Dragon - Dragon Companion - Dragon - Dragon Companion Part 29
Library

Dragon - Dragon Companion Part 29

"Our sincere thanks and congratulations," Fellows called to the Dragon.

Kedry interrupted, struggling to retain a vestige of authority. "You say you captured these pirates?"

"Yes, Bailiff," said Tom, gesturing at the small boats still trailing offshore at the end of Retruance's tethers. "We brought them back with us, as you can see."

"Ah, yes. Tell me if I am wrong. Your Honor," said Kedry, gaining confidence, "but is it not a felony to fail to punish piracy by immediate hanging or drowning, or at the very least, abandonment on a deserted island?"

"The old law does say that, I'm afraid," the mayor admitted, shaking his head in regret. "You should have strung them up or left them to perish on some lonely island. The punishment for failing to do so is a year of imprisonment!"

The rescuers looked at each other in dismay and the crowd fell silent. Most Lakeheaders had great-uncles, grandfathers, even brothers who had been marooned for piracy. The bailiff was speaking the truth.

"As to that," said Clem into the silence, "we faced one small problem."

"What is that?" demanded Kedry, glowering, his confidence restored. "What possible excuse could you find a ?"

Mayor Fellows had stepped over to the edge of the pier and was gazing down into Maiden's boats, which Retruance had now hauled close.

222.

Don Callander DRAGON COMPANION.

223.

"Shut your gap, fool Bailiff!" he ordered, sharply. He pointed at the bedraggled figures in the boats. "They did right, after all!"

Kedry rushed forward and what he saw almost spilled him into the lake.

"They're women! Girls! Ladies! What is this? Some kind of trick? These can't be pirates!"

The pirate's captain. Mistress Wrackey, glared angrily up at him and sneered, "Why cannot a woman be a pirate? We're as good or better than your grand-uncle Foghorn, who was a pirate, Kedry! Successful for nearly seventy years!"

"Aunt Wrackey!" wailed the bailiff. "How could you?

Piracy!"

"Well," said the lady pirate, allowing Tom to help her climb from the open boat onto the pier, "it were a more honest way to be dishonest than taking tax money on the pretense of being a guardian of the law, like some people I could name."

The crowd, which by now included almost every soul in Lakehead, cheered her words and applauded her forthright-ness. Bailiff Kedry, after the reference to his great-uncle Foghorn, withdrew within himself and had little more to say. He tried, instead, to hide behind the full figure of the lord mayor.

Fellows was on top of the situation, however.

"We'll reconvene the court of inquiry, at once!" he shouted to the crowd. "All who want, come to Town Hall in half an hour, prepared to listen and be quiet until justice is served."

This had the desired effect. The crowd, in a jovial and excited mood, hurried off across the square to Town Hall, rushing to get good places.

"ELF," intoned Mayor Fellows from the bench, "is the name of our species. It means females and males together, as a race. The word in the law doesn't refer to sex, one way or the other. We are all *Elf however delightfully divided between male and female, as I see it."

"The law," argued Mistress Wrackey, pounding her fist into her hand to emphasize her point, "does not ever say a female is forbidden to be a pirate. You may declare it differently now, but you can't prosecute my band for doing something that wasn't a crime when we did it!"

The court of inquiry had been sitting for four hours without even recess for lunch, and tempers were getting short and frayed. Mistress Wrackey glared defiantly at the mayor-judge, and Fellows glared back at her just as angrily.

"A remarkable lady, your pirate aunt," said Tom to Kedry, who was trying to sink into the hard seat of the front row. "She's obviously prepared for this! I think she may win her case, although I agree with the mayor myself."

"I only wish none of this had ever happened!" wailed the bailiff miserably. "Everyone will think I winked at auntie's piracy. I never knew it! Last I knew she was teaching town's school!"

"Lots of guts, has Mistress Wrackey!" laughed Clem aloud, calling down on himself the glowering stare of the mayor.

"Have you something to contribute to this argument? If not, sir, I would prefer you remain silent."

Clem shrugged his apology, but Tom raised his hand for attention.

"Yes, Master Librarian?" asked the mayor-judge. "Can you be of any assistance in this matter?"

Tom rose and approached the bench. Noises from the crowd, which had slowly grown as the hours passed, dimin-ished to silence once again. Something new was about to happen.

"I'm ignorant of the law in Carolna. Would it be a bother to the court to answer some questions?"

"I have a better idea," said the mayor wearily. "Let us adjourn for lunch and you can ask your questions over a bowl of my wife's leek soup."

"You're most kind to ask. Your Honor," Tom responded. "If I understood some points of law better, I may be able to suggest some solution to the present dilemma."

The mayor slapped the desktop before him loudly and proclaimed a recess for lunch. "Court will reconvene ata urn, four this afternoon. Bailiff, incarcerate the accused in the town jail."

