The other "women" prepared food and seemed intent on their ch.o.r.es, but their eyes were constantly searching for any sign they were being watched. James sat crosslegged, plate upon his lap, eating. As he chewed he said, "If they"re up there, I can"t see them."
Treggar said, "They"re up there. At least one, anyway, until they"re convinced we"re what we seem to be. If they had found the Pathfinders and thought we were involved, we"d be dead."
"What do you think happened to the Pathfinders?" asked William as he leaned over Treggar"s shoulder to fill his cup from a waterskin.
"I think they ran into something they couldn"t avoid," said Treggar. "Either they"re dead or lying low. Maybe they"re circling back toward Prince Arutha, avoiding us altogether because we"re being watched." He drank his water, then stood. "I don"t know. But I do know that we must get moving." To the two soldiers he said, "While we get ready, I want each of you to go down into that gully and relieve yourselves." He looked around, as if giving instructions, pointing at the goats. "Lieutenant, go over and look at the goats as if you"re ensuring they"re sound. While you"re doing that, look as if you might be leaving a mark or message."
William looked slightly confused at the order, but complied.
James said, "What"s the plan?"
"I think our friends up on the ridge went home last night, but they left one man to watch us. I think as soon as we"re safely on the way, he"s going to come poking around here to see if we are what we seem to be. I want him down in the rocks where the boys are p.i.s.sing or searching through goat s.h.i.t, looking for a message while I leave a simple sign that the Prince"s scouts can follow."
James nodded, stood up and started fastening the tie-downs over the wagon"s cargo.
Treggar went to the wagon, removed the waterskin, and poured it over the fire. As the steam hissed and white smoke rose into the sky, he kicked sand over the fire, dislodging embers and moving the stones around the fire pit.
James came over and pointed at the goats, as if speaking about them, and said, "That"s a message?"
Treggar said, "Yes. Old army trick. Different messages depending on which quarter of the circle is broken. North means "wait here." West would mean "come fast." East would mean "go back." South means "bring help." As soon as we"re out of sight, we"re leaving the cart and animals and heading back up into those rocks to the southwest to see what we can find."
James sighed. "I was afraid of that." He glanced at the fire circle and saw the south side was broken.
Treggar said, "Squire, by all reports you"re an adventurous lad who is no stranger to risk."
James said, "Yes, but somehow it seems less dangerous and stupid when I"m the one who thinks these things up."
Treggar gave out a sharp laugh, then said, "Let"s get moving!"
Soon, the unseen onlooker saw a ragged band of Keshian travelers continuing their journey toward the west.
It took them most of the day to be certain they were no longer being watched. Treggar called a halt half an hour before sundown and said, "Let"s double back to that wadi we pa.s.sed a half-mile back and leave the wagon and the animals."
James said, "At least we"ve discovered the location of their hideout."
Treggar said, "How do you reckon that, squire?"
James knelt and drew in the dust. "Here-" he made a point with his finger "-is about where I judge they picked us up, about an hour before we made camp." He drew a line a few inches to the left and made another point. "Here is where we camped last night." He drew another point and said, "Here is where our unseen friend stopped following us."
"And?" prompted the captain.
James said, "Remember the map?"
Treggar said, "Yes."
"At midday we were due north of a large plateau, one that gives a commanding view of this entire area for miles in every direction.
"That wadi you want to leave the animals in runs up into the hills to the south. A half-mile from the trail we"re on, it swings to the southeast as it rises up to . . . ?"
"The plateau!" William finished.
"And the ancient fortress!" said Treggar. "Yes, it"s a natural sally-port! Only one way in or out."
"It"s the only possible location around here."
"So what next?" asked William.
Treggar said, "Squire, care to state the obvious so it seems less dangerous and stupid than it would if I did?"
James winced, then said, "We scout the wadi. If Prince Arutha comes riding through here and sees signs we"ve gone that way, he could be riding into a trap. We have to make sure that doesn"t happen."
"Sir?" asked one of the soldiers.
"Yes?" answered Treggar.
"If that wadi is the way in, what do we do with the wagon and the animals?"
Treggar looked at James. "We can"t leave them around here where they might be found."
William said, "We three will stay then?"
James nodded. "One man will have to drive the cart, and we can tie the camel to the back of it. The other will have to herd the goats along."
Treggar gave that order to the two soldiers. "Keep moving until an hour past sundown," he finished, "and stay in camp for three days. If someone doesn"t make contact, return to Krondor the best way you can. Try for the outpost on the southern sh.o.r.e of Shandon Bay, or get to Land"s End. Report what we"ve found here. But get back to Krondor."
The soldiers saluted, and their grim expressions showed how likely they judged that outcome.
Stripping off his heavy robe, Treggar looked like a common mercenary, wearing a tunic and leather jerkin, a sword at his side, and no helm or shield.
James was likewise dressed except that his baldric held a rapier. William"s choice of weapon was a heavy hand-and-a-half sword, carried on his back.
Treggar looked around and said, "We stay close to the south side of the trail, hugging the rocks just in case we"re not alone."
The shadows were getting longer by the moment, and James said, "We should be able to stay out of sight if we don"t stir up too much dust. I"ll lead the way."
Treggar didn"t object, and as James moved eastward, the captain cast his gaze over his shoulder at the disappearing cart and his two soldiers.
William didn"t know the men, but he knew what the captain was thinking: Would those two make it safely home again? As he turned his attention to the rocks above, William wondered if any any of them would make it safely home again. of them would make it safely home again.
