My eyes flew open and I got to my feet in a panic, only to flat on my rump as my feet shot out from under me in the mud I was trying to move through.  As I got back up to my feet again, arms windmilling wildly to try and keep my balance, it suddenly hit me why I was in the mud to begin with.  At some point during the early evening, I'd been playing hide and seek with a few of the other boys and had fallen out of the tree I was under.  Apparently after that, I had decided taking a nap might be a good thing to do and had promptly fallen asleep.

As I thought all that out, I had let my feet figure out where they were headed.  I decided to give that some attention and with a sinking feeling discovered I was heading for the south beach.  I started running faster and ignored the protests of my legs and back at such unusual treatment.  I lost my footing again as the path curved to the right and tumbled, but that didn't really matter because it was a switchback and got me through the next two quicker than if I had been on my feet.  The thistles didn't really help things, but I didn't pay any attention to that.  I got to my feet again and continued running faster than I thought I was capable of.  There was enough starlight that I was able to see the waves rolling in on the beach ahead as well as a dark blob that had to be a person heading for the beach.  There wasn't enough light to make out who it was, but I had horrible visions of it being Reynard or Ursa for some reason.  "Stop!" I yelled as loudly as I could.  I wouldn't have thought that I'd have been able to be heard above the waves, but the person appeared to stop.  It almost looked as though he turned around, shrugged, and started towards the beach again.

It wasn't the best tackle I've ever made, but it had the desired effect of stopping whoever it was from continuing forward.  I was sobbing from trying to catch my breath (apparently it could move a lot faster than I could) while at the same time doing my best not to puke all over myself or the person I'd just tackled.

The person below me started screaming bloody murder and something about a king.  I tried to ask him what he was talking about.  I ended my query as I saw whoever cock his arm back.  I tried to get away from the person, but a second later I felt intense facial pain and saw a whole constellation of stars before everything went black.

I couldn't understand why I'd possibly be dreaming about tiny halflings jumping up and down on my head or what they were trying to accomplish.  One of them seemed adamant about explaining the whole thing to me, but before he was able to spit it out, I opened my eyes to see Stumble looking down at me with concern and relief.  I was a tiny bit surprised that it was daylight.

"Cubby, are you okay?" Stumble asked anxiously.

"Yeah, sure.  I guess I fell out of a tree and hit..."  I thought about it a moment and then attempted to spring to my feet.  There are certain people who have both the ability and the build to 'spring' to their feet.  Unsurprisingly Tig is one of those people.  Equally unsurprising, I am not.  Especially when my head feels like two rhinos are playing 'find out who the dominant male is' inside of it.  I started to my feet and the next thing I knew was face down in the sand.

"Cubby, I don't think I'd try to stand right now if I were you," I heard Stumble advise it total seriousness.

"Thank you, Stumble.  I'll definitely take that advice to heart."  I'm not sure if he heard me.  I ended up with a lot of sand in my mouth by the time I was finished.  I turned my head and started spitting sand out of my mouth when I suddenly realize who I'd been talking too.  "Stumble!  You're back."  Then the other thought intruded.  "Wait a minute, who was the Midnight Walker?  Is he okay?  And why did he hit me?"

"Yeah, he's okay.  That was our newest Lost Boy.  Peter brought him and me back last night.  He's a beaver named Silent.  He was in a bad way when I found him and Peter came and rescued him and me too I guess."

"So he got here last night and immediately tried to 'walk'?"

"No.  He's never seen the sea before.  He woke up last night and heard the waves or something and followed them down to see it.  He didn't know anything about the Midnight Walk stuff or anything."

I questioned that.  Unless Silent had remarkably good hearing, there's no way he could have heard the sound of the waves near Hangman's Tree.  Not even Surefoot could hear it and his hearing was insane.  I'd had more than one prank 'modified' because he'd heard me whispering to someone about something.  I decided to let it go, but figured we'd probably need to keep an eye on him.  "And the hitting part?" I asked.

"That was because he didn't know who you were.  I mean let's face it Cubby.  Can you imagine what it must have felt like, walking along and minding your own business when all of a sudden some wild thing comes out of nowhere and attacks you?"

I tried to decide if 'wild thing' was flattering or not.  It did sound sort of cool, but not the type of nickname I probably wanted the dwarves to start using, since they took that sort of thing very seriously.  I decided to let it pass without comment.  I rolled over and sat up slowly.  Silent was definitely a beaver and looked as though he were unsure of anything that was going on and looked as though he could bolt at any moment.

"Silent?  This bear who's working on becoming a wolf again is Cubby.  He's sort of the medic in the group and that's why he tackled you."  Stumble turned to me and said, "I told him about why you tackled him and stuff.  He understands."

I looked at Silent who gave me a brief nod.  I guess I knew why Peter had named him Silent.  I wondered why a beaver, but figured it'd become obvious one of these days.  "Uh, hi Silent.  Hope I didn't hurt you or anything."  He shook his head 'no'.

"Silent doesn't say a whole lot right now," Stumble said.  He sounded worried about it and I wondered what that was all about.  I also wondered if Peter had pulled the same initiation stunt with Silent that he had done with the rest of us.  Namely 'forgetting' how to tell us how to land when we reached the island.  There had been a number of trenches made with Lost Boy's faces and fronts when they touched down and realized they hadn't been told how to stop.  Silent's face looked well enough that I figured he'd probably gotten a pass on it.  At least for now.

Before I had a chance to say anything else, Cat ran by and 'tagged' me while yelling, "Cubby's It."  Tag was a relative term since she did it with enough force to send me tumbling heels over head yet again.  I spat out another mouthful of sand (this stuff was beginning to not taste half bad, but I didn't think I'd be eating it as a regular part of my diet), and got to my feet.  I was ready to tag Ursa who was desperately trying to turn around since I was now It, but the game suddenly ended as Silent was noticed by the rest of the Lost Boys.

"Hey, you must be..."

"...new.  We've never seen..."

"...you before."

Surefoot looked at Silent and grinned.  "Cool.  I don't think there's ever been a beaver before.  I don't think there's been a porcupine either, come to think of it."

After last night's fun and games, I was glad there hadn't been this time either.  All I'd have needed to do would have been to tackle someone in a porcupine... skin?  pelt?  hide?  Whatever it was called, I'm sure it would have made its point.

Silent looked as though he wanted to flee and I sort of knew how he felt.  He did better than I probably would have, though, and answered questions with a nod or shake of his head.  His look of terror slowly became one of pensive resignation.  The game of tag was never resumed, which meant I would be It next time and would end up at the bottom of a valley when we started again (I wasn't sure whose idea that had been).  We did take Silent around the area and showed him those things that were good, the places to avoid, and his trapdoor into Hangman's Tree.  I was moved back under the common room table and Silent got my hammock because 'he was new, after all.'

Early the next morning, when most of the others had fallen asleep and I made my way to the top of a tree so I could watch the moon set.  About ten minutes later I was plummeting to earth after being startled by Stumble saying hello.  He quickly climbed down and asked me if I was okay.

"Yeah, yeah.  You know me.  I don't consider it a good day unless I've fallen out of a couple of trees."

"Why is that, anyway?"

"The mystery of bears," I tried to say mysteriously and failed completely.  He didn't pursue it though, but spent the next several minutes telling me what had happened and the story behind Silent.

"So he hasn't said a word after that battle where he did that stuff?"  I asked when he'd finished.

"Nope.  He just shakes or nods his head.  He doesn't volunteer anything or try to talk using gestures or anything like that.  The most animated he's been since the battle was when he managed to tie Leo to that tree with his tail."

I grinned as I remembered that.  Leo was busy 'lecturing' about something so inconsequential, I don't even remember what it was.  After a couple of minutes I noticed Silent doing something by the tree and afterwards Leo tried to walk away and fell on his rump because his tail had been tied to the tree.  Tig had immediately gone over and carefully checked out his twin.  "I just thought for a moment you and Cubby had switched pelts or something," Tigger had said loudly enough for everyone to hear.  I don't think Leo ever did figure it out.  Silent hadn't laughed, hadn't even grinned, but there was something that looked like it was trying to escape.  I sighed to myself wondering what it would take to make that occur.  It didn't matter that much, I supposed.  The good thing about Lost Boys is they always seemed to manage to help each other one way or another.

"I hate horses.  I bet I'm not going to be able to walk for a moon when I finally get to leave this beast behind," Brennus grumbled as he shifted in the saddle once more to try and find a position that would provide his rump a tiny bit of relief.  Brennus, Blarn and Stumble had been riding since the incident had happened.  It was now late afternoon and the two horses, especially the one that Blarn and Stumble were riding double on, were beginning to slow.  Stumble had asked Brennus if the troopers in Fitchburg wouldn't simply Blarn had remained in an almost catonic state.  If someone asked him to do something, most of the time he would in a mechanical motion.  He didn't answer questions or venture anything on his own and hadn't said a word since the ambush by the troopers.  Stumble tried to keep up a steady stream of esentially meaningless but reassuring dialouge.  He desperately wished he knew what to say and how to say it, and could only hope that Blarn didn't wander too far from where he was supposed to be before he could start to 'head back'.

Stumble pulled his horse next to the one Brennus was on.  "Is there any way the garrison in Fitchburg can get word of what happened ahead of us?  Like to the ferry dock or someone who might be ahead of us and able to stop us?"

"I don't think so," Brennus said.  "I've never heard of anyway they can move messages except for messengers on horseback and if they sent one of those, we'd have seen them.  Any other way would end up using magic."  He glanced over at Blarn.  "He could probably tell you if he was able to, but I have a feeling wherever he's at, he's going to be there for awhile."  Brennus shrugged, not knowing how much of anything Blarn was able to understand at the moment.

The horses had made a difference, and when they finally stopped for the night, the swamp was far behind them.  As the sky began to darken, they left the road and wandered across an overgrown meadow towards a solitary copse of trees.  ("Won't this be an obvious place to look?" Stumble mused.  "Naw, once it gets dark they won't look a quarter leauge beyond the road and we'll leave before daybreak, plus even as riled as they'll be, I doubt they ride after nightfall.")  Stumble and Brennus unsaddled the horses, rubbed them down and hobbled them.  Blarn, who had been coaxed off his horse, simply stood watching for a moment and then collapsed on the ground.  The evening meal consisted of waybread and warm water.  The horses seemed to be content with the grass in the meadow by the trees and some muddy water from a spring.  Blarn ate the bread as though it was expected of him, rather than out of some need for nourishment or hunger.  Immediately after the meal, Blarn curled up on the grass and within five minutes was breathing evenly in sleep.

"You think he'll be okay?" Brennus asked as Stumble threw one of the horse blankets over the slumbering kid.

Stumble shrugged.  "I couldn't tell ya.  Maybe.  He's doing a lot of thinking inside that head of his, but I have no idea.  I'm sort of scared he's going to set a Midnight Walk record the way he looks now, but then he hasn't tried to run off or anything yet, so that may be a good sign I guess."  He looked up at the stars twinkling above.  "So now what?"

"We run to where I picked you up the first day.  You go back through and everyone eventually forgets all about it as some other disaster that the moronic king creates rears its head.  Life goes on."

"And you want me to take him back too," Stumble said as a statement.

"Yeah.  He can't stay here.  At least for now.  He deserves better.  A lot better."

Stumble gave Brennus a curious look.  "How do you know?  I mean, it wasn't a day ago that you acted as though he was the enemy.  I thought you two were ready to start beating up on each other or something.  I'm sort of surprised that you'd, you know."

"It happens.  He was right, you know.  You never know who you're talking to around here so you never really get to know anyone.  Well unless you're a dwarf.  We can always trust each other, which is where I hear stories about..." he said nodding at the sleeping Blarn.

"I'll take him back with me, but I can't guarantee anything beyond that.  Peter's the one who'll decide whether he becomes a Lost Boy or not, but even if he doesn't, he'll be taken care of.  I promise."

"Like I was ever worried about that.  Give me a break."

"I'm going to come back, you know." Stumble said after a few minutes.  "I promise you that.  There's something that... I just need to, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Brennus said in a somber tone, then grinned.  "Guess it's a good thing Cubby missed this trip, huh?  No telling what he'd be thinking at the moment."

"Are you kidding?" Stumble said in a serious tone.  "He's going to die cuz he wasn't here.  Especially if something goes wrong with Blarn.  He's going to blame himself, somehow, about all this.  Bet on it."

Stumble wished aloud that they didn't have to use the ferry, especially with the looks they'd gotten earlier.  "Yeah, but you were a raccoon then," Brennus said laughing, then sobered.  "You think you'll be able to get across with Blarn by yourself?"

"Yeah, maybe," Stumble said, realizing what Brennus' point was.  "There's no way to disguise the fact you're a dwarf and the ferry's one of the first places they'll check, right?"

"Yeah.  Besides, if worse comes to worse, I can lead them astray.  Once you get to wherever it is to head back, you're golden.  No way they'll be able to follow you.  Blarn shouldn't have any problem cuz he's magic anyway and you're inviting him through.  Piece of cake!"

The two talked for a few minutes longer.  Brennus decided to take first watch, and Stumble lay back on the grass to go to sleep.  As his eyes wandered the heavens, they were drawn to a light with a green tail.  He watched as the shooting star flew across the sky.  Figuring it might be worth something, he muttered a wish under his breath and then fell asleep a few moments later.

Stumble started awake after what only seemed a few moments later, although the grass was covered with dew.  He felt warm and was surprised to find he was dressed in the raccoon pelt.  He sat up quickly to find a figure in green sitting in front of a fire, playing reed pipes.  There was a firefly circling it's head as it played.  "Peter?  Is that you?"

