,” Brian said. His tone even deeper to Timothy’s surprise, he didn’t think that it could have been possible.
The dwarf in the center turned his gaze on Brian, “Or what? You wanna hit me? Go ahead!” He got up, walked over to the bars and stuck his chin through them, “Common! Do it!”
The dwarf pulled back after a few seconds, “I didn’t think so,” he looked back at Nava, “I ask again, what are you doing here?” Emphasizing the word “you”.
“Like the mayor said, we have some questions,” Nava said through gritted teeth.
The dwarf quirked a smile, “Oh! Are you some grand investigator now?” he shook his head, “No! You are a failed gem user condemned to spend her life as a bouncer as some crappy little bar in the middle of nowhere,” he spit at her feet.
Nava’s face contorted into a mask of rage, the dwarf had hit a nerve. Timothy knew how deep that wound ran, but he doubted the dwarf did and he stepped between Nava and the jail cell. Her hands were clinched into fists, veins were showing on her neck and arms and her eyes were focused on the dwarf.
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Timothy placed his hands on Nava’s fists, pausing her anger, and caused her to look down at him.
“I need you to calm down,” Timothy said in a low voice, “We need information from them, and we need to remember Brian’s rules.”
“How sweet,” the dwarf said with disdain, “You standing up for your girlfriend again? Let her fight her own battles.”
“I would, but after she breaks your jaw, you won’t be able to talk,” Timothy said over his shoulder.
Timothy’s comment to the dwarf took the edge off Nava’s emotions, she was still pissed but could at least think rationally. She leaned down to whisper into Timothy’s ear.
“Aww…she giving you a kiss?” One of the other brothers said.
Nava’s body tensed and she adjusted her gaze to the dwarf that just spoke. She stared hard at him, causing him to subconsciously back up and he shut his mouth.
In a hushed tone she whispered to Timothy, “I think I am going to wait outside.”
“Don’t let them get to you. You can do this,” he replied to Nava.
She pulled back from Timothy and shook her head, “I am not ready yet,” she hesitated for a second, “but thank you.”
She turned toward the exit before Timothy could say another word.
“She leaving you to fight her battles, again?” The lead dwarf taunted, “You gonna blindside me again?”
Timothy had to steel himself and force his anger back down before he turned around to face the dwarf.
“Three on one? Are you talking to me about the ethics of a fight?” Timothy spared a quick glance at Brian. He was worried that this was dangerously close to breaking one of his rules. Brian mulled the comment over in his head, then nodded, allowing Timothy to continue.
The dwarf was taken aback by Timothy’s retort. Timothy could see the gears turning in the dwarf’s head, he was trying for a comeback that wouldn’t make him sound like a coward. After a few moments his posture slumped when he realized there was nothing he could say. Timothy looked from the lead dwarf to the other two, neither had anything to add.
“Good. I think we got that out of the way,” Timothy said, “Let’s try this again.”
The lead dwarf thought about it for a few seconds, then nodded.
Timothy took some time to look the three brothers over, they still had injuries from the other day. This gave him an idea that may help loosen their lips.
“Brian?” Timothy said with a questioning voice, “If they are cooperative, would you allow me to heal their injuries?”
Brian thought this over before agreeing, “I think that would be acceptable.”
Timothy turned to the dwarfs, “What do you say?”
The three started absently rubbing their wounded areas, “Agreed,” all three said in concert.
“Excellent! I was hoping that we could all work together to figure out what has happened over the past few weeks. Reports tell me that the three of you have been causing some trouble in town,” the three started to grumble.
“Hold on…” Timothy said with his hands up, “I am not saying this is true, but I am saying that this is the perception of the people in the town. Can we at least agree on that?”
The three brothers looked at each other then turned to Timothy, “Alright…” they said with a low grumble.
“So,” Timothy paced the room a little, “When did the three of you arrive in town?” Timothy already knew the answer to this, but he needed their answer as part of the show. He had talked to Nava about the dwarves during some of their sparring sessions and gotten the information.
The lead dwarf spoke, “A little over three years ago.”
A look of confusion crossed Timothy’s face, and he turned to the mayor and Brian, “When did they become a problem?”
“A little over two weeks ago,” Brian rumbled.
Timothy looked more confused, “Were they any problems before that?” he asked the room.
Everyone shook their heads.
“So, what happened? What happened three to four weeks ago to cause this shift?” He looked at the brothers.
They shrugged.
Timothy’s expression soured, “You’re not helping me here. Did someone say something to you? About you? Anything that could have aggravated you?”
“No, nothing like that,” said the lead dwarf.
“Okay. So, you are telling me that after three years of living here, without issue, the three of you decided to become a bunch of jerks? At least in the eyes of the residents of Yourso?” He shook his head with mock frustration, “What changed? What changed in the past three to four weeks?”
The lead dwarf scratched his chin, “Our shipments of metals stopped.”
Timothy froze, “Do you owe money for the metal? Are you behind on your payments? Why did the shipments stop?”
“No! Nothing like that. We have always paid for the shipment when it arrives.”
“Then why did the shipments stop?”
“I don’t know!” The lead dwarf said.
“Okay, let’s move on. What happened next?” Timothy asked.
“We kept waiting on the shipment. We figured that there may have been a delay due to the weather. We started to burn through our safety stock of metals while we waited for the shipment, but that only lasted a few days.”
“I am assuming that the shipment never arrived?” Timothy questioned and the dwarf nodded, “What did you do when you ran out of materials?”
“There was nothing to do at the forge, so we decided to go have a drink,” the dwarf thumbed towards the mayor, “It’s not like he was looking into the shipping delays.”
“I didn’t know,” defended Mayor Tims.
“How could you not?” The dwarf near shouted, “You collect taxes on the shipments!”
