16th Wealsun, 582 Part Two: The Rude Awakening
As each went to her room, the house fell silent. Maybe soft footsteps could be heard in the hallway, maybe some whispers, but ....
Sleep came swiftly to them. The day had been long and the evening and night a challenge. But little sleep would they get on this night.
BAM! BAM! BAM! A pounding on wood below woke each from her newly begun slumber. Not much more than a hour or so could have gone by. Voices could be heard, some calling to each other, but one shouted clearly above the rest. "Mister Shepton! Mister Shepton! There' s another fire. It's the Dale House! It's going up!"
Footsteps pound on the floor outside their doors. Each door received a solid knock. "Everyone up. Time to start earning your keep," rang Shepton's voice clearly.
Daltonne jumped out of bed, threw on her mail and runs out to see what is happening. "all right Mayor, which way is the fire?"
Mister Shepton was already heading downstairs, so Daltonne followed.
Moments later, Jessa Wren dashed out of her room fully armed and ready to go. She tromped down the stairs and out the door.
Black Blade followed Jessa out, her hand now clutching onto the sword.
"Now," Black Blade hissed. "Let's find out who this little pyromaniac is and put a stop to this."
Throwing on her robe, Serena grabbed a few items and locking the bedroom door behind her, joined the others downstairs.
The four followed Shepton out the front door of his house. From the vantage point of this rise, all could see a blaze down near the lake, to the north of the Mayor's house. As they headed towards it, many shadowy figures are already there. A bucket brigade had formed as the local citizenry was trying valiantly to quell the inferno. As they arrived at the burning house, it became quickly evident that little could be done to save this house
Serena scanned the area, hoping to catch a glimpse of the mysterious scarecrow. In her hand was a small red vial, its glass shape blown into the likeness of a single flame. She saw a group of townsfolk milling about, slightly off to the west. They seemed to be looking off into the fields. They seem to be pointing.
Black Blade confronted one of this group. "Did anyone see who did it?"
"No," said he, "but look!" He pointed to a spot near the shore of the lake, some 200 or more yards away. There a shadowy figure stood. As all eyes directed towards it, it began to move off into the moonlit fields.
Immediately the four females took action. "HEY!" Black Blade shouted, dashing toward the moving figure in the field. "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Her hand clenched on the hilt of her sword and she dashes along. No doubt about it, she `meant' business.
Daltonne looked to where they were pointing. Because she was a proficient runner, she took off after the figure, with the intention of a flying tackle when she was close enough.
Jessa followed Black Blade and Daltonne after the shadowy figure. Drawing a dagger from its hidden sheath in preparation to throw it, she hoped to get in range before she or any of her group got in hand-to-hand combat with the person.
Black Blade shouted to her friends a quick warning: if they did have to go to battle, "LOOK AWAY FROM ME WHEN I DRAW FEAR!!!"
At this admonishment, they others were left to draw their own conclusions.
The four femmes did their best to catch the fleeing figure, but it seemed to be just a wee bit faster then they were. However, as it passed in and out of the moonlight, they were able to keep it in sight. Daltonne proved herself to be the best runner of the bunch. She gradually fell into a steady pace of pursuit. Black Blade and Jessa did their best, in spurts and stops, to maintain contact.
The shadowy figure led them out of the fields and onto a deeply shadowed road. The figure continued on its way, just beyond missile range. After nearly half an hour of pursuit, the three women were rather fatigued. All stopped on the top of a small rise, unable to go on, when an eerie, rhythmic creaking came over the fields. The quarry paused at the top of the next rise and turned around. All four strained to get a good look at the face of the alleged arsonist. Still hidden in some gloom, the occasionally ray of moonlight allowed a bit of a view. But, it was not the face of a typical villager. The three women found themselves staring into the unnatural, flickering grin of a scarecrow! The creature turned and bound down the far hill, leaving them alone with the winds and the rhythmic creaking.
"Clop, clop." A quick look behind them revealed Serena riding along, the other mounts with her. "Not much of a runner. Thought these might come in handy."