The music abruptly stopped and the elven face turned towards Stumble.  "Well of course it's me.  What'd you think when you made that wish?  A dragon was going to scoop down and bring you back?  Maybe a giant eagle would spring down and carry you away to the island?  Moles would tunnel underneath you and show you a secret passage.  Naw.  Once again it's Pan to the rescue.  Fixing those messes the Lost Boys get themselves into and trying to... well anyway, Tink and I thought it was about time you came home.  You ready to go?"

"Wait a second," Stumble said, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.  "Where's Brennus and Blarn?"

"If you mean that dwarf thing, he took off once I convinced him who I was."  Pan grinned impishly.  "He had some interesting things to say about you before you took off."

"Yeah, right.  You tried that trick on Cubby and Tig before.  It didn't work then either."

"Worth a try though.  Anyway, Brennus took off for a village or group camp or something, somewhere.  He's okay."

"You sure?  I mean, I'm not doubting you or anything, but..."

Pan laughed.  "Very good Captain Stumble.  And as you can see, Blarn is over there waiting to go on a journey."

Stumble looked over at the curled up trooper.  "Uh, doesn't he need to be awake or something.  To ask if he wants to go or whatever?"

"In all the time I've been doing this, Stumble, I've never had a single, person ever tell me they didn't want to go to Neverland.  They may have changed their mind afterwards, but never beforehand.  Now, if you're finished questioning my orders Mister Stumble, perhaps we can chart our course back home.  First Mate Tink?"

The 'firefly' flew over Stumble and Blarn, dumping pixie dust all over them.  More than Stumble could ever remember seeing before.  "But Peter, doesn't he have to be awake to fly?  I mean the dreams and everything..."

"Stumble," Pan said in a sorrowful way, "there are two things you need to have with pixie dust.  One is trust, which I'm sure you have.  The other one is what you're going to have even more of.  Besides, when I had to leave, I was playing hide-and-go-seek with a couple of the others and you know Cubby won't ever leave that tree he's hiding in unless he's found.  Do you want to be responsible for him spending two days up a tree again?  Didnt' think so.  Close your eyes.  Tink?"

Stumble closed his eyes, but still saw the flash through his eyelids.  He figured that the troopers must be on their way now, because no one, not even them, could have missed the explosion of light.  He opened his eyes to find a familiar looking Hangman's Tree above him and smiled before he let loose with a huge yawn and lay down beneath its branches.  As he started to drift to sleep again he heard a voice not too far away.  "Awwww, Peter.  I thought I had you stumped for sure this time."  There was a moment of silence, a rather loud 'oops' and the sound of a scream.  Stumble was asleep with a smile on his face even before the scream was cut off with a loud thump and then the laughter of a Lost Boy who had done it before about a zillion times.

Stumble and Brennus were never able to figure out exactly how it happened, no matter how much they pondered on it or talked about it afterwards.  Before the words were out of the trooper's mouth, there was an arrow sticking out of his chest and a surprised expression on his face before he fell forward.  Two more troopers shared the same fate before the remaining men took to their heels and ran out of the field.  A few moments later there was the jangling sound of tack and the gallop of horses.

Stumble turned towards Blarn to see him sitting motionless on his horse, bow still in his hand with an arrow ready to launch if it had been needed.  There was a stricken expression on his face and Stumble could see tears streaming down his face.  "Blarn, are you, uh, alright?"

"Are you crazy?" Brennus yelled.  "What did you do?  Oh, man."

"What do you mean?" Stumble asked.  "They were getting ready to capture us.  What else could he have done?"

Brennus looked almost as stunned as Blarn did.  "I don't know what I mean.  It's... man, I've just never seen anyone do that before.  I'm not criticizing him, but it's just..."  Brennus shook his head as though trying to clear his mind and took a deep breath.  "Okay.  We need to figure out what to do.  This whole place is going to be crowded with troopers before too long."  He walked over to where Blarn's horse was and looked up at him.  Stumble was surprised by how gently he talked to Blarn.  "Blarn?  It's okay.  You couldn't have done anything different.  You did just right.  You understand?"

Blarn didn't respond but had started to shiver violently, the bow and arrow dropping from his hands.  Brennus grabbed the horse's bridle as it started to shy because of the boy's shivering.  "Blarn, can you tell me if there are any troopers in Fitchburg?"

Blarn continue shaking violently and making some sort of low sound.  Brennus moved quicker than I'd have thought possible, letting go of the horse's bridle and moving to the side of the horse in time to catch Blarn as he fell from the saddle.  He held him up and gently shook him.  "Blarn, talk to me.  Get a grip."  He shook him again a little harder.

Blarn seemed to come to the front of his mind for a moment.  "I don' know," he finally said, sounding as though he were about five years old.  "There's been a lot of talk about some sort of buildup.  There may be a lot of them."  He looked at Brennus as though begging to be woken up.  "What did I do?  I knew those men.  They treated me like crap, but I knew them."  He looked at Brennus for a few moments more and then seemed to retreat into himself again.

"We aren't going to be able to make it to the village after this," Brennus told Stumble.  "They'll turn this whole area upside down and then the countryside when they don't him."

"What about the people we stayed with?"

Brennus thought about that for a moment.  "They shouldn't be in any trouble.  No one saw you and we didn't leave anything behind."  He hesitated a moment.  "You know, Blarn can't stay here either."

"You mean you think he should come with me?"  Brennus nodded.  "But..."

"Cubby's told me a few things about Lost Boys.  Don't you think he qualifies?"

"I can't say.  It'd be up to Peter, but I'll take him if you think I should.  Hey, wait a second, what about the berries for the pixies?  They need it every so often."

Brennus tried to look serious for another moment and then finally burst out laughing.  "You really don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

"The berries that Cubby comes for every three or four months?  They're blueberries."

"No way!  The pixies need them.  That's why he comes."

"Have you ever seen him give any to the pixies?"

"Wellll, not really.  He normally drops them off before he returns to The Tree.  Even Tink says they need them."  Although the more Stumble thought about it, the more he could see the whole thing.  He surprised Brennus by smiling instead of getting upset.  "I can't believe he did that.  Wait til I see that furball again," he let out a chuckle, then turned serious.  "Blarn, will you come with me?  It should be safe there.

Blarn didn't respond, but still looked shell-shocked about what had happened.  "C'mon," Brennus said.  "We can use Blarn's horse and one of those."  Within a couple of moments, Stumble was riding double with Blarn on Blarn's horse.  Brennus was on one of the trooper's horses (his mounting technique would have done Cubby proud, Stumble thought) leading them.

"We should get a bit of a head start since they'll be on foot for the most part, but once they get to Fitchburg, if there're any troopers there, they'll be after us on the double.  Ready?"

Stumble nodded and they took off back towards the river.

Brennus looked at Blarn for a few minutes as if trying to read his thoughts.  He finally asked, "Why are you doing this?  You say you wanted to talk to someone who wouldn't rat you out.  I can understand that, I guess.  But this is a lot more than talking, you know.  I mean if anyone finds out that you're helping us, than your dead.  It makes me wonder if you're taking us to Fitchburg so you can turn us over to your friends and get some glory and praise.  Maybe they'd treat you better if you came across with some prisoners.

"Fine.  See if I care what you do," Blarn declared, his voice suddenly going hard.  "It's your tribe that's going to be wiped out.  I'm sure they'll sing great songs about the dwarfling who couldn't trust a dwarf-friend and condemned his people to a slow and agonizing death."

"Can you prove you're a dwarf-friend," Stumble asked quietly.  "You know if the positions were reversed you'd be asking the same thing, wouldn't you."

"Maybe.  Or maybe I'd figure that the risks were worth the chance to keep harm from coming to my village.  Are two lives worth that of hundreds?  Seems like a question that should be really easy to answer if you were serious about what you stood for."  Blarn looked down at his scuffed up boots that seemed to be more patch than original leather.  "No, you're right.  You have absolutely no reason to trust me at all in this.   I already told you everything I know, anyway, so there wouldn't be no point in you hanging out with me.  Maybe you should just tie me up and leave me here so you won't be worried."

"Oh yeah, that's a good idea," Brennus said sarcastically.  "Then you don't show up and the patrol comes looking for you and finds us on the road?  No thanks, I don't think so."

There was some more grumbling and yelling as Brennus and Blarn continued to argue over who should be doing what and the motives of each person.  Stumble watched for a couple more minutes and finally yelled, "Hey!"  There was immediate silence as the other two glared at him for daring to interrupt their important conversation.  "There's gotta be a way to solve this without us spending hours standing here waiting for something to come along and capture all of us.  Why don't we quietly discuss this as we travel?  It's not as though Blarn told anyone we were here before they left.  They wouldn't go near him and we'd have seen it if they had."  Stumble left out the part that Blarn could have told the patrol about them after Stumble had fallen asleep.  He stared into Blarn's face and was pretty sure that Blarn was telling the truth.  He wasn't quite sure why he thought that, but it was a feeling that was too strong to ignore.

Brennus opened his mouth as though to argue the point, closed it, and finally shrugged.  "Whatever.  I'm sure both of us are more than a match for him if it comes right down to it.  I ain't ever run away from a fight and don't plan on starting now."

The three gathered their stuff together and were ready to move out five minutes later, Blarn leading his horse.  I'd rather walk anyway, and I'm sure Dleedle won't mind not carrying me for awhile."

"Dleedle?  What kind of name is that?" Brennus asked curiously.

"It's not his real name," Blarn said a bit embarrassed.  "His real name is Stoneforger, but I don't dare use that one..."

"Because it's a dwarven name," Brennus finished and became thoughtful looking.

Stumble waited for someone to say something, and finally said, "I don't understand, I thought dwarves didn't use horses."

"They don't," Brennus said, "but some of them do trade in them.  They're sort of considered black sheep because they prefer living outdoors to living in caves and mining."  He looked over at Blarn and lowered his voice so he couldn't be overheard talking to Stumble.  "We sort of make it appear to outsiders that we don't approve of them and that we hold no truck with each other.  They've managed to escape the 'roundup' because of that and they give us a lot of useful information.  If this really is a dwarven horse that was gotten honestly, then he might be telling the truth about what he said.  Dwarves are notoriously picky on who they'll sell horses to, specially if they might be used against them later."

They continued walking through the woods, the swamp threatening the road a couple of times, but never really making it to the edge of it.  Brennus kept looking at the horse as though he hoped to be able to tell something from it, but never appeared satisfied with whatever it was he might have learned by staring at it.  After awhile the silence got so oppressive that Stumble had to do something to break it.  He wasn't sure what type of stuff was off-limits when it came to asking questions, but decided Blarn would let him know if he made some sort of error.  "How'd you end up being a magic sniffer for the guard if you hate it so much?"

"Bad luck.  Bad timing.  Bad everything.  I was in the wrong village when the king's guard came through looking for magic users.  I'd been told not to go into the village, but I was stubborn.  We were in the back end of nowhere and hadn't ever seen a guardsmen, much less a whole squad of them.  They sniffed me out almost immediately.  My folks decided they were shocked that I knew such things and would actually practice them.  They got five silver pieces out of the deal for being such good citizens.  I got a pair of manacles."  Blarn looked thoughtful and then gave a big grin.  "When they found me, I sort of went overboard with my abilities.  I put so much magic in the air that they never found out my best friend was around.  Didn't even suspect there was another magic user within a hundred leagues."  He gave a sideways glance at Brennus.  "Or one who could make magic disappear."

"What?  Your best friend was a dwarfling?"

"Yup.  Best joke I ever played on Major Idjit.  When I got to the capital I was told I could either play or get sent home minus my head.  It wasn't a real hard decision.  For six months after that I was stuck with a snitch who made sure I did what I was supposed to.  I wasn't supposed to know that, but it wasn't real hard to figure out.  They even put a couple of tame magic users in our path so they'd know I wasn't shirking.  They figure I was broke and tamed, and let me off my leash.  Not that I've found anyone yet.  Everyone with any sense has already holed up."

"Finally," Brennus said.  He pointed at the road ahead.  We'll be in the land of breeze and sun again in about five minutes."

Stumble looked to see that the swamp ended in as straight a line as it started in.  Almost as though someone had plowed a furrow in the ground and no plant or animal life crossed it.  The three began moving a bit faster and Blarn even mounted his horse as though eager to get out of the swamp as quickly as possible.  Beyond the swamp line was an open prairie of tall grass.  "It's that way for another couple of leauges, than Fitchburg appears and on the other side of the town it begins to become more desertlike," Brennus said in answer to Stumble's question.

They had almost reached the end of the swamp when Blarn reigned to a stop.  "Something's wrong."

"What?  The fact that your friends aren't here to attack us?" Brennus asked.  Blarn shook his head slowly as if confused.

"What's wrong?" Stumble asked as he looked around.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, any more than anything in the swamp had seemed 'ordinary'.

"I dunno.  It just doesn't feel right."  He looked around again and shrugged.  "I guess there's nothing to do but press on unless you want to turn around."

Brennus looked as though he might suddenly erupt, but nodded agreement.  The edge of the swamp came and went.  About fifty feet from the edge, Blarn smoothly pulled an arrow from the quiver on his back and fitted it to his bow.

"What's up?" Stumble asked.

"I think..."  Whatever it was that Blarn had thought was lost as a dozen men stood up from the grass around them.

One of the men, with an evil smirk, bowed towards Blarn.  "I will thank you to be standing still and not moving until my men can remove anything threatening you might be holding."  Stumble looked around in shock and Brennus probably would have attempted to tear Blarn apart if he hadn't still been astride his horse.

