The Pale Locksmith

CHAPTER 10: THE SHUNNED TRIO

 "Elizur?"

"Don't worry about the oven Adi, I am keeping an eye on it."

"I wasn't going to ask about.. well good, we can't afford to burn anything. But I was just wondering, well, what do you want in the future? I mean, do you want to travel? Or is there a trade you want to do?"

"Um. I dunno."

"Do you want to stay at the Bakery?"

"I think that is really more your thing, Adi."

"Okay. Is there anything you do want to do?"

"Not sure."

"Do you want to go anywhere? See somewhere besides C.T.?

"Maybe, I don't know."

"Well sometimes you spend time at the coaching house. Do you imagine yourself going to any of those places, seeing the..."

"I said I don't know. Just drop it Adiniah."

"It's okay, you can..."

"I said drop it, okay?"

"Sorry. Thanks for watching the ovens."

She had wanted to ask him more. She was worried about him – after all, he was the only brother she had. They got on quite well, and she wanted the best for him. Perhaps he wished to go on a courting visit - Adiniah got the feeling he would have been happy with either of the Tailor's daughters. And while Wormcheeks may be wealthier than they were, he may enjoy his daughter being married to the son of a Lawkeeper – a respected profession. Unless they wanted to know how Elizur planned to earn coins for his new wife in the future. That would be a much more conversation.

* * *

Not many people knew much about the Department of Necropsy, for if they ever needed its services, it was too late to care. The Ministry needed them of course, but kept its existence. On many an occasion the Department felt as if they had been forgotten about. They were overlooked when broken windows needed replacing, overlooked when the latrine was clogged, and overlooked on the occasions that the Ministry was extravagant with its spending and decided to redecorate The Old White.

Even the morgue room itself seems like an afterthought. The walls had never been painted, and the floor and stone blocks were mottled with stains. All in all, not a pleasant place to work - the contrast with the pristine Ministry was a stark one. When Rance had been a Deathnoter, he had sometimes mentioned the state of the Department, a lack of spare coins was typically the reason given for the lack of attention. This excuse no longer sat well with Rance, especially when he heard yet another person in the Ministry talking about some expensive banquet or other that was to be thrown in honour of a distinguished visitor from the mainland.

At least it meant his three friends were pretty much left to get on with their days, with little interference from outside. With no direct supervision and their silent guests coming at irregular intervals, the trio often found themselves with time on their hands. If you wish to find out how driven a person is, give them some free time with little accountability and see how they use it. Each of the team took advantage of their situation in different ways.

Clouter was of course not christened Clouter - his parents were not that unkind. His first name, which Rance had only learnt by chance after they had been working together for years, was in fact Oak. Clouter did not like the name Oak, perhaps understandably. Rance had never mentioned that he knew the truth; he knew what it was like to have an uncommon name which caused others to comment. His parents, who at the time of his birth had been fervently religious, had seen fit to name him Deliverance. It was meant to celebrate the fact they were free from their previous sinful lives, and he was the living reminder of their good fortune. By the time Rance was five his parents no longer had their faith or in fact their marriage, his name was the only legacy of their previous belief.