"Creak, ... creak, ..... creak, ..... "
After all this running the horses were a welcome sight, indeed.
Black Blade whooped, leaping onto her horse, and bolted, in the direction of the "scarecrow"-- right hand handling the reins, the left drawing the great runesword half-way.
Daltonne jumped onto her horse and rode as fast as possible towards the scarecrow. Both had the idea of tackling the miscreant; it was only a question of which one would get to the strawman first.
Dropping the reins of her companion's mounts, Serena spurred Sashone after the fleeing figure. Slowing slightly at the top of the rise where the scarecrow disappeared, she looked for an ambush. She then continued pursuit. Jessa was close behind.
Hot on the trail of the scarecrow, they crested the final hill and looked across a small hollow. On the hill before them , maybe 50 yards away, stood a windmill, silhouetted in the moonlight. The tattered vanes hung in rags, and the roof was spotted with holes from missing shingles. The turning of the gutted vanes set off the low `creak,` creak,` that had been heard on the distant rise. Windows game at the four like open mouths from all three floors of the mill. Their shutters bang fitfully in the wind.
Looking slowly around, taking in the entire scene, Daltonne pronounced, "Now where did that feller get to? Cain't see him nowheres."
"Into the windmill!" Black Blade retorted. "It's the only logical place!" She leapt off her mount and heads for the windmill, stopping momentarily if anyone is coming along with her.
She added, "It'll probably be wise in case of an ambush that one or two of us stay out here, while the rest of us check out the mill."
Jessa scanned the area with her sharp elven eyes. "Nothing living seems to be out there." She took in every visible detail in the night darkness. "I can't see anything either."
Turning to Black Blade, Jessa said, "I'll go along with whatever you have in mind."
Daltonne looked around and says, "I agree -- to the windmill. Don't think its an ambush, but I take guard outside if no one else wants to."
Black Blade grinned, saluted, and, not really waiting for the other two to respond, readied to kick open the door.
Serena stayed mounted on Sashone. "Maybe we should go back and tell Mayor Shepton about this mill," she says, looking askance at the eerie building. "I don't like the looks of that place... . What do you think?" she nervously asks the others.
Daltonne said. "I say let's go in and see iffin its there. Besides, what could it do to all four of us? And why would a scarecrow, made of straw, be partial to settin' fires? I be thinkin' that it would be scared of fire. This seems mighty strange. Maybe it wanted us to follow. Let�s git to it."
"It's probably not a good idea for you to go in by yourself," Serena said, shaking her head. "No, perhaps we should all go. Your probably right, the mayor already knows of this place..." Serena drew a thin black dagger from the folds of her robes. "We had better hurry, he may have slipped out the back."
Daltonne, Serena and Jessa hurried after Black Blade. They found the warrior pausing momentarily at the door. They all saw that the front door, and only door, was boarded up. Nailed to it was a faded and watermarked proclamation:
"This property and Building Have been Reposed by the Office of the King�s Representative of the Township of Lowick and Area in Name of the Duke of Narwell for Taxes Owing."
(signed) _Rander_ Duke's Representative
Black Blade remarked, "Breaking that seal and entering through this door, if we could get all the boarding off it, would be breaking the law." The others pondered this problem for a moment, then see Black Blade grin, "Course, there's nothing stopping us from climbing in one of the windows. They are neither boarded up nor note posted. But they are all closed."
"Yer right on that one," agreed Daltonne, "but how da ya suppose, oopps! I slipped an me elbow done smashed this here glass."
"My that is a shame," notes Serena. We had best clean up those nasty shards, lest some young child have a nasty accident."
"Yes," said Jessa, "and some of them might have fallen inside. We better check."
Within minutes the four good Samaritans had cleaned up the glass, and entered the mill. The light of two torches which Daltonne had retrieved from her mount were illuminating the main floor.
This floor was about 30' x 30', mostly square. The whole floor was taken up by one large room, and the ceiling reached up maybe 15' or so above. There was something odd about it above and to the right of the party.
