My eyes took a minute to adjust to the dim light. When they did, I saw a middle-aged man standing behind a counter, bald on top, bushy hair on the sides. He scowled while looking me over. The disgust he wore took me off guard. He pulled out a rag and began polishing the counter.
“Good day,” I said while walking over.
He didn’t respond.
I stayed calm. Maybe he was hard of hearing. Granted, that didn’t explain his scowl. I decided on a different approach, cutting through the small talk and getting right down to business. “I’m looking to make a purchase.”
“Inventory is running low,” he muttered without looking up. “Probably out of what you’re looking for.”
I stepped away from the counter and looked around the store. Sacks of flour rested next to piles of potatoes, carrots, and other root vegetables. A barrel of apples stood beside another of limes. Strips of dried beef and lamb hung on hooks. And those were the items fit for human consumption. Grain for the horses was in a different part of the store with various tools a farmer, butcher, rancher, tanner, or so on might need. Should I be so inclined to take up knitting, I could even buy a pile of yarn.
“I’m pretty sure you’ve got what we’re looking for.”
The man looked up. “None of this is for sale.”
“Huh?”
“It’s all been paid for in advance. Most of it just came in actually. No one’s going to come by to pick it up until this evening though.”
A small bell chimed, and Dekar entered, rubbing his eyes just like I had. The old man’s scowl somehow deepened. He backed away a step.
Blinking, Dekar walked over.
“All right,” I said, facing the man once more. “What is for sale in the way of food and grain? Even if it’s not all we need, it will help us along until we get to the next town.”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Come to think about it, I don’t think we have anything for sale. You and your friend might do best just heading out to that next town. I’m sure you’ll have more luck there.”
Having quickly figured out the situation, Dekar said “Just say it like it is. Plenty’s for sale, just not to us. Am I right?”
The owner nodded.
“Why in the name of Molak not?” I said. “Our coin is just as good as anyone else’s. I never heard of any business man prejudiced about how he makes his money.”
The owner puffed himself up. “I can run my store anyway I want. Now that you know the way it is, I suggest you get on out of here.”
“Tyrus?” asked Dekar.
I stared at the man and he stared right back. Despite not carrying any noticeable weapons, his gaze didn’t falter.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said.
“You sure?” asked Dekar.
“Yeah. We got enough food to last us until the next town. We can try our luck there. I don’t want another Damanhur.”
The man flinched at the name like he had heard of what had happened. I guess it was possible. Bad news travels fast and we had chosen to travel the safest path, not the fastest.
I cursed to myself. If they had heard about Damanhur from someone besides us, he might be thinking we started the whole thing. I opened my mouth in an effort to make our case one last time, when the store’s door flew open, slamming against the wall.
“Sergeant, you better get out here right away. We’ve got trouble.”
“What is it? Where’s Ira?”
“Outside with the others. He’s the one who told me to grab you.”
Dekar cursed and followed the soldier out. I went after them, using some colorful language of my own. Ira rarely called for help.
My hand immediately shielded my eyes from the harsh sun as I rushed out of the store. Squinting, I followed Dekar further into town. I heard cattle shuffling around in their pens as we neared the edge.
Behind an old barbershop rested the animal pens I heard earlier. The men I sent off with Ira to sell the wagons and mounts stood with weapons in their hands. Anger and fear lined their faces. I spotted Ira at the front of the group. Sword at his side, he said nothing. Never a good sign. For all Ira’s talk, when things got grim, he got focused and quiet.
I walked up, Dekar beside me.
Across from our group, over thirty men from the town, mostly ranchers, stood with various weapons of their own. A few had swords or machetes. Most improvised with woodcutter’s axes or pitchforks. A handful wore patches of armor. Several others held makeshift shields. They were a rag-tag group, obviously unaccustomed to fighting. However, the townsfolk had numbers on us. Again. We’d take them, but not without losses of our own.
“What’s going on, Ira?” I whispered.
“Idiots trying to steal from us,” he answered back in a voice just as low.
Men continued to run in and join the group across from us. Inexplicably, none seemed in a hurry to do much more than stand around and try to intimidate us. That strategy suited me just fine as it gave me time to catch up with Ira. It also let me know that we had a chance of getting out of here while avoiding any violence.
“How so?”
“I made a deal with the owners. Fair for both sides I thought. I even had the men get the horses in pens for them. Then when the idiots came to pay us, they only gave us half of the agreed amount. Said they changed their minds. I threw the money at their feet and called for the men to get the animals back out. When I did, people ran out with weapons drawn.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t killed anyone yet,” said Dekar.
“Don’t think I didn’t want to. Just trying to do what you would do, brother.”
“You did good,” I said. “Which one is the leader?”
“The one carrying the scythe. At least he’s the one who told us we couldn’t get the animals back. Everyone seems to be waiting on him to do something.”
I grunted. “He looks the most nervous of everyone.”
“He’s had time to think,” said Dekar. “Probably second guessing whether this was all worth it.”
“Let’s hope.” I sighed and undid my sword belt, letting it drop to the ground. “Best to try this the easy way first.”
“Be careful,” said Dekar.
I walked out into the space separating the two groups, stopping halfway. “I’m here to talk to who’s in charge. I took my sword off as a sign of peace. Bring whatever you want with you for all I care. I don’t intend to kill anyone.”
All eyes went to the man Ira tagged as the leader. He didn’t move at first, but realized quickly he needed to in order to save face. He brought the scythe he carried with him. Apparently, he didn’t need to save that much face. The curved blade looked comfortable in his hand, like a man who had used one all his life. He probably had and that worried me a bit.
He stopped about five feet away, scythe leaning outward between us like some barrier he dared me to pass.
“Good day.”
He didn’t respond. Whatever the man at the feed store had was catching.
“I hear there’s a problem in regards to payment for our animals and wagons.”
“No problem from our perspective.”
“Of course. Even still, we’ve decided the deal just isn’t worth it to us. If you and your friends would kindly step aside, we’ll get our wagons hitched again and get out of your way. What do you say?”
The man looked over his shoulder. Several of the men behind him shook their heads. “I can’t do that.”
“So theft is something accepted here then?”
“We’re not stealing anything.”
“Sure you are.” I gestured behind me. “My friend made a fair deal.”
“It wasn’t fair.”
“All right. He makes a deal. Fair or not, it was one that you agreed to. Then you have a change of heart. He returns the money. And now you want to keep our animals anyway. If that isn’t stealing than I don’t know what is.”
“The animals stay. You can have the wagons.”
“And how would you have me take my wagons away without horses to pull them?”
He shrugged. “Not my concern.”
My eyes narrowed. “What is your problem with us? We did nothing to you or this town.”