Alana's Trail

Chapter 5

Where Aspenfields had been welcoming, Friar's Hill was cloying. She extricated herself from her conversation with the town's regent, an overly loquacious man named Terrin, as gracefully as she could and continued on toward Pine Glen as quickly as she could.

Where the road to Aspenfields had been under a low, rolling mist, the road to Pine Glen was nearly obscured by a dense fog. Alana had to pull her scarf over her face to keep from choking on the air. It was just after dusk when a more powerful quake ushered them into reached Pine Glen, and Hedrick, the chief foreman, was anything but pleased to see her. "What now? We told Lord Moorhawk we're already at capacity."

Alana was taken aback. "I'm sorry?"

"Your brother wanted to know why our production has slowed, and I asked him how he expected us to get anything done when half our population was wiped out by that dratted cough last winter, and...well..." He waved his hand as another strong tremor rolled through.

The ranger sympathized, thinking of the mothers she and Aidan lost to a similar illness when they were young children. "I'm sure my brother is just concerned. Your foundries are the best in the region, and I guess we've come to rely on the income from your fine creations."

The foreman softened. "You always had the more discerning eye, my lady." Alana smiled at the compliment; she indeed had a deeper appreciation for the foundries' finely crafted weapons than her pacifist brother. "Well, if you're not here to squeeze blood from our stones, how can I help you?"

"Actually, I'm looking for Aidan. When did you see him?"

"It's been several weeks He came through, reviewed our books and the foundries, and left for Oaks Knoll. He wasn't here more than a day."

Of course he wasn't. Aidan was no more comfortable in the foundries that Alana was in a crowded square. "I'm afraid I won't be here long myself. I have to continue on. But perhaps you can recommend lodgings and a stable for the night?"

"I can find you the best room in town, Lady Alana." Hedrick smiled.

A couple of hours and a handful of small tremors later, the horse was stabled and Alana settled down for the first real night's sleep she'd had since learning her father had lost contact with her brother. Senna jumped up onto the bed and circled a few times before stretching out across the foot of the bed and fell asleep, his light snores never once waking the ranger.

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The next morning, Alana woke to gray skies and a light rain, the apparent remnants of a storm she had surprisingly slept through. She grumbled as she scratched the wolfhound behind its left ear, provoking a happy tail wag and leg twitch from her companion, and threw herself out of bed.

For a moment, she felt sorry for the foundries. They wouldn't be able to run the smaller furnaces in this weather, and that would cause them even more trouble. From her window, she could see it was raining in the mountains, and that the fog hung thick around the city. The grounds around the hotel were mucked just enough to make the veteran ranger hesitant to travel, and she wondered just how far south the rain and fog extended.

After much debate, she threw on some clothes and went in search of breakfast, the wolfhound alert and hyper at her side. "You can't go outside and play. I really don't have anywhere to clean you up." Senna whined. "I'll make you a deal. You learn how to brush matted mud out of your fur, and you can play outside in the rain to your heart's content." The wolfhound made a laughing sound and brushed against her leg.

The inn was too small to support its own eating establishment, so Alana was forced to don her cloak and head outside. "Stay by my side." Senna looked out toward the middle of the road, where the rain had left standing pools of water. "Stay." Alana reminded her companion. The wolfhound pressed one shoulder into Alana's leg and the two continued on until Alana found a place serving the kind of hot breakfast that kept the foundry workers going. She grabbed an extra piece of toast and broke it into pieces for the wolfhound, who keened happily. "See? You knew there'd be something in it for you."

While she ate, fighting to keep her breakfast on the shaking table, she listened to the conversations around her. For the most part, it was nothing more than conversations between fellow metalsmiths, sharing anecdotes, tips, and making plans for the work day. Most of the smiths in this establishment worked in a nearby foundry that was on a delayed schedule because of the weather. Or because of the increasing earthquakes. They really weren't sure which. Neither boded well. They hoped Hedrick would call them into work soon.

A few sitting just a couple of tables over from Alana were discussing odd visitors who had been passing through the town over the last few months. As the premiere metalsmiths in the region, Pine Glen was used to receiving visitors from all over. But these visitors, all men from the sound of it, left without placing an order or picking something up from any of the metalsmiths. And that was odd in and of itself. Pine Glen was so far off the path that it was hard to stumble into. Most people who came through were only there to do business.

Alana continued to listen, slowly picking at her food and hoping for some kind of description, direction, anything. If there were people looking to cause trouble in her father's holdings, it was her duty to pursue and stop them. But it sounded like the visitors defied description, at least as far as the smiths were concerned, and Alana was left with a cold lead. She finished her breakfast to the tune of another tremor, checked herself out of the inn, and went to the stables to collect her horse.

"Are you sure you have to leave so soon, Lady Alana?" Hedrick met her as she was walking her horse out of the stable. "I could talk one of the foundries into crafting you a new set of arrows."

It was tempting, and she was looking to replace the lost arrows. But she couldn't afford the time. "I'm sorry. I really have to find my brother. But I'll be back and we'll talk then." The foreman shook her hand and wished her safe travels. Alana was soon mounted and on her way out of town, headed south toward Oaks Knoll.