Stumble took a close look at the 'thirteenth man'.  He looked to be about Stumble's age or  just a little bit older.  He had dirty blonde hair, a few freckles and blue eyes.  He was sort of skinny, which made Stumble wonder exactly where that 'runt' comment had come from.  The boy didn't look like someone who'd go around killing babies or destroying does, but then Stumble knew that looks didn't mean a whole lot sometimes.  Brennus absolutely looked like he was a wreaker of havoc, but nothing could be further from the truth, although he did look as though he was ready to take the 'thirteenth man' apart at the moment.  "If you knew we were there since last night, then why didn't you do anything then?  Why didn't you tell the others?"

Even Brennus appeared interested in the answer to that question, in spite of himself.  "Yeah, why not?"

The soldier took the arrow from the bow string and replaced it in his quiver and then put his bow over his shoulder.  "Like I'd tell those losers anything."

Brennus and Stumble looked at each other in surprise.  "So what do you do, uhh... What's your name?"

"I'm Blarn.  What I do is make sure that most of the time  those losers don't find what they are looking for.  They're scared to death of magic anyway."

"Is that why they treat you the way they did last night?"

Blarn gave a brief nod.  "Yeah, they think it reinforces their superiority over me.  All it really does is gives me something to laugh about and another reason to make them look like idiots.  Believe me, that last part isn't hard.  Most of the troops these days are headed by the king's lackeys and don't know anything about duty or how to lead.  All they think about is bullying and trying to toady up to those in power.  The worst part is the cabinet knows exactly what's going on and uses it to their advantage, playing each of them against each other.  They thought they'd be able to do that with the dwarves and got a big surprise."

'Yeah, so how do we know you're not just making all this stuff up?  That you're trying to get information by making us believe you're working against them?" Brennus demanded.

"Oh be serious and quit giving yourself so much credit.  If you must know, I can tell that you were in a field near a steading one day, that you were wandering in the ferry area, both the old and the new one.  I also know your friend here isn't from this area, but is from the same area where that fat kid you normally hang around with is from." Blarn paused for a moment.  "He dresses as a bear and you used to be some sort of raccoon.  See?  I could have had you anytime I wanted to.  But there's no purpose in it.  It would simply bring glory to the commander and I seriously doubt there's anyone who deserves it less."

"Wait a second," Stumble says after thinking a moment, "I thought you were able to track stuff my the magic they left.  I know I don't have any and I'm pretty sure Cu..., uh, the big kid, doesn't have any either.  Were you tracking us through Brennus' magic?"

Blarn laughs.  "I don't know where you get your information from, but you've got a ton of magic, boyo.  So's the fat kid.  Both of you are like suns to this dwarf's moon when it comes to magic."

Brennus looked at Stumble in surprise.  "Why didn't you and Cubby tell me about that?  Is it something you can use to do stuff?  What kind of stuff?  Maybe you could help the... you know."

Blarn looks amused.  "The kidlings in the 'forbidden' field?  I'm the only one of the trackers who knows about them and there's no way I'd give them up."

"Why?" says Brennus sarcastically.  "Afraid it wouldn't fit into your plans to make your commander look like an idiot?  And what if your plans change?  Are you simply going to throw them to the wolves?"

"Wolves aren't bad," Stumble says absently.  "In fact, I'd trust them more than a lot of things I can name."  He turns to Brennus.  "I don't think I have any magic.  At least if I do, I don't know about it.  I don't think Cubby does either.  Least he's never mentioned it.  Of course, that doesn't mean anything.  He tends not to talk about a lot of things concerning himself at times."

There's a lull in the conversation and Blarn reaches into a saddlebag and grabs a thing of jerky.  He passes some to Stumble, who immediately tears into it, and to Brennus who waits until Blarn takes a bite before he begins eating it.

"Marmmdfd," Stumble says before swallowing his piece of jerky.  "So now what?  Why did you 'catch' us and how long before the rest of your group comes back?"

"Why?  Because I'm going crazy.  It's..."  Stumble notices that Blarn's whole demeanor seems to change from being obnoxiously cocky to strangely subdued.  "It's begining to get to me.  This whole thing is terrible.  I don't have any friends and the things they try to make us do our horrible.  I just wanted to talk to someone who I didn't have to worry about."

"I can understand that," Stumble says.  "I've had the same thing happen before I was rescued.  It's one of the worst feelings I can think of."

"Yeah, it is," Blarn agrees.  "The patrol won't be back.  They're heading to Fitchburg at a slow walk.  I'll be able to catch up in no time."

"Fitchburg?  Why are they headed there?" Brennus mused aloud.  "I figured they'd be heading back to the ferry dock to go back to the capital."

Blarn shakes his head with a worried expression on his face.  ""They're not headed back to the capital, they're going to the village of the desert."

"What?  How come?"

"Yeah, like they're going to tell me anything.  I was just told that I was supposed to sniff out any magic that I could and report back to the king what I discovered.  Which to this point has been not a thing."

"Do all the magic seekers feel like you do?" Stumble asks.

"I wish.  It'd make things a lot more easier, but most of us are no better than the lackeys that command the troops.  They'd do anything to make the king notice them and end up with some power, land, and anything else they can get their hands on."

"C'mon Stumble, we need to go.  I have to warn the village that the patrol is coming."

"How are you going to do that?  You can barely walk," Stumble reminds him.

"What happened?

"He twisted his ankle on the stairs in the garrison house," Stumble says at the same time Brennus says, "I was fighting a swamp monster."

Blarn watches as Stumble and Brennus glare at each other for a moment and then burst out into laughter at how stupid that whole thing must have sounded.

"Well I know it wasn't a swamp monster," Blarn decides.  "There aren't any in this place."

"But what about the stories?  No one spends the night in the swamp and lives to tell about it.  Everyone knows that."  Stumble and Blarn stare at Brennus who suddenly looks embarassed and says, "Oh, yeah."

"You're right about 'stories'.  That's all they are.  The patrols like to make sure they're the only ones in the woods at night.  If they catch anyone, they simply lock them up south of the capital.  No one has ever escaped, so it's like they disappear.  Now let's see this ankle you got, oh brave warrior of the stairs."

Grumbling a bit, Brennus gently takes off his boot to reveal his swollen ankle.  "That doesn't look too bad," Blarn says.  "Does this hurt?"

Brennus replies by letting out a howl.  "Not so hard!  What are you trying to do?"

"Thought so."  Blarn puts his hands around the ankle and squeezes gently.  Stumble hears the chime that every Lost Boy knows is the sign of magic being worked.  "Now try it," Blarn says taking his hands away from the ankle.

Brennus stands up, carefully at first and then with increased confidence as he finds there isn't any pain.  By the time he's done, he's stomping on it.  "Wow, it's as good as new!"

"Probably better, but that's okay.  Now, let's get you guys to Fitchburg.

The Lost Boy and the dwarf watched in growing dismay as the patrol quickly set up a camp in front of the garrison house with practiced ease.  A couple of men disappeared in the house and Stumble waited for a hue and cry to begin on discovering that someone had been in there.  However a few minutes later the two walked out talking and laughing.

"I guess they didn't see our tracks," Stumble said in a low voice.

"They may have, but wouldn't have cared.  People are always exploring the place, but it's not like there's anything left in there to take.  I want to know what they're doing here though.  It doesn't make sense.  I wish I could have told which direction they came from.  You know what's weird, though?"

"Everything?"

"Yeah, that too.  But they haven't started any fires yet.  Normally that's like the first thing they do when they stop for the night.  They're mounted too.  If they'd pushed their horses just a little bit, they wouldn't have had to spend the night here at all."

"Maybe there's not enough wood around, or it's too damp to burn or something."

"Maybe," Brennus said doubtfully.  "It's just sort of funny."

The two began to relax as no one paid any attention to the shack where they were hiding.  The men of the patrol moved as though they'd been here several times before.  There didn't appear to be any apprehension about spending the night in the swamp.  There was even a brief argument that occurred when someone apparently set their sleeping place up in someone else's 'favourite spot'.  "They don't seem to be too upset about spending the night here," Stumble observed.

"Yeah, I was noticing that.  I wish I knew what the deal was.  There's got to be a reason they're here."

"Bet we don't find out what it is."  Stumble started sorting through his back looking for stuff and eventually pulled a small package out of his pack.  "Here, take off your boot again."  Stumble unwrapped the package as Brennus removed the boot.  Stumble took a critical look at the ankle and finally shrugged.  "There's not enough light for me to tell if it's broke or not.  I have a feeling if it was, you'd be in a lot more pain.  How's it feel?"

"It throbs, but not as bad as it did when I first stepped on it.  That means it's okay, right?"

"It could I guess.  I don't know a whole lot about it.  Cub gave me some stuff for scrapes and bruises and things like that.  It's supposed to help with pain and swelling, so maybe it'll do some good for that."  Stumble finished unwrapping what turned out to be a substance that looked like some sort of paste.

"Phew, that stuff stinks almost as bad as this place.  What is it?"

"Some sort of herb and leaf thing, I think.  He blends it together with water and lets it dry for a few days and then wraps it up."  Stumble spread some of the mixture on Brennus' ankle and watched as Brennus rubbed it in.

"Wow!" Brennus exclaimed.  "It's not doing a thing except making my ankle stink."

"I'm pretty sure that's the whole purpose," Stumble said seriously.  "You end up smelling so bad that you don't even think about the fact you're ankle's been torn half off.  It's really very therapeutic I hear.  Dragons use it when they get saddle sores."

"Dragons don't get saddle sores."

"Exactly."

Brennus rolled his eyes but refrained from saying anything else about it.  He wondered if all Lost Boys had this innate need to tell jokes and if they seemed to all be as bad as Stumble's and Cubby's were.  There was a small commotion outside and both of them went to look out the front wall to see what was going on.  It has been caused by the arrival of the 'thirteenth man', who they both saw ride up and practically fall out of his saddle.  None of the other patrol seemed particularly interested in him, although one soldier did come up and take the horse to where the other horses were picketed.  Stumble felt a tinge of anxiety for a moment when the uniformed boy looked all around the camp from where he was now sitting.  It passed, however, when the boy didn't seem to give the shack any more than a passing glance.

"What's up with that?" Stumble asked.  "They act as though he's not even there.  He looks like he's been through hell."

"I don't know what the problem with the rest of the patrol is, but if he's been through hell, I hope it was an extremely slow journey."  Brennus caught the look that Stumble made at that comment.  "You don't understand.  I bet more dwarves have been captured and killed because of them, then the rest of the army combined.  They're the ones who lead the king's men to us.  I just know one of these days they're gong to find that group of kids."  Brennus moved back from the wall and lay down on his blanket.  "You don't know what it's like, always wondering if you're going to go into a meadow where you left a bunch of kids and find out that they've all been captured or killed or something worse.  Every time I pass one of those patrols it scares me to death wondering what I'm going to find.  I hate the fact that their always scared.  I hate the fact that I'm always scared.  Most of all I hate the fact that I resent not being able to go and have some fun because of what that idiot has done and then I think about what they're going through and I feel guilty about being upset because I don't think I'm having enough fun.  None of them have even seen the river before, much less been able to swim in it or anything."

Stumble didn't say anything, but just kept watch as the sky grew darker.  He couldn't tell for sure because of the angle he was forced to look at, but it appeared that not only was it getting darker, it was also getting clearer outside.  It even seemed that if he got down on his knees and looked up through the crack, he could see a star shining in the sky.  The 'thirteenth man' still sat where he'd perched when he'd gotten off his horse and was still being ignored by those around him.  He also noticed that even though it was dark, not a single fire was being lit anywhere within the camp.

"Do you want to take first watch or should I?" Stumble asked, figuring that the fact they were in a shed right next to the camp made watching a prudent idea.  He didn't receive any answer except Brennus' steady deep breathing.  He sincerely hoped that Brennus didn't snore, although he couldn't remember hearing him do it before.  Stumble grabbed some waybread out of his pack and had a quick meal of it.  It didn't taste quite as bad as Cubby always seemed to make out, but it certainly wasn't as good as chocolate mousse either.

After what seemed a couple of hours, Stumble decided there probably wasn't anything nearly as boring as watching an army patrol sleep.  The thirteenth man was still sitting where he'd left his horse.  He had opened his pack and brought out something that looked suspiciously like waybread and had begun eating it.  He had drained his canteen and then lay down and fell asleep in the same spot.  Still no one went near him.  Stumble moved back from the wall and let loose with a yawn that threatened to cause the building to collapse.  He thought about waking Brennus up to take watch, but knew the dwarf had to be as tired as he was.  By now there was no distinguishing anything within the shed and looking out through the wall only resulted in seeing vauge outlines of things.  Stumble sat with his back against the wall, determined to listen for something out of the ordinary if he wasn't able to see anything.

It was a few minutes later he looked up to see that Brennus was visible in the murky light coming through the cracks in the front wall.  He realized with a guilty start that he'd fallen asleep and rushed to the front wall.  He looked out to see that the camp had been struck and all the members of the patrol were gone.  All except one.  Lying where he had been last night was the 'thirteenth man' of the patrol.  Stumble wondered how long the others had been gone and how long it would be until this one left as well.

"You let me sleep all night?  You're going to be dead on your feet," a voice said behind Stumble, causing him to start and hit his head against the wall with a bang.  He looked back out but didn't see any movement from the kid.  Stumble turned to Brennus.  "Well, actually, um, I was going to wake you up, but fell asleep before I got a chance to.  I guess I was sleepier than I thought."

"No problem.  It doesn't look as though we were attacked or anything," Brennus said, grinning.  "I'm normally on these trips by myself anyway, so I never post a watch.  Although I don't normally go to sleep next to all the king's men either.  Are they all gone?"

