The Deepcombers

Chapter Twenty Five

After Clyde departed, Lon waited a minute and then stealthily escaped the brickyard and crossed the river over the middle bridge. On the other side, he saw the oil lamps had just been lit above the promenade. He knew the flag-paved street cut through the settlement to the center of town and to the dining hall where the food was dispensed. He kept his eyes and ears open for any sign of his friends but by this point he was getting used to being alone. He heard the rattle of cutlery on porcelain plates and smelled the supper in the cookhouse as he approached.

Lon entered the crowded mess and collected many smiles and friendly nods. The room was filled with hungry Calbians and there were very few empty seats. The buffet was a prodigious feast of roast poultry, new potatoes and greens. Lon moved to fetch a plate and get started.

Hoooray! The crowd suddenly cheered and he wondered what he'd done now. But when he looked around he found they didn't celebrate him at all.

Saeya Tashafaryian had entered the hall. The blond huntress carried a dozen new pewter cups over her shoulder which clanked on her back as she walked. Whether they were local or imported, the young lad couldn't tell, but she carried all twelve steins with coarse twine tied to their handles. These were proper one-quart goblets. Her freckled face along with this tinkers' bounty was celebrated with cries of joy and a general livening of the mood. A fiddle appeared and the jolly patrons danced a lively jig. Now it was a party.

Lon wasn't the only one who brightened at seeing Saeya; she was beloved by the locals and every resident wanted to dance. She twirled and high-stepped with young and old, dirty and debonair as the mugs she'd delivered were inspected and tested. A barrel of beer was found and rolled into the hall by muscular butlers.

A mouth harp joined the fiddle and a kettle drum came down from the rafters. Saeya pulled Lon onto the dance floor amidst much laughter. The young lad tripped, bumped and was jostled about; he'd never been a skilled dancer and the tune was a round-about. But he didn't have to demonstrate his awkwardness very long. Right then the keg was tapped. The blond grabbed him and pulled him to safety. She stood clear herself as the barrel was bungholed and thirsty townsfolk rushed forth with their new cups held low to catch the stream. There were hollers and screams as the shiny steins were filled and drained.  Soon it became clear there was no plug for the breach and the game was to guzzle the beer as fast as it seeped from the broken barrelhead. That meant everyone had to drink.

Saeya took a big slurp and handed the heavy pewter mug to Lon who drank it dry. The empty vessel was snatched from his hand and thrown across the room where it was circled back through the flow. And so it went for ten minutes or so until the deluge turned to a dribble over a puddle on the floor. What fun these reptiles are! Lon stumbled and drunkenly tripped on a bench. Ouch. The Calbians howled again and Saeya appeared to help him stand. The beer had a very high alcohol content and he still hadn't eaten any supper.

"How was your afternoon?" she asked, "I heard you went for a walk on the east wall?"

"Yeah." Lon replied. He wondered how she knew that, but then of course every bowfeigor on the battlement would have reported it and someone would have surely informed her. "Is that okay?"

"Why the east wall?"

Lon shrugged. He had no answer. Why did I walk along the east wall? He hadn't deliberately chosen to do that inspection. But he had gazed east several times and worried when the Crols would come, and so maybe he was subconsciously drawn to that section.

"It's okay. You're to move into Winterhouse tonight," the blond said, and she wrinkled her nose by way of apologizing for the shift. "We need the granary back."

"Oh, alright," Lon nodded politely. He immediately wondered where Winterhouse was and if he'd seen that today. Maybe it's where Valari and Melcart also bunked? As if reading his mind, the girl walked him to the west side of the dining hall where she unpinned fabric that covered an opening in the wall. From this third  story window they could see the western half of Atarskal.