Don Callander "I find it somber and melancholy," Manda disagreed. She shook her head. "There's a desolation here that the prairie around Ramhold didn't have, though it's just as empty."
"It's the dark color of the trees, I think. Besides, you miss the touch of mankind on the land, don't you?" Tom guessed.
"I am, after all, a child of comfortable castles and crowded towns. I like my landscapes cluttered with plowed fields, with knights on horseback, and hunters in the forests and fishermen on the lakes. And mothers with children, spin-ning wool yam before their doors."
Clem gazed at her in surprise.
"My lady, you must forgive me, but I feel just the opposite. Knights mean loud noises and sudden violence. Their horses have forgotten how to run silently in the forest. They frighten every little critter they meet."
He looked wistful. "I do agree with you about mothers and kinder, though. A family has been denied me, for what good woman would share solitude with me, I wonder?"
"There will be someone, somewhere," said the princess, consoling his wistfulness. "But as for me, give me some population."
"I'm in the middle," said Furbetrance. "I like people, but I like the peace of the high open skies, too."
"That's probably what we have in common, you Dragons and I," suggested Tom. "I can take *em or leave *em, alike. And I think this is beautiful country."
"You, Tom, are a poet at hearta-and so are the Dragons. Could you live here as Clem does?" Manda asked.
"Well, not exactly. I don't have the skills."
"Not the skills, perhaps, but they are easily learned," agreed the fur trapper, "if the desire and the understanding are there, sir."
"That is true," Tom replied.
Clem hunched himself forward, saying, "Hi! My cabin is just ahead. Dusk is near. Dragon. If I'm to see signs, I'll need the light of morning. Besides, Princess and Librarian are weary. Set us down there."
He pointed out a tiny clearing among uncounted miles of trees. At first his companions couldn't see the cabin, so hidden was it under the eaves of the forest, but as the Dragon wheeled steeply down, they spotted it against a dense wall of pines.
Before it a low cliff overhung a stream playing cheerfully between sharp rocks and mossy banks, plunging over tiny waterfalls and racing from pool to pool, reflecting the orange-gold evening clouds and the pointed tops of the conifers.
"Home!" exclaimed Clem with a pleased grin. "Or the best of my several homes, at least."
The sturdy, well-chinked log house was clean, roomy, and comfortable, enough even for castle-bred Manda. Across the front, facing the cliff edge, the river below, and the treetops beyond, ran a wide, roofed-over porch furnished with rustic chairs and split log benches. Within, it was divided into four roomsa-a combined sitting room and kitchen with a massive stone fireplace and chimney, two smaller bedchambers, and a storeroom smelling strongly of damp fur and slightly tainted meat.
"You must forgive the smell," said the trapper. "That's why I need to move my pelts before it gets warm, you can understand."
Manda wrinkled her nose and stayed away from the storeroom. Tom set about toting in wood from a great stack outside, for the evening promised to be cold, and Clem began to saute sliced onions and forest herbs from his stores in a huge, black iron skillet. The mouth-watering smell of cooking onions filled the cabin and overwhelmed the odor of the pelts.
Being in his own home brought out latent instincts of a host in the shy trapper. He prepared a good dinner of smoked game hen from his larder, found a jug of beer in his springhouse and managed to produce clean blankets and even wild-goose-down pillows for his guests.
"I'll sleep here on the hearth," he said. "Mistress, please endure a night in my own bed if you can. Tom, the other bedroom is not as clean or as neat. The last ones to use it were the kidnappers."
He bustled happily about like a housewife, and made them surprisingly comfortable when they retired for the night.
The Dragon disappeared into the forest on his own business. When Tom rose with the sun the next morning, he 82.Don Callander DRAGON COMPANION 83 found the great beast curled protectively about three sides of the log structure, snoring peacefully despite a morning hoarfrost that whitened his scales.
After very welcome baths in the trapper's ingenious bath-house down by the streama-water warmed by the night fire was led down to it through wooden pipes that, Tom realized, represented many a summer day's work of drilling and fitting.
Furbetrance splashed in one of the larger pools and proclaimed himself completely refreshed and ready to fly. During all this Clem found time to bake loaves of bread, prepare breakfast, and pack a hearty lunch.
"You know of my pelts?" Clem took Tom aside to ask, diffidently.
"Yes, and smell them, but it isn't too bad, I guess. It didn't spoil my sleep or my appetite, anyway."
"I'd wish to carry them with us, if we could. They're a whole year's labor for me, and quite valuable, delivered at Wall."
"I did say we'd make arrangements for them, didn't I? Yes. Well, let's consult our winged friend."
Furbetrance, whose olfactory passages were inured to strong smelts of sulfurous fumes and flammable gases, had no objection to packing the ripe furs behind his shoulders.
"Providing they can be securely fastened so as not to interfere with flying," he said.
"Tie *em as far aft as possible." He whispered to Manda, "If the odor is offensive to you. Princess, I'll shake them loose."