"No, that kid is still out there.  It looks like he's asleep."

Brennus perked up immediately.  "Really?  Are you sure?"

"I can't be sure," Stumble replies with what he feels is simply logic.  I'm not over there, but in here.  Yet he is lying down with his eyes closed and he isn't moving."

"I wonder if I could get over there before he woke up?"

"For what?" Stumble asked, pretty sure he knew what the answer was.

"For what?  To put him out of our misery of course.  Taking one of him out would be like taking out a couple of hundred regular guys.  They never know where we are, but his type do."

"You can't do that.  He's just a kid."

Brennus stood up.  "Yeah, well tell that to all the kids that have been killed because of him.  I'm sure it didn't make a difference to them whether he was a kid or not."  The dwarf picked up his hammer and moved towards the door, only to find Stumble standing in his path.  "You're going to have to move.  There's no way you can stop me from doing this.  I don't understand why you'd stop me from doing this," Brennus hisses in a whisper.

"It's not right, that's why.  It doesn't feel right.  You should have seen him last night.  It was wrong.  The whole thing is wrong."

"Outta my way, or I swear I'll go through you."

They both turned at a creaking sound to see the subject of their discussion standing in the doorway, an arrow levelled in their general direction.  "Sorry to disappoint you Sir Dwarf, but I'm afraid I'll have to ruin your plan of attacking me in my sleep."

"You should have been quieter," said Brennus, trying to decide if he could throw his hammer quick enough to get it off before the arrow was released.

"Don't blame the runt, I've know you two were here since I got in last night.  Now if you two would be so kind as to move out of the shed.  Uh, leave the mallet behind, please."  The uniformed boy twitches the arrow as if to release it when Brennus starts to raise it, and then relaxes a bit when Brennus drops the hammer to the ground.  The boy slowly backs out of the shed with Brennus and Stumble moving just as slowly out to follow him.  They end up in the middle of the garrison's courtyard where the Lost Boy and the dwarf stand side-by-side looking at the 'thirteenth man' standing towards them about 10 meters away.  The boy relaxes the pressure on the bowstring, smirks, and says, "Well that was certainly fun, wasn't it?"

"No it's okay, I'm sure we can make it out of here before it gets dark.  It won't be any problem at all.  Let me just..."  Stumble watches as Brennus gently eases the boot back onto his foot.  Brennus winces as he tries to force the top of his boot over his ankle.  Using the wall to brace himself, the dwarfling slowly gets up to his feet.  "Yeah, see?  I can..."  Brennus ends with a couple of shouted oaths as he collapses back onto the debris strewn floor after putting a little weight on the injured ankle.  "I can't do it.  I can't do it.  I can't do it."

Stumble is surprised to see how upset Brennus is about not being able to get out of the swamp before nightfall.  "It's okay.  We'll just go tomorrow morning.  We can stay here tonight.  It may stink in here, but at least it's kind of dry."

"No, you don't understand.  If we stay in the swamp after nightfall, we're doomed.  I've never heard of anyone spending the night here and surviving to see the morning."  Brennus takes a deep breath and gets a look of resolution in his eyes.  "You go on.  All you have to do is follow the trail through the swamp.  As long as you stay on it, you'll be okay.  It will be close, but you should be able to get out of the swamp before nightfall.  It'll lead you to Steddling and you can find out where to go from there."

Stumble stood there looking at Brennus in surprise.  After a moment he started clapping in a slow, sarcastic manner.  "That's wonderful, Brennus.  I don't think I've ever heard anything like it before.  It would have probably been more believable if you'd thrown your head back and wiped away a tear or two."

Brennus looked angry for an instant at being mocked and then slowly blushed and gave a sheepish grin.  "Okay, yeah.  That was pretty bad, wasn't it?  But I was serious about what happens in the swamp.  You should really..."  Brennus closes his mouth with a snap as he catches a glimpse of Stumble getting ready to start clapping again.  "Okay, okay.  I give.  I won't mention it again.

"What's the deal about the creatures here anyway?  I haven't seen anything since we got here.  Do they only come out at night?  What do they do?  Can they be defended against?

Brennus looked even more embarrassed as he looked at the ground.  "Uh... See the thing is, no one really knows anything about what lives in here."

"What?  How come?  I thought there were all these attacks and everything.  That and the noises."

"Oh the noises are real, alright.  I've heard those before.  It's just that no one who's ever spent the night in the swamp has ever been seen again.  They simply vanish."

Stumble thought about that for a few moments as he helped Brennus back up to his feet once again.  As Brennus stood, braced by the wall with his bad foot off the ground, Stumble asked, "Hasn't anyone ever found, you know, pieces... of people that were attacked or whatever?"

"No, not really.  I don't know when the last time I heard of someone actually spending the night in the swamp was.  It's not like it's a big priority or anything.  We've just learned not to stay in here after dark and there aren't any creatures I guess who come out of the swamp so we just live with it.  Once the mad king is overthrown, I suppose some trackers will come in and flush out whatever is here."

Stumble helped Brennus back down the corridor towards the main entrance of the garrison house as he thought about what the dwarf had said.  "Maybe this is just some story to scare everyone away from here at night," Stumble observed as they reached the front office.

"Yeah, that's been thought about too," Brennus admitted.  "But no one can figure out what would be so important about this place after dark.  Aside from travelers vanishing, nothing else seems to happen around here."

"It doesn't really matter, it means that there's a chance that nothing will happen tonight and tomorrow we'll both be walking out of here.  Well walking and hobbling I guess.  Where do you want to spend the night?  In here or somewhere else?"

"I dunno.  On one hand I think in here would be better cuz it's got walls and everything, but this would be the first place someone would look for to find us.  Out there, though, once you get off the road you get into bog pretty quick, so we'd have to set up almost on the road.  There'd be no way we could get far enough off of it to hide."

"What's that?" Stumble asked, pointing to a tumbledown outbuilding about fifty yards from the garrison house.

"It's just an old storage building or something.  It's pretty gross inside and the back of it is all caved in.  There's not anything in it."

"Could we lay a couple of blankets on the floor to sleep?"

"Awww, you don't want to do that.  It really stinks in there.  It's just like someone's outhouse has gone too long without cleaning or something."

"Is there anything on the floor?"  Stumble persisted.

Brennus gave a long suffering sigh.  "No, it's just junk.  Nothing really nasty.  It would probably be the best place to stay if we really have to.  We should probably figure out whatever it is we're going to do since there's probably only an hour or so of daylight left.  I didn't realize we had spent that much time in there."

After Stumble suggests they check it out, he and Brennus make their way to the outbuilding which looks to be about the size of a garden shed of some sort.  A splintered door is more intact than not and yields without too much of a fuss when Stumble opens in.  The interior is trashy with bits and pieces of unidentified stuff across the floor.  There aren't any windows in the walls, but there are chinks between the logs that make up the walls large enough to peek through.  The back of the shed is splintered and crushed as though something in a fit of rage had slammed a giant fist on the back of the building, crushing it.  Stumble is ready to gag from the stench which doesn't appear to be coming from any one location and can't really be identified.  Brennus, however, looks pleased.  "This doesn't smell nearly as bad as it did the last time I stuck my head in here."

"You've got to be kidding.  This place totally reeks.  I'm ready to hurl."

"You should have been here a couple of cycles ago.  You would have hurled then.  It's bad now, but it was horrible when I was here last."  Brennus closes the door which allows enough of the late day light to filter through the chinks in the wall to provide just enough light to make things out in the shed.

"If you say so," Stumble says.  He feels sick to his stomach and drinks a little water from his water skin, hoping it will settle his stomach.  The feeling worsens when Brennus suggests dinner.  "I think I'm going to skip it, but thanks anyway."

"Listen," Brennus commands suddenly and turns towards the front wall of the shed.  Stumble immediately freezes and listens.  He hears low conversation and the jangling of harness.  Both boys carefully peek out through the chinks in the wall.

"What are they doing here?" Brennus says.

"Is it the same one?" Stumble asks in a whisper as he continues staring outside.

"Yeah, I recognize the guy with the beard from last time."

Outside a command cuts through the noise and conversation.  "Okay men, get it set up."

As Brennus and Stumble watch, twelve men began to set up camp in the area in front of the garrison house.

As Brennus predicted, they approached the outskirts of the swamp about midmorning. The breeze that had been gently blowing since they left the dwaves' encampment died out completely. Stumble noticed that the clouds hadn't moved at all the entire morning as they approached the place. "Don't the clouds ever move?"

Brennus paused a moment and looked up. "It's weird. During the day they don't seem to move at all. They just hang there like that. But at night you can see the stars and moon where the clouds usually are when you approach it."

"What about from inside? Do the clouds seem to vanish at night too?"

Brennus shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. I make a point of not being there when it gets dark. Too many stories about what happens in there after it gets dark."

"Like what?"

"Oh you know, the usual stuff. Monsters, demons, ghouls. People who see the sun set in there supposedly never see the sun rise the next day. I know that you can hear all sorts of strange noises coming from that place when it gets dark. Don't worry, though. Like I said, it doesn't take too long to get through the place."

Stumble was fascinated by the change when they entered the swamp. The grasslands ended in a straight line fronted by wild growths of trees and brush. The air became stagnant and sticky and Stumble immediately felt as though he needed to spend a few hours soaking to ever get clean again. "Is it always this quiet here?" he asked Brennus. Since they had entered the swamp, it was as though the wringing wet air blanketed all noise. There weren't any bird, insect or animal noises at all.

Brennus nodded. "Yeah it's always like this," he said in a voice just barely above a whisper. "Every time I've come through this place. It's enough to give me the creeps. I bet it's not this way when it gets dark. Least it doesn't sound that way from the outside."

"Does anyone live here?" Stumble asked, unconsciously whispering as well.

"Not that I know of. You get the usual stories about loners and hermits and things like that. Supposedly some outlaws in here too. I've never seen anyone though. Don't think I'd really want to either."

For the next few hours the two simply walked along the road without saying much. The oppresive atmosphere of the place really didn't lend itself to talking out loud. Stumble wasn't exactly sure what it was. It was similar to the North Wood, but even that place didn't have the power to discourage one from talking. The whole place had a feel of being not quite right. Almost like it had some sort of sickness. Stumble could almost imagine getting infected by something simply from breathing in here. He put the thought aside though, figuring that Brennus had traveled through it before without any ill effects.

"What's that?" Stumble asked, pointing to what looked like a big house in a clearing that looked overgrown.

Brennus stopped. "That's the old garrison house. It's all that's left. The old king used to have troops posted here at the halfway point to keep travelers safe. When the moron took the throne, he pulled them all. Well most of them were dwarves anyway, but he pulled them to save gold. Said it wasn't worth spending all that money on only a few people foolish enough to come through the swamp." Brennus stepped off the road and started towards the house. "The good thing about it being here is that there haven't been a whole lot of people who wander by to pick through it. I've found some pretty good stuff here."

Brennus led the way to a door which was now hanging by one hinge and looked much the worse for wear. The doorway opened into some sort of large room. There were a few molding sacks on the floor next to a wall that had slowly begun to buckle. "I've been all through this portion, but I've never been upstairs,' the dwarf said. The two went down a hallway which ended in a door. Brennus turned the door handle and pulled. The door made a horrid screeching noise as it grudgingly opened. Stumble was surprised at how much effort it took Brennus to move the door, but eventually it stood open. "Shall we?"

"I don't know," Stumble said. "It's awfully dark up there and it smells."

"That's just cause the shutters are closed. It keeps the mold smell stuck in there. When we get up there, we can get the shutters open." The dwarf grinned. "Besides, it's not like you have a reputation of being scared or anything."

Stumble motioned Brennus up the stairs. "I may not be totally scared, but I'm not crazy either. You get to go first."

"That's the spirit. Let's see what treasure there be up there." Brennus hesitated a moment and then as though he was afraid his feet would change their mind, rapidly started up the steps. Stumble started up after him, but hadn't gotten more than a couple of steps up when there was a splintering crash in front of him. There was a second of silence and then Brennus started cursing.

"Brennus? Are you alright?"

"No. I stepped on a rotten stair or something. My foot went through the step and I can't pull it out. I'm stuck. Can you help me?"

"Yeah, right. I can't even see you. Hang on a second." Stumble slowly felt his way up the steps, hadly daring to breathe as he lowered his weight on each new step."

"Ouch! That's my hand you're on."

"Sorry," Stumble said as he stepped back. "Where are you?"

"Right here in front of you I think. Here." After a moment of fumbling, Stumble managed to grab both of Brennus' arms. "Okay, pull." Stumble pulled as hard as he could, and felt Brennus shift slightly. "You almost got it."

After several more attempts, Stumble put his all into a final try. There was another splintering of wood and the dwarf came free of the hole. Stumble overbalanced and went tumbling down the stairs, the dwarf landing on top of him at the bottom. Stumble started coughing because of the dust raised as Brennus attempted to get to his feet.

"Thanks for breaking my fall," Brennus began and than keened in pain as he put his left foot down. "I must have broken it," he said, his face turning white. He collapsed on the floor, avoiding landing on Stumble a second time.

"Let me see," Stumble said as he managed to sit up. There was enough light in the corridor that he was able to see to take off Brennus' boot. "I can't tell. I don't think it's broken but there's definitely one question to be answered.

"What's that?"

"Do we spend the night in this place or try to make a camp somewhere else?"

Stumble opened his eyes early the next morning to see a pair of earnest eyes staring at him.  "Uh, hello." He told the young dwarfling that the eyes belonged to.  "How are you?"

"Do you have anything to eat?  I'm hungry.  The other person Bren brings always has food with him.  He gave me a bunch of berries once.  Do you have any berries?  They were really good and I haven't had any in a long time.  I'd love to have some right now if you had any."