On a large platform on the opposite side of the room sat the millstone, slowly turning and making loud grinding noises. A staircase rose first to the top of the platform, then doubled back on itself to continued towards the upper floor. Something large rested in the corner to the right of the millstone, hidden in its shadows.
"Hello, what's this?" Black Blade half-drew Fear as she approached the mound cautiously. The pile proved itself to be nothing more sinister than several sacks of moldy old grain. "Lucky for them, or I'd have slit them up," grinned the bold elf. �Damn," She swears under her breath. "Okay, I'm gonna see what's upstairs. Come with me or stay here, I don't really care." It is obvious she is getting a little irritated with this scarecrow creature.
Looking fearfully around the dark room, Serena followed the others up the stairs. "This was a bad idea," she whispered to no one in particular, "and just how did the scarecrow get in here..."
Jessa frowned. "You're right Serena, how did the scarecrow, or whatever it is, get in here. I didn't notice any other broken windows and that door was barred tight. Either there's a secret door or maybe it didn't come in here after all." Jessa drew her sword.
Daltonne said, "Okay, up we go. Guess this must be that mill we asked the mayor 'bout."
The four made their way up the stairs to the second floor. The noise from the millstone was less deafening here, but the floor and the walls vibrate from the force. Pale moonlight creeps in on cat's paws from the windows set in all four sides of the room. In the southwest corner, a trap door is set into the floor, and across the room there is another staircase leading up to the next level, maybe 15' above the adventurers' heads. At the bottom of the opposite staircase lies another, larger pile of sacks, and against them leans a wooden ladder. A thick drive-shaft runs from the floor to the ceiling, its slow revolution the only obvious movement in this 25' across room.
Daltonne looked around, "Guess we should have a look at them sacks afore going up or down." She walked over towards them and starts looking through them. Black Blade accompanied her. "Grain. Old moldy, rotting grain."
Jessa glanced about cautiously. She walked slowly and quietly across the wooden floor. "Careful everyone. There may be rotted boards up here."
She turned to Daltonne. "Hasn't this mill been deserted for a few weeks? How come the millstone is still turning?"
Not too concerned about the sacks, Serena cautiously headed toward the trap door, intent on examining it. "That is odd that the mill would still be turning... Anyone remember what happened to the miller?"
Daltonne recalled, "Don't rightly know what happened to the miller, but the Mayor said that the mill was closed fer taxes owing. Don't know why this would still be in operation iffin its been closed for a while. Mighty strange."
Serena arrived at the trap door. As she examined it, she noted that the area directly above this door is very cold, "No visible reason why it should be. Can't feel anything here either. But it is very cold in this area."
Looking up, she saw an iron ring, with a short length of rope fixed to it, apparently firmly fixed in the ceiling above. Chewing her lip in thought, Black Blade then brought up: "Maybe the miller and the scarecrow are somehow linked. Think about it: Town closes down mill, miller out of revenge goes in cognito and begins an arson trip. Anyone else besides me think this logical?"
Daltonne said, "Shur sounds logical to me too."
"Look at this," Serena called out, staring up at the ceiling.
"Look at what?" Black Blade retorted, staring at what Serena pointed.
Looking up, she saw an iron ring, with a short length of rope fixed to it, apparently firmly fixed in the ceiling above.
Jessa guessed, "Could the scarecrow, or whatever it is, be the miller?"
Jessa walked over to Serena. Looking up at the trap door, she said, "Do you think we should go up?" Once she arrived, she saw that the trap door was in the floor at her feet. The attention of all is directed to the apparently solid ceiling above, where the ring with the short length of rope were fixed.
Black Blade told the other women to move away from the ring. She attempted to grab the ring and pull it down.
Try as she might, the ceiling was 15' above her, and the ring, 6" in diameter. The rope was a very short length with most of itself tied to the ring. Maybe 3-4" hang down. So Black Blade made a mighty leap, [and not being Shaq] came nowhere near the rope.