"The good man deserves our help, even though we've promised to pay for any losses," decided Manda. "I can stand it for a few days, I guess."
Clem led them out of the cabin, closing the door behind him with the latch string hanging out, in case anyone else came looking for shelter. A faint track ran under the trees along the clifftop and here the tracker pointed to signs of the passage of several horsesa-and mules, he insisteda-in half-frozen mud.
"Sixteen riders, I make it. This road leads only east and west. The Snow Mountains are too high to climb, especially as they're still snowcapped. To the north the going is too weta-ponds, streams, and bogs at first, then the long, narrow lakes in Lake Country. Good for trapping but bad for traveling, except in midwinter, when *tis frozen solid."
"Then it should be easy to follow the trail from the air," said Furbetrance.
"They had no choice but to go toward Wall, I'd say. There they'll hope to take ship, most likely, or follow the coast down to Mantura or Obsidia, barren lands both. There are a few poor ports on midcoast but they're never pleasant to visit, I hear. Don't take much to strangers."
"I've been thinking," said Manda as they clambered to the saddle on the Dragon's head. "If I were kidnapping Rosemary to use as a hostage against Murdan's interference with my Uncle Peter, where would I take her?"
"You know better than I," said Tom. "What have you decided?"
"Not decided, but suspected, my dear. Look around you: the land to the north of here is, Clem says, inhospitable to men, especially men on horseback."
"That last is certainly true," agreed Clem. "Trade horses for boats and you'll do better in the Lake Country in summertime."
"Unless I'm very wrong, if the captors are Uncle Peter's hirelings, they'll have access to the ocean. Many Gantrells are sea captains and merchant sailors."
"What is their blazon, mistress?" asked the fur trapper. "I'll tell you if they ever come to Wall. I do business with many such each year."
"Blazons? I'm not sure what you mean."
"Gantrell's flag shows a great black bear reared on its hind feet, mouth agape, paws spread," put in Furbetrance as he ripped through the bright sky, following the westward track. "It's his ancient family ensign, the Standing Bear of Gantrell."
"Ensign, blazon, they're the same thing, m'lady. Blazons are brightly painted on mainsails and sewn on large sea-going flags, you see, so ships will be known by those who meet them at sea. A bear upright, eh? I've seen several with that sail marking over the years, come to think of it."
Furbetrance flew swiftly now, covering distances in one morning that would have taken the party days on horseback. The land, true to its name, was broken, twisted, and sharply 84 Don Callander upthrust, slashed by uncounted streams and rivers, creeks and rills, all of them roaring freshets at this season, carrying melting snow from the mountains.
"If we don't overtake the kidnappers before they reach the coast," said Clem, "we'll find them in one of the ports along the Sea Wall."
"I thought it was a town called Wall," Manda said.
"From far northwest, south to where the mountains meet the ocean, the coast is one long, high cliff with its feet in the sea. At places the top is a thousand feet above the water. Quietness Ocean beats at its foot with constant thunder. Wall is the best and largest of many ports along the Sea Wall," Clem explained patiently.
"How then do ships take on cargo?" wondered Tom.
"In some places the beach beneath the cliff is just wide enough for a town to get a toe in a crack. Traders load their holds from small craft that are practiced at plunging through the wild breakers to and from the ships at anchor in deeper waters."
"How do they get such a great bundle of furs down to the beach?" Tom wondered.
"Lowered by winches! Everythinga-furs, horses, supplies, and even men. Closest thing to Dragon flying I've ever seen and not nearly so comfortable or safe!"
He went on, "Wall is the one exception. The Sea Wall is mostly slippery black slate, easily shattered, but at Wall it's breached by a great slump. This allows foot and horse traffic down to the waterside."
"Sounds delightful," shuddered Manda. "Isn't a slate cliff very dangerous?"
"Very!" cried the woodsman. "Every year men die when the stone breaks away or a horse slips over the spill. I drag my pelts on a sledge and never trust a horse myself. Sell the sledge for firewood, too, rather than haul it up again!"
They paused only long enough to eat a cold lunch on an island in the middle of a long, narrow lake of magnificent beauty, set like a jewel between mirrored, thickly wood-ed hills.
"Be in Wall afore nightfall, I reckon," Clem told them. "Dragon flying has its advantages. Used to take me a week to cover the distance hauling a sledge!"
DRAGON COMPANION 85.
He had Furbetrance stop every hour or so to check the trail. By now the trapper could almost call each mount by name and its rider also. At one stop he brought them a rag of blue silk he'd found beside the path.
"Rosemary has a gown of that material," Manda confirmed. "It's been cut, but rather roughly, not torn. Is that a good sign or a bad, Clem?"
"I can only guess, mistress. Perhaps Lady Rosemary cut the cloth from the bottom of her gown to make it more comfortable riding."
"I believe you're right," said Manda with great relief. "It's the sort of thing our Rosie would do."
"I hope so," said Furbetrance to Tom. "We can only guess at the behavior of her captors."
"If they'd intended to slay her, they would have done so long since," Tom said. "No, they have a purpose in keeping her alive."
