14.   Akin.

 

The blue-haired girl, her eyes wide with terror, softly whispers in a heavily accented Thari, “I’m Viss, a chambermaid to Lady Elektra, and Lord Brand was upset with me because I didn’t report to him at once that Lady Elektra had left for Amber.”

 

“Viss, I’m Akin, but I’ve already told you that.  And, if you want to be rejoined with your mistress Elektra, you’ll do as I say exactly.”

 

The pretty blue-haired maid nods, and looks out through the windows of the car.  “Where...are we?” she asks as she looks back at me.”

 

I shrug and close my eyes.  I need to rest a bit.  Things I fear are only gonna get much worse before they get better.

 

I startle awake suddenly and look about.  The sky’s just starting to lighten with the dawn.  I look at Viss who’s also fallen asleep.  I open the car door and get out and relieve myself.  Sighing I go back to the car and start the motor.  Good... still runs, and as Viss stirs awake I drive towards some rough hills ...looking... looking... for the dark spot ... and… there!  I turn the wheel and the car jars as I drive up onto the small rail tracks and into the mountainside.  Viss screams and throws up her arms as I crash into a pile of brush and old boards and shut off the motor.  In the light of head beams I examine the abandoned mineshaft.  There!  I spot the oil lamp, and pick it up and light it.  Then I go back to the car, turn off the lights, and gesture for Viss to get out.  I place the keys under a rock in case I have need for the vehicle again.  Subterranean Shadows are a bit difficult to traverse, but I figure now is as good a chance to try as any.  I take Viss’ hand and start leading her forwards into the tunnel, slowly taking hold of the shadow, adjusting and shifting until I see the doors to the side that lead off to what I know will be some well-stocked storerooms that every mine of this type has.

 

“We need to change.  I’ve no doubt Brand knows what we’re wearing and will be looking for a man and a woman that match our description,” I tell the blue-haired girl as I try one of the doors.

 

It is locked, and the dust that covers the floor and the webs about tell me that no one’s been this way in a long time.  I do a quick calculation and arrive at the probability that everything that I’ll need, with the exception of the horses, will be here in one of these rooms.  I step back and then kick forwards to knock the door off its hinges.

 

In a half an hour or so, the two of us are dressed and geared along the lines of the 1890s Shadow Earth’s Wild West.  I wear a pair of blue jeans, blue and white flannel shirt, wool-lined denim jacket, tan hat, and pointy toed boots.  I’ve also found a couple of handguns, a rifle, and several boxes of ammunition.  I put the ammo, as well as several canteens, into a large sack, and buckle the gun belt around my hips.  I tuck a large knife into my right boot.  The girl is similarly dressed, but with a red shirt and a black overcoat slicker.  I had her tie her hair up and put it under a derby type hat to hide the long blue locks.  I did not give her any arms, just the bag to carry.  In one of the rooms which served most probably as barracks for the miners, I found a small sack of coins as well as another bag with several chunks of what I recognized as gold hidden in several of the mattresses.

 

We then leave the mine.  I put the boards and shrubbery back as well as possible to cover the entryway, and brush over the ground to cover the wheel tracks.  I take the girl’s hand and start walking west and north, moving up through the forested hills, looking, knowing that before long I will come across a horse or two... and that the probability that they would be geared in an environment like this is rather high...  I stop as I hear the whinny – soon joined by another.  I listen for a few more minutes.  Good, nothing else, only the animals.  I move toward them, motioning the maid to be still and quiet and wait for me as I move to cautiously look over a rise towards the sound of the horses.

 

Indeed, there are two horses.  I look carefully about to see if anyone else is around.  There isn’t.  I didn’t think that there would be, but never hurts to be cautious at times like these.  I slowly stand up and make myself known to the horses as I go down to them.  The two horses are saddled and geared, and their bridles and reins had caught in some bushes.  They’re used to people, so they don’t pay me much mind as I untangle their leads and then lead them back to where the blue-haired maid awaits.  Seems like their riders had met with some violence; there’re some bloodstains on the gear.  Fortunately the horses are fine and splendid animals.  I take the gear that I gathered from the mining shaft and pack the saddlebags of the horses while checking their contents.  There’s a rifle holster on each saddle, and I slide the rifle in place on the saddle of the animal I’ll ride, a large black, while letting the maid familiarize herself with the smaller gray.

 

I motion her and we mount up, and I take hold of her reins and start to lead westwards, weaving through the ever-thickening trees on the hills.  I start to shift, but just a little at a time, as I don’t want to alarm the horses by taking a violent Hellride.  Also, I’m starting to like this area. It’s comforting and just needs a few small adjustments.  I reach a stream and follow it downhill and southwards.  The leaves change from greens to more bluish in hue, and the evergreens start to take on a reddish tinge.  I smell the clean fresh air and notice birds and a few small animals darting about.  We finally come out of the small hill’s copse of trees to an open space, where a road is running from east to west to the south of us.  I stop at the edge of the trees and check the road carefully.  No one’s traveling it.  Nevertheless I make sure that my weapons are fully loaded.  Hopefully I won’t need them, but it never hurts to be prepared.

 

I decide not to do anymore shifting for the moment, but to get some speed and distance.  I hand the reins back to the girl, tell her to keep close, and then kick my horse to a gallop, flying first towards the road and then westward.  The horse runs eagerly and with joy, the gray keeping pace, and the girl smiling as well, one hand holding her hat to her head.  If Uncle Brand wants to get his hands on me, then he better be fast.  I certainly am not one who will hang around and await my fate.  I grin as I urge the horse for more speed, and we fly down the smooth dirt track westwards.  I know that over the next couple miles we should be starting to see people, and a town shouldn’t be too far away either from the looks of the road.

 

The girl seems happy with her unexpected adventure, holding her hat low to protect her eyes from the late morning sun, a ray shining off her earring.  To think of it, these large rosettes of diamonds with some rare blue stones in the center look somewhat odd on a maid.  And where could a medieval wench have possibly seen an automobile?  There’s no doubt she had, as she wasn’t scared of it in the least…  But these questions can wait – there must be a little town right behind the hill, a church steeple can be already seen, even from here.

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