All felt the cold in the area, however.
Smirking sheepishly, hoping someone laughed (actually, she miscalculated the distance, oops!), Black Blade pointed to the other flight of stairs.
"I'll try the easier way up, now," she shrugged.
Daltonne followed Black Blade up the stairs.
As the others headed for the stairs Serena bent down and tried to open the trap door. With slight difficulty she lifted it high enough to confirm her suspicion that it opened on the main floor below. "Probably lowered stuff through here.� Then she hastens to catch up with the others. Jessa did likewise.
Carefully climbing the stairs leading up to the next level, the four find themselves in what was once a fine living area. Taking up about half this floor's space, this room looked like the focus of a rampaging dragon. Overturned chairs and a table lay broken against the northern wall next to a battered wood stove. Under the window to the south is a stout oak desk with what looked like the remains of a model ship crushed on top. The drawers have all been pulled out and emptied, and various delicate woodworking tools lay scattered about the floor, intermingled with the pieces of a fine wooden chess set. The window was broken, and the door set into the western wall hung by one hinge. Slightly to the left of the door was an outcrop of wood, maybe two feet square, which runs up to the ceiling, this being the center of this level; the turning of the mill shaft can be heard through this wood.
Black Blade glanced around the room, but nothing of great interest caught her eye. She headed toward the door. "Oh my," Serena whispered. After a moments thought she says, "Who ever lived here looked to be a craftsman... It seems unlikely he would destroy his own work," pointing to the model ship and scattered tools. "Unless he was very angry."
She carefully made her way to the window, trying not to crush the tools and chess pieces. After a glance at the desk she looked out the window, trying to check on the animals. The horses were where they had left them; a slight note of sun was on a distant horizon.
Picking up a chess piece for closer examination, she followed after the others into the next room. "I really don't think it came here," she stated while looking at the piece. "He must have just run on past," she adds hopefully.
This was obviously a bedroom, though it is adorned only by a cheap straw mattress, from which the blankets have been torn and flung in the corner. It took up half the remaining floor space. A wall ran from east to west, with a closed door set in this southern wall.
"Someone was in a hurry to leave," Black Blade muttered, heading to the closed door, on guard. "A straw bed... The straw could have been used to create a scarecrow disguise," Serena stated, thinking aloud. She wandered over to the bedding and lifted it with her toe, then took a cursory glance around the bed. "If he did come up here, he'll know we followed him. We've not been very stealthy." Gesturing toward the door, "I suggest we stop moving around for a moment and see if we can hear anything beyond that door."
Jessa looked around at the scattered objects. Walking carefully, she followed Black Blade to the door. "Right behind ya Black Blade." A silence fell over the four, as many ears near the door to attempted to hear anything beyond.
"Nothing."
"Nadda"
"Nope"
"No"
They all agreed that no noise could be detected within. The only sound was the low whirring of the mill shaft coming through the wall to their left, and a slight grinding coming from above.
Black Blade tried the door. "Locked." Then, "There has got to be a key around here somewhere, unless he locked himself in." Black Blade prepared to draw Fear. "Course, I brought my own set of keys myself."
Serena put her back to the southern wall, a small distance from the locked door. "Perhaps you should just knock," she whispered, thinking they intend to kick the door. She clutched her dagger tightly.
Jessa placed her hand on Black Blade's arm, a worried look in her eyes. "You don't plan to try to use that," she gestures to the longsword at the albino's side, "to open the door, do you?"
Jessa looked around at her companions. "Does anyone have any idea how to open the door without tearing it down?"
A thorough search of the room revealed no keys. Meanwhile Serena knocked sternly on the door, ....., and again, ....., and again. Black Blade fiddled with the lock for a few minutes, but the mechanism proved difficult. The three looked at each other. Then they heard, "Well, I gots an idea. You three step over here and look at this fer a moment." Daltonne seemed to be holding some old rag in her hand. To the others it appeared worthless, but stymied as they were by the door, the moved towards her . "Here," she said handing it to Jessa, "now doesn't that look - " as the three were in rapt attention, Daltonne made a bee-line for the door, lowering her shoulder as she went, gathering speed, until she crashed into the imposing object with great force. While the door did remain locked, the hinges were driven from the frame, and it hung open. "That there magic hanky did the trick, doncha think?" she grinned.