“Not until the end of the month and it takes a few days to compile everything. I will not see the tax reports for another few days,” the mayor responded.
Timothy jumped in, “Hold on. You are telling me that all of this is due to a bunch of misunderstandings?” He turned to the dwarves, “You assumed that people knew that you were not getting shipments and decided to do nothing about it?”
“Well…when you say it like that.”
Timothy jumped in again, “Then you decided to go drinking, while being pissed off, and then started getting into arguments and fights with the locals?”
The dwarves looked down at the floor, “I guess…”
Timothy cut them off and turned to the mayor and Brian, “Would you look into the reason that the shipments have not arrived?” he paused, “Before I make assumptions,” he eyed the dwarves, “Am I correct that in any case, the shipments should have been here by now?”
“Yes, the shipments should have been here by now,” Brian added.
The mayor jumped in to answer Timothy’s first question, “We don’t have an investigator in town, but I can send word to Fran.”
“Fran who?” Timothy asked.
The mayor chuckled, “I forgot, you are not from around here, Fran is a town to the southeast. They are a much larger town than we are, and they have a pretty good detective. We lean on them from time to time.”
“Okay. I think I got the information I needed. At least for the time being,” he looked to Brian, “If I have follow-up questions, would it be acceptable for me to return?”
Brian thought about it and then nodded, “Acceptable.”
“Thank you,” Timothy said to Brian, “They have been cooperative, can I heal their injuries now?”
--
Nava was in the waiting room when the other three emerged from the door that led to the cells. Brian was in the lead with the mayor and Timothy behind, talking with each other.
“I know I said that I would send word to Fran, but now that I think about it, you handled yourself well back there. Would you be interested in looking into this before I send a messenger?” asked Mayor Tims.
Timothy thought this over and then looked at Nava, “What do you think?”
Nava shrugged, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Your right, sorry about that,” Timothy turned to the mayor, “Can I talk this over with Nava and let you know later?”
“My boy! No problem!” He said with a smile, “Take what time you need.”
Timothy gestured his thanks to the mayor and Brian, “I appreciate your time and thank you.”
“What happened in there?” Nava asked.
“I will explain on the way to the market,” Timothy glanced out the window, “I want to get there before it gets dark, and it looks like it started snowing again.”
The snow must have started while they were in with the McManus brothers and Timothy just now noticed. To his defense, there were no windows in the jail cell area, so he could not have known.
“That works,” said Nava.
The two exited the jail, saying their goodbyes to Mayor Tims and Brian, and made their way through the light snow towards the tent market. Nava led the way.
--
Tallie ran through the snow with her children at her sides. This may be the last time that they would run with her, they were coming of age, and it will be time for them to leave soon.
Tallie’s master sent her and her pups out. This was normally her mate’s job, but she hadn’t seen him in a while, Tallie thought to herself.
Tallie’s master was a good master. She and her pups were always fed, never hungry. She loved master, and she knew master loved her. She knew this, she knew this because master gave her a collar. She was special. She was the only one that had a collar. She ran fast for him.
Master had her smell something before she left. It was a new sent, but she knew she could find it. Her nose was better than the others, she would find it, but for the time being she would follow her mate’s sent. She knew this sent and knew that master had sent her mate to the same place over and over again. Yes! Following her mate’s sent was smart! Tallie is smart, Tallie continued her thoughts as her and her pups ran through the snow.
Mate was gone for many nights when he left master. Tallie knew she was getting close to her mate. She had done this in only one night. She is better than mate! Mate usually takes many nights.
Tallie slowed and smelled the air. There was a smell that she was familiar with, a smell that happened on every hunt, fear, Tallie liked the smell of fear.
Tallie continued to sniff the fear in the area, there was a lot of fear from the two legs, but there was another fear mixed in.
Tallie sniffed.
Tallie growled.
The fear was from her mate, It took her time to understand this because she always believed that her mate was strong, Her mate was never afraid.
Tallie snarled! She smelled death, she smelled her mate’s death.
Someone tried to hide it, but Tallie could smell better than any other, she would not be fooled.
Darkness fell on the hillside and Tallie crouched low to the ground, slowly stretching her body to the sky, letting out a howl of sorrow and rage. Her pups joined her.
--
Timothy had finished perusing the market area, it was like a candy land to him. There were all manners of weapons, armors, potions and the like throughout the tented area. It reminded him of looking through the back of the DMG when he and his friends played D&D. The biggest display was owned by a bald man with yellowish skin. This man looked familiar to Timothy, and it only took him a moment to remember.
“Derick? Correct?” Timothy questioned.
“That is correct,” Derick studied him for a moment, “Timothy!” He exclaimed, “Timothy, correct?”
“Yep, that’s me.”
Derick motioned to his wares, “Anything you are looking for? I have the widest selection of items in the market,” he smiled, “I am sure you have heard that from all the other merchants, but for me, it is true,” his grin widened.
“As a matter of fact, yes. I am looking for a spell that will help me clean up, dry me off, or other general hygiene. It would help me in my travels,” Timothy said.
“As a matter of fact, I do! It is a low-level spell, but it requires the use of three gems. Fire, water and air. I have those gems for sale as well, if you need them,” Derick said.
“Just the spell for now, thank you,” Timothy replied.
Nava saw Timothy a few stalls away exchanging some coin for a scroll with Mr. Ambersmith. She had purchased a few first level healing potions with the money that she received from Timothy after the fight with the howler. She had been looking through the market for Timothy, the two split up when they had arrived and now that she found him she started making her way towards him.
Timothy could feel eyes on him as the transaction completed and he looked to his left to see Nava approaching him. He gave her a smile and waggled a scroll in her direction.
“Now I will be able to dry off the next time you…”
He was cut off abruptly by the sound of a howl in the distance, followed by at least one other. Everyone in the market froze.