“Shell and this is my sister, Camilla,” he said almost automatically.
The woman placed her hands on her heavy hips and said, “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think your mama was messing around a bit if you think you have the same father. Not that I’m an expert—oh, never mind the humble pie—I am an expert, and the two of you can say you’re whoever you want. Now, find a table you like, I’ll throw together a dinner you’ll remember a year from now.”
Her jovial words and quick smile took the sting from her revelation. He and Camilla needed to add a layer or two to their story. Different fathers. Shell’s died, and their mother remarried. The glance he’d stolen at Camilla when the fat woman was talking said Camilla already knew it.
They sat at one of the two larger tables, Camilla and Shell sharing the bench that ran along the wall so they could face the room. They pulled the table closer to them as River grabbed a chair and sat across from them. The serving-woman rushed back with three tankards of ale.
“Watered wine for me,” Camilla said.
“What do you think this is? A deluxe inn, or something? We got ale. You get ale.”
As River laughed, she spun and hurried back to the kitchen. There were no others eating yet, and the room was muted and comfortable. Shell tasted the ale and found it bitter, but drinkable. He glanced at River and caught the smirk. He’s paying me back for the comment about him and Camilla.
In that light, River’s response was fair, probably should have been expected. Shell said, “While we’re alone, let’s talk. Red said you’d been here two months watching all strangers.”
“Yes, I’ve been here two months watching strangers. I was down in Racine and sailed up here. Then I found I should have stayed there because about ten of our family arrived right after I left and sailed not long ago. I missed them, but decided this was a better place to find family.”
“Why here?” Camilla blurted.
“Racine is small. Shrewsbury lies all but deserted. I think people from different families are going to make their way here to Fleming to try and help turn back the invasion or find a way to go over there to help. I want to travel there.”
“You know there are no ships that cross the sea, right?” Camilla asked.
“Well, none do these days, but there used to be a lot of them.”
Shell rolled his eyes, “The point is, none do it now.”
River leaned closer to them. “You’re right, but there are ships here that used to cross the sea. At least five right here in Fleming.”
“But they don’t do it anymore,” Shell said, the anger at River’s oblique attitude increasing.
The woman returned with three bowls of hearty stew, coarse grain bread, jam, and a pitcher of ale. She said, “Don’t fill up on that beef stew, hear me? I have apple cobbler topped with cinnamon and sugar. Do yourself a favor and leave some room.”
When she was gone, River said, “I suggest you eat or Rachael will punish you, probably by not letting you have cobbler. Now, I know ships don’t cross the Endless Sea today, but that doesn’t mean they cannot. If for instance, a new owner bought a ship he could sail it anywhere he wanted, if he bought the right one. I discovered a family messenger here a few days ago and sent her to the Raging Mountains for me. Our family has a war fund that will be enough to buy a ship if they will allow me to use it.”
Camilla seemed to accidently jab Shell in his rib with her elbow before she said, “Keep talking.”
“My idea is this. The other ship sailed from Racine so it can make land south of Breslau, and they’ll probably make their way north across the land to reach the city. What if another ship sails north with the same intent, but we travel south and meet them?”
“Three of us will make a difference?” Camilla asked.
River cleaned the last of the stew from his bowl, leaned back and shouted, “When is that cobbler going to get here?”
“When I feel like bringing it,” the woman shouted back.
River grinned and said, “I don’t think the three of us are the only Dragon Clan coming this way.”
Shell instantly thought of Quester. After telling his story to Myron, probably many times, Shell expected Quester to reach Fleming as quickly as possible. Shell’s mind was spinning at River’s suggestions and ideas. Counting Quester there would be four of them, and a wolf named Pudding and an unnamed red miniature dragon.
Camilla spoke before Shell had his thoughts together. “But is there a ship like that for sale?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
River said, “Ships that used to sail across the sea are available at bargain prices. There are three of them that can be had, that I know of, but one is in such bad condition from years of neglect I wouldn’t trust it. A second has a skipper who drinks far too much and wants a small fortune for his ship. The third has an owner who once had a thriving business sailing across the sea and back, but now he tries to compete with local coastal ships that carry smaller cargoes and have tiny crews, so his ship sails half empty.”
“Tell us more about the third one,” Shell said.
“Rumors say he’s about to lose his ship, home, and anything else to debt, and selling all that won’t begin to cover what he owes. He and his wife and children will be sold into servitude to pay the debts within a few ten-days.”
Camilla said, “He should never have borrowed.”
River said, “True, but if my family agrees to let me use the money to pay off his debts, he should be willing to let us use his ship for our needs. If not, we can let him and his family be sold into slavery, and we can still buy the ship from the creditors, probably at a cheaper price. We might even buy him on the auction block, or we can hire a new captain from down on the wharfs.”
Camilla settled back and allowed the three plates of apple cobbler be placed in front of her. She distributed them, and Shell, who had never tasted cinnamon and sugar. From the aroma, he found himself more interested in the pie than conversation.
Shell tasted the cobbler and decided it was the best food he’d ever eaten. He looked up at River and said, “You seem a nice man on the surface, but beneath that is a ruthlessness I’ve never encountered, so I don’t know what to think. You will let the man and his family be sold into servitude without a qualm?”
“I don’t know him, didn’t advise him to borrow so heavily, and it is no concern of mine. If he agrees to sail where we want, so be it. If not, that is his choice.” River spooned pie into his mouth as if that ended the subject.
Shell said, “We should speak to him. Camilla?”
She set aside her spoon and looked at River. “When do you hope to hear from the Raging Mountains?”
“A month, at most.”
“A lot can happen in a month. The war may be over, or our family on the other ship may be in dire straits. The owner of this ship and his family may be sold into servitude, and the ship auctioned to others. How much does a ship of that kind cost?”
River snorted, as said as if speaking of a fortune, “At least three gold standards. He also has half that again in debt.”
Shell cut in quickly, “I’m from far away. How big is a gold standard?”
River made a circle with his thumb and forefinger, a circle much smaller than Shell expected. Within the money they had taken from the cabin, there were a dozen gold coins of the size he indicated and more that were larger or smaller. That didn’t even count the silver. He glanced at Camilla. We can buy five or six ships, maybe more.
Camilla said, “You’re telling me to have the captain and the ship, a buyer would have to pay for the ship and half that again to free the owner so he could sail her? That is not a good business deal if you ask me.”