"Well, Lord Mayor, er. Judge," Kedry hemmed and hawed, reddening in embarrassment, "I don't really thinka-" "I recall," the mayor interrupted, "and you are quite right.

224 Don Callander Your jail is no place for ladies, even if accused of piracy. I order you to find a secure place for the accused, give them lunch, and have them back here at four."

"I'll take them to my own home and feed them at my own table," promised Kedry, gathering the pirate crew together.

"Your Worship, I strongly object!" cried the pirate captain, jumping to her feet.

"Object? As a matter of law, ma'am?" asked the mayor.

"No, as a matter of taste!" retorted the former school-marm. "I've had the misfortune to eat at the bailiff's table before, and it's surely quite cruel punishment for us, who have not yet been convicted."

"Objection overruled!" shouted the mayor over the laughter of the crowd. "The accused will be fed and housed at the bailiff's convenience, as the law requires."

After he'd stalked out into the square, he waited for Tom and Clem to join him, and invited the Sack brothers to dine with him also. Bored with the endless argumentations, Retruance had wandered off some time before.

"My wife, on the other hand, is one of the best cooks in the county," he told them. "Old bailiff's wife must be one of the worst and I'm not surprised. She's a timid mouse of a woman, afraid to raise her voice against anyone or anything. But Kedry is good to her, nevertheless, I must say."

Chatting thus, they climbed the street behind Town Hall to a pleasant, pillared, large white house on the brow of the hill, overlooking the harbor of Lakehead. Mistress Fellows, seeing their approach, met them at the door and made them welcome, then disappeared with several servants to prepare lunch for the five men to eat as they talked.

"What I want to ask," began Tom, "is whether you have to decide this case yourself or if there is a way of passing it up the line. It seems to me that piracy should be in the king's jurisdiction, rather than a local matter."

Fellows ate, chewing methodically as he listened.

"I understand what you're thinking. Librarian. Yes, there is a way to pass difficult cases into royal courts, but perhaps you'll understand why I am reluctant to do so."

"Unless it has something to do with politics, with Lord Peter's desire for power, no, I don't understand."

"Ah, but there! You've said it, of course. Lord Peter has DRAGON COMPANION 225.

no wish to yield jurisdiction to the royal court. In addition, defendantsa-especially the guiltya-would far rather be tried before a strange judge in a distant town. Justice, on the other hand, thus loses the advantage of local knowledge and understandinga-often to the detriment of the accused, I must say, where the accused is really innocent."

"You're telling us that Lord Peter of Gantrell would be angry with you if you send these pirates to the king to try?" asked Clem in surprise.

"It's a political fact of life, my lad! This is Gantrell land, and his wishes must be considered. He is a formidable enemy when he feels betrayed."

"Would he have to give his permission to move the case to a royal court?" asked Tom.

"N-n-no," hesitated the mayor. "Actually, I am obliged only to inform him of such an action. Look here, gentlemen, I would love to push this case off on someone else! These women may be pirates, but they are also daughters and aunts and even wives of local freeholders. If I were to find them guilty and sentence them to hang, there would be an awful uproar. Maybe even armed insurrection, against me and against Gantrell. Law or not, local sympathies have always been with the pirates, not the victims or the judge."

"All the more reason to remand the case to the king's jurisdiction," said Trover.

"If I may?" interrupted his brother.

"Yes, of course. Captain Boscor," said the mayor-judge.

"Other than the fact that we five spent a most uncomfortable day and night, no harm was done in this case. I've got back my ship, thanks to my brother and these good gentlemen. I even got back my small boats. I lost no money in the matter, except maybe a day's charter. Sure, the ladies posed as passengers in order to capture me for ransom, but if they hadn't come along I would have sailed empty except for some local freight of no consequence. What if I merely withdraw the charges of kidnapping?"

"No help, however nobly intended," sighed the mayor. "Kidnapping is not even under consideration here. The county has charged them with piracy only, as that's the more serious crime. Thank you, anyway, Boscor."

The luncheon party fell silent until the servants brought 226.

Don Callander DRAGON COMPANION.

227.

out milk and lemon cake for desert. Tom broke the silence at last.

"You're caught in the middle then, sir. It's you who must decide if the piracy law applies to females, and I don't see how you can avoid ruling that it does. Otherwise, any woman could commit serious crimes and escape unscathed, until the law is amended. A most arduous task, I would think."

"Too true," said Fellows, sighing deeply. "Am I condemned whichever way I decide?"

Observed the Librarian, "You can only do what you think is right and suffer the consequences. Look at it this way, Lord Mayor: If you rule that the ladies are to be hanged or marooned, you'll bring great hardship and perhaps even violence down on your community. On the other hand, if you decide to send the case to the king's court, you risk only one man's wrath."

