Tales of Uncle Trapspringer ll-3 Page 10

  "Great! And you'll feel better too," Trap said. Even if her good thoughts didn't really help, she might be happier and more fun on the journey.

  "If we can just order up our good fortune, we should find a peaceful village with an inn before the day's journey is over," Halmarain said. "And a good wood pile to keep that… to keep Beglug from eating the furniture."

  Beglug seemed to like riding though he was unable to mount without help. Trap picked up a few dried sticks and gave them to the merchesti to snack on. Umpth, the largest of the two gully dwarves, put both hands on the rusting iron rim of the wheel.

  "Find good place," he intoned. "Find good food, good dump." He handed the wheel back to Grod and with the kender's help, climbed into the saddle.

  Halmarain glared at the dwarves as, with a boost from Ripple, she mounted her own pony.

  "We should stay in the foothills," she told Trap as they set out on their second full day's journey. "We'll travel slower, but there's less danger of being seen by anyone who might follow us."

  Trap sighed and pulled out the roll of maps that had belonged to the captain of the ship on which they had sailed from Hylo to Solamnia. He reminded himself he must find the captain and return the maps the next time he was near a seaport.

  How the ship's master had been so careless as to put them into Trap's pack by mistake, he would never understand. At that moment he was just glad of the error.

  He unrolled a particularly pretty one that showed the western section of Solamnia and studied it as Halmarain led the way north. Some careful hand had painted it with different shades of brown for the hills and mountains, green for farm and range land, and blue for the seas and rivers. The locations of many cities, forts, and castles had been drawn in. Beneath some had been written the word "ruins." The map showed no villages, and the nearest point of civilization marked on the map was a fortress with the name of Ironrock.

  With a road and fresh ponies they could reach it by nightfall, but traveling through the hills on tired mounts they would be two days reaching the fortress.

  "Do you think many people live close to the mountains?" he asked Halmarain. "I hope the rest of the area isn't as deserted as this. We might find some friends- then again they might not be friendly, so many humans aren't-but we're thinking good thoughts so I'll pretend they will be."

  "I'd be happy not to see another person or animal larger than a rabbit from here to Palanthus," Halmarain said as she adjusted her hair combs to keep her dark curling hair out of her face. "I'd just like a peaceful, quick journey."

  "I like meeting people," Trap said. "Adventurers have so many tales to tell, and dwarves make such good stuff."

  "Stuff that would end up in your pouches," Halmarain retorted, pulling a small spellbook from the bag she kept slung over her shoulder. She began to study, just giving the reins a tug now and then to keep the placid pony moving in the general direction she wanted it to go. Beglug's mount and the pack animal followed hers on long leads tied to her saddle.

  Trap sighed and dropped back to ride beside his sister. She was still leading the two gully dwarves. Trap and Ripple wiled away the morning trading old gossip about their friends back home.

  "Legup was more fun than this," Trap said as he shifted in the saddle. "We knew all the places, but at least there were people to talk to-"

  "And everyone had a story," Ripple broke in to add her part. "I know! Tell us a tale of Uncle Trapspringer. That should be interesting."

  "Him dead," Grod said.

  "Yes. He never should have stepped into the middle of the fight between the goblins and the kobolds," Trap said as he began his story. "Of course, he didn't know he was going to get killed so we won't really blame him for making a mistake, and after all it was his last one…"

  Trap wiled away a couple of hours letting his imagination soar.

  "That was a wonderful tale," Ripple said when Trap had finished. She wiped away a tear as she mourned an uncle she had never had. "When we get back to Hylo, everyone will want to hear your tales."

  "And before long every kender on Krynn will have an Uncle Trapspringer," Halmarain said. Until she spoke she had given no hint that she was listening.

  "Why would every kender want one?" Trap asked, suspicious of the remark.

  "They'll need one to keep up with your tales. I don't imagine they'll want to tell stories about your uncle when they can claim him for themselves. He has died so many times there will have to be a thousand of him. Before you get through he will have traveled all over this world and to the moons too."