"We must be careful," Furbetrance cautioned hurriedly. Manda and the trapper were returning within earshot. "If they're startled by our sudden appearance, no telling what they might do in panic. Kidnapping is a hanging offense!"
After they'd resumed their flight, the Dragon suggested that they waste no more time checking the trail.
"I agree, sir Dragon," said Clem, nodding his head vigorously although there was no way Purbetrance could see the gesture. "They've come this far along, they can be headed for nowhere but Wall."
By late afternoon, with but an hour of sun left, they saw the sharp, black line of the Sea Wall, and the dark blue of Quietness Ocean beyond.
DRAGON COMPANION 87.
^10^.
Over the Wall THE Slippery Slate Inn offered the best accommodations in Wall. To it came the more successful trappers or sea-men, the first fresh from Lake Country; the others, officers from the ships that called at that out-of-the-way spot to buy pelts.
It offered clean bedsa-you paid four times more if you wished a whole bed to yourselfa-plain yet hearty fare, leaning heavily on shore and sea foodsa-roast beef cost a fortune. Its roof was sound. Its taproom was a popular gathering place.
Most important, the inn had a bathing room with hot water and plenty of strong lye soap and rough towels, and its owner. Master Gregory Squiller, knew when to look the other way and never asked embarrassing questions.
"Set us down at the front door," directed Clem as Furbetrance circled high above the seaside town. " *Twon't do any harm to let *em all know we came by Dragon, I guess?"
Manda and Tom agreed. The Dragon swooped down on the Slippery Slate like an angry hornet.
A small crowd of patrons gathered outside the inn to have a drink in the cool evening aira-drinks were cheaper outside than ina-gawked in stunned surprise when the Dragon landed on the broad cobbled yard in front of them. Some cried out in alarm and fled, but most stood their ground but kept their hands well away from belt knives and pocket bludgeons. Dragons had sharp eyes as well as hot breath.
"Innkeeper!" shouted Clem, sliding off Furbetrance's head. "Innkeeper! Rooms for the night!"
Master Squiller burst from the inn like a cork from one of his bottles, wiping his sweaty palms on a stained apron and bobbing his head in welcome.
86."Sirs! Era sirs and madam! The Slippery Slate, at your service! I be Squiller, your host. What do ye require?"
"Let's see," said Tom. "Two of your very best rooms, side by side. Fresh-laundered sheets. Board for three and fodder for the Dragon, who'll sleep outside, but nearby."
"Easily, dear sir!" exclaimed Squiller, practicing his obse-quiousness. "The estimable Dragon can sleep right beneath your windows, if he will. My stableman will providea-oh, say, fifty bales of fresh salt hay?a-for his easy repose. Will you step this way, lady and sirs? In out of the night chilla"
He led them inside, leaving the outdoor drinkers to stare at the enormous Dragon in awe. Furbetrance gave them all a polite little bow and turned to look for the hostler and his fifty bales of salt hay.
Squiller wrung his hands in eagerness and greed, adding up the price he intended to charge this important-looking party. Manda, in her best lady-of-the-castle manner, sat in dignified silence, looking about regally, while Clem and Tom spoke to Squiller about their accommodations.
"I can let you have the two best front roomsa-the left-hand one is really a suite, has a parlor and dressing rooma- for a hundred-fifty silver vols the nighta-"
"Say rather two hundred and a half in silver the week'" cried Clem in outrage. "I've rented your sitting room-bed- room for a third of that and felt cheated."
"Ah, you've been here before?" asked a deflated Squiller. "Yes, I didn't recognize you without your ten day's beard and trapper's aroma. Clem of Broken Land, is it not?"
"Then you'll know I'm a man of my word. I pay my bills in cash and on time," snapped the trapper, still angry. "We'll pay thirty a night for the four of us and take our meals in our rooms. None of your added-for-this, added-for-that!"
"Sir! Sir! The hay alone will cost that much! Fifty bales of finest salt hay!"
"Let me tell you, friend innkeeper, it had better be top quality, even at my offer. I know this Dragon. He's used to the very best and'd bum down the whole port if he found he'd been cheated of even a half bale!" growled Tom, getting into the spirit of the haggle.
"Well, well, of course, there's that to be considered," the 88.Don Callander DRAGON COMPANION.
89.innkeeper sighed even more deeply than before. "Forty of silver, and that's my best offer, sirs."
"Dear innkeeper," interrupted Manda, softly. "Look out the window, please."
When Squiller went to the front window he saw the drinking crowd outside had grown tenfold, so far and fast had the word spread of the arrival of a Dragon.
"You'll make fifty times the price of our rooms just in beer and ale," Manda said. "Thirty vols for all, and that's our last offer!"
"Well, well, and well," sighed the innkeeper. "Thirty-five, in advance, little lady."
"Thirty, and we pay when we leave, if the service is good," retorted Tom.
"Done!" cried Squiller, quickly. "Come! Let me show you to your rooms."