Four – The Thief
We
reached a small clearing on the bottom of the next ridge. People had used it
before- there was a small ring of blackened stones for a fire. Smit and Rake
broke out some bread and raw cabbage rolls called splinters; they were filled
with spices and vegetables. They tasted very good. I wasn’t sure if it was the
spices or just that, as I realized, I had not eaten since breakfast. I
commented on how tasty they were. Andrew smiled and even Walter had a somewhat
surprised look, follow by a shrug as he turned his back to me. I, for one, was
pretty tired and lay down. I feel into a deep dark sleep almost immediately.
When
I awoke it was just dawn. Smit handed me some more bread, now with cheese.
“Sleep
well princess?” Walter gruffly sulked past me. I looked at Smit with a question
“He’s
mad at ya ‘cause you didn’t do a watch last night. You were out pretty cold.”
“A
watch? Oh. Sorry!” I called out. “I had no idea. Why didn’t anyone wake me?” I
asked Smit.
“Yeah,
well, Walter weren’t so keen on that idea. Says he don’t trust you. I think he
likes to have something to hang over your head.”
We
walked all that day, with Andrew talking almost the whole way. He told me a lot
about Blackberry. I asked him if there were trains in Blackberry.
He
smiled. “Your mountain has more machines than we do, Eric. Trains, automobiles…you
won’t find them here.”
“To
be honest we don’t have many on the mountain, either. I’ve seen a couple of
trucks come up the road from time to time, but folks where I come from can’t
afford a car. But I have a question Andrew, sometimes you and Walter seem to be
twitching and sniffing at each other. Is Lepine the language? Do you speak it
to each other still?”
“All
the time,” Andrew said, again smiling as if he had told a joke. It dawned on me
that there was a lot more going on than I could see on the surface.
“This
town we’re going to-“
“Williamsport.”
“I
thought that was the kingdom next door?”
“Williamsdale.
A log story, but essentially the history of this valley starts in Williamsdale,
or what used to be called the Tennant low country. Some people still refer to
it as such. Early, where we are now, was Tennant high country.”
“And
the other?”
“I
will get there soon enough. Rutledge was just referred to the land before the
end of land. As I was saying, in the low lands of Tennant there was a large
group of peoples, clustered around a pair of rivers that gave famers in the
valley water and rich soil for their crops. Early on few people lived in the
high country, it was heavily wooded, as you can see” Andrew gazed up at the
trees, which seemed endlessly tall and endless over the horizon.
“There
was a great king in the low country-“
“Let
me guess, his name was William.”
“A
clever guess, but no. His name was Karnelle. His son was William. William was a
proud and ambitious son. His father knew he was restless and in order to give
structure to this restlessness he sent his son with an army to conquer the high
country. Although the people were few, they were fierce and it look seven long
years for William to subdue the peoples here in Early.”
“Why
is it Early? Another king?”
Andrew
laughed. “No one knows, although the joke is that since we are furthest East as
well as South we see the sun first, therefore we are early!”
I
cocked my head, Andrew guffawed but then his smile vanished when he saw I did
not laugh.
“It
is not a difficult joke lad! So, well,
William finally did conquer the high country and set up a capital-“
“Williamsport”
“Ahem,
yes. So, as I was saying, he set up a
capital. But within a year his father died and so he went back to the low
country to rule his new kingdom from there. But while the cat is away, the mice
will play, no? Although William was a great king and his reign was peaceful and
long, some say he was 96 when he died and he had ruled for 70 years, it was not
to last. After his death, the kingdom, William’s Dale, splintered and the high
country folk broke from the low country.”
“So,
in the end William was successful though.”
Andrew
looked at me with a slight smile. “Yes, it has been many years, maybe hundreds,
but yes. Now the Kingdom of William, of Tennant, will exist again. Not soon
however, one hopes.” Andrew said the last part under his breath.
“Why
not?”
“What?”
“Why
not soon?”
“Oh.”
Andrew seemed caught out. Then he laughed “There is so much to be done young
man! Maps to be made, lists to be compiled. The evil work of the Bureaucrat is
never done!”
“I
never meant to-“
“I
know lad, just teasing!” Andrew said.
“So
what do all these people do then, than live here?”
