Carack

Carack Ch11 p1

 Chapter 11 The Bear Auction

Gerent was standing in a dark doorway looking out into a sunny, noisy town square full of market day activities and honking geese. He was tired and sore from lack of sleep and all the hard riding he had just done over the last two days, but the Brownie seemed to be still as cheerful and wide awake as ever.

‘Well, now we are here, what now?’ Brunnstan said and Gerent looked down to see.Brunnstan was looking up at him. Gerent stepped back into the dark of the building to avoid being seen and looked around the barn to make sure it was empty.

‘Well you can’t go around looking like that anymore.  Make yourself big at least!’ Gerent hissed.

‘Oh no, I can’t do that.’ Brunnstan replied looking a little hurt.

‘What?’ Gerent almost shouted then checked himself and knelt to face the little Brownie, ‘Why not?’

‘Well, you see, we Brownies are part of the castle, our magic is part of the castle and if we leave it we-’

‘I remember Sancret said you’d leave all your powers behind, what use is that?’ said Gerent in a resigned tone. Brunnstan looked very hurt.

‘Not all,’ he said in a small voice, hanging his head. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come, you obviously don’t want my help, it’s just I thought you liked me, I liked you, even when all the other Brownies hated you because you nearly killed the Mage I said you were honourable and kind.’ He sniffed and Gerent felt bad. The Brownie had just spent two days travelling with him without one word of complaint and had even been a comfort in his quiet solidity, riding alongside Gerent.

‘Sorry Brunnstan, of course I want you to stay, it’s just having a Brownie walking around with me is going to be a little conspicuous.’

‘I could go invisible,’ said Brunnstan somewhat mollified.

‘Great! Do that, that’s good!’ said Gerent as Brunnstan faded away, ‘can you still hear me Brunnstan? Brunnstan?’ The Brownie’s head and shoulders reappeared.

‘Of course I can,’ he said with a slight touch of irritation in his voice, ‘I’m not deaf you know - just invisible! Hadn’t we better get going to rescue Meendhu before he gets sold from under our very noses?’

‘Yes, first we have to find out which one he is and then figure out how to get him out of there, come on.’ Gerent left the barn and could hear the soft padding of Brunnstands feet alongside him, they raised a small amount of dust and Gerent hoped that this would not be noticed. The two of them approached the cage of bears; the four animals were all sat facing each other with their backs against the bars. Gerent knelt and crept around the cage saying, ‘Meendhu?’ to each bear but he got no response from any, on the door at the front of the cage was a notice saying ‘Untrainable Bears, no longer suitable for dancing, would make good bears for baiting. Auction on the afternoon of Widewithenday.’

‘What are you doing boy?’ demanded a burly man who carried a whip in a menacing manner, ‘I’ve watched you creep around those bears, what are you up to?’ He pounced on Gerent, pulled him up by gripping his chin and lifted him until his toes were off the ground, ‘not thinking of letting them go now were you? Not poking them with a stick eh?’

Gerent shook his head as best he could and tried to say:

‘I want to buy one.’ But it came out as ‘guy grun.’

‘You got money boy? Money enough fer a bear?’ The man shoved his face right into Gerent’s, Gerent tried to nod.

‘Gess!’ and he was let to fall. Regaining his feet he said ‘I have enough for one that goes cheap. I thought to buy one of these and then I could try and make it dance.’ The man rocked back and forth with huge bellowing laughter.

‘You boy! Train a dangerous bear, got a whip have you?’

Gerent looked at the four dejected animals in the cage.

‘No I haven’t, but they don’t look dangerous, they look tired.’ The man thrust his face into Gerent’s again.

‘You don’t know bears boy!’ he emphasised the ‘you’, ‘But it’s no matter to me what a paying customer does with his bear once I’ve had his money, look ‘em over boy and see those cages yonder,’ he pointed to a row of five cages lined up along the street. Each cage contained a black bear cub, which was either growling, roaring, pacing or reaching out at passers by, Gerent nodded.

‘Them’s dancing bears boy, have a look at them, they’ll earn you more when you take ‘em in to a fair or a private entertainment, got more life in them they have than this bunch, might cost you a bit more but those are the bears to have fer dancing.’

‘When’s the auction?’ Gerent asked innocently. The bear seller grew angry.

‘Are you pulling my chain boy? Can’t you read? Look, what’s it say here? Eh? Eh?’ He pulled Gerent round to face the sign on the cage and Gerent read it again, aloud this time.

‘on the afternoon of Widewithenday.’

‘There you are then, asking stupid questions, wanting a cheap bear.’

‘But, I don’t know when Widewithenday is.’ said Gerent.

‘What you’re in Ludlowston, with the busiest market you’re ever likely to see setting up, side stalls and hawkers, gamblers and jugglers coming in by the score and you don’t know what day it is tomorrow! Get out of it boy! Go on clear off and leave my bears alone!’ He cuffed Gerent around the ear and ducking another blow, Gerent ran off down the street. ‘You come back tomorrow with your money if you want a bear, but I bet you ‘aint here!’ called the man after him.

Gerent ran around a corner out of sight of the bear seller and finding a quiet back alley, he quickly stepped in, looked around and then said in a loud whisper.

‘Brunnstan?’ At first there was no reply but when he repeated it a few seconds later Brunnstan’s puffed reply came.

‘I’m here now, you have to remember I’m short, if you must take off like a startled rabbit at least give me time to catch up before you hide! I haven’t got wings you know, I’m not a fairy!’

‘Sorry, I didn’t much fancy getting another clout from that sweaty oaf. Are you Ok?’

‘Thank you for asking, I am.’

‘Well I think we will have to wait until the bear seller has gone to bed before we go back, it looks as if the auction will be our best bet to get Meendhu out of there. I wonder why he didn’t give us any sign which one he is, that’s odd, I hope he’s still in there!’ added Gerent suddenly worried.

‘He has to be, remember the Mage centred on him to send us here, and the well focused on the cage, so Meendhu must be in it,’ reassured Brunnstan. ‘I’ll go and keep watch and I can let you know if anything happens with the bears, I might even get close to the cage and try and get some response from the big bear himself. You wait here, I’ll be back!’ Chuckling Gerent sat down against a wall, Brunnstands words reminded Gerent of a line from a movie, spoken by a huge body building actor and Gerent had mentally compared him to Brunnstan, it was a movie he had seen with Hugh; but remembering Hugh made Gerent forget the comic comparison.