The other three made their way to the `open' doorway. Inside, in stark contrast to the last two rooms, this one, taking up the remaining one quarter of this floor level, was very neat and well organized. A desk sat in the southwestern corner, facing the road. A small chest rested next to it. Both appeared to be in good shape, though they were slightly dusty.
Black Blade bit her lip. She advanced the desk to go through it.
"It doesn't look like anyone has been in here recently," Jessa commented, " At least not any time tonight."
"Well, I suppose I overreacted," Serena laughed nervously as she peers into the room. Visibly relaxing she lowered her dagger and leans against the splintered door frame. "We didn't find the scarecrow, but we did manage to forcibly enter private property. Perhaps it would be best if we didn't mention this to the mayor!" Her shoulders slumped and exhaustion set in. "We'd better go back," she sighed. "I'm very tired and this has turned out to be a dead end. I wonder if its a coincidence that the scarecrow ran toward this mill," Serena pondered aloud.
Jessa felt a twinge of guilt. "You're right, Serena. Maybe we should leave. There's nothing here we need to search and it has been a long night."
The elf turned and walked back towards the door. "Besides," she said, not looking back, "this doesn't feel right anymore."
Daltonne walked into the room and said, "Well, I'm all fer leaving, but since we are here why don't we have a quick look around. As you say Serena we've already trespassed, so what's the difference now iffin we see if there be any clues around this room. It hasn't been disturbed so maybe we'll find something. There must be a reason that scarecrow led us to this place so let's try to find it. I'm guessing that it shouldn't take too long."
Daltonne walked over to the chest and examined it. Her close look revealed deep scratches around the lock plate, indicating that it had been forced open before. The top opened easily. "Empty" she says somewhat disappointed. "Wonder what was in there, and why someone had to break in to take it."
Black Blade bit her lip. She advanced the desk to go through it. The desk looked to be in very good shape. The drawers were unlocked and filled with invoices and records relating to the mill. "Here's a statement of some kind," she said holding out a paper and showing it around. It appeared to be the last statement of accounts.
Accounts
Coming In:
Gover's Bakery 100gp Andrac, 1 sack 10gp Manny, 25 mill 5gp
TOTAL 115gp
Going Out:
Poggo, 2 sq' leather 10gp Lagus, 100' rope 25gp Walsh, 3 fish 6cp Narwell Tax 15gp PD Tax 245gp
TOTAL 295gp
Savings:
Bank of Gund 215gp Mill 300gp
TOTAL 515gp
"I don't know, friends," Black Blade showed them the invoice. "I'd hate to give up when we've come so far. I'd say we should tell the mayor all we've found, that we followed the scarecrow here, and we investigated, but something isn't right. Like, this here statement. It seems our miller hadn't much luck in the income. And here," she pointed to the outgoing expenses, "seems to be bare necessities. I'm beginning to think this miller was a victim of circumstance. Business wasn't going good, he couldn't make payments, and the tax collector comes a-knowing at the door. Of course," she gives a quick, sardonic grin, "the poor man can't seem to add very well. Like here," she indicates the income, "Shouldn't this be 135 gold pieces, not 115? And in his outgoing, it should be 301 gold, not 295. Seems the only math he got right was his savings. Then again, I could be looking this the wrong way, and the man fudged his statement on purpose, but I'm somewhat of an optimist when it comes to other people so I'm giving the miller the benefit of the doubt."
Curiosity overcoming caution, Serena peered at the document. "What is the PD Tax and why would it be so high?" "Perhaps its a cumulative bill, for surely the miller could not afford to pay that each month. That rate would equal extortion! As for what was in the chest... I would imagine it was 300 gold." Noting the names on the list, Serena turned to leave.
