The beginning of a new story.

[Palustris]

Should I carry on with this?

Wartly Sime was a Doom grogger. Doom in this instance does not mean disaster or terrible fate, it just means events which have yet to happen either good or bad. "Grogging" here means foretelling the future. Not the long term future, just the immediate evens which will come to pass. So Wartly Sime was a fortune teller.

Wartly was the most forgettable person ever to have existed. If you had been introduced to him, you would have said' "Hello." to be polite and straight away forgotten all about him. If you had been asked to describe him you would have scratched your head and said. "I don't know, he was just ordinary."

Unremarkable as he was, Wartly had one exceptional ability. He listened. Everyone claims to listen, but Wartly REALLY listened. He heard not only the words which were said, but he also heard the spaces in between the words. He listened to the silences before the words were spoken and the silence afterwards. He heard not only the words which were spoken, but also the ones which were left unsaid. He once complained to his only friend, Sid Solly, that no-one listened to anyone else. Sid nodded his agreement and forgot what Wartly had said, proving that what Wartly said about people not listening was absolutely true.

Wartly was like blotting paper for information about the people and events in his town. He soaked it up like a sponge takes in water. There were two Inns in his town, The Grundin by the East gate and The Beddel at the West gate. Wartly spent part of his day sat in the Grundin, just listening and watching. Then he moved to The Beddel where he sat in a corner, completely invisible to the other customers. The Beddel was slightly more up market than the Grundin. It had a room set aside for Ladies who might want a quiet drink. Wartly's seat was next to that room He could hear every word that was said in there.

At other times in the day, he wandered around the town, listening to the people who were out and about. The shops along the only street were just stalls outside the shop-keeper's house. Wartly did not have to go inside to see and here what was going on. Once a week there was a Market and once again, Wartly wandered around the stalls soaking up knowledge.

You might wonder what good it was for him to know all these things. If he had not been an very, very honest man, he could have used his knowledge in the wrong way. For instance he knew exactly who was cheating on their wives and with whom. He know whose wives were cheating on their husbands and with whom. He knew where people hid their money and valuables.

The knowledge that Wartly collected allowed him to make a decent enough living from his Doom Grogging. He made himself a set of wooden discs. He drew strange symbols on them. He gave the discs to people who came to have their Doom read and told them to scatter the discs on the table. He then pretended to read the discs to answer the person's question.


Wally Cobbler asked if he should ask Ricely Nound to marry him. Wartly could tell him that he really ought to do it as soon as possible. He had overheard Ricely telling her friends that she was getting a bit fed up waiting for Wally to pop the question. "The discs say that you should. " said Wartly.
Widow Gracie Dubber asked if she should accept the offer of marriage from Eelin Hearty. Wartly could advise her not to as he had heard Eelin telling his friends that he was not that keen on the Widow, but he was very keen on her money. "The discs advise against it." he said to her.

Billy Segger came to ask if he should buy the litter of pigs that he was being offered by Farmer Rell Smotten. "Not at that price, " Wartly told him. "Wait a couple of days, then offer less. No one else wants to buy the piglets so Farmer Snotten will have to sell to you are keep them for himself and he does not want to do that. The discs advice is to wait."

The grateful questioners gave Wartly a small coin and took his advice. He gathered up the discs and smiled to himself. Life could have gone on pleasantly like that, but then came to problem with the Mayor's shoes.

One of Wartly's 'magic' discs.

[hilberry]

Yes! I like it.

[peonymad]

Another good start Pal.

[Palustris]

Just remember that this is straight from my mind, no grammar checking, not much spell checking and not a lot of proof reading. Not even sure where the story is even going to go yet.

[Miss Piggin]

It's a good start Pal.

[Palustris]

Chapter Two.

A Visitation.

The town in which Wartly carried out his grogging was called West Knurton. No-one really knew why is was called by that name. There was no East Knurton nor was there a North or South Knurton. As far an anyone could see there was no other town in the country called Knurton either. The town may have been called after someone called Knur, but no record of him could be found either. It was a mystery.

West Knurton was not, by any means, a large town. It had one road which went from West to East. Travellers used the road to get from the capital to the coast. They rarely stopped in the town. There were two Inns, as already mentioned. Along the side of the road there were stalls selling various things. The stall holders lived and worked in the house behind the stalls.

There were a few poorer sorts of dwellings down the alleys which led off from the main road between the stall holders dwellings. These were the homes of the people who worked for the richer merchants who lived by the main road.

Wartly Sime lived down one of these alley ways. His home was a small single storey building. It had a living room, a bedroom and a kitchen. Outside was a smaller shack which was the toilet. Wartly had to take the bucket down to the town dump every time it got full. There was a small garden at the back where he grew a few vegetables.

In the living room was a small table with a single chair. In the corner of the room was an old armchair. Wartly had rescued it from the town dump many years before. It was a very useful chair. His customers sat at the table and Wartly sat in the armchair.

Since grogging was technically illegal, his customers visited in the evening. Wartly kept the room unlit, except for a small oil lamp. That gave enough light for him to see the wooden discs as they were dropped on the table, but not enough for his visitor to see him. Wartly had long worked out that keeping himself in the dark meant that he could carry on listening in the Inns and street without being recognised.

It helped too that grogging was against the law, his visitors were hardly likely to go boasting about visiting him for advice and admit that they were breaking the law.

Life was actually reasonably pleasant for Wartly. He made enough money to get by and he very much enjoyed being able to roam freely around without drawing attention to himself. It could have gone on like that for the rest of his life except for the rather odd visitor who called one evening.

Wartly was sat in his armchair one evening, eating a pie that he had bought from the Baker's stall on his way home from the Grundin, when there was a knock at the door. He shouted, " Come in, it is not locked." He always said that. It amused him in a small way as there was actually no lock on the door in any case.

The door was pushed open and a tall man came in. Wartly did not recognise the person. It was certainly not one of the townspeople. He knew all of them by sight. "How can I help you?" He asked.

