Dragons of the Watch (8 page)

“Look, sandwiches.” He picked up one to examine, knowing he would not divert her attention. “This one has pickles and mustard.” He offered it to her. “Do you like pickles and mustard?”

She took the sandwich without comment, but Bealomondore saw the suspicion in her eyes. He tried to win her with a little cordial conversation.

“What? If you don’t like pickles and mustard, there’s another sandwich.” He picked it up to check the contents. “Oh dear, more pickles and mustard.”

Her attention shifted to the sandwich in her hand. She lifted the top piece of bread a bit. “There’s greens, tomato, and some kind of meat as well. You needn’t go on and on about the pickles and mustard.”

“Then you do like pickles and mustard?”

She turned to look at him, her eyebrows scrunched down and her mouth pressed in a firm line. “It doesn’t really matter whether I like pickles and mustard. It really doesn’t! I wish you’d stop talking about pickles and mustard and sandwiches.”

Bealomondore did his best to sound sympathetic. “Aren’t you hungry?”

“I’m starving!”

“That explains it then.”

“Explains what?”

“Why you’re a bit peevish.” He smiled even though she showed signs of inflicting violence on him. Her empty hand had balled into a fist. “Let’s eat, and then we’ll both feel better. Do you mind if I thank Wulder for our food?”

“Wulder? Who’s Wulder? I thought you didn’t know who left the sandwiches.”

“I’ll give you a complete explanation of Wulder after we eat, and all good things come from Wulder, either directly or indirectly. I’ve often thought He might be the provider. But that’s a discussion for after we eat.” Bealomondore pointedly bowed his head to cut off any further comments. “Oh, Wulder, I thank You for this meal and for bringing Ellicinderpart Clarenbessipawl to Rumbard City. Help us to work together to find a way out. Thank You for meeting our needs even before we ask. And bless this food.”

He lifted his eyes to find her staring at him wide-eyed and slack-jawed. He took a bite of his sandwich and winked at her.

“Delicious. Try it.”

Raising the sandwich to her open mouth appeared to be an automatic movement. But once she chomped down on that first bite, an expression of delight came over her. She chewed, swallowed, and took another bite. Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

A feeling of satisfaction filled Bealomondore. She was enchanting in that unguarded moment. And his tension over their circumstances fled with the pleasure of a good meal. Perhaps he would be able to gain her trust. They could work together to solve the mystery of Rumbard, although by that time the coronation and wedding would have passed. He took another bite of his sandwich and hoped for a myriad of solutions to his varied problems.

The first to tackle would be the most immediate. What was he going to do with Ellicinderpart for the whole afternoon? He didn’t regard being her bodyguard as a productive way to spend his time. But he couldn’t let her roam around on her own.

“I usually go to the library in the afternoon. The horde runs wild,
and they get tired and cranky. I prefer to be out of their way, and since Old One won’t let them in, it’s a good time to do research on the city.”

She took out a handkerchief and wiped breadcrumbs from her lips. “I’d like to see the library, but I don’t know if I want to see the librarian.”

He took the two bottles and paper wrapping and jumped lightly to the sidewalk. “I don’t know that Old One is legitimately a librarian. But he does live there.”

“Did you search for him?”

She swung her legs back and forth while he deposited the trash in the butcher’s box. Stained blue and riddled with holes, her socks ought to be discarded.

“What did you do with your shoes?” he asked.

“Oh, my feet were sore from all the walking and the shoes were wet, so I took them off.”

“It doesn’t hurt your feet to run like we’ve been doing all morning?”

She blushed.

Bealomondore cringed inwardly at his social blunder. How could he, the suave portrait painter for the rich, be so insensitive? It must be the result of being a warrior in Chiril’s defense against Baardack. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“No, it’s all right.” She lifted her chin. “I take the goats out to the mountain pastures every day, and when the weather is fair, I go without my shoes.”

He nodded and moved to stand in front of her. He held his arms up and smiled. “Jump, and I’ll catch you.”

She slid off the bench, and he caught her waist easily, then lowered her to the ground.

He pulled his hands back, and turned to survey the fountain and the small park around it. “Well, where’s Tak? We have a bit of a walk.”