Jessa and then Serena made their way out of the inner rooms, and back into the larger, half room where the stairs were. Once last glance around, and, ..., they both noticed that there was a trap door in the ceiling, over by the window. "Guess we missed that when we first came up."
Meanwhile, Black Blade and Daltonne, still puzzled over the book, were ready to leave the desk alone when, Black Blade's elven senses tingled, "Wait a minute. I think, ..., here, lookie here," she pointed to a faint outline of a door in the back of the desk. Now that she noticed it , she was able to open it very easily. From within she extracted a leather bound floppy paged book. Scrawled on the cover were the words:
"The Diary of Maury Miller"
paging through, there were a variety of entries over a number of months. The last entries, however, ...
".....night. I ended up mating him, but it was close, the Game went on for a good two hours before I finally pinned him down. Before he left, I made him promise me a rematch. No meeting tonight. The big one is tomorrow.
Last entry:
It worked! I can't believe it, but it worked! We met here an hour before he was to arrive. When he did, we told him off. Ha! The look on his face when he saw all of us lined up like that ... It was priceless! He slunk off like a dog with its tail between its legs. Finally! It looks like we won't have to worry about him anymore.
Anyway, after the excitement, Arnord stayed behind and we played a game of Nucks. I wiped the floor with him the first game, but the seco
Have to go. Heard a noise downstairs."
"We overlooked this trap door," Serena mentioned to Jessa. "It is possible that, IF, the scarecrow came here at all, it slipped up there... Of course I'd not be the one to poke my head up there." Calling out, "Black Blade, Daltonne we missed something over here. You may want to have a look."
Jessa looked thoughtful for a moment. "No, no I think I remember seeing this when we came in. Remember we felt that cold draft coming from it? The scarecrow might have gone up there."
Black Blade emerged from the inner room, brandishing a prize of her own.
Serena looked at the diary. "Very confusing. Out of context it makes little sense. Perhaps at the point, " she touches the part referring to them lining up, "they were running off the tax collector." Serena's eyebrows furrowed as she re-read the entries. "Perhaps the one who left with his tail betwixt his legs returned and silenced the writer. We should ask what became of this Maury Miller. And Arnord."
Jessa pointed to the end of the last entry, "How peculiar. It suddenly breaks off and doesn't continue. Is there a date at the beginning of the entry?" Checking, she noted that the date was months ago.
Daltonne agreed with Serena "Yes, we must find out mor 'bout Maury & Arnoud. Now then, how kin we get into that cold room? Was there another door we missed upstairs? I must be gettin' daft, but I thin we fergot to look. Or maybe Serena you have one of them spells that opens doors. I've heard there be such things, though never really seen one done before."
"Let's take this journal with us before someone like this Arnoud comes back to look fer it. It was hidden so no one will know we have it."
This left the four adventurers on the third floor, looking up at a trap door in the ceiling some 15' above them, with no stairs leading up to it. The cold area was on the floor below them, the second floor. They looked up at this door,..... ?????
Black Blade tapped the hilt of her sword in thought. "Let's try a human ladder, excuse the expression," she retorted. "If that doesn't work, Serena, maybe a levitation spell on yourself, if you have one?"
At the mention of the word `ladder,' Daltonne, Serena, and Jessa all reacted.
"Say, wasn't there.."
"A ladder.."
"Downstairs?"
The realization hit them all. In a flash, they had raced down to the floor below and there was the ladder, still leaning against the sacks. Within minutes they had it back up on the third floor, propped up to the trap door above. They looked at each other wondering who would take the climb.
"If that strange fellow is up there perhaps we should use the ladder to try and push the door open," Serena whispered to the others. "Then we'd know if he meant harm to any who poked a head through."
Using the ladder as a pole, they were able to get the trap open slightly, but not enough to tip it over completely. Nothing stirred as they disturbed the door however. Black Blade offered to go up first, but Daltonne insisted "OK, I'll go up and he better watch himself cause I'm not taking anymore nonsense from him."