"You are a Doom grogger." The stranger said. It was not a question. It was a statement of fact.

Wartly was immediately suspicious. The man was far too sure of himself for someone who wanted advice.

Carefully, Wartly replied. "I have been known to give good advice to my friends," he said. "For free of course."

"For free, naturally," replied the stranger. "And if they want to leave you a small gift afterwards that is their business, is it not?"

Wartly nodded nervously.

"Well," said the stranger. "Let's see if you can give me some advice."

"I will do my best," said Wartly. "Please sit at the table. There is a bag of wooden discs. Shake them up and pour them on to the table. Then ask your question."

The stranger did as he was told. Once the discs were on the table, he carefully touched each one without moving it. "Interesting," he said. "I don't recognise these symbols. Perhaps you could explain them to me."

That really scared Wartly. He had just painted random patterns on the discs and as far as he knew they had no meanings at all. They were just designed to give him time to think."

Wartly hesitated. "I know what they mean." he said. "No-one else needs to know."

The man laughed quietly. "In other words, they don't actually mean anything. Not to worry, they will now." He pointed at the discs and for a split second the inside of the room went light.

Wartly shrank down into his armchair in a bit of a panic. He could think of nothing to say.

"Now," went on the stranger. "My question. If you were given the power to really foretell the future would you use it wisely?"

Wartly did not know how to answer that.

"Ah well," said the stranger. "We shall see." He stood up and came over to where Wartly was cowering in his armchair. "I have a feeling it is a gift you may not enjoy. Still it is yours now. By the way it will not work on yourself. " He walked to the door where he turned back, "And since you did not answer my question and it is still technically illegal I feel that I do not need to pay you for your services." With that he left.

Wartly was far too terrified to move to see where the stranger went. He sat in his armchair for the rest of the night,

[Palustris]

Chapter Three.

The Mayor's Shoes.

Bightly Slent was a very proud man. He was also a very happy man, most of the time at least. He was proud that he had been chosen to be the Mayor of West Knurton. It was a great honour for both himself and his wife, Tooly, who became the Mayoress.

On the first day of being the Mayor he stood in front of a tall mirror and admired himself in the clothes which came with the position. He had a long red gown with a white fur collar. Underneath there was a pure white shirt and black tights, Round his neck was the Mayoral chain of office

The Mayor's chain.

It may only have been made of brass as West Knurton could not afford a real gold chain, but Bightly was thrilled with it. To complete the ensemble he wore black shoes. These were not just any black shoes. They were highly polished highest quality leather shoes. They probably cost more than the rest of the costume put together.

There was a couple of problems which became immediately apparent when he looked in the mirror. The previous mayor had been both shorter and wider than Bightly. The costume just did not fit. Even worse though the shoes did actually fit, there was a hole in the bottom of the left one.

"Don't worry," my dear," his wife told him. "The gown can easily be altered to make it fit and then you will look really smart and handsome. I will take it to the tailors tomorrow."

She did not need to try on the costume provided for the mayoress to realise that the previous lady had been a completely different shape to her. She had already spoken to the town's dress maker about the necessary alterations.

Bightly nodded. "As ever my dear, you know exactly what to do and say." He lifted up his left foot. "I will take these shoes to the Cobblers and have them repaired."

Bightly's shoes.

Hanpar Grampson lived about half way along the main road through Knurton. He had a stall outside his house, just like the other tradesmen. On it he displayed the fruits of his labour. There were pairs of shoes, children's, lady's and men's shoes neatly laid out.

Hampar also made bags, belts, gloves, wallets and even suitcases. He could and did make almost anything which could be made from leather, except saddles. If you wanted a saddle you had to go to Hanny Grampson, Hampar's brother. He was a saddler.

Bightly changed into his outdoor clothes and took the shoes to Hampar. He examined them closely. "These have lasted well," he said. "I made them many years ago."

"Can you repair the sole?" asked Bightly.

"No problem" said Hampar. "They will be ready on Wednesday. He took the shoes and gave Bightly a ticket with the word Wednesday on it.

Mayor Slent's shoe repair ticket.

There was a tradition in Knurton that ought to be mentioned at this point. On certain Saturdays in the year there was a football match between the boys on the Northside of the main road and the boys of the Southside of the main road.

The called it 'football', however kicking the ball was rarely done. There was a ball shaped hole in the town gates at the East end of the main road and a corresponding hole in the gate at the West end. The aim of the game was to post the ball through the hole in the town gates.

There were no rules as such, thought weapons were banned. Since there were no rules there was no need for a referee either.

There was great rivalry between the two sides of the main road and great prestige to be gained if one of the boys managed to score. The game was over when someone scored. It did not happen very often. Otherwise it went on until everyone was either too tired or too hurt to continue. Since the game took place up and down the main road, the stalls along the road often suffered in the hurly-burly

There was a game on the Saturday afternoon after Mayor Slent had taken his shoes for repair.

Come Wednesday Mayor Slent returned for his shoes. He presented the ticket to Hampar Granpson's eldest son who was looking after the stall.

"You look as if you have been in a fight," remarked Mayor Slent.

"Football game on Saturday," replied. young Granpson. "I almost scored too."

He searched the stall, but no shoes could be found. Hampar was sent for and he searched the workshop. No shoes could be found. "I don't know where they can be," he said. "They were here the other day. I remember mending them."

The Mayor was very upset, but there was nothing he could do about it. Angrily he strode off home.

"My shoes have gone missing," he told Tooly. "I hope they have not been stolen."

She calmed him down and said, "I have an idea, just leave it with me." She did not say that she was going to ask Wartly Sime about the shoes since grogging was technically illegal and the last thing a mayoress should be doing was breaking the law.

That evening a hooded figure knocked on Wartly's door. "Come in," he shouted. "It is not locked"

The figure came in rather nervously Wartly thought. Even though the person was trying very hard to avoid being recognised Wartly realised that it was Tooly Slent.