Stumble sat up and rooted through his pack.  He didn't think he had any berries, but maybe the goodwife had packed something else.  "I have some figs, would those work?"

The dwarfling made a face.  "They're all slimy and funny tasting.  Do you have anything else?" he asked hopefully.

"I don't know.  Let's see." Stumble continued to root through his pack.  "How about some bread?

"Waybread?" the dwarfling asked suspiciously.

"Naw, this is the good stuff.  It was made by a goodwife."  The dwarf gave him a blank look.  "Uh, a really cool lady who likes to bake stuff."  Stumble broke off a piece of the crusty loaf and gave it to the dwarfling, who devoured it.

"That was yummy," he said in a very serious voice.  "May I take some to my sisters?"

"Sure.  Here, take the whole loaf.  I'm not real hungry."

The dwarf's eyes got huge.  "Really?  You don't mind?  It's okay?"

"Sure."

The dwarf shyly took the loaf as though he was afraid it would suddenly vanish before he got a firm grip on it.  "Who are you?" he asked Stumble when he got the loaf carefully tucked under one arm.

"My name is Stumble.  I'm a Lost Boy.  Who are you?"

"You're a Lost Boy?  You don't look like that other guy who comes with Bren sometimes.  He said you all wore animal skins and stuff."

"I normally do.  A raccoon skin.  But I'm sort of pretending right now, so I'm wearing these things."

The dwarf nodded.  "I bet it's because of the fighting.  It's smart.  I don't think they'd like raccoons just like they don't like dwarves."  He turned and walked back towards the tents.  Stumble heard a chuckle behind him and turned to see Brennus standing there.

"That's one smart kid," Brennus said.  "Notice he didn't tell you what his name was when you asked?  Instead he started asking you stuff about yourself.  That's one of the first things they're taught."  Brennus gave a huge yawn.  "You ready to take off?  We got a long day ahead of us.  We'll be in the swamp around mid-morning."

Stumble was a bit surprised.  "Oh, I figured we'd be spending a couple of days like... you know.  Just sort of helping out I guess."

"Naw, not here.  They tend to get irritated with me if I disrupt their schedule with the kids.  They've actually got tons of help here.  Sometimes more than they can use.  But if you have a few coins, they could probably use those."

"Yeah, Leo gave me a bunch before I left.  I wondered what they were for.  Here."  He found the pouch and gave it to Brennus.  "It's not like I have anything to use it for."  Brennus hefted it, poured about half of it out, and gave it back to Stumble. 

"Here ya go, you'll need some for later.  You get ready to go and I'll give this to Rowendla before she gets too busy."

Stumble got up and stuffed the few things he'd taken out back into his backpack.  The clearing was slowly coming to life and he grinned as the dwarf he'd given the bread too appeared outside a tent with a couple of other kids and pointed at him.  Stumble waved and the dwarves waved back before disappearing back into the tent.  A few moments later Brennus walked up.  "Rowendla thanks you and says you are welcome here anytime you may need a place to rest your head.  Personally I think she was impressed by your bread," he grinned.  "Ready to go?"  Stumble nodded and Brennus led him back through the little encampment to the other side of the clearing.  Stumble took one last look and saw a dwarf you looked extremely young collecting trash.

"Don't any kids in this world get a chance to play like kids are supposed to?"  Stumble asked Brennus as they wound their way back towards the main road.

"I'm sure some do, but none around here.  Things tend to be a bit rough, out this way.  It's been really bad since the old king died.  It's never been real easy I guess, but no one ever had to worry like they do now.  Something is going to have to happen one of these days.  Probably soon too."

Stumble didn't respond to that, but concentrated on following Brennus back to the road.  He wished there was something he could do to help, and wondered what that might be.  He wondered if Cubby knew about all the stuff that was going on in this world and thought he'd have to have a talk with his fellow Lost Boy.  Cubby was sort of good at coming up with really weird plans that seemed to work.  Maybe he could come up with one for this.

It didn't seem like anytime at all before they arrived back at the main road.  Getting to the camp definitely had taken longer than the return trip.  "That's because one of the kids is covering our backtrail so I don't have to do it," Brennus said when Stumble remarked upon it.  "Makes a big difference as to how fast we can travel."

"That makes sense," Stumble allowed.  "So what's this about a swamp?  It seems weird we'd be going through one of those on our way to a desert.  I figured it'd get drier, not wetter."

"It's just one of those weird things.  A wizard battle took place in that area about a billion years or so ago.  They tried clearing it when the old king was around, but as fast as they could clear it, the plants grew back.  They even tried filling in some of the swamp.  Each time the water would be back before the turn of the cycle."

"I didn't think there was a lot of magic here."

"There isn't, but this is one of the exceptions to the rule.  It's not a place you want to be caught in when it gets to be night, that's for sure."

"How big is the swamp?"

"It sort of changes.  It's a few leagues.  We'll run into it around midmorning and hopefully get out of it by twilight.  Actually it might not take that long.  You seem to move a bit faster than the last Lost Boy I traveled with."

Stumble shook his head.  "You'd be surprised at what he can do when he needs to."

"See those clouds up ahead?  That's where the swamp starts."  Stumble looked ahead and saw dark storm clouds.  They didn't look like the type of clouds that promise a good summer thunderstorm, but the type that made the back of your neck tingle while the air around you got all hot, sticky and oppressive.  It didn't look like this was going to be any fun at all.

Stumble looked around at the women and children who were staring back at him.  The first thing he noticed right off was that most of the women and all the children were dwarves.  Although it was sort of hard for him to tell for sure, Stumble didn't figure that any of the children were over the age of around eight.  He didn't see any who had the beginnings of a beard like Brennus did.  The women and children were looking at him in a guarded, expectant manner.  He wasn't exactly sure what to make of it.  He turned to Brennus, "This is the most dangerous spot in the kingdom?  Why?"

"You mean you can't tell?" Brennus asked.  "It's gotta be obvious.  The king has spent a year trying to find this place.  He's sent I don't know how may soldiers out between the desert and the river to hunt them down.  So much effort, must mean that they present a huge danger to the kingdom," Brennus finished with a wave of his arm that encompassed all those in the clearing.  "It's okay," he called out, "this guy's a Lost Boy.  He's just out of 'uniform' because of the patrol on the road."

"So is this place what they were looking for?" Stumble wondered aloud.

"C'mon, we can put our stuff back here," Brennus said, leading Stumble towards the back of the clearing.  He dropped to the ground and sighed, leaning his back against a solid growth of green plants.  Stumble kept standing, looking down at the dwarfling.  "No, the patrol we passed on the road is looking for something... or someone else.  When they try to find this place, they have a bunch more soldiers and a few Magic Users trying to sniff them out."

"So why do they want to find this place so badly, and what was that song you were singing earlier, and who are Magic Users, and why did everyone look at me the way they did even though I was with you?"  Stumble sounded as though he thought he was going to burst before he got all the questions out, but appeared to have managed it.  He looked at Brennus as though he could hardly wait to hear the answers.

"You sure do ask a lot of questions, don't you?" Brennus said, grinning.  "I can't believe Cubby told me you were usually pretty quiet.  The song I was singing is a Rowldlian lullabye.  It's like a password or something, but usually only dwarves can come close to singing it correctly, so they knew it was a dwarf coming down the path towards them.  If they hadn't heard that song, or it was sung wrong, they'd have probably pumped us full of arrows."

"What's Rowld...?"

"It's a country of dwarves.  See, I knew you were going to ask before you even got it out.  The reason everyone looked at you funny is because you're human.  They don't trust humans here for obvious reasons and even if you're with a dwarf, it takes them awhile to be sure of the situation.  It doesn't take a whole lot to spook them.  When Cubby first started coming here, he was in a bearskin.  When he switched to a wolf pelt, the first time I brought him here, everyone went sort of weird.  How come he switched, anyway?  He looks a lot more like a bear than a wolf."

Stumble shrugged.  "I think it has to do with his personality or something maybe.  We sort of get told what we're gong to be when we arrive.  I don't know why I'm a raccoon or why there are two of us.  There used to be two raccoons who were twins, but me and Surefoot aren't related at all."

"He never said much about what the switch was all about.  Anyway," Brennus continued," the Magic Users are sort of weird.  They go around dressed in black and do whatever the king tells them to do. The old king didn't have them.  In fact, they supposedly were brought from somewhere across the ocean when the king stole the crown."

"So what about that kid that was with the patrol?  He wasn't wearing black.  Is he a Magic User?"

"Noooo," Brennus said.  "He does magic, but he's not a Magic User.  It's kind of hard to explain.  There isn't a whole lot of magic around these parts.  Never has been, i guess.  There's a little bit about that some people can use for healing, for finding stuff, or making an arrow go straight and true.  But they can't really do 'major' magic.  Only the Magic Users can do that.  We were far enough away that when he went by, he could make you loopy or sleepy, but he couldn't detect you.  They sort of count on the fact that you'll think only the group of soldiers are all there is and come out and be caught by the thirteenth man."

Stumble nodded.  "That sort of makes sense.  In Neverland it seems everything has magic.  Well everything but us Lost Boys.  We don't need it most of the time.  Oh we can fly when we have to..."

"You can fly?  Just like shoot up into the air or something?" Brennus asked.

"Sure.  I mean we need pixie dust and a happy thought or two to do it, but we can all fly when we're in the right mood.  Some of us manage to fly by the seat of our pants, but we all do it.  Didn't Cub ever mention that to you?"

"No, I don't think so.  I reckon he never had cause to though.  Huh, that's cool.  Wish I could do that sometime.  I bet it's wicked cool."

Stumble broke up laughing because he'd never imagined a dwarf using the expression 'wicked cool'.  The laughter echoed around the clearing and there was at least one return giggle from a young voice somehwere from the dusk.  Stumble looked at Brennus, afraid he'd take offense, but there was a big grin on the dwarf's face.  "Someone said it's always a success when you get someone to laugh," Brennus said.

"Gee, wonder who that could have been?"  Stumble got serious.  "Why are all these kids here?  What is it that makes this place so dangerous and should they be in a place that's dangerous?"

"Sit down, Stumble.  You make me nervous.  It's almost like you're getting ready to start pacing or something."  Brennus waited for Stumble to sit down and then started talking quietly to him.  "There's something about magic I didn't tell you.  Younger dwarves are resistant to it's effects and can even block spells against themselves and those around them.  They can't control it though, so they can't turn it on and off.  That's what the king is after.  He considers them a major threat against his being able to hang on to his power because they could stop the Magic Users from practicing on whoever they wanted to.  So we've relocated them here away from the villages.  Only a few people outside of those who are here know where they are at.  They've raided a couple of villages in the past, and a couple of people have broken and told that the children are somewhere, but they didn't know where.  Only people like me know that.  We normally carry stuff by night in backpacks.  So far it's worked, but if the soldiers ever find us, they'll either kill all of them or take them hostage or something."

"So if they are resistant to magic, how can the Magic Users find them?"

"They don't actually 'find' them.  They find the void in the magic that their presence causes.  Since the kids can't turn it on or off then they have to sort of be off the beaten path so the Magic Users don't run across them."

"Huh.  That's horrible.  What do they do all day?"

"Nothing,normally.  They play a little and things like that, but they couldn't bring a whole lot and the camps change frequently.  No one really comes to this area because we're the ones that started the rumors I was telling you about earlier.  Everyone thinks the place is haunted.  Now you see why I hate this so-called king so much."

Stumble nodded, although he doubted Brennus could see him in the dark.  "So now what do we do?"

"Sleep.  Tomorrow we'll take off, but I always like to spend the night here if I'm in the area.  It helps some sleep a tiny bit more secure, even though I doubt I could do anything in the event of an attack.  It's just the little things that help, I guess.  You don't mind waybread for dinner do you?"

"Nope.  In fact I may even skip it entirely.  I'm not real hungry at the moment.  You'll wake me early in the morning?"  Brennus replied in the affirmative and Stumble lay on the ground.  There was some sort of spongy moss or grass below him, so he contented himself with grabbing a blanket and using his pack as a pillow.  A few moments later, Brennus heard him snoring.

Stumble tried to make himself as small as possible, hiding under the rows of whatever plant it was he was taking refuge under.  Brennus was lying on the ground next to him, and when he sensed Stumble looking at him, gave a grin that tried to say 'everything was going to be alright'.  It might have actully succeeded in making Stumble feel better, except the look in Brennus' eyes said everything but that.  Stumble couldn't believe how long it seemed to be taking for the riders to get up level with them.  The drum of the horses' hooves was very slow and very rhythmic.  Stumble actually caught himself becoming entranced by the sound and came close to falling asleep listening to it.  The air had become hot and sticky and even the whirr of the bugs in the meadow sounded almost subdued and tired. The horses' tackle jingled and all of a sudden Stumble pictured himself laughing so loudly that he was going to be discovered by the riders.  He was so sure this was going to happen that he thought it would be better to simply stand up and surrender.  He lay there for a moment, his mind trying to puzzle through why he'd think that.  He didn't come up with an answer, but settled for the fact that the moment passed.  A second later the feeling of wanting to laugh was replaced with one of sheer terror, the only coherent thought being that perhaps the soldiers could help them.  Once again he started to rise to his feet, but this time was pinched so hard, his eyes watered.

"What'd you do that for?" he whispered to Brennus.  "That hurt."

"You were either scared or deliriously happy, right?"  Brennus whispered to him.

"Yeah, I thought I was going to pee my pants for a moment there.  I could hardly think straight and was going to stand up and yell at them to come get me."