She climbed the ladder and either pushed the trap door open. "Watch out down there!" she cautioned. She will leaned a bit sideways so as to avoid anything falling on her head.
Jessa wordlessly sheathed her sword and steadied the ladder as Daltonne climbed up. "Black Blade, Serena, be ready for anything."
Serena stepped well back from the ladder toward the door that led downstairs. She prepared to cast featherfall on Daltonne if she fell. She had other spells in mind, in case of attack.
Peeking through the trap door, Daltonne gained a rat's perspective of this small circular room. There was barely enough time to swing her head about to survey the room, however, before her nostrils were assailed by a horrible stench. The smell of decaying flesh was so powerful, she had to cover her face to stave off the nausea.
"Pewh! It really stinks up here," she gasped, as she moved her head out for fresh air.
Looking back, see saw a huge wooden cog, easily ten feet in diameter, occupied the center of this room. A large shaft bisected the room, jutting from the centerpoint of the vanes outside to where it is fixed on the opposite wall. A smaller wheel is attached to the shaft and intersected off to the left. The only sound was a quiet rattle caused by the slow revolving of the mechanism.
"Can't see the couse `er that smell from here," she coughed.
"Daltonne, let me get up there," Black Blade ordered. "Just in case there is undead up there, Fear has the power to turn walking cadavers."
*Heh heh. Cadavers.* the elf smirked to herself.
Daltonne said, "The stink in here tells me somethin is rotting all right, but I'm not scairt of cadavers. I thin I'll jes pass out from this here stench. Alright Black Blade, I'll just give this one more push and then you're welcome to enjoy the 'smell' and whatever else is in here."
Daltonne took a deep breath and heaved. The trap door lifted up, and over, leaving the cap of the windmill exposed. "All yers, BB."
Daltonne took a few steps down the ladder, and moved over to the side, to let Black Blade head for ~cadavervill~
Black Blade carefully made her way past he other fighter, and stuck her head into the cap. *best not let them know I'd really like to puke right now* "Doesn't smell that bad," she gagged, then climbed up into the cap. As she pulled herself up to her full height, she could see that one could walk around the wheel which continued to revolve slowly. Black Blade stepped around the perimeter. About one third of the way around to the right, she saw what sure looked like a cadaver, a rotting smelly corpse, semi hollowed eye sockets, flies lighting, maggots crawling, green and pussy white streaks of glop, sort of covered by some cloth, a thick piece of moldy rope protruding in some way.
"Well, this guy must have been up here quite a while. What do you say, Bones?" She held the pommel to the cadaver. "What? You're the miller's mother-in-law? Who'da thunk it?" Becoming a little more serious, she bent down and examined the rope. "Or maybe it is the miller himself. Do you think maybe he up and hung himself?"
The rope was indeed in the form of a noose around what is left of Abra the Cadaver's neck. The end has been cut cleanly with a sharp object.
"So did ye git it BB?" Daltonne followed BB while holding her sword in one hand and a scarf over her nose.
Daltonne came upon Black Blade as she was holding the end of the rope. The corpse was male. "Well, iffin this here guy hung himself he must be one mighty magician cuz he was able to cut himself down nice and clean like. I think someone must of killed him and never got back to dispose of his body. Or else they just weren't worried about it cuz this place is all locked-up and all. Well it might be time for us to speak with the mayor about this. What does everyone else think?"
`Abra' wore just an old ratty nightshirt; there was a key in the small chest pocket.
"Good speculation, Daltonne," BB nodded, looking around the area for any forms of notes, evidence, whatever. "I don't know many unanimated dead to cut themselves from the noose, eh? The question now pending is that is this the miller or one of his bookies or who the thirteen hells is it?"
Jessa climbed up the ladder and looked in the room for a moment, she got a whiff of the rotting corpse, and, covering her mouth and nose, quickly climbed back down.