“Farmers
mostly, except for the town where the tradesmen are.”
“No
wonder I feel comfortable. Where do you fit in?”
“Well,
most Rabbits are… most work for others. It can be a problem, but we are new
here, relatively speaking. A few of us own land, few farm, but most work for
the king or tradesmen. The town folk are a bit more… welcoming.”
“So
are you farm or town folk?”
“Oh
town, town for sure. I require only the best!” he said, laughing and patting
his large belly that hung underneath his body. “I could never spend all day in
the fields. How about you Mr. Eric?”
“Famer
here, myself. Not a very good one, but my father kept orchards, plus we farmed vegetables…Do
you have a house then in Williamsport?”
“Oh,
goodness no. We Lepus prefer burrows mostly. There is a singular delight in
settling down for a nice nap in the damp earth.”
“I
bet” I said before I could think. Andrew gave a low chuckle.
“Don’t
worry lad, there will be plenty of places to bunk down in once we reach
Williamsport.”
There
was a lot more; too much for me to remember and tell now. But the best thing
was that talking to Andrew kept me from Walter and Jet. After Walter had pinned
me down the previous day I did not trust him in the least. Those rabbits looked
soft and funny, but they were strong as hell—at least Walter was.
About
mid-morning we came across a small clearing planted in what looked like young
corn. The plants were about two feet tall. The plot of land was not big, I
figured less than half an acre, and based on the number of stumps still visible
in the field, the land was newly cleared. We stopped at the edge of the
clearing. Andrew immediately sat down and took out a long narrow book from his
bag and began to look through the pages. Evidently this was not out of the
ordinary. Walter and Jet stood furthest out in the field, looking all around
it. Smit and Rake stood next to Andrew’s reclining figure with bored looks on
their faces.
“How
far are we from the road Smit?” Andrew asked. Smit screwed up his face and
looked up into the sky, as if the answer was written up there. I guess it must
have been because a moment later and looked back down at Andrew and said “Hour,
or so.”
“Hour
and a half” Walter shouted back. A look of irritation crossed Smit’s face but
he did not say anything. Andrew snorted.
“Thank
you Smit. At any rate I don’t see a
settlement this close. Suppose it’s new?”
Smit
shrugged.
“Six
months, maybe older, but this field, three months, or less.” I said. Andrew,
Smit and Rake looked at me. Andrew gave a wide smile and tilted his head.
“None
of your are farmers huh?” I said, also smiling. Smit and Rake shook their
heads. “Well, the corn, if that is what that is” I gestured to the open field”was
planted about six weeks ago. I count at least a good dozen trees, if you’re
going to saw them down by hand that’ll take a few weeks. Nobody starts with the
field, they build a house first, that’ll take month or so... and there you go,
six months. If this is a homestead, that’s what this is right?”
Andrew
guffawed and got up. “Well done lad, hard to say what this is, it’s not on the
maps and wasn’t here when we left.”
“When
was that?” I asked.
“Four
years ago” Smith said, almost under his breath.
“Walter,
come here!” Andrew shouted. “Young Mr. Eric here says we might have a new
settlement.”
Walter
sighed, but did not look at me. “Well, of course it’s new; I don’t recall
anything here on the way out. Want to send Smit on ahead?”
“Yes.
Smit, you know the drill, we’ll follow at a distance.”
“Yes
Sir Mr. Andrew!” Smit said, his sickly obsequious nature was back. He grabbed
Rake and they proceeded across the field.
Andrew waited until they were halfway across and then began to leisurely
follow.
“Why
did you send them ahead?” I asked when we were under way.
“Um,
well, people are not always excited to see rabbits hopping across their fields.
Best to let them see Smit first and then we’ll introduce ourselves. Less of a
shock.”
I
did not say anything, but inside I agreed, recalling my own shock of seeing
Walter for the first time.
As
we came to the other side of the clearing we could see several structures in
the woods. It was some sort of community, and based on the look of the wood
used for the houses, a new one at that. Smith had no sooner reached the edge of
the field and was about ten yards from the first building when a large man
holding an ax out from him stepped in front of Smith.
“Clear
off!” he bellowed. We could easily hear him from the middle of the field.
Walter put up a paw to stop Andrew and me from advancing.