Brennus shook his head in disgust.  "It's some sort of mind thing.  They make you really scared or really happy and suddenly you become convinced that the only escape is to surrender.  So you stand up and they snag you.  Pinching you takes your mind off the soldiers and breaks whatever spell it is you're on."  He gave another grin.  "By the way, nothing personal about that pinch."

Stumble lay there trying to think about nothing and heard the hooves and tack get closer and closer until it seemed to be just across from where we were.  Stumble wanted to scream, the not knowing getting that close to freaking him out.  After what seemed forever, the sound of the hooves started moving away from the boys, growing fainter until it disappeared all together.  Stumble looked over at Brennus who hadn't moved a muscle.  Stumble was puzzled until he suddenly remembered about the thriteenth man.  He didn't move a muscle either.

"Wake up Stumble.  We need to hurry."  Stumbles eyes popped open as he felt Brennus shaking his shoulder.  "What happened?" Stumble finally managed to say.  He felt as though his whole head was stuffed in wool.  "What was the thing with getting scared and then falling asleep?"

"It's the magic of the thirteenth man," he explained.  "Normally they're used to catch those who pop up too fast after a patrol goes by.  Sometimes, though, when they're looking for something specific, they can sort of 'sniff' things out using magic.  It doesn't always work real well, but a lot of people have been caught that way.  Even if the magic doesn't rat you out, it can have a wide effect and can cause people to fall asleep or things like that.  It's sort of a random thing.  C'mon, it should be safe now.  Let's go.  They're heading back the way we came, so we shouldn't have to worry about them."

Stumble got up off the ground and followed Brennus back to the road.  "Should we be using the road?  It seems this is where we've always met them before."  He looked down the road in both directions, but didn't see anything.

"No, the road is still the safest way to go.  It can be dangerous to wander deep in the fields sometimes when they aren't part of a farm or something.  Besides, we should be able to see anyone before they see us now that we're out of the woods and there aren't any hills for awhile."

Stumble figured that would mean anyone coming along the road would be able to see them just as easily, but didn't mention that fact.  Instead he asked, "Who are they looking for?"

Brennus shrugged.  "Got me.  It doesn't take much for the king's men to go after someone these days, although it is really unusual to see them in this area.  But story has it that the captains of these patrols pick up a fair number of innocents to curry favor with the king or their superiors.  Just another wonderful benefit to our glorious government," he added and spat on the road.  "The worst part is a lot of the people don't care because they don't think it affects them at all.  I guess the story changes if it's their brother or son that gets picked up, but by then it's too late, isn't it?"

"So does that mean that kid we saw, the one that was walking along the horse with the drawn bow, was the one that was doing the magic?"

"Yup.  It's always the last one in the patrol who performs the magic.  If someone in the middle tries to do it, it gets mixed up or something with those who are in the patrol and doesn't work right or something.  I'm not sure what all it is."

Stumble thought the kid they had seen appeared to be awfully young to be doing stuff like that.  Of course Stumble figured he was about the same age as well, so...  He pondered on that for awhile as he continued following Brennus up the road until he noticed that the fields bordering the road had become overgrown and wild.  "No one farms in this area," Brennus explained when Stumble asked him about it.  "Nothing grows real well except for weeds.  Tale is it was cursed by a great mage who's son was killed by a farmer who lived in this area.  Some tales say it was accidental, others that it was done purposefully.  Either way, they say the mage caused the weeds to choke out everything else and destroy the steadings of those who were here by growing through the walls and foundations.  They also say they grew quick enough to kill a person if they weren't alert to the danger.  Me?  I figure it's all a story.  There ain't a whole lot of magic left in this world and there's no sign that there was anything ever here like the tales talk about.  Who knows though?  Weird things happen.  It's definitely true that junk plants grow where crops won't."

Stumble considered that for a few minutes.  "No wonder no one lives here then."

"Oh, I didn't say no one lived here, just that there weren't any inns or steadings in the area.  There are people who live here.  You'll see about the time night falls."  Stumble noticed that Brennus sounded more than a bit upset by it.

The rest of the day passed without incident.  Brennus seemed to be a bit nervous about something, but Stumble figured that was simply because of the earlier meeting with the patrol.  As it became dusk, Brennus pointed to an area off the road.  "Push through there and walk about 100 yards and wait for me.  I need to make sure that no one can tell we went down this way."  Stumble nodded and did as he'd been requested.  He watched as Brennus spent a fair amount of time making sure that no one could tell anyone had walked in this direction.  "You have anything left that the goodwife gave us?" Brennus asked as he rejoined Stumble.  Stumble nodded.  "Good.  Stay behind me and move slowly.  Try to move as carefully as possible so you won't leave a trail."

Stumble followed the dwarf while wondering why Brennus was so paranoid about someone following the trail.  He hadn't been that worried about someone finding them before.  The trail Brennus took was winding and twisting and Stumble wondered if it was an actual path Brennus was following or something he was making up as he went.  Either way, they reached a clearing as the moon rose behind them.  Stumble was surprised to hear what sounded like women and young children murmering.  He was even more surprised when the voices came to a sudden halt when he accidentally stepped on a dry twig, causing an almost inaudible snap.  "It's okay," Brennus whispered.  "It took Cubby four trips until he didn't sound like a bull galloping through the brush."  He raised his voice and began singing something in a language Stumble didn't understand.  He sang for another minute or two and then the voices from ahead slowly resumed.  Stumble followed Brennus a few more feet and stopped in amazement as he found himself at the edge of a clearing with four large tents and what seemed to be a very large number of children and a few women.  He looked at Brennus.

Brennus shook his head slowly and with a weary, sarcastic voice said, "Welcome to the most dangerous spot in the kingdom."

Stumble didn't have much to say for the next couple of hours after he and Brennus left the steading.  Stumble was too busy thinking about what he might have given up and why it was he chose to.  Brennus has sort of figured Stumble would want to ponder about such things and contented himself with trying to figure out how to smelt iron using less energy more efficiently.  The land around them slowly revealed itself as the sun rose in the sky.  It looked as though it would be a beautiful day for the most part, but there were some storm clouds on the horizon that looked sort of nasty.

Although a little upset about the events that had occurred, Stumbles irrepressible curiosity finally overcame his melancholy at his departure.  "If the road's so dangerous, how come we're traveling it and not going through the fields or the bottoms or something?"

Brennus, who had become stuck on an equation for the whole energy efficiency thing for awhile, perked up at the opportunity to have a conversation.  "I'm not too worried about being caught out here on the road because it's easy enough to lose the horsemen in the fields or avoid them all together."  He gave a snort of disdain.  "They aren't exactly the type to sneak anywhere.  Most of the soldiers are bullies and the like who want to make sure they're noticed.  I just wanted to avoid the road back there because if we'd been seen by anyone and they couldn't catch us, or even if they could, they'd take it out on the family."  He sighed.  "You'll see what I mean not too long from now.  Tonight's a night we also get to sleep rough.  There not be a house or an inn before nightfall comes."

That thought didn't bother Stumble.  He had actually begun to enjoy sleeping out in the tent, although he had to admit the pallet had been nice too.  The two boys wandered in silence for a little while longer until Stumble spoke up again.  "How did you and Cubby ever meet up, anyway?  And how did he start spending the night at Kenyon's and Brenna's house?  I know him well enough to know that he'd rather be tortured than ask anyone for help and shy enough that he wouldn't have simply stayed there."

Brennus grinned at the memory of his first meeting with the Lost Boy.  "The first time Cubby arrived here was the first time I'd ever left my village.  I had taken some gems to the city and I was on my way back.  While I was waiting for the ferry, this big kid asks if I know how to get to the desert.  He acts as though he's terrified by the whole thing, which I thought sort of odd, but told him how to get there and everything.  He thanks me and practically runs away.  I didn't think anything about it, just figured he was sort of scared or shy or something.  Anyway, my stomach got the better of me and there was a lot of time 'til the ferry arrived so I decided to do some fishing.  There's this fish called a piscilare that's delicious.  You catch it, well at least the way us dwarves catch it, is to float on the water, wait 'til one drifts below you and snag it in your hands.  It's pretty easy after you do it for awhile."

Stumble wrinkled his nose.  "But how'd that cause you to meet Cub?"

"I was floating on the water and had a big one in sight.  I mean it was huge and just waiting for me to snag it.  It was begging to be snagged.  I was just ready to grab it and there was this huge splash.  I sank and the fish took off.  I felt someone grab me and start pulling me to the shore.  Unfortunately this someone had his arms around me neck and was half choking me too.  We got to the beach and I'm trying to breathe because he was choking me and I look to see that it's this kid who wanted to know about the desert.  He's practically going hysterical wanting to know if I'm alright, if I'm drowned, do I need mouth-to-mouth.  Turns out that he thought I was drowning and jumped in to save me."

"Really?"  Stumble wasn't surprised that Cubby would do such a thing, he was simply surprised this was the first time he was hearing about it.  "Then what happened?"

"He got sort of embarrassed when he found out I was fishing, but it did get us talking and he told me about his quest for the berries, so now I show up about the time he normally arrives to see what's new with him and sort of help out as it were."  Brennus sort of grinned when he mentioned the berries.  Stumble wondered what was so funny about them, but asked about the family instead.

"So how'd he end up at the steading?"

"Oh that's easy.  He was chased there by a cow."

"What?"

"Aye.  The cow in the barn?  She got loose and for some reason started chasing him down the road.  Well he didn't get too far 'fore he tripped on a pebble or something and went sprawling.  Ol' bossy tried to stop, but couldn't quite make it and stepped on his leg."

"No!

"Yes," Brennus laughed.  "He seemed to think it was related to his problem with trees or something like that.  Anyway, the goodwife felt so bad about it that she made him stay until his leg was better.  He felt so guilty about it, that once his leg was healed he hung around a couple of days and did some chores in return.  It just became a regular thing after that.  Now it's my turn.  Not that I don't mind the company, but why didn't he come this time and why do you say he'd rather be tortured than ask for help?"

Stumble walked in silence for a few yards.  "I don't know the reason he won't ask for help.  It's not really a Lost Boy thing.  I think if I had to say for sure it'd be because..."

Stumble's next words were lost as Brennus looked around and pointed to the field they were walking by.  "Quick!  In there.  Hurry up."

"Huh?  What's wrong?"

"Hurry up, just do it and be quiet.  C'mon, c'mon.  Lie down and don't move."

Stumble scrambled into the field a few hundred feet and dived under the plants, Brennus joining him a second later.  Stumble held his breath and listened to the stillness of the morning broken only by birdsong and then a moment later by the steady clopping of what sounded like several horses.

The next three days passed in a blur for Stumble.  He spent most of the days doing as much as he could to give Kenyon and Brenna some time to do what they wanted.  There was a bit of laughter at the supper table and a few minutes where parents and children were able to talk without falling asleep.  Every night Stumble got a hug and a kiss on the top of his head from the goodwife before climbing to bed.  Before he fell asleep, Stumble was asked for, and recited, a story about Neverland.  The morning of the fourth day, he was taking the sheep up to the meadow by himself.  Brennus joined him as soon as he got out of sight of the road and subjected him to a long, searching look and then nodded.  "We're leaving tomorrow, aren't we?"

Stumble thought about it for a moment and shook his head.  "Yeah, I have to.  If I don't, I'll never leave.  It feels safe here and... something else.  I'm not sure what it is."

"So what's wrong with staying?  Would it be that horrible?  It's not like you wouldn't be doing anything to help them to earn your way."

Stumble thought about that for awhile as he continued to lead the sheep.  He methodically weighed the pros and cons and thought about what it would mean for him, the family and even the rest of the Lost Boys back on the island.  He finally shook his head again.  "I can't.  I wouldn't know what to do.  I have to get the berries back to the island and... no, I just couldn't do it."

"Yeah, I know.  Wolfboy couldn't do it either.  In fact, it got so bad for him, that he always had to spend a night or two in the barn to separate himself from what was going on.  I don't know what it is with you guys, but..."  Brennus stopped talking and stared down at the ground as he caught a glimpse of Stumble's expression.  Brennus hoped he'd never have to make a decision that tore him apart as much as Stumble appeared to be right now.  "Look," he finally said.  "Tonight, tell the goodwife and the kids that you're going to sleep in the barn.  They'll know what's happening.  They won't be mad or angry because they know this is what happens.  They'll also know you'll be back."

Stumble didn't say anything but sat there staring at the sheep.  It would almost be like he was running away from something.  But not something that could harm him or hurt him, so would it really be running away?  He didn't think he'd ever felt as confused about anything in his life.

Around mid-afternoon, Kenyon came up to take over the shepherding duties.  He approached Stumble, excitedly talking about a game that he and Brenna had thought up, and suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and became silent.  As Stumble watched, the kid that had approached the meadow quickly transformed itself into the responsible 'adult'.  Kenyon did a quick, thorough scan of the sheep and thanked Stumble for watching them.  "I'll see you at dinner tonight," he said and then busied himself checking the sheep's hooves.  Stumble stood there for a moment, and then left the field, his head hanging.  He heard Brennus talking to Kenyon as he departed.

Stumble wasn't exactly sure if he was wearing a sign or what, but when he arrived back at the steading, Brenna seemed to know immediately what was up.  Her smile also changed into an 'adult' look, although not without some quivering of her lower lip.  She turned and ran into the cottage.  Stumble just stood there for a moment, thinking that he had ruined everything.  He finally went into the vegetable garden off to the side and started weeding it once again.

He had gotten through almost two rows when a shadow fell over him.  He looked up to see the goodwife looking down at him with a sad, wistful grin on her face.  "You're leaving us, then."

