"What...
what are you dong here?" Ellis asked uncertainly, backing away. Kerring's grin was only growing wider.
"I ‘ave
business 'ere," the greedy merchant replied and Grimblegaw flicked his
wiry tail as he took a few more padding steps forward.
"Then I
imagine you would want to be hurrying along to that, then, wouldn't
you?" Another backwards step.
"Oh, I
think this might be worth the investment, so to speak."
Ellis took
another step backwards and stumbled into a pile of packing crates he had
forgotten were there. They rattled
around him as he fell, but worse than that, in the momentary chaos Grimblegaw
had pounced forward so that he was surrounded by the remains of packaging and
rotten vegetables on three sides and a ferociously mad cat on the fourth.
"Oh,
you'll make a tidy investment indeed," Kerring said, laughing, and then
Grimblegaw pounced.
Ellis woke up
in the back of what he assumed to be some sort of carriage. It certainly moved like one, bouncing up and
down on the rough, pebble-strewn streets of Searingsands, but if it was a carriage
then it was certainly a very large and well-appointed one. From where Ellis lay, bound, gagged and
groggy, he could see a good fifteen feet before the compartment he was in ended
with a wooden partition hung with brightly coloured fabric. All around him lay many odd and colourful
artefacts; a rainbow of rubber balls, a set of gaudy knives, tasselled hoops,
some scraps of sequined cloth. They
were, he realised, the accoutrements of a circus, and then it hit him, I'm
in a circus caravan!
He was not
alone, however. After a moment of
staring around at the strangely cluttered interior of the caravan, he began to
shift, trying to see if it was possible to wriggle out of his bonds, with no
success, but his movements caught the attention of something lying in a heap
not far away. What he had thought at
first to be a fur coat instead turned out to be the somnolent form of
Grimblegaw. The mad cat lifted its
mangy head, glared at him with evil yellow eyes and then casually licked his
paw, as if he were just some other cat.
So, I’ve
been kidnapped by Kerring again, Ellis thought glumly. He was still a little too dazed to be truly
terrified and even had he been fully alert his recent mood might have left him
similarly apathetic. Being captured by
an unpleasant merchant was just another reason to mope, or so it seemed. He closed his eyes and hoped he might drift
back off to sleep.
He
jolted awake some time later, the after effects of having been knocked
unconscious somewhat lessened, and stared around at the interior of the caravan
trying to work out why he had been roused.
Everything seemed to be as it had before. He eyed Grimblegaw warily, but the evil cat appeared to be sleeping
still. It wasn’t until a door clicked
open behind him that he understood. The
caravan had stopped moving.
He
swung his head around to see who had opened the door. He caught a brief glimpse of a bright, sunlit street, telling him
it was at least the day after his capture and then his view was eclipsed by the
rotund form of Kerring as he hauled himself up into the caravan. A dwarf in colourful circus raiment climbed
up after him, then leaned out to receive a tray holding two cups and a teapot,
before bringing them inside.
Kerring found
a stool and brought it over beside Ellis.
The activity roused Grimblegaw who began mewling loudly until Kerring
stroked his mangy fur, at which point he settled at the merchant’s feet. The dwarf opened up a folding table, placed
the tea tray on top of it and then hopped back out into the street, closing the
caravan door carefully behind him as he went.
There was silence for a moment, filled only with Grimblegaw’s
engine-like purr.
“Well,”
Kerring began at last, “isn’t this nice?”
Ellis wanted
to object, but the gag in his mouth was really very effective and he was unable
to do more than produce a faint moaning sound.
“O’course, ya
might disagree,” Kerring conceded, “but I think this is a most unique
opportunity we ‘ave been presented wiv.
A chance to get to know each other afresh, ya might say.”
Ellis moaned
again.
“ ‘ere,”
Kerring said, leaning forward, “let me take that gag off.”
Ellis tried
not to struggle as Kerring’s greasy hands embraced his face and fumbled with
the cord which held the gag in place.
Suddenly the pressure on his mouth was gone and he spat the gag out,
covering Kerring’s hands with saliva as he did so.