  "That's an idea," Trap said, thinking he would really love to tell a tale of someone going to the moons.

  "And you'll have to have him eaten by a real dragon," the little wizard said, staring into the distance. For once she sounded enthusiastic. "How many times and ways do you think he could drown?"

  "In the sea, and a river, and in a well…" Trap was thinking over the wizard's idea.

  "And how many things could he fall from?" Halmarain asked.

  "Off a roof, and a cliff, and out of a tree…" Ripple added suggestions. "You're right, every kender will want an Uncle Trapspringer," she agreed.

  "You'll need to think up some more tales," Halmarain said to Trap. "Where else could he go? What else could he see and do?"

  "I don't know," Trap said and fell silent, thinking about the suggestions the others had made.

  "He could see lots of places," Ripple said. "We're seeing some of Krynn, but I don't think it's the best part. How long do you think it will take us to reach Palanthus?"

  "One, possibly two weeks," Trap said. "And the journey might still be fun. There could be all sorts of creatures to see on the way and I bet most will be friendly. Then, Palanthus is a large city and there's probably lots to do and see there."

  "Palnnus got dumps?" asked Grod. Usually the gully dwarves just talked among themselves, but they liked listening to the others.

  "Aghar like Palnnus?" Umpth asked.

  "Sure. You'll like it a lot," Trap said. "Lots of dumps and other gully dwarves, and a lot of places that would make a good This Place, and maybe this one won't get knocked flat… but then it might, because lots of kender go there. We'll find you a good This Place."

  "Maybe new This Place near dump," Grod said, clapping his hands in anticipation.

  "Jiggy biggies! Jiggy biggies!" Umpth shouted, mangling the kender's favorite expletive. "Maybe big dump," Umpth clapped his own hands. With four hands clapping, there were none left for the wheel. It stopped, remained balanced, and started rolling backward.

  "Wheel!" Umpth shouted, but he was too late to catch it.

  Trap looked back and saw the wagon wheel taking off on its own. He turned his pony and galloped after it. Behind him he could hear the dwarves, Ripple, and Halmarain shouting. Beglug wailed because the young merchesti could not understand the trouble.

  Trap's mount did its best, but the wheel had gathered momentum oh the slope. It changed course when it came to a steep incline that led west, between two high hills. It slowed as it rolled part of the way up the first hill, bounced into a little gully and hurtled off in a different direction. It left the kender behind as he slowed his pony to keep it from losing its footing on the rocky slope.

  At the bottom of the slope he urged his mount to a gallop again, but the wheel was out of sight. He raced after it, thinking the chase was at least more fun than riding through the valleys. He had traveled nearly a mile when he saw it again, rolling up a slope, slowing until he thought it might fall over.

  It struck something, too small for him to see what, though it could have been a rock. The wheel bounced off course, just enough for it to roll back down the far angle of the slope.

  "Gosh! It just keeps going! It must be magic," he told the pony. "I don't see how it could stay upright so long otherwise."

  The wheel gathered momentum again and continued down the slope, rolled to a stop and fell over in the grass not thirty yards from the end of a village street.r />
  Trap rode his pony forward and stopped by the wheel, letting his mount drop its head to graze while he dismounted and picked up the runaway wheel. His sharp ears had caught the distressed calls of the gully dwarves and the thud of hooves so he knew Ripple and the Aghar were following. Moments after Ripple came into sight, leading the dwarves, Halmarain appeared with the two other ponies following.

  The gully dwarves scrambled out of their saddles to check the wheel. By the time the little wizard arrived they were satisfied.

  "Wheel find-here," Umpth said, pointing to the village.

  "Good Aghar magic, this wheel," Grod replied, helping his brother examine it for damage.

  "More better magic than short human," Umpth said. "She no find-here"-he pointed toward the village again-"Aghar magic find."

  "That monstrosity did not find this village, it rolled to the lowest point-"

  "It did. It rolled here on its own," Ripple said, irritated with the wizard's complaints. "And it did find a village, you can see that for yourself and-"

  "Mad she no find," Umpth said to Grod.

