Ned led Fred and Fluffy out into the courtyard and past the ugly looks of all the guards. The old man smiled and nodded his head at each of them, and a few returned the compliment with rude gestures. Fred was glad to leave them and the castle behind, but the staring didn't stop at the castle gates. Citizens did double-takes and stuck their heads out windows to see the cantankus. They murmured to one another, and Fred eased closer to Ned. "Shouldn't we put a blanket or something over Fluffy?" he whispered to him.
"They're only curious," Ned pointed out. "So long as we don't start a panic we'll be-"
At that moment they happened to pass a side-street with a push-cart filled with roasted chickens that hung from the triangular canopy. The lower part was a hot box filled with more of the delicious fowl. Fred leaned a hand on Fluffy's back, and the next moment he teetered over onto the ground. Fluffy barreled down the street toward the cart, dreams of dark meat in his eyes. The owner had his back to them until he heard the pounding feet. He turned with a smile that transformed into horror as he watched this large creature with its tongue out racing toward him. He screamed like a girl, grabbed the handles of his cart and raced down the street.
Fluffy howled at the challenge of chasing his food and his lips curled back in a wide grin. The smile terrified the cart owner, who flew around the corner onto a busy street. People screamed and yelled, and dove out of the way of the cart as it went careening through the crowds. Fluffy bolted around the corner and crashed into several people who were picking up themselves from the streets. The cantankus ran over them and after the cart.
Ned and Fred skidded out of the street and used the rising people to stop their slide. "Pardon us," Ned apologized. Fred nodded at the furious citizens, and the pair were off after their beast.
Fluffy was fifty yards ahead of them and gaining on the cart. The poor owner's eyes were wide and his heaving, round stomach bounced slower with each failing step. He looked over his shoulder and the drool from Fluffy's open mouth flew into his face. The thick, oozing water blinded him and he didn't notice the wall until the front of his cart hit it.
He flew over the handles and box of the cart, and was cushioned from the wall by the roast chickens. Fluffy yipped and put his claws ahead of him to slow his speed, but he tripped and tumbled forward. He collided with the cart and opened his mouth to grab as many of the chickens as he could gobble up.
Ned and Fred came up to the scene of the crash and crime, and their faces fell. The cart owner lay dazed on the ground and Fluffy sat by the remains of the cart with the remains of chickens laid out around him in a circle of sacrifice. Ned glanced over to Fred, and Fred to the old man. Ned smirked and shrugged. "Perhaps Pat won't find out about this trouble," he hoped.
All hopes were dashed when they heard the clanking of armor, and the sounds grew louder. A troupe of guards appeared out of the amused and stunned crowds, and the lead guard saw the companions against the wall. He pointed his spear at them, and his red face showed his anger. "You there!"
Fred and Ned paled, and they both raced over to Fluffy. The beast heard the yelling and its ears perked up. The guards crashed through the crowds toward them, and all the noise and yelling startled the beast. He took another chomp of chickens and turned tail to run. Fred and Ned nimbly climbed aboard his back on the turn around and Fluffy dashed forward.
The lead guard yelled a command and spears rained down on them. Fluffy ducked and dodged weapons and people, and skidded into a narrow alley. His shoulders scraped the sides, but he pressed forward. Fred in the rear seat looked over his shoulder and saw the guards try to take the alley entrance two at a time. Their metal shoulder pads caught on each other and the other sides dug into the stones of the buildings. They stuck fast and the rear guards couldn't get under or over their companions.
The companions were safe, but Fluffy didn't know that. He sped through the alleys and his passengers clung precariously to his back. "Fluffy! Stop!" Fred yelled at him, but the beast wouldn't listen.
Fluffy's speed meant he didn't take the corners very well, and one sharp turn was too sharp. His feet slipped and he yipped on the slide down. The beast rolled head-over-heels and his passengers were ejected, though not before Fluffy slammed his large body into a wooden wall. They all crashed through the broken boards and ended up in a bed of straw.
There was silence in the building for a few moments until Fred and Ned popped their heads out of the hay. The boy spit out the filth in the pile and looked around. They were in a large, worn stable, and they had landed in one of the stalls. On the opposite wall over the stall door he could see large saddles and blankets. Fred didn't see one important person: Fluffy was missing. He whipped his head this way and that, but there was nothing of the beast. "Fluffy!" he called out. "Fluffy!"
The cantankus stuck his head out of the straw nearby and gave Fred a big lick. The young man pushed the beast away, but there was a smile on his lips.