"Please, sit at the table. Shake the bag and place the discs on to the table one at a time, then ask your question." Wartly ordered.

Tooly did as she was told. "Where have Bightly Slent's shoes gone?"

Wartly was very worried. For the first time ever he had no answer to a question. He had been so shaken by his strange visitor that he had not been outside all day.

To give himself time to think he went over and looked at the discs. To his utter astonishment he could see a pattern and even more astounding, he knew exactly what the discs were telling him.

"The discs tell me that people have been looking in the wrong place. The shoes are not on the ground, they are up in the air. You must look for a sign." Wartly did not want to make it too easy for the shoes to be found, even though he knew exactly where they were.

"I don't understand, " said Tooly.

"The discs are telling you what to do, look up for a sign." said Wartly.

Tooly handed over a few coins and left. Next morning she walked along the main road looking up as the discs had told her to do. When she reached the cobblers, she looked up at the sign above the house door. Dangling from it were a pair of black shoes.

Dangling from the sign were a pair of shoes.

Quickly she called Hanpar Grampson over and pointed to the shoes. He found a ladder and climbed up and rescued the footwear. He came down and put the shoes on his stall. "They'll be ready on Wednesday," he said.

[Palustris]

The pictures have not shown up properly, sorry.

[Palustris]

error says thought should be though!

[hilberry]

Are we to know why the shoes were dangling from the sign? Curious!

[Palustris]

Sorry, I missed a bit out. The shoes got up there when the Footballers rampaged along the street knocking over stalls etc.

[Palustris]

No posting tomorrow. Not written enough today and off to my sister's funeral for the day tomorrow.

[Miss Piggin]

I hope it goes as well as it can Pal. I will be thinking of you.

[peonymad]

I will also be thinking of you Pal.

[Palustris]

Chapter Four.

What can the Discs do?

Wartly stood quietly and unobserved on the other side of the road and watched. The discs had got it right. He wondered what else they were going to tell him.

He was far too worried to do his usual round of sitting watching and listening. He went straight home.

The bag of wooden discs.

He sat at the table and fiddled for a few seconds with the bag of discs. One by one he took them out of the bag and laid them on the table. "What is going to happen to me? he asked.

He looked at the discs on the table. There was no pattern that he could see and nothing came to mind. Then, he remembered that the mysterious figure had said that the discs would not work for him.

That evening his friend, Sid Solly, came to call. "I missed you down at the Grundin," he said. "I was a bit worried. I can't remember that last time you were not in there."

"Sorry, replied Wartly. "I have had a bit of a bad …………er stomach."

At the last minute he thought that perhaps he ought not share his new found ability with Sid.
"Hard luck," sympathised Sid. "I could have done with your grogging this afternoon. We were betting on the colour of the next horse to come through the East gate. I reckoned that if anyone would know it would be you."

Wartly shrugged. "I could try if you want."

Sid sat down at the table. "What do I do?" he asked.

"Take the discs out of the bag, one at a time and put them on the table, then ask your question." ordered Wartly.

Sid did as he was told. Wartly looked at the pattern. Immediately he knew for certain that the next horse would be a grey mare, ridden by one of the Royal messengers. He would arrive mid-morning and race straight through the town and out of the West gate."

"Great, " said Sid. "I will bet on that in the Grundin tonight. "Half my winnings enough for you?"

Wartly nodded. Then he sighed. "I am not so sure that I should be using my grogging skills like that though."

"What do you mean," asked Sid.

"It seems a bit dishonest really. I mean since you know already what colour the horse is going to be and the others don't, it is not really a gamble. In some ways you are stealing their money."

"That's their hard luck," snorted Sid. "If they want a sure thing then they should have come and asked you themselves. And anyway, who is to say that you are right? The next horse might be black or white or brown."

Wartly shook his head. "Definitely grey," he said. "But please don't ask me to help you cheat other people again."

Sid shook his head. "Anyone would think you liked being poor and living in a rundown shack like this. If your grogging is as good as you claim then you could be as rich as, as, as." He obviously could not think of a rich person.

"True," agreed Wartly. "But would I be happy getting rich dishonestly?"

"You're daft," said Sid and turned to go.

"Please," begged Wartly. "Don't tell anyone that I told you about the grey horse."

"Of course I won't, " said Sid. "After all grogging is against the law." With that he left.

Wartly stayed at home all the next day too. Sid brought him a large sum of money. "Your share of the bet," he said with a grin.

A grey horse ridden by a Royal messenger.

That evening Wartly was sat at his table staring at the money and wondering what to do with it when there was a furious knocking at the door. Before he had time to utter his usual phrase, the door was flung open and a woman rushed in.

"Please, please," she shouted, You have to help me. My little boy is missing. You must use your grogging power to find him."

Wartly recognised the woman. She was Guddy Snows.

"Sit down at the table and place the discs on it one by one, then ask where he is." Wartly ordered.

Guddy sat down and fumbled with the bag. "I can't" she cried.
"Yes, you can," said Wartly calmly. "Take a deep breath. Just take one disc out and put it on the table."

She managed it.

"Now take another," ordered Wartly.

Slowly Guddy managed to place all the discs on the table. "Where is my little boy, Notty?"

Wartly looked at the pattern made by the discs. As before he immediately knew where the little boy was. "Oh dear," he thought. "This is not going to be easy."

He took a deep breath, but before he could speak, Guddy broke down in floods of tears. "He's dead, isn't he?" she wailed.

"No,no, no. " disagreed Wartly. "He is most definitely still alive."

Guddy flung her arms round Wartly. "Thank-you, thank-you."

Wartly gently pusher her away. "The trouble is that he is in a lot of trouble. He has managed to get himself well and truly trapped. He is in the caves, just outside town."

Guddy had hysterics.

