They pushed the barge beside us, and I walked the horse onto it without issue. It was nervous, but my soft talking and nearness reassured it. The others watched, horses and people. A rope was fastened to an iron ring and the other end on the rear of a large rowboat. The old man climbed into the bow of the rowboat and sat facing me where he could also watch the progress of the barge. The sons he’d named pulled on the double oar setup and the rope stretched tight.
The barge barely moved up and down, or from side to side, however, we felt each stroke of the oars with a sudden rush ahead. The far side was not as far away as I’d thought. A barren bank grew in height as we rowed nearer. There were small shrubs and grasses, but no trees. Maybe there were trees along the bank to the east or west.
My horse didn’t have a name, or at least, one that I knew. The Kaon Warrior who owned it might have a name he called it. As we neared the far shore, Coffin pointed out the place he wanted to land.
A shelf of barren natural rock extended into the lake forming a solid pier if a little slanted to one side. The surface of the rock was equal to the sides of the barge, and when the rowboat was pushed against it, there were iron pegs to tie up to. We were not the first to use it as a dock.
The old man said, “You get out first. Show the horse how to step up, and it will follow.”
I exaggerated my step under the watchful eyes of the horse. It snorted, which I took to be laughing at me. The horse exited the barge far more gracefully than I did.
I walked it to the shore where a few tufts of scraggly grass grew and tied it to snack as a reward for being calm on the trip. The old man silently followed. The rowboat had pushed off and was crossing much faster than when pulling us. I said, “What’s going on? Why are you staying here instead of going back with them?”
“To talk.”
“Is that an order or are you asking me to talk?”
“I wanted to be alone for this. There are too many jabbering at once back there, one of you, or one of my boys, is always interrupting things, so the answers are crap.”
He returned to the rock outcrop, pulled his boots off and sat, his feet dangling in the cool water. In the heat of the day, that looked inviting, so I joined him. The water was cooler than expected. He didn’t speak, and I decided to wait him out.
His eyes flicked to the rowboat that was now almost out of sight. A wavering wake told of its progress. The old man said, “Taught him to row better than that.”
“He’s making good speed,” I said, hoping to encourage him to get to the topic he wanted to discuss. “He’ll be back before long, along with someone else to interrupt us, so let’s talk. Why are you called Coffin? I mean, is that the name your mother gave you?”
“Curious, are you? Well, I had another name when young, but after a few fights, Coffin stuck. What I got to say to you won’t take long.”
I waited.
He splashed water with his left foot, then abruptly said, “Tell me your story. The short version.”
Seeing no reason not to, I gave him the highlights. He asked only a few terse questions, then said, “They knew I didn’t kill that man in Dagger, and my sons are not thieves. But we spoke up against that Council of Nine and asked if the King can’t rule, why isn’t his son taking his place?”
“That’s not all you said?”
“Nope. I said we should kick that council all the way back to where they came from, which was Kaon.”
“You said that before being accused?”
“What do you think?” He spat into the water without bothering to look at me. “We heard from a friend they were coming after us, so we took to the river. Barely got away.”
“And you went about as far as you could and built that hut?”
“Nope. Found it just like it is. Things last out here in the desert. It might be a hundred years old, but that ain’t the point we should be talking about.”
“What is?”
“They burned my home and business in Dagger and tried to capture us and would probably have hung the four of us in the main square if they caught us. Teach others a lesson about talking down the Council of Nine. Fact is, my goal these days is to harm them, to hit them back.”
“They took your life away. You have a right to be angry.”
“Killed my wife.”
He hung his head and tried to hide a tear. For me, there seemed nothing to say. I didn’t know the right words, so said nothing.
He drew himself up and said in almost a whisper, “That’s why I wanted to talk to you. Alone. I got more family.”
It didn’t’ make sense that he would choose that time to tell me about his relations, but there was more to come. I waited again. The rowboat came back into view, pulling the barge and another horse.
The old man saw it too. He pulled himself together and said, “I heard you’re going south to Fairbanks and Landor.”
“We are hoping to find help there to join us in the fight.”
“Both kingdoms lay south past Dead Isle and across the sea. You need a boat to get there. The family I spoke of lives on a small bay south of Dagger. Fishermen. They have boats.”
My vague plan had been to try locating a ship or boat of some kind near Dagger without being caught. That appeared to be our major problem. The solution the old man offered was better. We could avoid Dagger completely, the place where the surveillance would be heaviest, and where our descriptions were on the lips of city watchers, soldiers, and bounty hunters, even if we managed to slip into the city.
“We can pay.”
He said, “I’ll send one of my boys with you. He knows where my folks live, and they don’t like the new government any more than us, but you can pay them if they’ll take it.”
“If you don’t mind me saying so,” I said as I met his steady gaze, “this seems like a complete turnaround from when we first met this morning.”
He watched the boat approach until it was nearly tied up before answering. “You heard most of my reasons.”
I didn’t like the response. Not that I distrusted him, but there was a part of his explanation he didn’t want to share—and that made me want to know more. I reached out to Anna, *Will you touch minds and tell me if there is anything I need to know about our friend Coffin?*
*I can only hear what is in your mind, not his. You will have to discuss with him what it is that you are concerned about, and I will try to sense any deception.*
That answered one question. She couldn’t read the minds of others but could sense deception. Not as good an option, but one that was useful I responded, *Thank you.*
To the old man, I said irritably, “Your offer is more than generous. If your son acts as our guide and introduces us to the fishermen with boats, we can pay them to sail us to Landor. It solves many problems.”
“If you can strike a blow against Dagger, I’d pay for your trip if I had the money.”
*He’s telling the truth, but holding back.*
I said to him with a frown to emphasize my feelings, “I get the feeling you’re holding back something.”
He glowered at me as he reached for the proffered ropes to pull the barge alongside the rock shelf. Kendra stepped out and urged her horse with a few soft words. You can always tell about the inner workings of a person by how they treat animals. While others might yank on the reins, or another slap the rump of the horse, she did it with soft words.