THIEF OF BREAN (VOL-1)|✓

A DECEPTIVE DIMENSION- XLIX

They passed the tiny tunnel-like room with severed roof to another bigger space. It was dusty and mildewed but it stood in better light as the wall to the back was fallen off. It smelt a bit musty and a bit of the familiar chypre odour as that of the Gree trees.

The floor was just barren earth covered with dust and grime, and was split at several places likewise a field baked in severe summer. The low roof was made of thinner slices of basalt, and the chipped off gaps were filled by thatching thick layers of panic grass. The man stopped and spread his hands as if meaning-there you go.

There, they saw another beefy man lolled on the bare earth, sharpening a cleaver knife on a piece of rock. He was drinking something from a mug. He stopped when he caught their sight. He chugged down the contents from a mug in one shot, plonked it to the ground and rose up. These men were nothing like the belligerent, imperious bastards Carl had been picturing a ring to be all this time in his head. Instead, these men looked bewildered by their presence. Perhaps, Rhett was right about them being just a bunch of bunglers.

"They say they are here for a deal," the saw wielder told his groggy mate. The news did not cause any difference in his expression. He just stood there, rocking lightly in inebriation and staring at them as if they were a bunch of ghosts.

"How many of you are here?" Lamont asked him, peeling his way out of the bunch.

"Didn't your boss tell you that?" the man with the saw countered.

Lamont lingered about the place for a while and then, very cautiously, walked over to the foot of a stony incline that rose as a short path to a rough, hewn-stone archway. This archway was supposedly a door to another hut built close by and was fully visible because of the absence of the walls in this hut. Even for this new hut, only the front half portion of it seemed to be standing intact, the other half had been collapsed.

Carl watched Lamont's eyes roam over the scrap of wood stuffed into gunny sacks stacked against the stony incline.

Carl looked from him to the ground beside those gunny bags. Along the empty rum bottles, lanterns and leftovers of cigars, he found the scarlet colored chunks of wood. At once, he was arrested by a sense of someone across the archway. He looked at others, but they didn't seem to notice it. Their focus was fixed on the conversation between Rhett and the man with the saw.

"No," said Rhett. "We want to see others before we propose you the deal. It's very paying."

"Why don't do it yourself then?" The drunken man slurred.

"We do. It's just that we want some more hands."

Carl stepped away from the group to take a closer look at the archway. It was empty. His eyes wandered around the place and caught the sight of the gunny bags. They were filled with the snow-white outer bark of the Gree trees skinned off the hardwood. He realised then. The scarlet pieces were the hardwood of the trees the ring had axed and traded illegally. So this was the job they were doing by hiding in the debris of this ancient city.

"Where are the others?" Rhett enquired in a stern voice.

"Out for some business. Will you tell about the deal or not?" The man with the saw countered.

Lamont turned to them. "More trade for Gree trees," he said.

The man sniggered. "We don't need you to do that."

"But you need buyers-high paying buyers, don't you?"

At that moment footsteps sounded from the archway. Carl spun to it instantly. It was Aud Bigge, shuffling out of the opening and straight down the stony incline, all the while keeping his head down to the ground.

At first, Carl was a little thrown off by the shaggy beard, but it didn't take him long to recognise the man. Carl looked at Rhett and nodded. Beside him, Giles was already on his toes to pounce. But as Rhett wasn't making any moves Carl decided to wait and watch.

He pulled the beanie down his forehead. Aud had not seen him yet, nor did he want him to find out before every member of the ring showed up.

"They are here for a deal," the man with the saw repeated in his impassive tone to Aud as he went and stood in front of the rest of the group.

"Bloody Sentinels!" a gruff voice grumbled from the opening to the backyard. The man was staring directly at Carl. He was a Vermit. Carl recognised him to be one of the Vermits from the incident at Blenwustite.

No one moved for next the few seconds. It was just a wave of caution encircling them as they stood still and looked at each other. The Vermit pushed his heavy body off the ground and ran in with an axe in his hand. He yelled few words in Diabonian before he swung his hand to Lamont who was in the fore front.

In a fleeting moment, Carl's surrounding was charged with murderous tension. The Sentinels had drawn out their swords from inside their coats at Rhett's silent commands and dispersed around. Lamont had skilfully escaped the Vermit's strike and slipped behind him. By yanking both his legs from behind, he had made the man fall flat on his face.

The drunken man was fist fighting with one of the Sentinels on the other side. While the man with the saw, however, had not moved. He seemed to be transfixed by the sudden commotion as much as Carl. Taking advantage of his daze, Giles had seized him aptly. Soon, the drunken man too was arrested by the Sentinels.

But, not the Vermit man. He was hysterical. Scrambling back to his feet he had managed a quick punch over Lamont's face.

But before he could cause more harm he was stopped by Webb Croft who had taken a great plunge toward him and landed a brutal kick on his shin. He fell down to the ground once again.

"You never learn, do you?" Webb Croft spat at his face.

Aud Bigge looked horrified. He was glancing around the place frantically, seemingly confused to choose a direction to flee. His legs fumbled as he turned to the stony incline for an escape. Without wasting a moment, Carl rushed after him and towed him down by his tunic. As Aud tumbled down, Carl pinioned his hands to his back. He winced in pain.

Just then, the Vermit man gave out a scream. He was twisting on the floor with a bloody face. Lamont wrenched his head by a fistful of his hair and thrust the blood stained knife to his neck. "Alright Brimwolf, you move again and I'll slit your throat right away."

Giles eyes were shifting frantically between the archway and the opening to the backyard.

"Where are the others?" Rhett asked the saw-wielder, his eyes taking a hurried gander too.

The man glared up to him in response but spoke no word.

Carl rose to his achy legs. "On your feet," he said as he tugged Aud Bigge's arms. The man began to fumble.

"Hands at your back!" Giles yelled when Aud Bigge scrabbled at the ground to steady himself. The man jumped and threw his arms to his back. Then with great difficulty he lifted his trembling torso up.

"You are not as good as you think, Bigge," Carl muttered over his shoulder.

Aud Bigge jerked his head up at him and his lips parted. He was panting. His face was begrimed and his eyes looked sickly. "You?" whispered in disbelief.

A sly smile spread over Carl's lips. "I am not the person to keep promises. But here we are."

He did not get any response from Aud for that remark. Not even a blink. He dropped his head and stared the earthen floor.

Shortly, all the four felons were hand-cuffed by the Sentinels.

"I think this is good enough, Rhett. We should leave now," Giles hurried.

The Major's words ringed in Carl's head like echo of bells. It was good enough evidence. He had been able to procure good enough evidence. He had solved the case, found the culprits at last. Carl felt a rush of bliss at the realisation.

Carl snorted. "Thanks to you, Mr Bigge," he told the man beside him. Aud Bigge looked at him in confusion. Carl smirked at him before shoving him forward as they set to leave.