They raced outside to the courtyard and saw Fluffy at the base of the dining hall window barking at the castle wall above him. Fred and Pat flew by a chuckling Ned, who's head was tilted back to look up at what the beast was barking. "I trust if we keep Fluffy with us we won't find Mr. Sins to be a problem."
The pair of youngsters dashed over to Percy, who stood a safe ten yards away from the growling and snarling Fluffy. "What happened?" Pat asked him in a hurried breath.
Percy shook his head, but kept his eyes facing upward. "I don't know. We stepped outside and this beast attacked us. Deadly Sins distracted the beast while I jumped aside."
"Distracted? Ah'd say he had his full attention," Canto quipped as he nodded up at one of the castle ledges high off the ground. Sins sat on the ledge with one leg dangling over the edge. His eyes were narrowed and they all imagined there was a scowl beneath the bandanna that covered his mouth.
Ned pulled at his beard and stepped toward the group of youngsters. He glanced between the beast and the captive with an amused expression. "I would say Fluffy here knows our dark-dressed companion." Ned called up to Sins, "you wouldn't happen to know this cantankus, would you?" Sins didn't reply, but Ned chuckled and stepped up to the cantankus. He patted the beast on the head and that soothed Fluffy's anger. "Well, either way we shall assure our safety by keeping Fluffy close at hand."
"Very close at hand," Canto agreed with a laugh.
"Would someone mind taking this Fluffy away so my guard can get down?" Percy requested.
"Fluffy, come here!" Fred called to the beast. Fluffy's demeanor dramatically changed, and those dark, sharp eyes turned to pools of softness. He turned and loped over to his boy, and covered Fred in a drool-dripping tonguing. Fred laughed and pushed the beast away, but Pat cringed and stepped away from them.
"That's disgusting," she commented.
"Yeah, want to try it?" he asked her.
Pat rolled her eyes. "No, I don't want to pet Fluffy-" at the sound of his name Fluffy whirled around and slapped his tongue across her face. When he realized what he'd done Fluffy stiffened, and his tongue slowly slid down to reveal Pat's bright red, slobber-covered face. Pat's fisted hands quivered at her side, and her teeth clenched together. The poor beast whimpered and slunk backwards behind Fred. "Get that mangy thing out of here," she growled at them.
"Um, yeah," Fred hastily agreed. He slipped onto Fluffy's back and rode the cantankus out into the city.
Pat walked stiffly toward the castle doors. Percy matched her steps. "I want to thank you-"
"Not right now," she snapped. Percy flinched and let her go inside alone.
Canto shook his head. "Nothing like a woman uncomfortably covered in slobber to remind me why Ah never married."
Tramadore raised an eyebrow. "Was this a common problem in your youth or was there another reason the dwarven women ran from you?"
The old dwarf smirked. "Ah may have been hasty in my proposals."
"And hasty to bed them all," Ned laughed.
Deadly Sins gracefully dropped down to the ground in a crouched position and Percy bowed to the gentlemen. "If you will excuse us, we have some packing to perform." The strange pair went into the city, and Canto scowled at their backs.
"Anyone that puts their faith in an assassin must be very rich or very powerful," he commented.
"Or both," Tramadore added. "He inherited a great wealth on his father's death, though we had to deprive him of enough to rebuild the town."
"A rich brat?" Canto asked them. "Has he any use to us?"
"His wealth will be useful," Ned pointed out. He pulled on his beard and watched the pair walk out of sight. "And he's said to be good with a sword."
"Every brat is good with a sword who buys the best teachers," Canto countered.
Tramadore shook his head. "I've seen him myself. He's excellent with a sword, but he didn't show himself very well during the battle. Pat tells me he vanished before the fight owing to cowardice."
Canto scoffed. "He doesn't seem much afraid to come with us now."
"No, he doesn't," Ned quietly mused.
"Bah, what are we bothering with a brat for?" Canto asked them. "His assassin is the dangerous one, and this adventure of ours tops them both."
Ned chuckled. "Yes, you could say they're dwarfed by our other problems."
Canto scowled. "Don't go insulting my race by putting that lot with 'em," he warned him.
Tramadore laughed and escorted his guests back into the study. "Our enemies are the filth of Canavar, not your traveling companions," he reminded his old friends.
"With an assassin as a traveling companion who needs Canavar?" Canto grumbled. "If the cantankus is left outside we're defenseless."
"We have more than the cantankus at our disposal," Ned told him. "The boy, Fred, knew Sins was here but hasn't the confidence to speak up."
"So we're relying on a hesitant boy and a cantankus to protect us from our own companions?" Canto quipped.
"Focus, my friends," Tramadore scolded them. "We have other worries than either Canavar or our allies."
Canto raised a brow as he seated himself in a chair. "Other worries? You mean the stones?"
"I mean the woman who gave Captain Hawkins that hairpin," Tramadore told them. He took his usual chair behind the desk and clasped his fingers together. "We know nothing of this woman, nor how she acquired the item for Tramadore. Do you know anything of her, Ned?"
