Read Online Descent Into Darkness (Book 2) by James R. Vernon - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: James R. Vernon
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he said, waving over at the man that had given Ean the mug, "is trying his best to get us fired from this job."
"Hey!" the man said, looking embarrassed. "I kept the wagon from rolling down that hill. It's hard to get fired when you've never actually done anything wrong. I'm Baird Tulman, by the way. "
"What my soon-to-be son-in-law fails to mention," Wil said with a grimace, "is that the reason they almost tipped was because his attention was on writing a letter to my daughter when he should have been watching where our wagon was going. All it takes is one major mistake with a Hawkpurse family to find yourself not only without a job, but also unable to find a new one. And that's if they go easy on you. My one friend, Dade Trilman, lost a delivery for the Soushade family once and they--"
"There you go again," Baird cut in, "telling that same old story. No one has ever even heard of this so-called friend of yours. I think you just made up that story. If the all of the Hawkpurse families were as bad as you say, I doubt they would let you go on spreading rumors about them."
"They don't do anything because they are too powerful to worry about a simple man like me. And Dade was a real person, he lived down by..."
Ean felt a nudge at his side and turned to see Phil tapping him lightly with his elbow.
"They will be at this for a while, I think," Phil whispered. "Might as well get some of the stew and sit back and watch the show."
Leaning in, Lyde voiced his opinion as well. "This happens every night. My brother is a bit of a hot head and his future son-in-law is as stubborn as a rock. We don't let them drive the wagons together during the day, but we let them go at each other at night. It's great entertainment, and I think it lets them both relieve a little stress. Here," he said, passing a bowl and spoon to Ean, "help yourself to the stew."
Ean accepted the bowl and filled it with a warm, steaming broth from the pot over the fire. The stew contained bits of vegetables and meat, nothing special but certainly filling. He enjoyed it so much that he ate two more bowlfuls, all the while Wil and Baird argued over everything from how to properly catch fish in the pond in their village to how best to seal a roof. Ean couldn't keep track of how the topics changed so rapidly, but he did agree with Wil's brothers--it was certainly entertaining to watch the two.
The arguments stopped when they both realized that the stew was almost completely gone, and all five of them sat around talking about their families and homes. Except for Ean, of course. After seeing Trait's reaction when he had mentioned Rottwealth, he decided to make up a story about growing up in Rensen. It turned out the other four had never been there, so Ean was free to make up whatever suited him. After telling what he considered to be an excellent story, which concluded with his brush with the bandits that attacked the village, Ean deflected the attention back to the other men. It wasn't hard; all four of them seemed to love to talk.
They ended up talking well into the night. By the time they were all yawning more than speaking, all three moons hung high in the sky. Wil offered to give Ean and Azalea a ride the following morning and took a few moments to show him where their wagon was sitting. Thanking Wil for his hospitality, Ean made his way back to his tent.
To his surprise, he found Azalea missing from the tent and not asleep as he had hoped, but he should have known better. Focusing his attention, he could feel the stronger aura that Azalea's connection to the Abyss gave off but figured he would leave her be. Azalea had promised to stay out of trouble after all, and if they were going to be traveling together, he had to start trusting her.
Zin, of course, was also nowhere to be found. It took a little more effort for Ean to feel the imp's much smaller presence. Ean eventually sensed him towards the other side of the camp, more along the edges of it actually.
"Hey!" the man said, looking embarrassed. "I kept the wagon from rolling down that hill. It's hard to get fired when you've never actually done anything wrong. I'm Baird Tulman, by the way. "
"What my soon-to-be son-in-law fails to mention," Wil said with a grimace, "is that the reason they almost tipped was because his attention was on writing a letter to my daughter when he should have been watching where our wagon was going. All it takes is one major mistake with a Hawkpurse family to find yourself not only without a job, but also unable to find a new one. And that's if they go easy on you. My one friend, Dade Trilman, lost a delivery for the Soushade family once and they--"
"There you go again," Baird cut in, "telling that same old story. No one has ever even heard of this so-called friend of yours. I think you just made up that story. If the all of the Hawkpurse families were as bad as you say, I doubt they would let you go on spreading rumors about them."
"They don't do anything because they are too powerful to worry about a simple man like me. And Dade was a real person, he lived down by..."
Ean felt a nudge at his side and turned to see Phil tapping him lightly with his elbow.
"They will be at this for a while, I think," Phil whispered. "Might as well get some of the stew and sit back and watch the show."
Leaning in, Lyde voiced his opinion as well. "This happens every night. My brother is a bit of a hot head and his future son-in-law is as stubborn as a rock. We don't let them drive the wagons together during the day, but we let them go at each other at night. It's great entertainment, and I think it lets them both relieve a little stress. Here," he said, passing a bowl and spoon to Ean, "help yourself to the stew."
Ean accepted the bowl and filled it with a warm, steaming broth from the pot over the fire. The stew contained bits of vegetables and meat, nothing special but certainly filling. He enjoyed it so much that he ate two more bowlfuls, all the while Wil and Baird argued over everything from how to properly catch fish in the pond in their village to how best to seal a roof. Ean couldn't keep track of how the topics changed so rapidly, but he did agree with Wil's brothers--it was certainly entertaining to watch the two.
The arguments stopped when they both realized that the stew was almost completely gone, and all five of them sat around talking about their families and homes. Except for Ean, of course. After seeing Trait's reaction when he had mentioned Rottwealth, he decided to make up a story about growing up in Rensen. It turned out the other four had never been there, so Ean was free to make up whatever suited him. After telling what he considered to be an excellent story, which concluded with his brush with the bandits that attacked the village, Ean deflected the attention back to the other men. It wasn't hard; all four of them seemed to love to talk.
They ended up talking well into the night. By the time they were all yawning more than speaking, all three moons hung high in the sky. Wil offered to give Ean and Azalea a ride the following morning and took a few moments to show him where their wagon was sitting. Thanking Wil for his hospitality, Ean made his way back to his tent.
To his surprise, he found Azalea missing from the tent and not asleep as he had hoped, but he should have known better. Focusing his attention, he could feel the stronger aura that Azalea's connection to the Abyss gave off but figured he would leave her be. Azalea had promised to stay out of trouble after all, and if they were going to be traveling together, he had to start trusting her.
Zin, of course, was also nowhere to be found. It took a little more effort for Ean to feel the imp's much smaller presence. Ean eventually sensed him towards the other side of the camp, more along the edges of it actually.
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