Eventually Wartly managed to calm her down. They rounded up some volunteers and went to the entrance to the caves. After much digging and moving of rocks, they managed to make a hole small enough for a filthy and very frightened Notty Snows to crawl out.

He was grabbed by his mother and dragged away to be bathed.

As they went past, Wartly, Guddy said. "Say thank-you to Mister Sime. He told us where to find you."
"Fank-you mister," whispered Notty.

Notty Snows crawled out.

Mayor Slent, who had been overseeing the rescue, went after Guddy and spoke to her before she had gone very far.

With sinking heart, Wartly watched as she pointed at him and nodded. Even though he could not hear what was being said, Wartly knew tha she was telling the mayor how he had known where to find the boy.

[Palustris]

Next piece is proving hard to write so it may be a while yet.

[hilberry]

Humbugs, Pal?

[Palustris]

Need more than striped sweets. Come to a dead stop to be honest.

[hilberry]

You need a break. Take time to get back to normal after the funeral. When you feel ready, read it through again to get in the mood.

[Nooj]

Yes, agree.

[Palustris]

Need to add a line in Chapter 2, to explain that only one question per person per day is allowed. This limitation is needed for the story to continue.

[peonymad]

Sounds reasonable Pal. Enjoying the story so far, looking forward to seeing how it develops.

[Palustris]

Chapter Five.

On the run.

Wartly sighed as the mayor approached him. He knew exactly what the man was going to say.

"Guddy Snows tells me that you found the little boy by using Doom grogging." Bightly said.

Wartly nodded.

"You realise that it is illegal to do fortune-telling." It was not a question. "Even though it probably saved the child's life, I will have to report it to the authorities," went on Bightly.

"It is only illegal if done for money," replied Warty. "And Guddy did not give me a penny."

Bightly frowned. "Are you from around here?" I thought I knew everyone in West Knurton, at least by sight."

"Born and bred," replied Wartly. "Born and bred."

"Oh, odd," said Bightly. "I should know you then. Still, if you are not fortune-telling for money and you did save the child's life, we can overlook it this time. If you don't do it again, everything should be all right. It can end here."

Bightly turned to watch the men tidying up the cave entrance.

Wartly said nothing. He turned and went home without being seen. However, he knew that for him, it would not end here.

His fears were proven correct. He had barely sat down in his shack when there was a knock at the door. He did not even have time to give his usual answer before the door opened and a small, shifty looking individual sidled in.

"Are you the Doom grogger?" the man inquired.

Wartly nodded.

"You and me could make a lot of money from it," said the man.

Wartly shook his head. "I don't know what you have in mind, but you can forget it. I will not do anything dishonest."

"Oh. "No, no, no." protested the man. "Nothing like that."

"I can read your fortune now if you like," offered Wartly.

The man sat at the table and laid out the discs from the bag. "What will win the first race tomorrow in the Capital?" was his question.

Wartly looked at the discs. He knew exactly the name of the horse.

"We could go to the races in the Capital. You could grog the winners and we could clean up. "the man smirked . "That is if you know the name of the winning horse."

"I know what it is, but it would not be honest to help you," said Wartly quietly. "We would be taking money from people who did not know the result of the races before hand."

The man looked rather annoyed.

However, Wartly had seen something else in the pattern. "But, I will tell you that by this time next week you will be living rent free in a nice room with three other people. Mind you, there are bars on the windows and a guard outside."

"What?" shouted the man.

"You had better start running," said Wartly. "Though it won't do you a lot of good, The Guards will catch you no matter."

The man rushed out of the door and disappeared into the night.

He was not the last of Wartly's visitors that evening. There seemed to be a constant stream of them. At least no one asked for anything dishonest. Indeed, all of the questions were quite trivial.

One was a bit embarrassing. A man asked where he had lost his wedding ring. When Wartly told him, he blushed bright red and left in a hurry, after asking Wartly not to tell anyone where the ring was lost.

Wartly looked at the pile of coins which his visitors had insisted on giving him. He now had more money than he had ever had in the whole of his life.

More money than he had ever had before.

He was about to go to bed when there was another knock on the door. He sighed and invited the person in.

No-one appeared. "Come in," he shouted.

Still, no-one entered.

He stood up and went to the door. There did not appear to be anyone there. Puzzled, he went back inside and closed the door.

Quickly, he gathered up the money from the table and put it in the bag with the coins that Sid had brought.

There was another very quiet knock on the door. Despite shouting loudly, no-one came in.

Wartly opened the door and went outside. He walked around the cottage to see if anyone was playing a silly game. There did not appear to be anyone around.

With a shrug of his shoulders, he went back inside. There was a figure sitting at the table. It was hidden beneath a dark cloak, so Wartly could not tell if it was a male or female.

A dark cloaked figure.

For a moment, Wartly thought that it was the mysterious figure who had changed the discs. He changed his mind when the figure spoke.

She said quietly, "I heard that you can foretell the future very accurately. Or to be exact, you can tell people where missing things can be found."

Wartly did not recognise the voice. He knew most people in West Knurton by the way they spoke, so this woman was a stranger. With his ability to listen, he could tell that she was terrified of something.

"There is nothing to be scared of here," he said gently.

The woman did not relax. She drew that cloak even more closely around her and shook her head. "You don't know just how dangerous it is out there," she said.

"Before I grog your doom," he said. "Tell me a bit about yourself. You are not from West Knurton, I know that much."

The woman sat at the table. Wartly noticed that she sat on the edge of the chair, ready to get up and flee.

"I am from the coast," she said. "I am travelling to the capital. I met a strange figure on the road some distance from here. At first, I thought it was just an old tramp. He held up a hand, and my horse would not go past him.

He said that there was a man who could help me in West Knurton and that I was to come here. Then he lowered his hand and walked away.