Ned frowned and shook his head. "Nothing at all. I can't think of how she even gathered the knowledge of the item unless she read it in the library of Galaron."
"Captain Hawkins informed me she left the city before the Galaron army rode off to assist us," Tramadore replied. "She must have survived the attack."
"Probably, but she did us a good turn," Canto pointed out. "And Ah for one hope she survived to keep giving us such items."
Ned leaned back and chuckled. "That would make for a rather boring journey, and I for one look forward to the exercise."
Canto scowled at the old castor. "A journey? More like being jolted along by a horse through inhospitable territory with enemies at our backs and amongst us. Ah would call that an annoyance."
Ned shrugged. "A journey or an annoyance, it must be done to destroy the stones before they turn all the world into ruins."
Tramadore leaned forward over his desk toward the dwarf. "I received word that the city of Dirth had a stone. Isn't that your home?"
"As much my home as Galaron is now," Canto replied.
"Then you feel nothing for it?" Tramadore asked him.
Canto frowned and shifted in his chair. "Ah didn't say that, just that this gallivanting around the world isn't going to be a picnic."
"I'll have to remember not to bring my picnic basket," Ned mused with a sly smile on his face.
Canto jumped to his feet and scowled at Ned. "That's the attitude Ah'm talking about! This is Canavar and his ilk we're up against, and ya sit there smiling and laughing!" he exclaimed. "Have ya forgotten what he's capable of, and how we've been lucky he hasn't destroyed us all to rule the world?"
The humor slipped from Ned's face and he stood from his chair. "Ruling the world isn't his style, but I believe he would destroy it to achieve his ends."
Tramadore raised an eyebrow. "And what are those ends?" he asked the castor.
Ned closed his eyes and shook his head. "I can't say, but these stones must be destroyed before they destroy the people around them."
"You can't or you won't say?" Tramadore wondered.
"If you two will excuse me I have packing to perform," Ned apologized. He exited the room, leaving Tramadore curious and Canto fuming.
"That old fool reminds me why Ah don't trust him any more than that young boy with the assassin," Canto spoke up. "He knows more than he tells."
"And is our best authority on Canavar, along with being the most powerful castor I know," Tramadore reminded him.
Canto pulled at his short, thick beard and squinted his eyes where Ned had gone. "Yes, and Ah don't recall him being so almighty in his youth."
Tramadore shrugged. "People change, you should know that well enough, but now isn't time for talking. Don't you have some preparations to make on this trip?"
"Aye, Ah suppose," Canto agreed. The pair separated, but each wondered at Ned and his connections with Canavar.
Fred directed Fluffy out of the city and onto the crowded plains. The remnants of the stone were gone, carried away by the soldiers, and in its place was a market of goods that gave a brisk sale of necessities to the refugees. Tramadore and Galaron troops patrolled the stalls and tents, watching for thieves and other carrions. Among them was Hawkins, who acknowledged the boy with a nod.
Fred slid off his cantankus and led the beast through the large market. An old woman behind a simple wooden crate eyed him carefully as he passed. She stood in front of a large wagon, and chuckled at him and his pet. "A fine beast, my child, a fine beast. Does he have a name?" she asked him.
Fred stopped and petted the beast. "His name is Fluffy," he told the old woman.
"Ah! I have just the thing for a beast with that name!" she exclaimed. She turned and rummaged through the wagon. Pots and pans flew over her head and Fred ducked to avoid a concussion. Poor Fluffy got a few knocks on the head before she gave a cry of victory and held up large brush with many broken teeth. She turned and clasped the brush in front of her between her gnarled, clawed hands. "This is a very ancient treasure passed down by the dwarves. It grants great speed to a cantankus."
Fred looked carefully at the brush and raised an eyebrow. He glanced at Fluffy, the hairless beast. "Are you sure it's for a cantankus?"
"Absolutely. It will make him much faster," she insisted.
"How?" he asked her.
The old woman chuckled. "Why, by smoothing back their hair they become more aero-dynamic. Less wind resistance, you see." Fred blinked. He had no idea what she'd just said. The old woman rolled her eyes, grabbed his hand and slammed the brush into his open palm. "Believe me, my son, it'll make him faster."
"Um, thanks, but I don't have any-" Fred paused, squinted his eyes and leaned in toward the old woman. There was a familiar shimmer about her face.
"Fred!" a voice called out. Fred swung around to see Hawkins marching toward him. When the boy looked back the old woman and her wagon of wonders was gone. Hawkins came up behind him. "You've been called to the castle by Ned. It's something urgent."
"Oh, yeah, sure. Be right there," Fred absently replied. His focus was still on the empty patch of ground and the brush in his hand.
Hawkins glanced between the boy and where he stared. "Is there a problem?"
"What? Oh, I don't know," Fred answered. He nodded at the spot. "Um, did you see an old woman at this spot just a second ago?"
"There are too many old women here for me to keep track of a single one," Hawkins countered. "But I was told the message from Ned was urgent."
"Oh right. Thanks for telling me," Fred replied. He stuffed the brush into his waistband beside his broken stick, swung himself onto Fluffy's back and rode off to the city.