"I know why you're angry, but we didn't know we had your necklace until a few days ago, " he said. "We'd be glad to give it back-"
"Kender thief, you'll pay for your stealing, " Tolem said.
Trap kept backing away until he was in the storage yard and found himself up against the stone wall.
"That wasn't nice, " he said. "You shouldn't interrupt a reasonable conversation by swinging weapons, you could get someone hurt, and then you'd be sorry. " He skipped away from Tolem, only to face another dwarf with an axe just as large.
He feinted with his hoopak, ducked to avoid the hacking axe, and lunged by the dwarf. Four had been concentrating on him and he was behind them, but two others blocked the entrance to the alley.
From above came the sound of creaking wagon wheels. The dwarves were too intent on the kender to notice. The sound had not meant anything to Trap until he heard Umpth's voice.
"You no go back!" The gully dwarf cried out.
Trap didn't understand what Umpth meant. Trap certainly wanted the dwarves to go back to wherever they came from.
Trap skipped about, further angering the dwarves who were unaccustomed to such nimble quarry. Then the kender found an opening and dashed for the wall. In his efforts to guarantee that no one could get behind him, Trap failed to think things all the way through. Suddenly he realized that he was trapped. The two dwarves who had been guarding the alley to prevent his escape, joined the others. All six dwarves, their axes ready to swing, advanced on Trap.
"This isn't fair, " he told them. "You almost make me sorry I saved your lives. You could thank me instead of being so mean. "
Tolem stopped in surprise. He stared at the kender for a moment and then took another step forward.
"You? Save our lives? Bah!"
"I did, " the kender insisted. "Who threw rocks at you and made you stop arguing in the forest? Who made you hide and listen for the goblins that would have surprised you? They could have killed you, you know. You should be thanking me, not threatening me. "
"I don't believe it, " one of the other dwarves said, continuing to advance on Trap.
From directly above Trap's head came the crash of wood striking heavily on the top of the stone wall. A deluge of manure poured down on the dwarves who stood directly in front of him. In the blink of an eye they were almost buried in cow and horse dung. A few pieces struck Trap, but he was partly sheltered by the wagon that sat rocking on the top of the wall.
"Grab cart wheel! Climb!" Umpth called down to him.
Not one to hang about when it was time to leave, Trap grabbed a rear wheel and scrambled up. His weight caused the vehicle to tilt and more manure poured down on the hapless dwarves who were struggling to escape their malodorous confinement. Just as Umpth reached down to give Trap a hand, a dwarf, who had been able to dodge most of the manure, grabbed the opposite rear wheel and started up. His weight was enough to topple the wagon and it slid over the wall.
Trap had just grasped a capstone when the wagon started to slide. He held on, his whole body dangling until Umpth caught him by the arms and pulled him up. In front of the wagon, two sturdy ponies were fighting a loosing battle to keep the weight of the wagon from pulling them into the lower courtyard. Trap whipped out his knife and cut their harnesses. Behind and from below came the crash of the wagon and the shouts of the dwarves.
"Ponies back away from axe, wagon fall over edge, " Umpth said as he picked up his weapon.
Trap decided he would ask the gully dwarf to explain later, but at that moment he knew they had to get away, buy their pots, and leave the exploration of Solanthus for another time. Stopping to buy some pots was one thing, messing around with the dwarves when he needed to rescue Ripple was another.
"Wizard make kender wash, " Umpth said with a sniff as they trotted around the upper part of the building and back out onto the road. Trap bent forward to brush away the muck, but soon gave it up.
Twenty minutes later they had made their hurried purchases and had left Solanthus behind. They rode down the trail until they found the gorge, but the others were nowhere in sight.
"Where go?" Umpth asked.
"I don't know, but we'll find them, " Trap said, angry because Halmarain had demanded that he stay with her, but now she had left them. At least he had found the tracks of the five ponies that she had kept with her.
"Just wait, " he groused at Umpth as they followed Halmarain's trail. "When I find her I am going to tell her… why is she going south? She said the kobolds were going east. "
Trap and Umpth rode through the shallow valleys between the foothills, watching for the tracks of the ponies. The kender had been keeping his eyes on the ground until movement ahead attracted his attention. He looked up to see Halmarain just coming around a hill. She was riding in their direction. When she saw him she spurred up her mount. Behind her, Grod, the pack pony, and the two extra ponies picked up speed.
"No need tracks now, " Umpth said, pointing ahead.
"I can see that, " Trap answered him. "Just wait until she gets here. I'm going to tell her what I think of her leaving us like that. "
When Halmarain approached within speaking distance he opened his mouth to have his say, but she forestalled him.
"I'm glad you came after me, " she said with no apology for leaving the meeting place. "Now we can make a plan. I've found them. "
"Found who?" Trap forgot his anger. Finding things or people was always more interesting than arguing.
"The kobolds who took Ripple and Beglug!" The little wizard shook her head as if she couldn't believe the question.
"Good! Great! Big jiggers! Did you see Ripple and the merchesti? Where are they?" Trap asked.
Halmarain pointed west. "They're coming-"
"I knew there was something strange about following on Krynn, " Trap said. "People who follow always get ahead. Tolem and his friends are in Solanthus. "
"Forget them, " Halmarain said, but before she could say more, Trap took offense.
"I will not forget my sister, " he said, reverting suddenly to the original subject under discussion. Halmarain's face reddened and she was puffing herself up for an explosion when she suddenly took control of her emotions.
"No, we won't, " she agreed. "You're right about the following. What we didn't consider is that we were riding, so we were going faster. Somehow we passed them. "
"Then why did you ride south?" Trap asked.
"Because I hadn't thought we were ahead of them. I was looking for their tracks. I was sure they would have to cross the foothills south of the city. When I didn't find any sign of them, I rode to the top of a hill to look for you and I saw them in the distance. They're coming this way.
"Now, you wanted to make a plan, so let's make one. They're staying in the valleys and don't want to be seen from the city. We have to hurry. They're not more than two miles away. "
"I still think we could all climb up in a tree-"Trap voiced his first plan, which was still his favorite, but Halmarain interrupted.
"Look around you, " she said. "There are very few trees, and those are up on the hillsides. The kobolds won't pass anywhere near them. "
"We could take some large horses and pull down a dam and let the water of a river wash down the valley-"
"Don't be ridiculous! There's no large river or dam near by and even if there was, we'd wash away Ripple and the merchesti… " She stopped, thinking, then brightened suddenly. "A stream! By the marks we saw, Beglug always puts up a struggle when they want him to cross a stream. "