Stumble suddenly felt something he didn't know how to describe or what it was.  He just knew it made him feel almost unbearably sad.  "But, I have to.  I don't want to, it's because of what I need to do and I have to do it so everything will and the fairies and then there's..."  he talked slower and slower and finally stopped as the goodwife put a finger against his lips.

"It's okay, Stumble.  Peace.  It's been good to have you here and we will welcome you once more when your travels pass this way again.  It's not an easy path that either you or they follow.  Especially since things have been... disturbed the way they have.  I assume you'll be spending the night in the barn?"

Stumble nodded and tried once more to explain.  Once more the finger was placed against his lips.  "You need to do what needs to be done," she told him.  "We all understand, expect, and desire that.  Our paths will no doubt cross again.  Be at ease until that time."  She reached down and gave him a hug.  "I wish I knew what the story behind you boys is.  I can only feel that someone has done all of you wrong."  She laughed and pointed at the ground.  "Careful what you're pulling up there.  That looks like now weed I've ever seen."  She straightened back up, turned and re-entered the cottage.

Supper was somber, but not nearly to the extent it had been when he'd first arrived.  Kenyon and Brenna were subdued, but did smile occasionally.  Their father was also in fair spirits, although acted as though he wasn't looking forward to what the future would bring.  The goodwife wore her wistful smile and made it a point to 'mother' Stumble.

"You're going to sleep in the barn tonight, aren't you?" Brenna asked Stumble after the dishes had been done.

"Yeah, I want to... you know."

"Then you have to tell us a story before we go up.  It's only fair.  And it has to be a really good one."

Stumble was a bit surprised as the entire family settled around him to listen.  He was a little nervous to begin with, but forgot it after the first few minutes.  He launched into the time that the Twins, Tig and Leo, had found themselves almost captured by pirates, being attacked by a Shetland Dragon and trying to find a grove of strawberries all at the same time.  He was nearing the point where fates would be decided, lives gained or lost, victory or defeat determined, and strawberries either discovered or found out to be preserves when Brenna suddenly said "Stop!"

"What's wrong?" Stumble asked.  "Don't you like the story?"

"I love it.  So if you stop telling it now, then you'll have to come back and let me know how it ends.  Right?"

Stumble almost lost is there, but with just a sniffle nodded and agreed that's what would happen.  Brenna gave him a big hug and ran upstairs to the loft.  Kenyon walked over to him and clasped Stumble's forearm as they did in this land on greeting or departing.  Stumble reciprocated and watched as Kenyon followed his sister's trail upstairs.  Their father approached Stumble, gave a half-bow to the boy and thanked him.  He turned, hesitated and told Stumble that he was actually quite proud, then vanished into the back of the cottage.

"Now my boy.  You can take the clothes you've been wearing with you.  Drop them off when you come by again or give them to your friend to bring if he comes next time.  Here's your backpack.  I've put some food and things in it, and that fur coat you were wearing is in the bottom of it."  She pushed him back at arm's length and looked at him for a moment and then pulled him into her arms and gave him a big hug and then the kiss on top of his head.  "May the sun shine your path and the gleens guard your way."

He took the pack, thanked the goodwife for her hospitality and, surprising himself, gave her a fierce hug before running from the cottage to the barn.  He refused to cry and instead cursed the unfairness of the whole thing.  There had to be something that he could do, but he fell asleep before the answer to that came.

He woke in the early morning, listening to the breathing of the sheep and the noise the cow made shifting.  Perhaps he was being hasty.  He could probably afford to stay one more day.  The time difference wouldn't make a difference, after all.  It would help the family and maybe he could teach the kids a new game or something.  It really made perfect sense, didn't it?  He almost screamed when the hand shook his shoulder.

"C'mon," Brennus said.  "Time to hit the trail."

"What do you mean?  It's the middle of the night.  You scared the heck out of me."

"That's okay, you didn't scare me, so we're even.  There's a full moon out and a whole sky of stars to wish upon that will provide us plenty of light.  So let's get a move on."

"But I need to say goodbye and I was thinking, you know."

"Oh aye, you were thinking to stay here for a day, than a week, than a month.  You're not the first one who had that thought.  It's best by far to be leaving now before you think about it."  Brennus grabbed Stumble's pack and practically lifted the Lost Boy to his feet with the other hand.  Stumble didn't like the thought of leaving, but a part of him knew it had to be done now or it'd never be done.  He followed Stumble out the door of the barn and into the night.  The moon was huge and cast enough light that it looked like twilight instead of the middle of the night.  He trudged after Brennus as they followed the road away from the steading.  The boys topped a small rise and Stumble turned to look back at the cottage sitting next to the road.  He said a small prayer for the steading's inhabitants and then turned and followed Brennus down the other side.

Stumble spent the rest of the trip studying the approaching shore.  It didn't appear any different from the one they had just left, except this one had a small cottage beyond the dock in the cleared area between the woods and the river.  When the ferry docked, the two boys clambered off.  The 'captain' escorted them to the cottage where an old codger demanded their fare.  He gave Brennus a look as he threw Stumble's change back on the counter.  "You oughta be more careful 'bout them you travel with," he directed to Stumble.

"I am," Stumble said.  "I only travel with the people I trust most.  That's why I don't think I'd ever be traveling with someone like yourself, sir."  Stumble was equally fascinated by the surprised grin that crossed Brennus' face as well as the shade of purple the old man's face took on.  The man slammed the window closed as the two boys turned away.

They left the ferry landing behind as they followed the trail back into the woods.  The woods on this side of the river was alive with sound and movement.  Birdsong sounded from the trees and squirrels seemed to be all over, running along the ground and up trees.  "What do you suppose it is that's on the other side of the river, anyway?"

"I don't know," Brennus replied.  "I sure hope it stays there though.  Ain't many things that can cause the birds to leave and I'm not sure I want to meet whatever it is."  He paused for a moment and then sort of shyly added, "Thanks for what you said back there.  Ain't many humans would have said something like that.  But you shouldn't have said that to him."

"Really?  How come?"  Stumble sounded as surprised as if Brennus had said the sky was green or the grass red.

"There aren't a whole lot of humans who have much use for dwarves around here.  It didn't use to be that way.  We got along fine until that... that... bloody arse took the throne.  He claims the reason the old king fell was a plot by dwarves to take over and that the only reason they failed was because he was able to stop it.  It's so bogus.  There were a bunch of dwarves killed who I know were loyal to the old king.  King Reynold had a whole company of royal guards executed.  Most were dwarves and the rest were humans who tried to let everyone know what really happened.  Now everyone thinks we're evil and are plotting to take over the kingdom and all that rot.  Like we'd even want this kingdom.  I suppose it's simply easier for everyone to believe what they've been told so they won't have to think too much about what really happened.  Anyway dwarves aren't real popular around humans which is why the looks and comments and everything else.  They sort of tolerate us now, but who knows how long that'll last."

"It's okay.  I don't think he know's where I live."

"No, but he'll tell the patrol if they come back this way and we'll have to come up with another way to cross the river now."

"He'd tell on me just because I said I trusted you?"

"Sure.  That's how they earn points and get favours and stuff like that.  There's a reason he's running the ferry now and you can bet it ain't because he asked nicely."

Stumble digested that for a few minutes as they left the ferry trail and took a right on the main road.  Stumble wasn't quite as naive as some of the other Lost Boys were, but he also thought that what was going on was just wrong and insane.  How could anyone treat people like that?  Besides, Brennus was just a kid like him.  He wouldn't have had anything to do with what went on, even if it was true.  Stumble figured that he might be getting an 'edited' version of what had happened, but he didn't think that was the case.  "Blanding," he suddenly said.  "What's this about Blanding and a fair or festival?"

"Oh that's where we sell stuff.  You know, gems, metals, things like that.  If we'd really been going there, we'd have hung a left when we left the ferry path.  Whenever someone you don't know asks you where you're gong, it's always a good idea to sort of hedge, if you get my meaning."

"How come you trusted me?" Stumble asked.

"That's easy.  No one in this place wears a raccoon pelt.  If you can't trust a Lost Boy, who can you trust?  I didn't worry about that at all."

They had been walking for awhile, each boy thinking their own thoughts, when Stumble said, "One more question?"

Brennus laughed.  "You shouldn't make a promise you can't keep.  It's okay, though.  What ya want to know?"

"Yesterday you said it'd take something like four days or so to get to the desert.  Then I have to come back and go through Neverland to get back to where us Lost Boys live.  So I figure maybe two weeks or so at a minimum.  Yet Cub was never gone that long.  Does he know a shortcut or something?"

They continued walking while Brennus thought about that.  "Oh, I know what it is.  The leakage."  Stumble looked puzzled.  "Time leakage between the two worlds.  None of them are ever aligned properly.  If they were, no one would be able to get between them.  So a couple of weeks here might be a couple of days where you're from.  There's not really any normal change.  It seems to vary sometimes."

"So if time in Neverland moved the same way it did in the 'real' world, then we wouldn't have been able to be rescued by Peter?  That's scary.  It's like the whole thing happened by accident if you look at it that way.  I wonder if that's why it seems Lost Boys never grow up.  Does that mean if I stayed here for a long time, I would get older?"

"Hey, no fair.  You said only one question."

Stumble grinned.  "Sorry, it's been a long time since I really asked stuff.  I must be making up for lost time or something."

The road was passing through what looked like the outskirts of the forest.  The trees were wider apart and fields or prairie could be seen between them if one looked.  Stumble thought it was like the end of a rainstorm.  One moment there was rain all over and then it slowly dribbled off to a few drops and then vanished completely.  Like the end of a rain, there were a few scattered groves of trees, a couple of lone pines, and the road suddenly broke out into the middle of sunlight and meadow.  In the far distance, next to the road, was what looked like some sort of cottage and a building next to it.  Brennus nodded towards it.  "That's where Cubby normally spends his first night here.  Just knock on the door and when they see your getup, they'll know who you are and what you need.  Don't be shy or anything, they're used to it."

"What about you?  You'll be with me, won't you?"

"Nope.  I have... some other stuff I need to take care of.  I'll meet you on the road on the other side.  Don't look like that.  It'll be okay.  Cubby and I do it all the time.  Oh, and don't worry about time.  I'll be waiting on the other side for you no matter how long it takes.  Okay?"

"I guess."  Stumble couldn't imagine what he meant by that.  He figured he'd spend the night and use one of the coins to pay for his stay and would leave early the next morning.  He didn't usually sleep in like some certain tigers he could name.

"It'll be cool, you'll see.  Later!"  Brennus took off at angle from the road, across the meadow.  Stumble glanced at the house and then turned to ask Brennus something, but found he'd disappeared from sight.  He stopped and looked around, figuring at the very least his path would be revealed by the grass in the meadow moving or something.  Yet there was no movement or sound at all.  For a minute, Stumble contemplated going back and seeing if he could track where Brennus had gone out of curiosity.  Instead he kept going down the road towards the house.  He could ask him how he did it tomorrow.

As he approached the house, he noticed a figure heading in the same direction with a bunch of sheep and lambs in tow.  A dog kept the sheep together and made sure none of them strayed.  The figure turned out to be a tow-headed boy who looked as though he might be 8 or 9.  He looked at Stumble in surprise and then gave a huge, weary smile revealing a gap in the front where a baby tooth apparently has been lost not too long ago.  Stumble watched as the boy competently got the sheep in the building by the house, which turned out to be some sort of low barn.  The boy moved as though it was second nature to him and performed the task quickly and without fuss.  Yet in the back of his mind Stumble couldn't help but sense something wasn't quite right about the whole thing.  Maybe it's the deliberate movements, the apparent weariness that appears to be more than simply being tired, or the lack of any emotion after the first smile he saw.

"Fair tidings," the boy said as he approached Stumble.  "You're not the same as the other animal kid.  Guess that means I'll have to milk the cow.  C'mon.  I'll take you to máthair."

Stumble followed the boy in the house, wondering why the fact that he wasn't Cubby meant the boy would have to milk a cow.

The trip to the new ferry landing took a couple of hours. "They wanted to be sure that whatever was haunting them would take awhile to get to the new location if it decided to haunt them," Brennus explained.

"What was haunting them?" Stumble asked. "What did it do?"

"I don't think anyone ever found out exactly what it was. They called some wizards and a shaman in, but no one could figure it out or get rid of it. It didn't do anything really bad, I guess. I mean it didn't kill anyone or anything like that. It did stuff like moved boxes from one cart to another, spooked horses, created funny lights in the air. Just goofy stuff like that."

"Sounds like something anyone could have done. Why were they so sure it was a haunting and not just someone playing a trick or two?"

"That's what they supposedly thought at first, but there were other things like ropes being untied in front of people's eyes, people being shoved off the edge, but only when the boat was near the shore and small things suddenly bursting into fire."

Stumble thought about that for a moment, and decided there wasn't really anything to say about it. He continued following the dwarf down the main road until they came to another well marked turnoff. This path was marked 'Ferry' which surprised him a bit since he could recognize it. "How come this sign is different than the other on?"

"This one's written in General. The other sign was in... well in a language his royal insanity says we shouldn't use anymore. It's thought to be a non-unifying thing and making everyone speak the same will solve all the problems that exist." Brennus let out a sigh and continued walking. Stumble wasn't bothered by the quiet and let the dwarf ponder his thoughts while they followed the path that led to the ferry.

The two boys passed the edge of the forest and looked upon a small field that led to the water's edge. The area was absent of people and a small dock was empty. The shadows of the trees they had just come out of were getting very long. "Rats, I knew this was going to happen. They already made the last crossing, even though they were supposed to wait. This never used to happen before they took over," Brennus said. "Oh well, there's no help for it. We'll just have to spend the night here and go across on the first crossing tomorrow morning. It's not like we're in a real big hurry or anything."