In any case, since the road comes through West Knurton, I just carried on with my journey. When I got into the town, I asked at the inn where I might find a Doom grogger, and they sent me here. I hid my horse and cart, and then I sat outside and watched all those people come in. They seemed to go away happy, so I thought that you might really be able to help. "

Wartly nodded. There was a lot more to this girl's story than she was telling.

"If you want my help, take the discs out of the bag, one at a time and ask your question. I will do my best to help if I can." said Wartly.

She did as she was told and laid out the discs on the table. "Can this man help me find what I am looking for?" she asked.

However, before Wartly could go and look at the pattern, there was a loud knock at the door.

The girl drew in a sharp breath and stood up.

A man's voice shouted. "Open in the name of the law."

Wartly thrust the bag of money into the girl's hand. "Quick," he said. "Go into the bed room. Under the bed is a trapdoor. Get into the space there and close the lid. Keep very still and silent while I deal with the guards. "

He pushed the discs back into their bag without looking at the pattern. The girl disappeared as ordered.

There was another thunderous knock at the door.

"Come in!" shouted Wartly. "It is not locked."

The door was pushed open and three royal guards came in. The first one spoke. "We have reason to believe that you are grogging for money," he said. "If that is so, then you are under arrest."

Three royal guards came in.

Wartly shook his head. "Grogging, yes, maybe I am, but only for friends and certainly not for money."

"Hah!" said the guard. "No-one does nothing for free. Half the town has been in here tonight from what I have been told."

"Half the town may have been in here tonight, " said Wartly quietly. "It certainly feels like it." He sighed. "You are welcome to search the place, and if you find any money, I will be glad to share it with you."

He hoped the girl had managed to hide herself in the space under his bed. He was glad that his father, a notorious poacher, had made it when he needed to hide from the local gamekeepers.

The three guards searched the cottage. As he had hoped, they found nothing.

"There is a privy outside," said Wartly. "I haven't emptied the bucket for a while, so it is a bit smelly in there, but you are welcome to search it."

"Don't be clever," snarled the chief guard. "There is no money here, so our information was wrong. Let's go."

Wartly had a good idea of who had sent the guards. "You may tell the mayor that his little secret is safe with me, unless, of course, he wants everyone to know it."

Wartly did not actually know anything about Bightly Slent, but he did know that almost everyone had something that they wanted to keep quiet.

The guards left. Wartly followed them out and watched as they made their way back towards the mayor's house.

He went in and looked under his bed. "You can come out now," he said. "They have gone. They were after me, not you."

The girl crawled out. She brushed the dust off her cloak. She handed over the bag of money.

"Can we try again?" she asked.

Wartly nodded.

She laid out the discs on the table and asked, "Can this man help me find what I am looking for?"

Wartly looked at the discs. He could not see a pattern and nothing came into his mind.

Then, he remembered. Only one question per person per day. "Sorry," he said. "The discs will only answer one question a day for you, and you have already had that before the guards came."

The girl looked downcast. "I cannot stay here any longer. They will be following me."

Wartly noticed that she did not say who was following her.

"No, and the mayor is definitely not going to leave me in peace either. I think I am going to have to leave West Knurton." Wartly said. "Is there room in your cart?"

The girl nodded.

Wartly picked up the bag of discs and the bag of money. "That's it then. Lead the way to your cart.

The girl's horse and cart.

[Palustris]

Chapter Six.

On the road.

Wartly grabbed a blanket from his bed and quickly wrapped his few belongings in it, then he followed the girl to where she had hidden her horse and cart.

As quietly as they could, they drove through West Knurton and on towards the capital city.

There was a bright moon, so the road was light enough for them to drive safely.

It was a bright moonlit night.

"You don't really need to come with me," remarked the girl once they were clear of the town.

"I think I do," said Wartly. "Something tells me I should. And anyway, I did not answer your question."

"True." said the girl.

"Since we are travelling together, I ought to introduce myself," said Wartly. "Wartly Sime is the name."

The girl removed the hood from her cloak. Wartly could see even in the dim evening light that she was not very old.

"What do I call you?" he asked gently.

"Lissia will do for now." she said. "I am interested in your fortune-telling. How far into the future can you actually see?"

Wartly sighed. "I don't know. I have to confess that I have only been able to really foretell the future for a couple of days."

Lissia clutched at the reins, making the horse shy. Quickly, she regained control.

"But what about the discs and people coming to ask you things?"

Wartly tried to explain. "I spend a lot of time just listening to and watching people," he said. "And I hear things and see things, so I know what is happening to people. The townsfolk here are simple people. They don't want to know what will happen in the future. They have enough trouble dealing with what is happening now. When they come to ask me for help, it is about things like who to marry, where did I leave my coat, should I buy this thing or that one."

Lissia nodded. "I see. But what about the discs?"

"I made them and drew any old things on them. They just give me time to think and people do like a bit of a show." Wartly explained."Then a stranger came and did something to the discs. Now I can see a pattern when they are laid out and the meaning just sort of pops into my head."

"A stranger?" interrupted. Lissia.

Wartly nodded. "A tall man in a grey cloak with a hood. He kept his face hidden."

"That sounds like the person who sent me to see you," said Lissia thoughtfully. "I wonder who he is and what he has got to do with all this."

"So now you know about me," said Wartly. "What about you?"

Lissia did not answer for a few minutes. Wartly got the impression that she was composing her story before telling him.

"Don't tell me if you are worried about it," he said.

She sighed. "Sorry, it is not easy to trust anyone at the moment. I live on the coast with my father. My mother died when I was born. Life was good though, until the estate next to ours was bought by a new man.

He had not been there very long before he offered to buy our land. Father refused. Then the man asked for my hand in marriage."

She shuddered. "We turned him down. He is old and not very nice. He kept on asking and we kept on refusing. Then Father had to go into the Capital on business one day. He should have been away for only a couple of days, but a week went by and he still did not come home.

At the end of the month, when my father still had not returned, the neighbour came to our house and showed me a piece of paper. It was a document that said that if my father did not come home, I was to become the ward of this man. It seemed to have been signed by my father."