Bats flew overhead, seeking out the insects that somehow thrived in this arid land. James knelt in the darkness, trying to see in the gloom what his mind told him must be there, an ambush or trap. So far, nothing. If anyone was aware of the three men"s approach, they were not revealing that fact.
James held up his hand, and turned as Treggar and William neared. He whispered, "I don"t like this. We"re walking up to their front door."
Treggar said, "What do you propose?"
"Have you ever seen any fortification without a back door?"
Treggar said, "A few, actually, but nothing on this scale. To control this large an area, even in ancient times, the Keshians would have had to garrison at least a hundred men here, more likely two or three hundred. That makes it a prime target if there"s a war. Which means you need a way to slip men in and out."
"But where?" asked James in frustration. "On the other side of the fortress?"
William whispered. "If the fortress was still standing, maybe we could have gleaned its location, but with all the above-ground structure missing . . ." He left the thought unfinished.
James said, "Let"s go a little further, then if nothing pans out I suggest we move back down to the trail and start again from the eastern side of the plateau."
William said nothing, but he knew that would mean climbing the rock face. While they moved, he prayed silently they wouldn"t have to do that. He had no love of heights.
They moved slowly through the night, and then a thought touched William"s mind.
"Wait," he whispered.
"What?" asked Treggar.
"Something . . ." William held up his hand and then closed his eyes. His mind reached out and he detected the thoughts of a rodent scurrying through the rocks. Wait! Wait! he sent to it, gently. he sent to it, gently.
The rat"s thoughts were primitive and difficult to understand. It hesitated as it considered flight. The three large creatures were a potential threat, and there was nothing of interest nearby.
As a child, William had spoken to rodents, mainly squirrels and rats. He knew they had a limited attention span and little ability to communicate. But he also knew they had a firm grasp of routes in and out of their lairs.
He tried to send a question, asking if something large had a lair nearby. The creature quickly flashed back an impression of a large tunnel, long enough for William to get a sense of location. Then the rat fled.
"What is it?" repeated Treggar.
"I think I know where the back entrance is."
"How?" asked the captain.
"You wouldn"t believe me if I told you," said William. "This way." He pointed up the wall against which they crouched. "We"re going to have to do some climbing to reach it."
Treggar nodded and said, "Show us."
William looked around and pointed upward. "It should be above this rock wall."
James said, "Follow me." He felt for a handhold in the darkness, and reached up, running his hand along the rock face. When he found a good grip he pulled and raised his right leg, finding a toehold after experimenting a little. Step by painfully slow step, he moved upward.
William turned to Treggar and asked, "Captain, does climbing this rock face in the dark fit the obviously dangerous and stupid category?"
Treggar said, "Almost certainly, lieutenant."
William reached up to follow James"s lead. "Just wanted to be certain."
Treggar waited until William was on his way, then followed silently.
Middle Moon rose while they climbed, and before long James found a cut in the rocks which was large enough for all three of them to crouch in. When Treggar reached them, William asked, "How high?"
James said, "Not far. A hundred feet or so."
William shook his head in disbelief. "I thought at least twice that." He pushed aside an almost uncontrollable urge to refuse to move from the ledge. He had made the climb so far by sheer will power, ignoring the terror which every second threatened to rise up and consume him. It had been a seemingly endless struggle of reaching up blindly and feeling for cracks and ledges, testing them, pulling up a few inches, moving a foot, trying not to give in to terror when rock crumbled beneath his toes or broke off in his hand.
"Feels like it, doesn"t it?" asked the captain.
"Look," said James, pointing upward. Above they could see the night sky lit by the moon and stars, and it was clear that the top of the ridge they had climbed was no more than twenty feet above.
To William it looked like two hundred. He glanced down and saw darkness. He decided that not being able to see how far he had come made things worse. He decided not to look down again.
James said, "Well, no good comes from waiting." He started climbing again.
"Go slowly," cautioned Treggar.
William started to climb and said, "Trust me; I"m in no hurry."
Slowly William went up the creva.s.se, using one foot on each side of the gap to push himself to the top. As he neared the top, he felt James"s hand reaching down to help him. He let the squire pull him up, then lay on his stomach, reaching down to help Treggar up. When all three were safe, James looked right, then left across the relatively flat ridge and said quietly, "We can walk from here."
"Where now?" asked the captain.
William looked around. The impression of the tunnel he had got from the rat was difficult to a.s.sociate with these surroundings. Even if he had been sitting there in broad daylight, he would have had problems: the scale of the tunnel from the rat"s perspective was of an immense cavern, and William suspected it was really a narrow bolt-hole that could accommodate just one or two men at a time.
"I think that way," said William, as he scurried along. There would be two moons tonight, Middle and Small, and by the time Middle Moon had reached the zenith, the smaller moon would have caught up with it, bathing the entire countryside in enough light for them to be seen by any watchful sentry.
James looked from side to side, while Treggar periodically glanced over his shoulder. The ridge they followed was rocky and broken, large upthrust fingers of rock worn smooth by centuries of wind-blown sand. At times they had to step carefully around needles of rock that provided scant room for them to pa.s.s.
After nearly an hour of this, William said, "If friend rat knew what he was talking about, the entrance should be somewhere below us."
"Friend rat?" asked Treggar.
"I"ll tell you later," said James. "Right now we need to find a way down."
William looked around then caught a glimpse of light. "What"s that?"
James looked in the direction in which his companion pointed and said, "Moonlight reflecting off something."
"How far do you judge?"
"Twenty feet," answered James, years of running across the rooftops of Krondor having taught him to judge distances accurately.
"How do we get down there?" asked Treggar. , "Hang and drop," said James.