“Now that
wasn’t very polite, was it?” Kerring said as he reached for a stained
handkerchief and began wiping his hands dry, if not clean.
“And
kidnapping is?” Ellis retorted.
“Now, now,
let’s not start jumpin’ to accusations.
I just want a little chat wi’ ya, that’s all.” He gestured to the pot and cups beside him. “Tea?” he asked before beginning to
pour. Once the two cups were full near
overflowing he put the pot back down and slid one of the cups towards Ellis,
who eyed it suspiciously.
“Oh, don’t
worry,” Kerring said as he caught the look Ellis was giving, “I ain’t gonna
poison ya. Not again.” Ellis’ expression didn’t change. “Oh, look, what would be the point? I already ‘ave you trussed up like a prize
‘Shroom-mole, what else am I gonna do to ya?”
“It’s a fair
point,” Ellis said, shrugging, “but I still can’t drink the tea.” He felt like he was spiking his words in
retaliation.
“And why would
you be declinin’ my ‘ospitality?”
“Because my
hands are still tied, you moron!” He
let his voice rise with the insult.
There really was no love to be lost here.
Kerring
flushed and then withdrew the teacup.
“Fair enough,” he said after taking a sip from his own cup, “we’ll do
this without any lubrication on your part, then.” He let the words drip out of his mouth, half-formed and slimey,
so that Ellis shuddered at the implications.
“I’m gonna jus’ tell you ‘ow it is, then – no more niceties, no
chit-chat.” He leaned forward, close
enough that Ellis was forced to breath in the reek of his breath, all stale
onions and garlic. “I own ya
now, boy an’ you’re going to make me a tidy pfennin’ down ere in Searin’sands
when I open my circus an’ declare that my star attraction is none other than
Ellis Graves,” he leaned back and opened his arms, as if announcing it before a
crowd, “the boy from another world!”
“That will be
a short-lived attraction,” Ellis replied, “if you advertise it like that.”
“Oh?” Kerring asked,
feigning interest, “an’ what makes ya think that?”
“I’m not in
Searingsands on my own, you know. My
friends are here. If you go around
telling everyone you have me they’ll be here in a moment to free me and make
sure you get what’s coming to you.”
“What’s comin’
to me is more gold than I can count an’ your friends won’t be able to lift a
finger. We’re in the Plaza o’ Roses,
before the palace o’ the Khan ‘imself and as long as we perform ‘ere were under
‘is protection. The ‘ole of the Khan’s
personal guard stand between you an’ any kind o’ rescue.” He let out a harsh laugh, almost as if he
were choking on something, then added, “An’ that ‘Noble Society’ will ‘ave to
just stand there an’ watch an’ all, until I ‘ave enough money to shame them the
way they shamed me, forcin’ me all the way down ‘ere to this over’eated dung
‘eap.”
“They weren’t
too pleased when you no longer had any merchandise to hand over, then?” Ellis
asked, suppressing a snicker.
“Yeah, well,
you may well laugh, boy, but I think you’ll find things a lot less
amusin’ shortly. I ‘aven’t introduced
you to your ‘tamer’ yet.” He chuckled, downed the last of his tea and then
stood up.
“I ‘ave
preparations to make for the openin’ night.
It was always goin’ to be a grand spectacle, but with you on display at
the end o’ it – well, I guess we’ll ‘ave to wait an’ see, but I’m thinkin’ the
Khan might just give me some kind o’ honour.
Do they ‘ave lords in Searin’sands, I wonder?” He stroked Grimblegaw between his straggly ears and then pushed
open the door to let in the harsh light of midday. “I’ll see you tonight, Ellis. Try not to be too nervous.
The first night is always the ‘ardest, but you’ll do me proud!” He
cackled then stepped out into the street and slammed the door shut, startling
Grimblegaw into dissatisfied, yowling wakefulness.
“Quiet, you!”
Ellis shouted and for a moment the cat did look cowed. It didn’t last, however and soon he was
stalking about the caravan, jumping onto boxes and eyeing Ellis evilly from
each new vantage point, sometimes pointedly licking his claws. All Ellis could do was look away and ponder the
fate that awaited him in the evening.
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