"Hmmm!" the mayor-judge considered. "As you say, hurt is inevitable either way."

"In my opinion," Tom said, "making hard calls is one of the reasons a country has a king. Let him decide and depose. He's better situated to withstand any furor the decision might create than are you, sir."

"Yes, I see what you are getting at. But by sending the case to the king, I may incur not only Gantrell's displeasure, but the king's disdain."

"Do you believe the king would hold it against you personally?" asked Clem.

"Wella no, from what I know of Eduard, he'd be just with me, also. Not unreasonable, like Peter Gantrell, is Eduard Ten."

"Something for you to remember, if it comes to choosing between them one day," murmured Tom. The mayor gave him a quick, sharp look, but then nodded and smiled. He bounded to his feet, his decision made.

"ACCUSED, stand forth. Yes, you may represent them. Mistress Wrackey. Yes, Bailiff, I do need you."

When the accused ladies and the law officer had gathered before the bench. Mayor Fellows spoke to them in a loud, clear voice that carried to the crowd in the square outside and the Dragon perched on the roof.

"I have reached a decision in this matter. It may not be to everyone's liking, but it's all I can do under the circumstances."

He paused while one of the pirate ladies wailed and sniffed aloud. Someone rushed over to soothe and quiet her.

"This case hinges on a basic interpretation of king's law. I am not qualified to rule upon that."

The pirates and more than half the crowd gasped and chattered at the admission, and it was several minutes before Fellows could get their attention once more.

"As justice of the County of Lakeheart I willingly admit that I am not competent to make a decision in this case without advice and consent of royal authority."

The courtroom and the square fell deathly silent.

"I must, from the evidence, find the defendants guilty of piracy"a-another, louder gasp from the audiencea-"and will forward this case with a plea for immediate review by His Majesty of the application of the law on piracy to females. As this may take months or even years, I hereby release the accused into the custody of the county bailiff. Bailiff, it is your responsibility to see to it that all six defendants are prevented from returning to a life of crime, and are available when called to retrial or sentencing, based on the king's ruling on the matter of law."

"But, but, but," stammered Kedry. His face drained of all color. Fellows beckoned Kedry closer and spoke to him privately.

"It's your duty. Bailiff, and don't let me hear you complain of it, or I will recommend to Lord Peter that you be removed and another appointed in your place!"

"No, no! I have no problem with your decision. Your Honor," squeaked Kedry. "I'll watch them like a hawk!"

"Like a pigeon, more likely!" laughed someone in the crowd. Tom thought it might have been a certain pigeon breeder, but he couldn't be sure.

228.

Don Callander DRAGON COMPANION.

229.

"Not forgot, although I do believe Boscor is leaning a little toward the king, now," said the captain of Pinnacle Flyer with a dry chuckle. He punched his brother's arm lightly. "After all, Wrackey is not just related to the good bailiff. She's Boscor's wife's cousin, also."

"Yes," sighed the other captain. "We'll have to be careful not to hurt Cousin Wrackey's case by upsetting the king with overadherence to Peter of Gantrell!"

"I've not yet met His Majesty," said Tom soberly, "but from what I've heard and seen, he's perhaps the better man to follow than Lord Peter. Only time will show you if I'm right."

Clem and Tom mounted the Dragon and waved good-bye to the Sack brothers and their neighbors. On the edge of the crowd Tom saw and waved especially to a somewhat scruffy old man leaning on a heavy cane. He looked like an aged and molting dove himself.

"Murdan will hear of our work here, shortly" he said to the Dragon and Clem once they were aloft over the lake and heading due eastward. "Now, Retruance, don't fly so high and fast that we miss the scenery. Beautiful area, this! I envy those who live near a lake, as only a lad born on endless plains would do!"

^21^ Sweetwater and Tomatoes SEVERAL days had been lost in looking for pirates and Tom wanted to fly straight to the castle on Brant Bay.

"We'll see plenty ofLexor in October," Retruance agreed. "I'm eager to meet the king and the queen," said Clem. City or castle, either was enough to stir his enthusiasm. "And the Blue Ocean, too. I've only seen a bit of the Quietness Ocean at Wall myself."

Lakeheart Lake stretched more than a hundred fifty miles to the east, although it was seldom more than thirty miles wide. Its shores were heavily wooded, at first with pine and cedar, and later with widespreading oaks, towering elms, and sycamores.

Across the foot of the lake stretched an escarpment over which water plunged in a great fall, three hundred feet wide and a hundred feet high. In the mist beside the fall pool was a large town called Rainbow, where the travelers stopped for a midday meal. The people they met were cool and unfriendly, suspicious of travelers wearing Overhall insignia on their shoulders.