The document.

She shook her head. "He would never have done that. So I ran away."

"You are looking for your father," said Wartly. "Was that your question?"

Lissia shook her head. "I asked if you could help me. I don't know who I can trust or anything." She sounded very close to tears. "The man will have sent people after me, I know."

Wartly did not know what to say. After a few more miles, it began to get darker as night closed in. Clouds began to drift across the moon.

"We cannot keep driving along in the dark," he said. "There is a farm a few miles ahead. I know the family there. They owe me a favour, we could spend the night there and continue in the morning."

She nodded. "I have slept in the cart since I left home. I packed as much food as I could, but it has all gone now. Flash, my horse, could do with a rest too."

Widow Dubber's farm.

Widow Dubber owned the farm. She was happy to give them rooms for the night. "After all, you did save me from a bad marriage," she said to Wartly. A farm hand was sent to deal with Flash, and a good meal was provided.

Wartly explained that Mayor Slent had sent guards to arrest him, so he had to leave town. He said that Lissia had kindly offered to drive him to the capital.

"We will miss your good advice," was the only comment the good widow made.

After a good breakfast, they set off again.

"Please don’t tell anyone we were here," asked Wartly.

Widow Dubber patted him on the cheek and said. "Just like your father. He often came through here when the gamekeepers were after him."

"They may not be royal guards," added Lissia.

Mrs. Dubber grinned. "Well, I hope I am not helping an elopement then."

"Definitely not," said Wartly quickly.


Mrs. Dubber laughed again. "Have you time to do a doom for me before you go?"

Wartly looked at Lissia. She nodded. He took the bag of discs and gave them to Mrs.Dubber. She laid them out on the kitchen table. "My farm hand, Shuck Muvler wants to marry my daughter. Should I let him?"

Wartly knew the answer to that without looking at the discs. He had heard nothing but good about the man. Still, he looked at the pattern made by the discs. The answer popped into his head. "The discs say that they will make a good couple."

From outside the room he heard a squeal of joy.
He laughed. "It sounds like someone was listening." he said.

He looked across at Lissia and pointed at the discs. She shook her head. He gathered up the discs and after much thanking from Widow Dubber, daughter and farm hand he and Lissia left.

[Palustris]

Chapter Seven.

Pursued.

They drove on in silence for a few miles. Eventually, Wartly asked. "Do you want to stop and see if the discs can answer your question?"

Lissia shook her head. "No. I would rather get as far away from West Knurton as possible, if as you say, the mayor will be sending guards after us."

"I think he will. I have an old friend who lives about half a day's drive from here. We could stop there."

"Another Doom grogger?" smiled Lissia.

"Not really," said Wartly. "He was a dowser."

"A dowser?" Lissia sounded puzzled.

"Dowsers used a pair of hazel twigs to search for things. Usually water. Farmers asked him to find where they could dig a well. He has had to stop since all that kind of thing was made illegal."

Tazel's Dowsing rod.

Wartly shrugged his shoulders. "There were a lot of doom groggers, fortune-tellers, and soothsayers before the law was passed. Some of them really could see into the future." He gave a sniff. "Sadly, most of them were frauds."

Lissia asked. "What about your friend the dowser?"

"Tazel is as honest as the day is long," said Wartly. "He really could find water."

Nothing untoward happened, and at about midday, they reached Tazel Wiggs' cottage. It was along a small lane off the main road.

He was very pleased to see them. "Come in, come in," he said. "There is a shed at the back where you can put the horse. There is good water and feedstuff in there."

"This is nice," said Lissia as they went inside the cottage.

"Thank-you," said Tazel. "Sorry I cannot offer you a good meal, but with no dowsing, I have no money coming in."

Wartly shook his head. "It is the same for all of us," he said. "But Mrs. Dubber gave us enough for the journey and you are most welcome to share it."

Tazel grinned. "Food I haven't, but good ale I do have."

Tazel did have good ale.

After eating, Wartly took out the bag of discs. "I am going to grogg this lady's doom," he told Tazel.

"For free, I hope," said Tazel.

"For free," grinned Wartly.

Lissia took the discs and placed them on the table. "I don't know what to ask," she said. "There are so many things I need to know."

"You could ask your original question again," suggested Wartly.

Lissia shook her head. "I think I already know the answer to that one. I don't know if I should ask where my father is, or if he is still alive."

Wartly thought for a moment. "I would ask if he is still alive. You can always ask another question tomorrow, but there is little point in going chasing off across the country if your father has met with an accident."

Lissia nodded and asked, "Is my father still alive?"

Wartly looked at the pattern. He frowned and said nothing.

Lissia took a sharp intake of breath.

Wartly stared at the pattern and still said nothing.

"What is it?" begged Lissia. "Have they killed him?"

"Oh, no, he is alive," said Wartly quickly. "The discs say 'yes'. But that is all. Every other time I have read them, there has been much more of an answer. When I did the reading for Mrs. Dubber, the discs told me a lot more than that. It said that the marriage would be happy and that there would be grandchildren. But all I see here is the plain 'Yes.'"

Lissia gave a sigh of relief. "At least he is alive. That is something."

They set off again. When they reached the main road, something made Flash raise his head, as if he was listening.

Quickly, Lissia turned the cart round and drove back down the lane for a short distance and stopped. Wartly jumped down and went back to the main road. He hid behind a bush and waited. A couple of seconds later, a group of horsemen arrived.

A group of riders stopped.

They stopped, but did not dismount. Wartly kept very still and listened.

"Do we try down this lane or do we keep going?" asked one of the men.

"We can't search every little track that might go nowhere," replied the leader. Besides, she will have to spend the night somewhere, and there is an inn ahead of us. If she is there, great, if not, we can either wait for her or find out if she has been there."

"What about those royal guards?" asked another. "They are not that far behind us."

