A Tale of Fortunes Cross

Ch. 6: Sarah's Execution? A Runaway Slave!

They awoke in the morning before the sun rose and walked to the bridge. Before going across the bridge they stopped at a small hut. It was too small to be a shop or a house of any kind. It was made of a similar stone to the bridge. It had a cloth covering the front of the shop. Sarah asked "Why are we stopping here? Actually what is this?" Karaan chuckled and responded with "Follow me in." Sarah looked kind of confused as she followed him in the small shack. There was a man setting behind the counter. He appeared to be a middle aged man with dark brown hair and a white shirt with workpants on. He asked in a clear deep voice "How many?" Karaan replied as another young man walked in behind him. "Me, her, and a horse and carriage." He replied ok that'll be 150 copper pieces." Karaan handed over the full amount without trying to negotiate. The man handed Karaan a small slip of paper and asked the other man "How many?" the other man replied "Just me and a horse and carriage." The man behind the counter said "1 silver." As Karaan and Sarah walked out. From the inside you could see through the curtain. All you could see were the shadows of what was on the other side but it was enough to keep an eye on your stuff and at the same time shade the inside so that it wasn't so hot. Sarah asked Karaan as they walked to the bridge "Why did you pay him so much for a little piece of paper?" Karaan replied this is a ticket to get us across the bridge, if we are stopped by a guard then this will help us to get past without getting in trouble." Sarah asked "Well why didn't you at least try to negotiate the price down, it was so much?" Karaan laughed and replied "This is a set amount. You can't negotiate this price because it's a toll. If you don't pay then you can't pass. Well you can but you can get into some serious trouble. It's one of those rare instances where they really don't care whether you pay it or not." Sarah said "Oh, well why is it so damn high?" Karaan angrily replied "I thought I told you not to cuss! It's not proper. That's one of the worst things that you can do while trying to negotiate and the best way to make sure you don't is not to do it any time! I will not have you cussing while you are my indentured servant, you got that?" Sarah shrugged and in a joking flirtatious voice said "Yes master..." Karaan didn't know what to say to that so he just continued in his normal voice "The reason it's so expensive is just as I've said it took more than ten years of the best builders in the world and half a mountain of material to build. How much do you think that coasted? It wasn't cheap I'll tell you that, they are letting us use their bridge so they charge us a fee to help pay for it. It doesn't just help pay for its building but its upkeep as well. You see every person that goes across it damages it a little tiny bit. That adds up over the entire bridge and after so many people cross it every day. It's very expensive just to keep it in good condition. But it's not just about looking nice. The upkeep helps it to stay usable and safe to cross for everyone." Sarah said "Oh, well when you put it that way I guess it makes sense. I never really thought about all that stuff." They started across the bridge. Sarah almost had a panic attack when she looked over the edge at the sheer drop. She fell on her but and sat there for a minute until the same man that walked in behind them helped her up. He asked "Are you ok?" She replied "Yeah" in a slightly panicked voice. The young man chuckled as he asked "First time?" Sarah said "Yeah." The man laughed and said "Well what are you waiting for? Go catch your man!" Sarah replied "I don't have a man." Right then it hit her then she said in a rush "Oh yea, thanks!" and ran off toward Karaan. As they walked the man caught up to Karaan and they talked. He talked to Karaan more than Sarah, mostly about trading goods. As they walked the bridge they noticed children with shovels, brooms and mops cleaning along the way. Sarah asked "What are they doing?" The man walking with them responded "They're cleaning." Sarah asked "Yeah, but why?" Karaan responded "They're slaves." Sarah surprised asked "Why are they slaves?" The man walking with them responded "They probably tried to steal something, or some other minor crime." Karaan continued where he left off "In cities like we're going to now with high populations there are usually a lot of homeless, when you're a child and you're homeless then you don't know what else to do but steal. You steal and get caught and you become a slave. If the person you stole from doesn't want you then the city will buy you. It's not that bad of a deal actually, you get a job to keep you busy, a place to live, and plenty of food. The country does have some leniency however, if it is a young child then they will be set free when they turn a certain age and offered a job working for the city." Sarah replied "Oh" She watched one of the children pull a bucket on a rope up from the river below. After about three or four hours of walking they noticed the first person crossing the other way. The man walking with them said "Oh no... it's about to get really crowded." Karaan laughed, Sarah looked confused because the man appeared to be alone there didn't seem to be anyone anywhere near him. They passed the man. After a couple of minutes passed they noticed another man, then another. As time passed the other side became more and more crowded. Within only half an hour the other side was so crowded that Sarah couldn't believe how some of these people weren't falling off the side. There were some even walking down the wrong way. Sarah was surprised she looked at Karaan and said "There aren't this many people around us." Karaan replied "It is you just can't see it. We got up pretty early we were like the couple of people you saw walking in the front of the group. They are probably seeing what we're seeing now on our side." Sarah asked "Oh, really?" The man walking with them said "Yeah. That's why its always best to head out early a little before sunrise. Many traders