"Well, well, look what the cantankus dragged in," a voice spoke up. All three of them shot their heads up and found themselves staring at a grizzled old man with worn hands and an eye patch. His few strands of hair were slicked back and he wore dirty clothes that reeked of cantankus. "Ah, that explains the screams. I thought they sounded like your work," the man spoke up with a grin. "But what brings you three in here? Come for some of my cantankus saddles?"
Ned smiled, and hefted himself onto his feet. "It seems we have arrived."
"We have?" Fred asked him.
"Where else would a cantankus go for safety but to a cantankus workshop?" the stranger countered. Ned laughed and heartily shook hands with the stranger while Fluffy and Fred looked on with confused expressions on their faces. "What a surprise to see you, ya old coot!" the stranger greeted Ned.
"The same to you, old friend," Ned returned. "I was very surprised to hear you still resided in the city."
"Yes, but in semi-retirement. The demand for my trade has been slow of late," Canto replied, for he was the man they sought.
Ned turned and gestured to Fluffy and Fred. "Then you are in luck. We have brought you a fine specimen of the breed, but a trifle on the disobedient side."
"So I noticed," Canto mused with a smile. "Let me get you three out of there and have a look at the beast." Canto stooped out of sight and opened the door to the stall. Fred was surprised to find the man wasn't a man at all, but a dwarf. He'd stood on a box to see over the top of the stall door. Fred moved aside so Canto could kneel in front of the large beast. The cantankus trainer looked Fluffy over and gave a nod of approval. "Very nice one, though a little undernourished." He sniffed the beast's breath. "Though I don't know how with such a stench of chicken over him."
"He is trying his best to make up for lost time," Ned replied. "But we wish to know what you can do about his temperament."
Canto glanced over his shoulder at Ned. "You mean you want a saddle and collar." Ned grinned and bowed his head. Canto straightened up and rubbed his chin with his hand. "Well, it's a fine beast and I'll be glad to make a saddle with it, but there's a matter of pay." He cast a glance at Ned, and his eyes narrowed. "Do you have anything to exchange for my services?" Ned pulled out a small bag and shook it; the contents jingled like coins. Canto snatched it from Ned's hand and opened the drawstrings. A grin slid onto his lips and he glanced up at Ned. "You've pulled this trick on me before, Ned." He tossed the bag back to Ned. "Pay-dirt doesn't pay for the leather." Ned smiled and pocketed the bag. He pulled out another and gave that to Canto, who counted the coins.
Ned frowned. "They're all good."
"That's not what I'm worried about," Canto muttered. He glanced up and nodded behind them. The pair turned and noticed the sizable hole in the wall. "This had better cover that damage."
Ned sighed and pulled out a smaller bag of coins. The extra pay satisfied the old trainer, and he slipped the bag into his clothes. Then he looked over the boy and the beast, and rubbed his hands together. Fluffy and Fred glanced nervously at each other. "Now when should we start?"
"Immediately, if you're available," Ned requested.
Canto held up his arms and gestured to the cobwebs and empty stalls. "At the present I have all the time in the world."
Ned nodded. "Good, we'll need some careful attention to this job."
Canto raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Something in the wind, or are you bringing it on your heels?"
"Both, old friend. I'm sure you heard the girl of prophecy arrived today." Canto nodded. "We are her guardians, and the king has informed us he has a surprise at her birthday party tomorrow evening."
Canto frowned. "That fools expects to put on a show, and you worry the price of admission will be high?" he guessed.
"Precisely," Ned replied.
The trainer pulled up his pants and sighed. "Well, if the party is tomorrow then I had better get started. Who gets the collar?"
Fred blinked. "Fluffy gets it." They only had one beast.
Canto's face drooped, and his eyes shot over to Ned. "This is your doing, isn't it?"
Ned held up a hand. "I blame the gods for my actions."
"Yeah, when it suits your needs." Canto looked over the cantankus. "So its name is Fluffy, but that still doesn't answer my question about who gets the collar."
"This boy will have the collar," Ned answered him.
"Wait, what?" Fred yelped as he jumped up. He wasn't a beast.
Canto held up his hands and fanned them toward the boy. "Calm down there, son, no one's going to hurt you. I just need to fit you for a collar."
Fred backed up toward the damaged wall and Fluffy, sensing the boy's fear and confusion, jumped in front of Fred. He arched his back and growled at both men. Neither stepped back, but they didn't approach. Canto folded his arms across his chest and nodded. "I can see why you chose the boy. The beast has a great deal of affection for that one. I imagine he'd turn on you to save him."
Ned gave a nod. "Yes, I would have to agree."
Canto pulled up his pants and looked Fluffy square in the eyes. "All right, cantankus, let me through. You'll be fitted with yer own collar soon enough."
