“Ah, you dang fishermen always stick together,” the younger voice said.
“Go mind your own business,” the other boy snarled. Then footsteps moved reluctantly away, down the dock. Gareth imagined that people with boats had to look out for one another, much as Tom had mentioned about helping each other when out at sea. For seamen, there were two kinds of people in their world. Boat people, and the rest. He suspected if the situation had been reversed, Tom would have reacted the same way to intruders on another man’s boat.
He forced himself to lie still, not knowing who else might be watching from only a few steps away. Movement under the tarp would alert them to something unusual, and any curiosity in others was unwelcome. He drifted off to sleep again, unable to stay awake after the day’s events. Tom’s voice woke him. He ordered someone to stow supplies in the bow, on top of the fishing nets, and Gareth felt the boat move as someone stepped aboard. One person. He resisted the instinct to lift the corner of the tarp for a look.
A few minutes later, another delivery arrived. Again, Gareth wanted to see what and who, but again he resisted the urge. Then, completely unexpected, he felt the motion of the boat change. Not the rocking of more feet coming aboard, but the gentle glide of a boat untied from the pier and drifting on its own. The oars creaked, and the boat surged ahead. Tom whispered, “Don’t get excited and try to climb out, yet. Eyes are always watchin’.”
The regular motion of the oars and the surges with each pull acted like a rocking chair. Gareth cradled his head next to the egg and closed his eyes, again. Finally, he woke with a start and noticed the sound of the oars had stopped. He kept his voice low, “Can I come out?”
“Bout time, you did.”
Gareth poked his head from under the tarp and winced at the brightness of the sun. “I guess I fell back asleep.”
“Your black dragon mama returned earlier, right after sunup. Flew over one time and gave us a look-see. Then she went looking off to the south, probably still searchin’ for any sign of you. Haven’t seen her since.”
The little hairs on his neck twitched with Tom’s words, and Gareth hastily glanced up to ensure the sky was still clear.
“Water jugs over there.” A hand showed the way. “And thick slices of cheeses and some hardtack. Got some dried pork, too. Pants and shirt layin’ on top of the seat you were sleeping under.”
Gareth reached for the clothing and paused. “These are new.”
“Seems like your old ones saved my boat when you wiped that dragon spit from the bottom hull. So, fair enough to get you new ones. Besides, I know a woman back there in Priests Point who sews clothes, cheap. I said to make them tall enough for me, but heavier. Only took her a while to cut and make them while I provided excellent company for her.”
Gareth smiled as he pulled on tan trousers made of a soft, heavy material, not unlike the sails, and buttoned them. The length of the legs was perfect. The shirt was pale green, with a trim of red ribbon around the neck. It felt a little loose, but it was nicer than any he’d ever worn. He imagined he looked good enough to court a girl, even Sara, Odd’s daughter. He scrambled to the bow and the water jars and drank more than half a bottle in a single swig. The cheese and hardtack lay to one side and a rag wrapped around dark strips of dried pork. He glanced at the old fisherman.
“Growing boys need food. Eat what you want.”
Gareth grabbed some hardtack, a slice of cheese, and two strips of pork. He settled on the seat that he’d slept under and faced Tom. The sail was up. He glanced at it to see if the holes the dragon spit had spread and found none. He did see several cleaner patches with new, white stitching on the edges.
The old man noticed the inspection. “Didn’t take long. Used a lantern to see by, but I wanted to leave Priest’s Point in something of a hurry last night and had to sew it in the dark. Seems the Brotherhood livin’ near there are searchin’ for a beardless man about your size and age. Got a sizable reward posted.”
“Brotherhood?”
“Men of the cloth. They watch and observe most everything. Sometimes they teach at a school or such.”
The word ‘teach’ alerted Gareth. He swallowed hard and tried to conceal his fear. “They wear long green robes with hoods?”
The fisherman took a wide look around, ensuring everything on the boat, in the sky, and on the sea, was as it should be before speaking. “They do. Shave their hair and eyebrows too. Seems like you’ve heard of them. Now I have a question or two for you to ponder. I want you to think on these questions along with me because they form a puzzle that I can’t seem solve in this old mind. I observed with my own eyes, the dragon that carried you from your village over on the other side of those mountains near Dunsmuir. I saw it dunk you in the ocean and attack you. So, I’m thinking there’s only one missing young man the Brotherhood is lookin’ for, and that’d be you.”
Gareth chewed on a piece of hardtack and washed it down with another drink without meeting Tom’s intent gaze. “Sounds about right. But I can’t tell you why they want me. I don’t know. I swear.”
“Okay, okay, but just follow my thinkin’ for a while, here, because I’m not concerned about the why, yet. See where I’m heading, first. That nasty old dragon snatched you up near your home across the mountains around first light yesterday, and flew you all the way to the Dunsmuir Sea, clear over the mountain tops.”
“That’s really what happened. The truth.”
“No roads pass through those mountains, so a man would have to go clear around them, way to the south, at least several days. Now figure this, for me. Your dragon drops you into the sea about mid-mornin.’ Near sundown, the very same day, the Brotherhood is searching for you at least five days travel away in Priests Point, and who knows where else. Does that sound more’n a little strange to you?”
“I already told you I don’t know why they’re looking for me,” Gareth said, again.
The old fisherman cast him a penetrating glance and shook his head once before continuing as if talking to a child. “Sounds strange to me because it’s true dragons can fly that far in one morning; I seen it myself. Stands to reason because they fly right over mountain tops. The question I have is, how do the Brotherhood in Priest’s Point already know you’re missing? How’d they find out so fast? Take a man a week to walk across them mountains, or more. But they know about you the same day.”
Gareth glanced warily up at the sky again just to make sure it was clear, then nodded as he began to understand. “Now I see what you’re worried about. You’re not asking why they’re looking for me. You wonder how do they already know to look for me.”
“Both would be interesting questions to answer, but you’re right. Flying dragons, I can understand. But the Brotherhood knowing about things happening so far away almost as fast as dragons can fly is a puzzle.”
“I call the Brotherhood ‘teachers’ and they’ve watched over me since I went to Dun Mare as a young boy. But I have no idea of how word of me leaving there traveled so fast. It doesn’t seem possible unless one of them also flew on the back of a dragon.”
Tom spit at the ocean, letting his eyes roam the sky, water, and boat one more time. He pulled the rope that tightened the sails and watched the result for a few heartbeats. “I’m thinking the Brotherhood knows more than one thing we normal people don’t. I’m also thinking you also know more’n you’re saying’.”
Gareth glanced around at the open sea to avoid responding. Tom had a right to know everything. He’d risked his boat and life for Gareth. “How can you tell where we’re sailing?”