"I will father," his son a.s.sures him.

Nodding, Illan continues on out into the courtyard and turns down one of the side streets. Keeping his voice low, he says, "Let's go tell the others what we're going to do."

"What are we going to do?" asks James, afraid he already knows the answer.

"Break that captain out of jail," he says.

Chapter Thirty One.

At the Flying Fish they find the others, having just finished their meal. As they order theirs, Illan and James fill them in on what's going on and what they are planning to do.

"Now, I can't be a part of the jail break," Illan tells them. Turning to James, he says, "You'll have to manage that with the rest of these guys."

"I'm sure we can do it," Uther says.

"Yeah," Keril says from where he's sitting with Miko, "it'll be easy."

"Hope so," James tells him. To Jiron he says, "You and Miko should stay with Illan, with your shoulder the way it is, you'll not be much good should trouble develop. We'll meet you down by the docks when we have the captain."

Nodding, he says, "Alright. When do you plan to do this?"

"After I'm done eating," he tells him. "There's only three of them at the jail so we should be able to overcome them quickly. And once we're down to the docks and on the ship, we'll be safe. No one's going to come looking for us anyway until they discover the guards at the jail and the captain's missing. By that time we should be well under way."

James can see Miko is somewhat disturbed by this whole plan. "What's on your mind?" he asks him.

He glances around the table at everyone before returning his gaze to James. "It just doesn't seem right somehow."

"In what way?" James asks.

"Well, ever since I've met you, you've done nothing but what's right," he explains. "This just doesn't seem like you, going against the laws and all. It's not like we have to reach Cardri today, like it's a life or death situation or anything."

"I understand your point," he says. "But with the letter from Lord Pytherian, we are justified."

Illan breaks into the conversation. "That's true, Miko. The magistrate all but asked us to break this guy out so we can fulfill the spirit, if not the letter, of Lord Pytherian's request."

"But it seems the only reason he did was just to spite that other guy," continues Miko. "It just seems wrong somehow."

"I understand your concern, Miko," James says to him. "But I have my reasons for this. True, it's not exactly as I would have liked it, but I have my reasons." Like finding a place to hide the Fire before it consumes you. Like finding a place to hide the Fire before it consumes you.

Miko nods, trusting in him.

Turning his attention back to Illan, James asks, "Which town should we head for?"

Thinking a moment, Illan replies, "It would probably be best to dock at Fairview. It's a little north of Dragon's Pa.s.s and last I heard, the Empire's forces haven't progressed much past the Merchant's Pa.s.s. It seems they're making that their northern line, at least for right now."

"What'll we do for horses once we get there?" ask Jorry. "It didn't look like the ship could hold them all."

Looking to Illan, James asks, "Is there someone around here who would buy these from us?"

Nodding, he says, "My brother-in-law Michael deals in horses, I'm sure he'd give a fair price for them."

"Then why don't you, Jiron and Miko take care of that while we're over at the jail," he suggests.

"We can do that," he says, "but it could take an hour or two to finish the deal. We do have a lot of horses and Michael may not be around."

"Just do the best you can," says James. "If you can get it done in the time allotted, then so be it. If not, then just give them to him and we'll worry about acquiring more in Fairview."

"Alright," he says through a bite of the beef stew he's having.

"We'll give you an hour's head start before we head to the jail," James tells him.

Nodding, Illan says, "That should be enough time, I hope."

They finish their meal and everyone goes outside to retrieve what they intend to keep from their horses before Illan, Jiron and Miko take them to his brother-in-law's.

As they're about to leave with the horses, Illan says to the rest, "Good luck! We'll meet you at the docks in a little over an hour."

"Don't be late!" Uther shouts to him.

He glances over to Uther and gives him a grin. To Miko and Jiron he says, "Let's go." Leading the horses, they walk away down the street.

The others gather around James as Jorry asks, "What are we to do for an hour?"

"Let's make our way over near the jail so we'll be ready when it's time," he tells them. Leading the way, he takes them through the streets until the jail comes into sight.

Stopping a little distance away, he turns back to them and says to Uther and Jorry, "You guys make your way around the building and look for any other exits then come back. When we do this, we can't run the risk of anyone getting away to warn others."

"Right," Uther says. Nodding to Jorry to get moving, they begin making their way nonchalantly toward the jail.

James and the rest move to the far side of the street across from the front entrance and try to act like they're just hanging around, talking. He casts glances over at Uther and Jorry as he keeps track of their progress. As they disappear around the back he gets a little nervous. When they reappear on the other side, he breathes a sigh of relief, even though he knew it was unlikely anything would have happened.

Once they've made their way back to the group, Uther says, "There's one door in the back and another on the side. But that's it except for the main entrance."

Nodding his head while he thinks, James turns to Keril and Hinney, the youngest of Miller's band. "You two go and watch the back and side doors," he tells them. "Don't let anyone in or out."

"No problem," Hinney says.

"You can count on us," a.s.sures Keril.