"They are only interested in that Doom grogger. They won't be much of a problem. When we catch her, we can leave him for them to find." The leader answered.

"What's left of him," one of the riders joked.

"We had better not hang around for too long, those royal guards are not far behind us," said the leader.

They rode off along the main road.

Wartly crawled out of his hiding place. Lissia was very worried when Wartly told her about the riders. "That was close. If Flash had not heard them coming we would have been on the main road and they would have caught up with us." She gave the horse a pat by way of thanks.

"We cannot stay on the main road," said Wartly. "I don't know this part of the world that well. I wonder if Tazel would help."

Tazel immediately offered to come with them and to show them the way to the capital along side roads and country tracks. He said he had been all over this part of the world looking for water.

It did not take him long to pack a few belongings and put them on the cart. "Good job I'm thin," he said.

There was a narrow track leading off into the countryside.

"It is about a day and a half drive from here," said Tazel. "We have to go past Old Grinny Lee's cottage. I am sure she will find a bed for Lissia for tonight."

"Who is Grinny Lee?" asked Lissia. "Another one of your fortune-telling friends?"

Tazel laughed. "Sort of, she reads palms. If you crossed her palm with silver, she would read yours." He added, hastily, "Or she would have done once upon a time."

[Palustris]

Chapter Eight.

Old Grinny Lee.

Old Grinny Lee was a well built lady with a toothless smile. She seemed very pleased to see them and invited them in. "Of course, the young lady is most welcome to use my spare room," she said. "And there is plenty of straw in the barn for you two men."

She waved away Wartly's offer of money. "Even though no-one crosses my palm with silver any more, I'm not short of money. My eldest lad keeps me well supplied with everything I need."

After a good meal, Wartly and Tazel took themselves off to the barn. Before Lissia could excuse herself and go to bed, the old lady pointed to a chair next to her own chair. "Sit down, young lady," she ordered. "You don't need to cross my palm with silver. I will read yours for free."

Old Grinny Lee.

As Lissia held out her hand, Grinny took it and stroked Lissia's hand. "That was just an excuse to have a closer look at that ring you are wearing," she said. "My eyes are not as good as they used to be."

Lissia held out her hand.

Lissia snatched her hand back.

Grinny shook her head. "No need to worry," she said. "I thought I recognised it."

Lissia's ring.

She gave a sigh. "I wasn’t always old and fat, you know. Many years ago, I was a lady's maid. She was beautiful and newly married. She wore a ring like that. She told me that it was a gift from her mother on her sixteenth birthday. She told me that she meant to give the ring to her daughter, if she had one, on her sixteenth birthday."

"My father gave me this ring on my sixteenth birthday. He said that it used to belong to my mother," said Lissia slowly.

Grinny smiled and nodded. "I thought I recognised it and you. I stopped being a maid when my mistress died. She had a baby girl. I moved away, got married and had a family of my own."

She looked up at Lissia. "You look like your mother did back then."

She chuckled. "Do that pair know who you really are?"

Lissia shook her head.

"Are you planning on telling them?" Grinny asked.

"Eventually," said Lissia.

"I think you had better tell me the whole story then," said Grinny. "All of it, mind, not half of it, which is what you probably have told Wartly."

Lissia did as she was told.

When she had finished, Grinny sat and was obviously thinking. She gave a sigh. "I wish I was young again, I would come with you. I liked your father, he was really handsome. Now I can see some major problems for you. Those soldiers are going to reach the capital before you do, and they are going to describe you to everyone. They may even have pictures of you to put up around town. It is not going to be easy for you to avoid being recognised."

"I was going to pretend to be a servant girl," said Lissia.

Grinny snorted. "Dressed like that? Your clothes are far too good for a servant girl. And how are you going to hide that pretty face?"

Lissia blushed. "I had not thought that far ahead. I did not even know if my father was still alive when I set out, and I still don't know if he is a prisoner in the capital or somewhere else."

"That should be your next question then," said Grinny.

"I cannot ask until tomorrow though," said Lissia.

"Then a good night's sleep is what is called for," smiled Grinny.

The next morning, Wartly brought out the bag of discs. Lissia dealt them out on to the table. She asked her question. "Where is my father being held prisoner?"

Wartly looked carefully at the pattern. The answer popped into his head, but he did not understand it. He looked again and the same answer came.

"Well?" asked Lissia.

"The discs say that he is being held somewhere that changes size. It can only be reached when it is bigger. When it is small, no-one can get to it." Wartly gave a shrug. "I don't know what that means."

Nobody else did either.

"Is that all you can see?" asked Lissia.

"That's it," Wartly said. "Except I get the impression that he is somewhere near the capital."

"Let's go then," replied Lissia .

Grinny said, "You're not going to go dressed like that. I have some more suitable attire for a servant girl. And I think I know how to disguise your face.

Grinny took Lissia into the bedroom. When they came out, Lissia was dressed in much less finery. Grinny had also done something to her face. "It's amazing what a bit of make-up can do," she said. "I have sent a message to my eldest. He runs an inn on the edge of the capital. He is expecting you."

"How?" Wartly inquired. "No one has left here, and in any case, they could not get to the capital in less than a day."

"My messengers can do the journey much quicker than that," laughed Grinny. "Homing pigeons. My son and I use them all the time."

Grinny's homing pigeon.

"I'll come with you as far as the capital," said Tazel, "But I think it would look odd for two men to be going round with a servant girl. And, in any case, my face is well known in these parts and people may want to stop and talk."

"That's makes sense," said Grinny. "Now you had better get going or you will not reach The Smuggler's inn before nightfall.

Tazel laughed. "I did not realise that your son ran the Smuggler's, " he said. "From what I hear that is a very good name for it too."

"We all have to make a living somehow," said Grinny.

[Palustris]

You may have to wait a while for the next bits. I am rather stuck at the moment.

[Palustris]

Unstuck, but proving hard to get writing. Know where I want to go but how to get there is the hard bit.