  "No do herself," Grod nodded as he answered. "Mad she no find."

  "I am not jealous of those dirty-"

  "Are you here for the celebration?" A strange voice called, interrupting the argument.

  They turned to see the strangest creature on all Krynn. It stood as tall as a man, but with a lion's head and a humanoid body covered with feathers.

  Chapter 12

  The group stared in silence as the strange creature approached. Trap started forward, eager to meet this odd being. Halmarain pulled her axe, though she had no experience in using it. The weight of the weapon nearly pulled the tiny human out of the saddle.

  When the creature saw her weapon, he stopped, laughed, raised his hands, and lifted his lion's head off his shoulders. Beneath it they saw a smiling human face.

  "Forgive me if I startled you," he said. "This is Wizards' Day in Deepdel. We forget that not all of Krynn knows of our yearly celebration."

  "Oh, look! It's a costume!" Ripple said, sliding from her saddle and hurrying forward to see it better.

  "Celebration?" Trap asked brightly. "You're having a party? Wow, that's great. Can we come?"

  "Of course you can." the strange man replied. "Once a year-on Wizard's Day-we have a village party. It's in honor of a battle between two wizards that took place here a millennia ago. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Earne Jomann. My father is the mayor.

  "Later this afternoon, we will enact the historic battle. We welcome travelers any day of the year, but on this day there is a condition to entering the village. You must wear a costume. Only a few of the pageant players are allowed to be without one because of their parts in the reenactment."

  "We thank you, but we must continue our journey," Halmarain said.

  "No," Ripple objected. "We want to see the costumes-"

  "Kender…" Earne Jomann interrupted, his eyes narrowing. His smile disappeared and he stared at them with suspicion. "You will be seeking the traveler that stopped here earlier? A man heavily cloaked and hooded? He was seeking two kender traveling with a dwarf."

  "Seeking us? Who was he? Do we have any friends here?" Trap said, wondering who might be searching for them. "He could not have been looking for us, we don't know anyone in Solamnia-until today," he added hope-fully.

  "No, we are four dwarves, not one. He must not have been searching for these kender," Halmarain spoke up quickly, lowering her voice so she sounded like a dwarf.

  Earne Jomann seemed to relax. "I'm glad of that; he wasn't the sort of person I'd want as a friend."

  "Thank you for your invitation," Halmarain said. "We will join your celebration if you'll give us a little time to prepare for the occasion."

  Earne bowed and replaced his lion's head. "Then I will see you soon in the village square," he said, turning away.

  As soon as the villager was out of sight the little wizard turned on the kender. She seemed more frightened than angry.

  "Who would be seeking you?"

  "No one," Trap replied.

  "We don't know any humans in Solamnia except you," Ripple added. "The only ones we've met since leaving home were on the ship, and how would they know we were traveling with dwarves? Mayhap you were right and the cloaked man really was looking for two other kender."

  "We'll stay here the rest of today and tonight if we can find lodging," Halmarain decided. "By then he may be far away. Let's see what we can do about costumes. And for Gilean's sake, straighten Beglug's boots! They're backward again." She glared at the two kender who were exchanging looks with raised eyebrows. She understood their expression as if she had heard their thoughts. "You're right, they could look like part of a costume."

  Half an hour later they led the ponies down a path that winded between two large barns and came out into the village square across from an old inn. Earne had been on the lookout for them and called them over to the inn to meet his father. They could tell nothing about the mayor because of the strange outfit he wore. He resembled a large, round, blue ball with a carved wooden mask.

  "And you'll have to identify your costumes," Earne said, grinning at the little wizard. For Halmarain, they had cut long blades of grass that covered her clothing and stuck up from her dwarf helmet. She wore a beard of grass. Like the green on her clothing and helmet, it was held in place by a spell.

