Abhorrent Practices - Book 1

Chapter 9.1 - Dicing with Death (Scene 1: The Drum)

It was late morning by the time Perrick, Alyss and Farrer reached Brunlen's compound. Known as the Drum, it had once been a tin mine, an open-cast cylinder dug deep into the ground. The first Alyss saw of it was a rippling in the distance, a circular patch of ground that seemed to shift and shimmer like a distant heat haze. As they drew closer, they could see it was a canvas roof, countless lengths of sail cloth stitched together and stretched over an area large enough to swallow the whole of Tremayne's Shanty District.

"It was just Brunlen and his crew to start with," Farrer had told them as they sheltered in the rest-hole the night before. "These days it's a small town."

Untroubled by the fierce winds, the mulkets lumbered steadily onwards, their riders once more prostrate in their saddles. The track they were following had veered away from the coast soon after they'd left the rest-hole. Whilst not as busy as the main road between the compound and the city of Orrin's Rock, the coast road was well worn.

Just before midday, the track began to slope gently downwards, cutting a channel into the ground, and soon they could see the edge of the flapping sail cloth roof ahead of them. They were approached by a tall Tharn and a young Turlish girl with untidy hair and a mass of freckles. The mulkets could go no farther, the Tharn explained, but – for a reasonable price – he would be willing to stable their mounts. His facilities, he assured them, were the best on the island.

Perrrick regarded his countryman with suspicion, but Farrer made sure he knew they'd come to see Brunlen himself, trusting that the old smuggler's name would be enough to ensure the animals' safe return. Alyss was sad to say goodbye to Lillin, and hugged the animal's low-hanging neck, before sneaking the mulket a final beet and taking her leave. The Tharn then led the mulkets away, and they continued down the path into the Drum.

The wall to their left came to an abrupt end as they passed beneath the edge of the flapping sail cloth roof, and they found themselves looking down into the centre of a huge, circular pit. The path they were on ran around its stone walls in a sweeping downward spiral, punctuated every few yards by a door set into a recess. Once tunnels dug out by miners searching for the next vein of tin, the caverns beyond were now homes for the Drum's three hundred residents.

In several places the rock path had crumbled away and rudimentary wooden bridges had been built over the gaps. They were crude in their construction, a series of wooden planks lashed together with lengths of fraying rope. Perrick approached each one cautiously, and was relieved to find his fear of heights had not returned. Whatever witchery Alyss had used on him was still working. He felt a grudging sense of gratitude towards her, but not enough to overcome his mistrust. He wondered what other spells she'd cast over him since they'd first met.

Long before they reached the bottom of the path, the sound of animals drifted up towards them. The bleating of goats mingled with the low, sonorous moaning of mulkets, and the staccato clucking of chickens interrupted the snuffling grunts of pigs. Peering down into the centre of the Drum, they saw crowds of people milling around a score of animal pens that filled the area below. Perrick wrinkled his nose against the cocktail of animal smells, and by the time they reached the bottom of the path and stepped out among the pens he'd already picked out the livestock he wanted to take back to supply Skrawl's galley.

High above them, the canvas roof cracked in the winds raging over the plain, and Alyss kept her eyes lowered. Its shifting shape was too reminiscent of the sea, it's surface rippling above her as she'd slipped beneath the waves at the foot of the cliffs in Brael. She took comfort from the sweet smell of the mulkets in a pen to her left, and told herself her ordeal was nearly over. Farrer's friend Brunlen would arrange passage to Durhoun, and she'd be safe.