"Why am I being fitted with a collar?" Fred asked the pair.
The old trainer paused, and glanced over to Ned. "Did you tell the lad what he was getting into before you brought him here?"
Ned smiled and shrugged. "He's a little green with the world, so I thought it best for you, as a superb trainer, to explain the relationship to him."
Canto glared and grumbled, but turned back to the boy and his dog. "Listen here, my lad. You being fitted with a collar is part of training your cantankus. It lets you communicate with them." He walked over to the opposite wall and grabbed a large collar with a smaller one inside it. "Look here now. This is one of my own collars." He pointed at the big one. "This was for my old cantankus before age got him, and this one-" he nodded at the smaller one that wrapped around his hand, "-this one was mine. Won't fit me much with all these chins now, but what I'm trying to say is yer going to need to be fitted, and it won't hurt none to do it."
Fred relaxed and put a hand on the back of Fluffy's neck. "I guess, but what'll this do to me? How would it help me control Fluffy?"
"Well, it lets you talk with him in another way, kind of like fancy mind-speak that some castors can pull off." Fred blinked, and Canto sighed. "I'm guessing you don't know much about that, either, do ya?" The boy shook his head. "Well, it'll help ya talk easy to this, er, Fluffy, and you'll calm him down right quick. You understand?"
"Yeah, I guess," Fred replied. He shuffled around Fluffy.
Canto smiled and wrapped a thick arm around the young man's waist. "There we go, now we're talking. Let's get you fitted in a hurry. I have to help with the fireworks this evening. Someone hereabouts heard I was handy with gunpowder."
Fred's eyes lit up. "Fireworks? Why?"
"That girl you brought here. We're celebrating her birthday for the next few days, starting off with a good show of sparkles," Canto replied with a laugh. "Maybe the girl would like to come see them and know the folks here, since she'll be having a lot to do with us from now on."
Ned caught Fred's attention, and his eyes twinkled. "Perhaps that wouldn't be a bad idea. She would appreciate the reprieve from her duties."
Fred got the message,and furrowed his brow. He didn't know how he could get her out of the castle so it was just the two of them, but if it would make her smile than it'd be worth the trouble. His planning was interrupted when a string wrapped around his neck and he choked out a cough.
"Sorry about that," Canto apologized, and he pulled the string away. The string had measuring notches in it, and Canto did the same with Fluffy's neck. "I'll have to keep your cantankus for a day or two to fit the saddle just the way he likes it, otherwise you're liable to be tossed off, and when a cantankus tosses you you fly a real good distance."
"Wait, so we have to leave Fluffy here?" Fred asked him. He was alarmed with leaving his pet-steed in the hands of a stranger.
Ned came up to him and patted the boy on the shoulder; he had a smile on his face. "There's no one more trustworthy than Canto here. He'll even give the thing a bath, I hope."
Canto cringed and shot a glare at Ned, who frowned back. The trainer's shoulders slumped and he nodded. "Fine, fine, but don't expect any soap to be used."
Fred looked the old trainer up and down. The man looked like he hadn't bathed in a month, much less used soap. Ned was satisfied, and directed Fred toward the door. "We'll be off. Send a boy when you're done and we'll fetch Fluffy."
Fred glanced over his shoulder, worried about his poor beast, but his face fell when he beheld the creature snuggling up against Canto. "Traitor..." he grumbled.
They left the large barn-like stable and were mindful to stay away from the scene of Fluffy's crime. They passed the time wandering through the city streets until they came to one of the larger, older squares. A fountain stood in the center, and atop the pedestal in the middle stood a larger-than-life statue of a man in military regalia. The man stood atop a strange, winged creature who flailed beneath his boots.
Fred saw there was a plate at the base of the fountain walls, and went over to it. Words were written on it, but he still couldn't read. Ned came up behind him, glanced between the boy and the plate, and read the words. "His Royal Highness, King Stephen George Frederick Carrot Albert Galaron the Fourth, who protected the city from foes inward and outward. Commission by his son, King Stephen George Frederick Carrot Albert Galaron the Fifth." Ned wrinkled his brow. "Built nearly fifteen years ago..." he muttered.
Fred furrowed his brow. "Inward and outward? What's that mean?"
Ned pulled at his beard and solemnly looked over the words. "Spies perhaps, or others who caught his suspicion. The Galaron family is very careful to keep their enemies at a great distance, if they recognize them."
Fred guessed Ned meant the strange woman. "Do you think that lady's an enemy?" he asked Ned.
The old man frowned and shook his head. "I can't be sure without more careful study, which alas means we must return to the castle. There is also the unanswered question of our protecting Pat