“Morning
sir!” Smit said, his voice dripping with politeness. I was appreciating the
wisdom of Andrew in sending Smith first. Rake hung back a pace, looking down at
the ground.
“Clear
off mister, we don’t want no trouble.”
“Nor
we sir!” Smit’s voice was loud but friendly. “I am part of a survey crew and we
had not noticed your…” Here Smith stopped and looked around, clearly trying to
describe what he saw in way both accurate and polite “dwelling.”
“Survey
crew?” the large man screwed up his face in thought. “Like for what?”
“The
king sir, we have been sent out to map-“
“I
don’t want no tax collector’s here, shove off” The man had the ax now level
with Smit.
“We
are no tax collectors I assure you. All we wish to do is to note-“
“I
said, take off, while you got legs to do the walking!” the man said slowly, and
in a low growl. Next to me Andrew nodded at Walter and the tow of them began to
walk across again, coming into sight of the man with the ax after a few steps.
The man’s mouth fell open, but then he looked from Smit to the two rabbits and
Jet. I had decided to hang behind a few steps.
Recognition
was slow, but for a second no one spoke a word. Finally the man with the ax
looked at Smith.
“This
your crew? They, them Rabbits with you?” he said, his voice unsure.
“Yes
sir.” Smit said, I could see sweat rolling down the back of Smit’s neck.
“Really
don’t need no rabbits.” The man said in a low voice to Smit, but all of us
could clearly hear him.
“All
we needs a few minutes mister.” Smit began again, “To write down-“
“No!
Nobodies writing anything down, no one’s gonna asses my property…”
“If
I may Sir,” Andrew said with a large smile on his face and in his voice. “As my
assistant Smit said, we are no tax collectors.”
“Assistant?
So you’re the guy I gotta deal with? Why send him then?” The man said, shaking
his head towards Smit, but his attention now focused on Andrew.
“Well
Sir, some folks, well, some folks might be a wee bit surprised to see Lepus
coming out of their garden.”
“Got
that right” the man with the ax laughed, but kept the ax out in front of him.
“Still, need you to clear out. King’s men are nothing but trouble. Once you get
me on that map of yours then next thing you know I’ll get tax collectors comin
up around here.”
“My
dear Sir, tell me, is there a sheriff nearby?”
The
man stopped for a moment and narrowed his eyes. “Won’t do you no good to come
back with that bastard.”
“No,
no, I only ask because he’s the one who would do the taxes, not us. If the
sheriff knows you’re here then, well, you know what he’ll be wanting in the
fall, regardless of what we do today.”
The
man lowered his ax and stood there a moment thinking.
“You
might be right, but still, you put us down in that map and the king’ll be
wantin to tax us left and right…”
Andrew
laughed a slight chuckled, the man’s face went stormy but Andrew ignored it.
“My
good man, please. I know nothing about farming or woodsmen, but I do know a few
things about the king’s court. When I present my books, and there are several,
it will join many other survey parties’ books. All of these books will end up
in the hands of the king’s minister and as they pour through these books they
will come upon your settlement…” Andrew spread his paws and looked at the an.
The man looked back for a second.
“Oh!
Uh, well, we just calls it the Aways, you know, we’re a ways away…
“Hmmm,
no good. What is your name sir?” Andrew asked.
“Thomas”
“How
about Thomasburgh? No, Thomasville, then.”
The
man stood there, thinking for a moment, a smile came across his face. “Alright.
I like it.”
“Very
good, now about how many people live here” Andrew asked, his book open now and
a pen in hand.
“Oh
no mister Rabbit! You were telling me about the ministers?”
“Oh
yes, sorry.” Andrew said, with only faint trace of annoyance. “The ministers,
they will open my book, look down the list and come across Thomas…ville! And
see that only a few people live here, about…”
Andrew
looked expectantly at the man, who stood there.
“About
how many people are here sir?” Andrew finally asked. The man looked up towards
the sky and counted with his fingers.
“Fifteen!”
“Fine,
about fifteen people live here. Good amount to tax, no?”
Thomas’s
face went dark. “What?”
“A
good amount to tax, this is what the ministers will say.” Thomas moved and
swung his ax up, his face turning red. Andrew held up a paw.