She returned a few minutes later with most of her face covered by a piece of cloth in attempted to sift out some of the smell. She looked over at the corpse and then scanned the room, trying to take in every detail. "Yes, Daltonne, I think we had better tell the mayor about this. An arsonist is one thing, but a murderer is quite something else all together."
Jessa walked carefully over to where Black Blade is standing, avoiding looking at the rotting mess at their feet. "The plot thickens."
Serena didn't climb the ladder to see. "This we must report. I hope we don't get in too much trouble for being in here."
Serena called up to the others hesitantly, "You don't suppose the scarecrow is the... spirit, of the dead person do you?" She shuddered slightly, "Of course, I do not believe that sort of thing myself. So I suppose that�s foolish to surmise." Glancing around nervously, "I'm ready, how about the rest of you. Wow, look, the suns starting to rise. I'm ready."
Daltonne removed the key and put it away. "Well as I see this, someone has gone to some trouble to hide this here body. We had trouble finding it. Now they may be back to git it or they may not. Seeing as how we already are here and I don't want to go to the mayor without proof and then come back here to find this body gone or this place burned to the ground, I'm willing to carry it to the mayor and tell him the whole story. Iffin we go to the mayor without proof he may jest brush us off like he did last time. What can he do to us? It's pretty obvious that this here body has been dead fer a while. All we have done is happen upon it. So what do you all think?"
Jessa yawned widely and turns back to the trapdoor. "Let's get out of here. We've got quite a bit to report and we're not going to get much more done here tonight. . . or is it today?"
Then she realized what Daltonne had meant. "You mean carry the body back to Shepton?" Jessa looked at the corpse one final time before heading down the ladder. "Be my guest. It would be good to have proof for him." She climbed down the ladder and joined Serena on the floor below.
Daltonne set about the task. First she climbed down to the floor below and got a blanket from the sleep room. returning to the cap, she rolled the body into the blanket, and secured it with some rope. Then, using a rope, she lowered the body down to the third floor. It was now a simple task of hoisting her proof upon her shoulder, and negotiating the stairs, till she had reached the bottom. There she headed out to her horse and secured the body across its rear. The other three had a last look around, and then the four rode back into the village. By now the morning sun was well up in the sky, and some villagers were up and about. A few noticed the approach of the four riders, but none said a thing.
The four rode to the house of Mayor Shepton. ~had it only been a few hours since they were last there? had it been a full day since they had any sleep?~
Unpacking the body, the four walked up to the front door. Before they could knock, the door was thrust open. An obviously worried Shepton, who sure looked like he, too, had been up all night, greeted them. His clothes were dirty and soot stained, his hair unkempt. "Where have you been? What happened?" he blurted anxiously. Before anyone could respond he added, "What's that awful smell?"
Daltonne had rather unceremoniously delivered her package to the mayor's doorstep. Black Blade smirked at the inquiry and looked in the direction of the corpse. "Um...we have a friend we found at the mill. I think you might want to check this out. We're suspecting murder."
Gesturing to the corpse, Serena wrinkled her nose. "Do you recognize this person?"
Half in amazement, half in fright, Shepton bent down to examine the body which Daltonne had unwrapped. He looked very closely. Still kneeling he asked, "Where did you find him?" When told about the cap of the mill as the resting place, he nodded in acknowledgment. "I do believe this in the remains of Maury, our run away miller. Not that I'm an expert in examining dead, but this seems to be old enough to be he." He fell silent.
Serena suggested, "Good Sir, I would like a chance to wash up, a glass of wine and some sleep. We have no news that couldn't wait until," Serena glanced at the rising sun, "this afternoon."
Shepton had a faraway look, and some tears, in his eyes, and the rope in his hand as he said, "Yes, yes, perhaps a nap will do us all good. Here, help me bring him inside." Daltonne complied with the Mayor's request. Together they brought the blanket and all it held around to the rear entrance of the house where it was deposited in the rear ante room. The mayor secured the door lock.
"Yes, let us all get some rest." He instructed the housekeeper to see to the needs of all, food, drink, wash up, and then all to bed, perchance to dream. .......
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