"How far across is it?" Stumble asked.

"I don't know, about a klick." Brennus looked at him suspiciously. "You aren't thinking about doing something crazy like swimming across, are you?"

Stumble shook his head. "No, I was just curious. I love to swim, but the water's too cold and I don't know if I could make it that far before it got dark."

"You could swim that far?"

"Probably. It's hard to say unless I actually tried it, and if it turned out I couldn't, finding out wouldn't do me any good, would it?"

"Nope, not really." Brennus looked around the area. The only thing to be seen was the dock and a rather rocky beach. The portion that ran from woods to river was cleared of everything except a few plants and grass. "They stopped collecting tolls on this side when they moved the ferry here." He pointed to the tree line. "We should be able to spend the night just inside the woods there. That way no one will see us or know we're here."

"That makes sense. How do you feel about waybread?"

"Ewwww. That elven grosstrocity? I think we can do a lot better than that. C'mon, let's dump your stuff and see what's just waiting to be caught around here."

Stumble and Brennus chose a likely looking place to pitch the tent. Stumble grabbed his sling and the two started exploring to see what sort of game they could come up with. A couple of hours later they both sat in front of the assembled tent, eating waybread. "I can't understand it," Brennus said. "This place is normally teeming with critters. It's like they've all vanished or something."

"Maybe something scared them," Stumble suggested. "It's happened in the North Woods before. There and an apple orchard that's near where we live."

"I guess it's possible, but it'd have to be awfully big and there's no sign of anything at all around. No tracks, no trails, nothing." Brennus swallowed another piece of the waybread. "This stuff really does grow on you after awhile, doesn't it?"

"Do you think we should keep a watch tonight?"

"It probably couldn't hurt, although anything as big as what we're thinking of would have to make one heck of a racket when it moved around. You want first or second?"

Stumble looked up at the razor thin sliver of moon that was floating above in a sky speckled with coloured diamond lights. "I think I'll take the first one if it's okay with you."

"Be careful you don't stare too long at it. Your spirit will be enscrolled by the lion who lives up there. That's how it waxes full, the spirits of those who are careless and look at the moon too long."

"How's it get smaller then?"

"The story goes the spirits are rescued by a great bear who fights the lion and takes bites out of the moon spirits, releasing them from the hold of the lion. That's why they call some people moonstruck."

"Really? I thought it meant something else. That's a much better story though. Anything I should watch for tonight besides the obvious?"

"Nope. It stays pretty quiet on this side of the river. If you hear anything give a yell. I'm a very light sleeper and will back you up in an instant."

Stumble and Brennus exchanged good nights and Brennus told him to be sure and wake him up when the moon set which would mark close to the halfway point for the evening after which Brennus crawled into the tend and collapsed. What seemed like a few seconds later, there was a thunderous snoring coming from the tent and Stumble imagined he could almost see the walls move in and out with each inhale and exhale. Not being fearful of losing his spirit to the lion in the moon, he stared at the vision as it slowly swam through the night sky. He wondered what it would be like to live up there and he briefly thought about his ability to bring the lion to task and if it would make him a great hero if he did. He decided it would probably make the bear feel bad to have his duty taken from him and that things were probably better off being left the way they were.

The moon had almost completed its journey through the sky when there was a crashing almost to the limit of his hearing. For a moment he thought he might have imagined it, but a few seconds later he heard it again. it wasn't a great crashing, but more of a subtle, sneaking type of crashing. As if one was moving quickly and with purpose but not forcing themselves through the brush. It stayed at the limit of his hearing and didn't appear to be getting any closer. That disappointed him for a moment because he had never heard crashing like that before. He decided he should wake up Brennus and see what he thought.

By the time Stumble got Brennus up, the crashing was long gone and the moon had set. "I thought you were a light sleeper."

"Well I am if there's any trouble. But since there wasn't anything going on, then I slept heavily. If you'd needed help, I'd have been up in an instant." Stumble thought about that for a moment and decided he couldn't dispute it even though he might not have completely believed it. He went on to explain to Brennus what he had heard. The dwarf listened and shrugged when Stumble had finished. "I'm not sure what it was. It could have been almost anything I guess. I'll keep an eye out for it."

Stumble crawled into the tent and was asleep almost instantly. He had no doubt that Brennus would wake him in plenty of time in the event the crashing came back so he could try and find out what it was.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully and Brennus woke up Stumble as the sun came up. They had a breakfast of waybread and water. Stumble packed up the tent and they walked to the dock and waited for the ferry to arrive. "Where do we go after we get off the ferry?"

"We just follow the road. It runs straight arrow to the desert. There's a farmhouse that Cubby usually spends the night at that you can probably stay at."

"What about you? Won't you be staying there too?"

"Maybe. Just depends. Hey, there's the ferry. We'll be out of here in no time now."

The ferry arrived at the dock in a few more minutes. It was crewed by five sullen types who demaned to see the boys' coin before they'd take them across. After the two proved they could pay the toll, they were allowed aboard and the ferry started back across the river. Four of the men rowed while the fifth supervised the operation. Stumble moved towards the 'captain'. "Guess we got here a little late yesterday."

The 'captain' spat over the side of the boat. "Wouldn't have mattered if you'd been on time. Weren't no room to have given you passage. We made the last run full last night." He spat in the water again. "Didn't make a thing off it either. Damn soldiers think they own the whole breggin world. Were in such a hurry to get across and once they got there hung around most forever fore they took off."

"Thirteen of them on horses?"

"Yeah, how you know about them?" he asked suspiciously. "You got some business with them or something?"

"No, we just noticed them yesterday. They rode past us."

"Rode past them," he said with a nasty chuckle to one of the rowers. "And maybe they rode past you while you made sure they didn't see you. You'd be trussed like chickens now if they'd caught a glimpse of you. Don't matter. Ain't none of my business. So where you two boys off to? Don't normally get a dwarfling and a... whatever it is you think you are, traveling together."

"East to Blanding," Brennus spoke up. "Going to try our luck at the festival there." That earned Brennus a dirty look from the 'captain' who spat in the water once more and refused to say anything else the rest of the trip. Stumble wondered what the festival in Blanding was all about and what sort of luck they were claiming to try there. He resolved to ask Brennus about it when they got across.

Stumble spent all of a half-second watching the figure rush towards him. Stumble dropped to the ground and as the figure sped by, grabbed him by a leg, tripping him up. The assailant hit the ground, his hammer flying several feet beyond where the two lay. Stumble leapt up, raced to the hammer, and tried to lift it. It was so heavy, the Lost Boy could barely budge it, much less pick it up. He turned back to see the figure sitting up and chucking.

“Pretty fast. I keep forgetting that small usually means quick too. You’re obviously a Lost Boy in that getup, but you sure aren’t Cubby. You from the same place as him?”

Stumble stared at what appeared to be a young dwarf. The dwarf was stocky, about Stumble’s height and much broader through the chest. He had blondish hair, blue eyes that looked the same colour as the sky and was wearing a grin on his open, broad face. There was something a lot thicker than ‘peach fuzz’ sprouting from the young dwarf’s chin. “You know Cubby?” Stumble asked.

“Big kid, red hair and freckles, laughs a lot and seems to have this thing for falling out of trees?” Stumble nodded as he grinned wondering how many people knew about his friend’s problem with climbing trees. “Yup, that’s the Cubby I know,” the dwarf allowed. “I though you were him until I got closer.”

“And you’d have brained him?” Stumble asked incredulously, wondering what offense Cubby could have given a dwarf

“No, no,” the dwarf chuckled. He got to his feet and walked towards where the hammer lay on the ground. “I almost did the first time we ran into each other. It got to be something of a habit and a game. I’d come after him, he’d yell in mock horror and normally run off the edge of the dock into the river. Either that or pretend to run into a tree. I’m not sure why, but I always found that hilariously funny.” The dwarf bend down, and much to Stumble’s disgust, picked up the hammer as though it were made out of parchment and jammed it into a loop on his belt. “So where’s Cubby at, anyway?”

Stumble thought about that for a moment. There hadn’t been any trouble or even any sign of trouble in the woods. He was pretty sure the reason Cubby had given to Peter for not wanting to make the journey this cycle had been bogus. “He just figured that someone else should have a chance to journey I guess. By the way, if you don’t mind me asking, who are you?”

“Really? That’s sort of odd. I figured he’d be here same as always. My name is Brennus. I live on the holding right within the border of the desert. My clan mines in the area and are also the guardians for that part of the desert. We make sure no one comes in and steals the magical stuff from there. In fact that’s how I met Cubby. No one told him about collecting berries and he figured he was supposed to just go in and take them. That’s how he almost got my hammer buried in his skull. Hmm, now let’s see. You’re either… Stumble or Surefoot and so far you’ve been pretty quiet and thoughtful so I bet you’re Stumble. Am I right?” the dwarf asked, looking as eager as a puppy.

“Yeah, I’m Stumble.”

“Cool, I knew it. Cubby also said that your nickname is wrong, that you hardly ever stumble at all.”

“Cubby told you that? Huh.” Stumble gnawed on that thought for a moment. He’d been called ‘Stumble’ by Pan after a few incidents of tripping over roots and things, but it apparently had simply been a matter of getting used to having stuff all over the ground like rocks, roots, limbs and other inconvenient stuff. He hadn’t actually tripped over anything in awhile, but hadn’t really thought that anyone else had noticed. “So now what happens?”

“We go on a grand adventure to the desert. It’s not that far away, about four days or so depending on how much seems to need to be done.”

Stumble looked surprised. “What needs to be done? Is there some sort of task that I do to get the berries or something? Are you coming with me?” He pointed to the dilapidated ferry dock, “and what about that? How do we get across now?”

“Wow, you’re just full of questions. C’mon, lets go back up to the main road. There’s another crossing a few klicks farther down. This place became haunted and no one would come to cross the river here.” Brennus started off towards the main trail with Stumble following behind. He found it interesting that no one had mentioned anything about having a dwarfling coming along with him or what sort of tasks he’d have to perform. Of course he hadn’t talked to Cubby, but to Leo. Stumble wasn’t sure when the last time Leo had gotten the desert berries had been and Brennus didn’t seem to know Leo at all. He grinned. Regardless, it was turning out to be a pretty cool adventure. He stopped for a moment and looked back at the deserted ferry dock. If he squinted just right it almost appeared there was a shape at one of the broken windows in a shed by the dock. Nice.

“What did they tell you about collecting desert berries?” Brennus asked as they moved off the spur to the landing and back onto the main trail.

“Not much. Just that I should follow the trail across the river until it went into the desert. That the people in the last steading before the desert would be able to tell me how to get the berries and that they were only a few hours in the desert. That was about it. No one mentioned you at all or that I’d need permission to get berries or anything.”

“Yeah, everyone forgets me,” Brennus said in mock sorrow. “I do all the work and the holding gets all the credit.” He grinned. “No big deal, no doubt Cubby figured he’d let you find out for yourself. He’s probably having a good laugh about the whole thing right now. If he ever gets hurt really bad, it’ll be a question whether the wound kills him or whether he laughs himself to death.”

Stumble nodded and filed that bit of information away in the back of his mind. Interesting some of the things he was finding out. “You mentioned something about stuff that needed to be done. What sort of stuff would that be?”

“Oh, it’s nothing like the great tasks of Abarta or anything like that, it’s simply…” Brennus came to a stop in the middle of the road and appeared to be listening to something. He grabbed Stumble and practically threw him into the underbrush at the side of the road and followed behind him. Stumble was amazed at how both quickly and gently he moved. “Don’t say a word and don’t move. Don’t even breathe if ye can help it.”

Stumble wondered what was going on, but stayed as still as he could. In a moment there was the sound of the beating of hooves, joined by loud voices and laughter. He peeked through the foliage to see a dozen horses go by ridden by men in purple and grey livery, all of whom had bows. A couple carried banners of a grey gryphon wearing a crown fighting a rampant lion on a purple field. The group cantered by and in a few moments was out of sight and earshot. Stumble started to stand, but Brennus put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Another minute or two passed and another liveried person appeared. Unlike the rest of the group, this human appeared to be about the same age as Stumble and Brennus. He had a bow too, but this one had an arrow laid across it and ready for use. He was leading a horse who moved as silently as a wraith. The boy scanned both sides of the path as he walked. He passed the spot where the Lost Boy and the dwarf were hiding without incident and also disappeared from sight in the direction of the earlier group. Stumble counted to 622 under his breath before Brennus nodded that it was safe to return to the trail.

“What was that all about?” Stumble asked when they reached the trail.

“Stupid royal patrol. They don’t normally have a thirteenth man, but sometimes they do. They don’t like dwarves and I’m not sure how they’d feel about some kid in a raccoon suit either. There was a big battle when the old king dies of ‘mysterious circumstances’. The new king, Reynold I, is an idiot. All he cares about is money, wenching, and bleeding his subjects dry.” Brennus slowly shook his head. “They didn’t use to come out this far, but like I said, they don’t like dwarves. They’d probably have given me a beating and I don’t know what they might do to you. Maybe nothing, but you can’t ever be sure. C’mon, lets make tracks. They won’t be back this way, but I want to get the ferry landing behind us.”

Brennus picked up his pace. Stumble followed in his wake and thought about what he had seen and wondered what, if anything, it meant for him. He had a million questions he wanted to ask Brennus about what was going on as well as what these ‘tasks’ were, but the encounter had the dwarf brooding, so Stumble figured it could wait awhile. No matter, Stumble had a feeling he wasn’t going to be at all bored on this journey and the prospect excited him.