  "I'm a grass elemental," Halmarain said. "My friend here is the creation of an inept wizard"-she pointed to Beglug, who wore his own face without makeup and his boots were backward-"This is a whirly-gig"-she indicated Umpth, who wore the wagon wheel atop his pointed helmet. It too was held in place by one of the wizard's spells-"These two are kender-dwarves." Trap wore Beglug's beard while Ripple had tied the little fiend's wig under her chin.

  "And me gully dwarf," Grod proudly announced. They had liberally coated his hauberk, helmet, and face with mud.

  "You did an excellent job for travelers who had not expected to join our celebration," the mayor said. He bobbed up and down until Trap wondered if Braad Jomann would bounce away. "Come leave your mounts in the stables and partake of the day."

  A crowd of several hundred humans and dwarves were strolling about, eating, drinking, and dancing. All the revelers wore strange costumes. Most combined the features of animals, birds, fish, and dragonlike shapes. The overall scene resembled the result of some insane and inept wizard's experiments.

  At one end of the square a group of musicians performed on a raised wooden platform. The two lute players appeared to be wearing one costume that joined their bodies and near legs into one. Together they formed a two headed creature with four arms, three legs, and a body that was more than five feet wide. Beside them, two human arms reached out from a carved dragon shape, overlaid with painted wooden scales. The hidden musician beat out the rhythm of the music on a drum.

  The two kender stood wide eyed, completely forgetting their companions. They wandered around fascinated by the costumes. For the first few minutes they were too busy looking to handle the few loose items available.

  Not even their interest in the costumes could long hold down kender nature. They spent a couple of happy hours standing quietly on the fringes of chatting celebrants, their hands busy exploring pouches and pockets. There were so many pockets, and people were moving about so much, even the kender lost track of who owned what when they attempted to replace the many items they'd inspected. The kender's pouches bulged with items accidentally dropped inside and other things they intended to return when they found the owners again.

  Trap and Ripple saw Grod, who had found the tables laden with food and was busy stuffing himself. The villagers, well aware of the reputed gully dwarf appetite, were offering him food. They complimented him on getting into the spirit of his costume.

  Umpth was near the musician's platform, dancing by himself, spinning around and around. His dark hair and beard flowed out from under the wagon wheel that was still in place on his
helmet.

  Then the mayor jumped onto the platform and called everyone to attention and ordered them to take the seats that had been placed around the edge of the square.

  The villagers knew what was coming and willingly obeyed. Earne found seats for himself, Trap, and Ripple. Halmarain and Beglug sat by a tall human on the other side of the square. Their feet dangled as they sat on the seats made for humans. The merchesti seemed fascinated with all the creatures and for once he was not trying to eat the furniture.

  At the southern side of the square, a juggler kept four apples in the air at one time. The crowd watched him until they heard a sizzle and a low boom at the north-western corner of the square. They jerked their heads around to see billowing black smoke. When it cleared, a black-robed figure stood on the platform.

  "Hey! That's great! You have wizards and magic?" Trap asked Earne. "I really like magic."

  "So do I," Ripple said, leaning forward to watch.

  "No, we don't have any real magic, the smoke is only a dwarf trick, and the wizard is a local weaver in costume," the young man said. "He's playing the part of Canoglid, the black wizard that enslaved our village a thousand years ago."

  The story enacted that afternoon was in mime but was easy to understand. The villagers feared the wizard who, using horrible beasts to keep them in order, had enslaved them. Then another wizard-this one in white robes- appeared and brought other creatures to drive the evil ones away.

  The black-robed wizard leaped off the platform and his foe in white moved forward to meet him. They threw fireballs at each other and at first Trap agreed with Ripple, magic seemed the only explanation for the small fires that blossomed around them.

  Still, his eye was quick. The mock battle brought the white-robed wizard close to where Trap and Ripple sat. The kender noticed that when the black-robed figure pretended to throw a spell, the other would flinch away as if he had been struck. His movements disguised the fact that he dropped a small object onto the ground and a short-lived blaze erupted from it. One fell without exploding. Trap kept an eye on it.