“They
will say that but then, they will look again at the book and see, um… Todd’s
Town, the next town on the list, and see that the population of Toddstown is
350-“
“356’
Rake interjected, causing everyone to jerk their heads his way. His face turned
beet red. “Sorry.” He squeaked.
“356,
and that, my good sir, will excite them much more than 15 poor farming souls. Trust
me, you will be on the map but you will be safely ignored as you are today.”
Thomas
lowered his ax and seemed mollified. “Ok then, you got the name and how many of
us there is, now will you leave?”
“Yes,
yes, just let me look around, some buildings. Any streets?”
Thomas
looked at Andrew as if he had just asked if they had access to the moon.
“Ummm.. no.”
“Good,
good. Access to the main road?”
“There’s a path off there” the man pointed to
a place beyond the last building in the woods. “Ain’t no road, just a path”
“Excellent.
Well! Smit, Rake, I would say our work is done. And so, sir, we are off” Andrew
said. “No harm done or intended.”
“Alright.”
Thomas said simply, still a little confused and clearly not entirely convinced
no harm had been done.
“We’re
on the path on the other side of the field Thomas, so we’ll be off.” Andrew
said, putting his notebook away.
We
left Thomas standing there and we made our way back across the field.
“No
one else was there, did you noticed?” I asked Andrew when we were out of
earshot.
“They
were there, Saw a few in the big house, a few more behind some of the out
buildings. Walter said gruffly. “Need to
keep your eyes open farmer; you’ll be dead before the week is out.” Walter
finished with a laugh, but his face said he was serious.
I
chose to ignore Walter and spoke again directly to Andrew. “That was great
talking back there Andrew. I thought we were going to get chopped up.”
“Nothing
to it young Eric. Comes with the job, people hate nosy government types.”
“So
you reckon the king really won’t tax them?” I asked, doubtfully. Smit gave out
a sharp barking laugh. Andrew looked at him askance.
“The
king, Eric, will not leave a single brass coin on the table. The moment my
report shows a new settlement they will be out here busy making sure it is
proper.”
“And
properly taxed” added Smit.
“But,
but we just told them… aren’t your worried?”
“About
what my young friend? It will be months from now and we will be miles away from
here, never to set foot back in this godforsaken spot!”
Late
in the afternoon we came to the edge of the forest and our path we had followed
ended at the edge of a larger road. After two days of only seeing the two
rabbits and three people I was with it took me a moment to take in the dozens
of people traveling the road. Some had carts pulled by large oxen, others
pulled their own small carts. The carts were piled high with produce, boxes,
and bags. The people themselves were dressed in clothes of all sorts of colors;
hardly anyone was dressed as plain as I was. There were men, women, and
children, many with skin darker than mine even.
What
I did not see any of were other rabbits. As we stood there for a moment letting
large group of travelers by I noticed only a few even bothered to look our way.
A few did a double take but most simply walked by, quietly.
After
the large group passed the road was empty.
“Oh
I do hate getting back to civilization. It makes us Lepus nervous you should
know. Come along now Mr. Eric.”
I
had to agree somewhat with Andrew. The sudden meeting of all those people
reminded me of home for a moment. Most days I would see few people, but on at
church. I would often see more people in
a few hours at church than I would see all week. Sunday afternoons were spent
milling around the edge of the graveyard with a fried drumstick in hand or a
slice of watermelon. I have fond memories of playing with other kids, my
brothers and sisters. Yet already that felt like something in the distant past.
I could recall it but I had realized I had little desire to go back to it. And
even that desire had faded since that first afternoon here.
The
road was dusty, and there was less shade than in the woods. The hot sun has
spent the day warming the road and by the time the sun was low in the sky the
heat and dust combined to remind me of the low flatlands back home, of town, a less pleasant memory than church. Other
groups passed us from time to time, riding oxen or walking in small groups, all
eager to get to the fair, or eager to get beyond our group. Not one person said
hello or even smiled. It was strange. I had to stop myself from waving to
passersby. You know how we might wave to someone we don’t even know? Not so
here.
The
mood had changed. Andrew was no longer chatty. He barely said five words that
afternoon. And Walter and Jet stayed much closer to the rest of our group.
Smit, on the other hand, began to hum. His smile was bigger, less obsequious. Rake
often looked anxious, but even his attitude seemed more self-assured.