[Palustris]

Chapter Nine.

The Smugglers Inn.

The Smuggler's Inn.

The Smugglers' Inn was just outside the capital and right on the coast. It was actually quite a prosperous looking building, with tables outside for customers who liked to sit and watch the ships going into the harbour just along the coast.

Tazel led them inside. The bar was full of men who all stopped talking and turned to stare at the newcomers.

The landlord put down the cloth he was using to wipe a table and came across. "Glad you could make it, Tazel," he said. "My mother said you would pay me a visit."

"Hello, Lenny. This is my friend Wartly and his niece, Lissia. Your mother said that you would look after them."

He turned to Wartly and Lissia. "This is Lenny Lee, Grinny's eldest."

"Welcome to the Smuggler's Inn," said Lenny. He turned to the men in the bar. "These folks are my guests, so you will show them respect alright."

The inn's customers all nodded and went back to their drinking and chatting.

Tazel turned to Wartly and Lissia. "You should be safe here. I had better go now or it would be too dark to find my way home."

"You must allow us to pay you for guiding us," said Wartly. "I know how hard it is when you cannot use your skills to earn a living."

Tazel was reluctant, but Wartly insisted and handed over a number of coins. Tazel waved to Lissia as he left.

"Right," said Lenny. "Come into the back parlour and meet my wife, Bertha. She will look after you."

Bertha welcomed them with a big beaming smile. "Bring your things in from the cart and Jem, the pot boy, will hide your cart. The horse can go in with ours. "No-one will notice an extra steed in our stables"

Jem, the pot boy.

Lenny turned to leave. "Did anyone see you arrive?" he asked as he reached the door.

Wartly shook his head. "We didn’t see anyone around."

"Good," said Lenny. "To be on the safe side, I will get some of the lads to look around. They are not too keen on spies."

Bertha turned to Lissia and said, "I am afraid to say that you will have to share a room with Marny, our serving girl. This is only a small inn, and we don't have lots of rooms."

Lissia smiled. "I am very grateful just for somewhere to stay," she said.

Marny, the serving girl.

Wartly wandered back into the bar. He stood in the doorway and looked around. He could see that it would be almost impossible for him to just disappear into the background as he normally did. He was just too different from the other men in the room.

He shrugged his shoulders and sat quietly in the corner of the room. Lenny brought him a tankard of ale. He waved away Wartly's offer of a coin. "Mother said that you are a guest and that you should be treated properly," he explained.

Lenny brought a tankard of beer.

"If you don't mind," said Wartly. "I will just sit here and mind my own business for a while."

It took a while, but eventually the men in the bar began to forget that he was there, and they went back to their usual ways of passing the time. In one corner, there was a group playing Dominoes. The dart board was proving popular too. Elsewhere, there was a noisy game of cards in progress.

As he sat and listened, Wartly got the impression that all was not well in the capital. Conversations began and then petered out without anyone saying much.

As the afternoon turned to early evening, Lenny brought over a plate of bread and cheese for Wartly.

The bar began to fill up as more men came in. "No fishing tonight," commented Lenny. "There is a very strong onshore wind, so they cannot get the boats out."

Wartly nodded. "I suppose it is difficult to launch the boats when the wind is blowing off the sea."

"Impossible!" laughed Lenny. "Good for business though." He sat down next to Wartly. "Mother tells me that you are a Doom grogger."

Wartly's heart sank. "Yes," he said quietly, "but if you don't mind, I would rather not use my power here. Every time I do it, I feel more and more er, er."

He stopped. "I don't know, I suppose the word is drained. It seems to take a lot of strength to read the discs."

Lenny gave a nod. "I was going to ask you to tell us how long the wind would last." He laughed. "We actually have our own weather prophet. See Limpy Sam over there? Well, he broke his leg years ago and now whenever there is bad weather coming, it begins to ache. The worse his limp, the worse the weather is going to be. Pity his leg doesn't predict how long it will be bad for."

"Does it matter?" asked Wartly."

"Sometimes," replied Lenny. "This sort of wind not only stops boats going out, it stops them coming in too."

Another group of men came in, so Lenny had to go and serve them. "We are getting busy. It is time that Marny was down giving me a hand."

Upstairs Marny was showing Lissia the bedroom. "I will have to go and start work soon," she said.

"I would love to help you," said Lissia.

"No way, " said Bertha when it was suggested to her. "They are a rough lot who use this inn. The language leaves a lot to be desired, and some of them are a bit too free with their hands, if you know what I mean."

"I can't just sit here with nothing to do," replied Lissia. "Please, people are being so good to me. I really would like to do something in return."

"Well, on your own head be it," said Bertha. "But don’t say I did not warn you."

Marny found an apron for Lissia, and together they went down to the bar.

Lenny raised his eyebrows when he saw Lissia, but he shrugged his shoulders and said nothing.

Lissia carried tankards of ale, served food and wiped up the odd spill. She did have to dodge a few groping hands and used one of the tankards as a club when one rather adventurous youngster tried to steal a kiss. That caused a great deal of merriment, and the chastened man was thrown out into the night by Lenny and Jem.

Eventually, as the evening turned to night, the men began to say goodnight and go home. By midnight, the last customer was persuaded to leave. Lenny closed and locked the front door.

"My feet are killing me," said Lissia. "Oh, but that was fun,"

"I hope they were not too overly familiar," said Bertha.

Lissia giggled. "It was no worse than some of the Balls I have been to, and I did learn some new words too."

"Leave the clearing up until morning," said Lenny. "We need a bite to eat and then a good night's sleep. Your friend Wartly over there looks exhausted and all he has done is sit in a corner all evening."

Wartly grinned. "Listening and watching is hard work," he said. "I must confess that bed does sound good though.

"Jem will show you where you can bed down," said Lenny.

[Palustris]

Sorry about the images, don't know how to get them in properly.