They wait until it's been about an hour since Illan left with the horses. Looking around the gathered faces, James asks, "Ready?" When they all nod in reply, he turns toward the jail and heads to the front door.

Hinney and Keril break off from the group, Keril heading to the side while Hinney continues around back.

James is a little nervous as he walks in through the front door. The same three men are there, this time they're all over at the side table playing cards.

They look up when James and the rest walk in through the front door. "Here to see the captain again?" asks the watch captain.

James nods his head and replies, "You could say that."

The watch captain points at one of the others who gets up and begins moving to the holding cells.

James moves to follow and has Uther come with him. He gives Yern a meaningful glance and receives an answering nod.

The guard unlocks the door and precedes them through into the back. "You got company again," he hollers back to the captain. When he turns around to leave, he comes to a quick stop. Uther's sword is out of its scabbard and inches away from his chest.

James reaches out and takes the keys from him. "Thank you," he says.

"You guys are crazy!" the ship's captain hollers as he comes over with the keys.

"Probably," replies James, "but we're getting you out." When he's unlocked the cell door, the captain quickly leaves the confines of the cell. Turning his attention back to the guard, James indicates the now vacant cell and says, "Get in."

As the guard turns and walks to the cell with Uther's sword in his back, the watch captain and the other guard enter from the other room. Jorry and Yern have their swords out as they lead them down to join their comrade.

"Take us with you!" the other two prisoners plead.

"Sorry," James says to them. "Only the captain here."

"If you don't, we'll scream and let everyone know what's going on," warns one of them.

Fifer comes in from the other room with some rope and cloth. "I'll take care of this," he says as he takes the keys from James and goes to their cell. Opening the door, he says to them, "If you yell, I'll cut out your tongue. Cause me problems, and I'll just kill you, understand?"

The two prisoners allow themselves to be tied up and gagged with little problems. He leaves the cell and then moves down to the guards where he does the same to them. Once everyone is secured and silenced, they begin moving back to the main room.

"Go get the other two and meet us out front," he tells Jorry.

"Got it!" he exclaims as he moves to round up Keril and Hinney.

"Now captain," James says to him, "let's get to your ship."

"Didn't really believe you when you said you'd get me out of here," he admits.

"Don't blame you," says James. "I wouldn't have either."

"How long will it take you to get underway?" Fifer asks him.

"Not very long," he replies.

Out front, they wait only a moment before Fifer returns with the other two, then they quickly make their way down to the docks.

On the way, the captain introduces himself as Merril Hawls. He had an office in the City of Light but is now working out of Pyrtlin, a city on the northern sh.o.r.e. "Once we're underway, it shouldn't take more than a day's sailing before we reach Fairview."

"That fast?" Fifer asks.

"Hopefully, but I seldom make the run all the way there from here," he explains. "But, yeah, it should."

As they near the docks, James is surprised to see that Illan and the others are waiting for them at the dockmaster's office.

"Any problems?" Illan asks when they approach.

Shaking his head, James says, "No. How about you?"

He pats an extremely fat pouch at his waist and says, "He was there and quite willing to buy. Seems there's an increase in demand for good horses so he gave us a good price. Of course my sister happened to be there and wouldn't let him do otherwise." He breaks into a short laugh at that.

The Dockmaster is standing there with Illan and when he sees Captain Hawls, he asks him, "Thought you were in jail?"

"Was," he replies, "but these gentlemen arranged for me to be released."

He turns an eye to Illan and says, "Oh?"

"We needed a ship," he says, "and no one else was willing to accommodate us."

To the captain, James says, "We better get underway quickly, before someone comes looking for us."

"You got that right," the captain says as he begins moving toward his ship. When he gets close, he starts hollering to his crew. After a brief exchange, his crew hops to it and begins readying the ship to sail."

"Make sure he doesn't leave without us," James tells Fifer.

"Sure thing," he replies. Taking several of the others, they make their way down to the ship where they cross the gangplank and position themselves on the deck.

"I better be getting over there too," Illan tells his friend.

"You're not getting yourself in trouble again are you?" his friend asks.

"Probably," he replies with a grin.

"It was good to see you," his friend says, giving him a warm hug.

"You too," Illan replies. "May not be back in these parts for awhile, take care."

"I will," the Dockmaster replies.

"Let's go," Illan says to James and the others who are waiting with him.

James says his goodbyes to the Dockmaster too, and then follows Illan down to the ship. As they reach the gangplank, James hollers up to the ship, "Permission to come aboard."

Captain Hawls comes to the side and says, "Granted, and thank you for that."

"It's your ship captain," James says as he walks up the gangplank. "Wouldn't want to presume."

"Be ready in a couple more minutes," he tells him.

"Very well," James says as he joins the others. He watches the sailors as they make ready and when all are in position, two of them run down the gangplank and untie the guide lines from the dock. They toss them to others waiting at the rail and then hurry back across the gangplank, pulling it on board after them.