don't like leaving before sunrise but if you don't then it's hard to get across this bridge. But on top of that getting stuck in that crowd isn't just uncomfortable and irritating it's dangerous as well. I've lost several gold just because I wanted to sleep in a little." Sarah asked "What do you mean?" He replied "There are people that cross this bridge every day just to take advantage of that confusion. It's hard to move around in the middle of all of it so people will just pick things right out of the back of your carriage. By the way you two are carrying some expensive goods I've noticed." Karaan shouted "OH Yeah!" and asked Sarah to walk behind them to watch their carriages. She sighed but did what Karaan asked her to do, besides it meant she could get out of the hot sun and ride in the back of the carriage in the shade. After a couple more hours Sarah crawled up to the front of the carriage to aske Karaan from behind the cover "When will this end? People have to stop coming across sometime or another right? I mean they did yesterday." Karaan chuckled saying. "The one bad thing about leaving so early is that the crowd doesn't slow down for some time after we will get across." Sarah let out a big sigh and turned around to see a small child trying to pluck one the chalices from Karaans carriage. She yelled and he jerked it out and ran off. She took off after him. Karaan asked the man if he would lead the man said "Of course." Karaan walked to the back and followed the carriages. Sarah came back after a few minutes holding the chalice in one hand and the child in the other. Karaan looked at the child and said "You would make a nice slave wouldn't you?" A tear ran down his cheek Karaan said to Sarah "Throw him in the back and watch him. She did what he said and he went back up to the front. They walked for about another hour and a half and finally reached the other side. The man asked Karaan as they walked off the bridge "Would you like to go to lunch? My treat?" Karaan replied "Why? We didn't do anything for you?" The man chuckled and said "Of course you did! You had your girl watch my carriage. Not as well as yours but I had no way of watching it myself. I got a free guard. That's worth a free meal any day, for both of you of course." Karaan happily obliged and they agreed on a nice restaurant and a time to meet. After exiting the bridge Karaan walked to the side where there weren't a lot of people and had Sarah hold the young boy who had tried to rob him before. He asked "Do you want to be a slave?" The boy scared shook his head no. Karaan said "Fined then you will do as I tell you is that understood!" The boy shook his head yes and Karaan had Sarah bring him to the toll on the other side of the bridge. Karaan had Sarah watch the carriage off to the side. Karaan walked in with the boy holding him by his shirt collar. There was a line just to get into the small shack. But the man was fast, he was good at his job. Karaan walked in after only ten minutes with the boy. The man asked "How many?" Karaan replied "My brother here needs a job." The man asked "How much will he work for?" Karaan replied "One copper piece a day plus room and eat." The man said "That sounds reasonable. When can he start?" Karaan answered "Today. He will work through the night if need be." The man replied "That won't be necessary. So you can't keep him?" Karaan said "No." The man continued "Ok. Well we will put him to work right away, leave him here and go to the bridge and find Jose." Karaan sat him on the floor next to the man and said "Don't move!" the boy frightened did as he was told. Karaan walked to the bridge and yelled for Jose. A young girl not much younger than Sarah walked up and said "I'm Jose." Karaan replied "The man in the in the toll wishes to see you." She ran into the hut and Karaan walked off to Sarah. They began to walk off, Sarah asked "What happened to him?" Karaan replied "I got him a job, food, a roof, and a little money for himself. The rest is up to him." Sarah replied "That was really nice of you." Karaan said "Well everyone deserves a chance. What he does with it is up to him." Sarah smiled as she turned around to see the young boy walk out following closely behind the girl. The first thing that they did after was find a nice inn where they got a room and took a bath and changed from their sweaty cloths. Both Karaan and Sarah took a short nap. Sarah was surprisingly the first to wake up. She woke Karaan and they both changed from their night garments to their normal cloths and went out to the town. They were to meet the man about six which gave them two hours. First they found the restaurant which took them the good part of an hour. After finding the restaurant Karaan gave Sarah one silver piece and asked her to meet him in front of the restaurant in about 40 minutes. That was about half an hour before the man was to meet them. They both went their separate ways and met back up in front of the restaurant. Sarah never really having to tell time so accurately before met with Karaan a little more than 50 minutes after they had separated. Karaan scolded her, but not much and they both waited on the man. The man showed up a few minutes before the arranged time. They talked a little and walked into the restaurant. It wasn't anything fancy but it was a nice restaurant and it was a free mean. They all ate and had a nice chat. The man asked Karaan where he was going and they discussed trading items of similar value that might sell better where they were going, but they couldn't come to an agreement. They had a nice dinner and Karaan and Sarah made a new friend. They left and Karaan and Sarah walked back to the inn. They took a different rout through the center of the town and the market. They looked at the marked to feel it out and find where everything was at. They went back to the inn and got there about sunset. They changed into their night garments and laid there talking about different things. Mostly the northern region. Sarah couldn't believe that she was actually in the north now, that she was in dragon territory. They both fell asleep after a few hours of talking.