When
night fell we found a clearing next to a larger camping area. But still several
dozen yards away. Neither Andrew nor Walter seemed especially interested in
camping with the main group, despite Smit’s protestation that it would be
safer.
After
another supper of the splinters I asked about the watches, determined this time
to pull my weight. .
“Don’t
worry about it” grumbled Walter.
“It’d
be nice to have an extra hand Mr. Walter, since we’re so far from the
others...”
“I
said don’t worry about it Smit! Eric here owes us no watch. Besides, I feel
safer when he’s asleep.”
Smit
shrugged. Andrew did not look up from his suddenly fascinating empty bowl. I
returned Smit’s shrug. No sense getting into a fight over something like this.
I
rolled up my coat in a spot away from the others by just a little. As I lay
down and stared up at the sky I was confused to say the least. The mood of the
party had changed once we found the main road. Smith and Rake seemed excited,
but the two rabbits seemed to shrink in size. And Jet, who had yet to say
anything that I could hear, seemed to live in Walter’s shadow.
Unlike
earlier in the day, I was beginning to have serious doubts about just exactly
what I was doing. I had left everything I knew behind and was now in some
strange dream that seemed real, that felt real but yet was so unreal. The
changes brought on by the road had given me pause.
I
wrestled with a thousand thoughts. I felt I should turn around and go back,
although I was not sure to what exactly. My parents were dead. Relatives all a
long and expensive train ride away. True, there were girls I fancied and who
fancied me, but somehow that felt so far away from where I was at that time.
Here was new, different, and until that afternoon kind of exciting in the way
new and different things often are.
But
now I wasn’t so sure, now the new and different seemed strange and slightly
menacing. It did seem Walter was warming up, but his remarks about the watch
showed me he hadn’t really changed much. Andrew had hinted here and there about
the relationship between Lepus and humans, but it was becoming clearer to me
that there was a serious underlying friction. Certainly there were very few
Lepus to be seen.
I
stared up at the stars. They seemed right to me, but then again I never was
much at remembering where the constellations were. I half thought about how I
might wake up, in my bed at home, the whole thing a dream.
But
right then I was not the least bit tired. As the others settled in a few asleep
I lay there awake. I noticed Rake had the first watch while the others slept
under a large poplar tree. As I lay there I also thought about Rake and Smit.
Something was off about them, well at least Smit. Rake seemed to be just a
sidekick, but Smit was decidedly not. He bowed and scraped and shuffled his
feet in front of the Rabbits, but behind their back with me he suddenly became
a different, more assertive person. Smit, more than any of the others, was
happiest about being so close to the fair. I think spending the past several
years working for a rabbit had gotten to him. I had seen that at home, men who
worked on the orchards for a Mexican work boss often felt the need to over
assert themselves, as if to make up for working under people they felt were
their inferiors.
As
I lay there I looked back over to see that Rake had fallen asleep, his head
resting on a large stick he had found in the woods while looking for firewood.
Clouds had rolled in and the stars blinked out. A slight breeze picked up,
stirring leaves. The fire had burned to glowing red embers. As I watched them
slowly die I made up my mind to turn around in the morning. Things just were
not adding up and I was feeling suddenly less secure than at any point since
coming through the bamboo. There was a lot about the place I did not know or
understand. I had never been off the mountain, much less to some magical dream
where there were six foot tall talking rabbits and God knows what else waiting
around the bend of the road. I realized I had been foolish. Something felt off,
I could not put my finger on it, but it was nagging at the base of my brain. Plus,
I was sure Walter would be glad to see the back of me.
The
embers’ glow grew fainter and still I couldn’t sleep. I almost considered
getting up and leaving then, but I knew I could find my way back to the path in
the dark. As the clouds thinned and a half moon turned its glow on the camp I
finally began to feel sleepy.
But
it was just then that I noticed something in the blackness next to the tree,
right beside the sleeping form of Walter. I could not make out anything. I even
told myself it was just shadows from the moonlight. But then it moved, ever so
slightly, ever so slowly.
I
told myself that I was overreacting, that I had spooked myself, but just in
case I silently slide my hand down to where my bow and quiver lay beside me. As
quietly as I could I grabbed an arrow and drew the bow up to my chest. I lay
deadly still, trying not to breathe, seeing nothing. I almost relaxed when I
saw the blackness move again. As it moved a shape began to emerge against the
night sky. It was a person definitely a man, a large one. And in the moonlight
there was a glint as he raised his arm above Walter. A large blade came out of
a long sleeve, and reflected the moonlight for a second. By reflex I brought up
the bow and arrow so quickly I barely even knew what I was doing. The arrow
whistled and thunk! It fixed the man’s
sleeve hard to the tree behind him. Not letting go of the blade, the man
silently, but urgently tried to pull the arrow out, but it was too late.
“HEY!”
Walter hopped up and with a mighty thump pressed the man against the tree. “Put
down yer arm man!” Walter growled, his nose twitching, breathing out. The man
made small noises.
“I
said put it down!”
“I…I
carn’t” the man squeaked. Walter looked away briefly and saw the arrow.
“Drop
the knife then or so help me I’ll tear you in half pisser!” Walter said in a
low rumble, as if afraid to wake up the rest of the camp. The man looked
around, but seeing no one else gave a look of resignation. With a clang the
knife dropped. The noise caused Rake to snuffle awake.
“Mr.
Walter!” Rakes cry woke up the rest. Jet popped up and quickly grabbed the
knife. The man, still being pressed against the tree was half sobbing now.
“I
ain’t doin’ nothing now, Mister Hare, sir!”
“Shut
it man or you’ll never talk again.” Walter used his large paw to quickly frisk
the man. He never took his eyes from the now whimpering but silent man.
“This
your arrow, Eric?” Walter asked.
“Yes.”
I was standing now as was Andrew, Smit and Rake. We were all awake.
“Well,
come and get it then. I think it’s best if you had all your arrows, yes?”
“Yes.”
I carefully shouldered my quiver and got up to walk over to where Walter was
standing. Walter took the arrow shaft at the base and with a great tug pulled
it out of the tree
“Good
thing he missed you man. This thing’d gone straight through your hand.”
“I
didn’t miss Walter.” I gently took the arrow from him and placed it back in my
quiver.
The
man let out a small eeek.
By
now men with torches from the main campsite had come over to see what the
commotion was about. One of them, a large man in generally better clothes than
the rest came forward.
“What’s
this all about then?”
“Th-th-the
hare, he done…ech!”
Walter
pinned the man even tighter against the tree.
“Mr.
Lepus here and I had a misunderstandin.’”
“For
love ‘n money, Jackal…I knew you were trouble; just didn’t know you were
stupid. Apologies, Mr,…?”
“Walter.”
His eyes grew narrow in the light of the torches. “He with you?”
“Not
likely, Mr. Walter. But I know him. He joined us a few days ago, a pilgrim on
the way to the fair he says. We’re an upstanding bunch Mr. Lepus I can assure
you. Never would have let him near us if I had known he’d cause this kind of
trouble. We’ll deal with him… if you don’t mind?”
Walter
Shoved the trembling man towards the group of torches.
“No
fur from me. Do what you want. Just make it stick. If I ever see your face
again man, there won’t be these here” Walter gestured to the people behind the
thief, “to stop me. Understood?”
“Not
to worry. He’ll be taken care of.” The well-dressed man said.
The
large man and several others hustled Jackal off into the night. To me it
sounded like he was out of the frying pan into the fire, but the man seemed
almost relieved to be off to a fate other than whatever Walter had planned.
Walter
turned to me; his eyes looked slightly confused but steady.
“Thank
you, Eric. If you had not been awake…” he glared at Rake.
“It
was nothing, really. You would have woken up, only poorer I suspect.”
“Hmmph. I would not have woken up at all,
I suspect.”
Andrew
hopped forward and put an enormous paw on my arm.
“Thank
you Eric. You did well, I suspect” he turned to see Walter deep in conversation
with Jet, “I suspect that Walter owes his life.”
“I
was only reacting, he would have done the same.”
Andrew
did not reply but simply arched his eyebrows.
Despite
the excitement I felt sleepy after just a little while. Walter and Jet were now
both keeping watch and the fire well stoked and burning brightly. For the first
time since crossing over I felt almost at home.
Almost.
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