Ellie’s eyes fell on the words blazoned in gold across the front of the huge white building: Rumbard City Library.

Bealomondore led her around to the back of the building to a vent, and she watched as he unscrewed one of the two bolts that held the cover. The two other holes for screws were empty. Once he removed one, he slid the slatted metal sheet down. The grate made a steep and slippery stairway to climb. After Bealomondore helped her navigate the slats, he went back down to help Tak enter.

Ellie assisted the tumanhofer in lifting the cover into place and then holding it while he reinserted the screw. The tumanhofer wedged the loose bolt in between the wall and the cover in such a way as to keep it from swinging down and revealing the secret entrance.

Darkness shrouded the immediate area, but Ellie could see light in the distance. Tak trotted between stacks of wooden boxes. Ellie hurried to catch up.

Sunshine poured through a circular skylight in a round room surrounded by bookcases. Around the edges of the rotunda, plants in huge pots overflowed with thick, tangled vegetation that climbed the walls on its way to the ceiling. Some of the foliage qualified as trees in Ellie’s opinion.

In the center of a white marble floor, sofas and comfortable chairs sat on a lush patterned rug. Several small tables nestled up to the seats.
Books were piled high on one table, with more books stacked by the chair next to it.

Drawn to the place where someone obviously spent a lot of time reading, Ellie tiptoed as if she might disturb the unseen patrons of the library with her footsteps. She started at Bealomondore’s voice directly behind her.

“Old One has chosen a varied selection of reading material.”

She put her hand to her chest and spun to face him. “Don’t do that again,” she whispered.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Bealomondore pulled a contrite face.

Ellie didn’t trust him when he looked so abashed and preferred his cavalier demeanor much more. She could label him vain and arrogant and not have to fight the urge to depend upon him. She feared that he would gain her confidence only to trick her somehow.

In Glenbrooken, strangers, sophisticated strangers, were watched until proven proper, moral, and reliable. The villagers, her family, all the neighbors, everyone had manners, but no one was as polished as this well-to-do tumanhofer. She knew family and friends would readily lend a hand, but could Bealomondore be trusted? In Rumbard City, she was without the counsel of older, wiser voices. She would have to discern on her own from the evidence before her.

Bealomondore scaled a stack of books and climbed into the chair. “It’s here. Come on up.”

Curious, she followed his route to the top and peered over the arm of the chair to where Bealomondore struggled with a huge book. He dragged it to the back of the chair and propped it up against the cushion.

As he opened it, he glanced up at Ellie. “I think this is Old One’s journal.”

“His private journal?”

Bealomondore had the grace to look a bit embarrassed. “Well, yes. But he has to know someone is reading it because I never put it back in the position I found it. Some days it isn’t here. And sometimes I think he is writing
to
me because he mentions things that happened years ago like he wants me to know the history.”

“Then why doesn’t he just sit down here and wait for you, then tell you to your face?”

Bealomondore shrugged. “Perhaps if we ever find him, we can ask.” He looked at the open pages and back to Ellie. “Come down and read with me. See what you think.”

She slid down the upholstered arm and landed on the soft seat cushion. Her raggedy socks looked extra shabby next to the rich fabric of the chair. She sat cross-legged with her feet tucked under her skirt.

“Are we going to start from the beginning?” she asked.

“No, I’m looking for the last entry I read.” Bealomondore turned pages with effort. The small task involved walking from one side of the book, grasping the paper’s edge, and dragging it back. “Ah! Here we are.”

He stood back a few steps and looked up, then read the tidy script.
“The silence weighs heavily on my soul. When I can stand it no longer, I go to a window on the second floor and open it. Sometimes I can hear the birds. It is best at night, when insects serenade the cool breezes. It is worst when the remnant is close enough for me to hear their coarse screams, horrid laughter, taunts, and threats. Of course, they don’t bother me. None of their jeers are directed toward me. But they heap scorn upon each other. I’ve not seen an act of kindness in a century or more. But then, I don’t watch them as I used to. Observing their conduct saddens me beyond what I can
bear. To think that the mighty urohms are represented by selfish, grubby little fiends
.

“I wonder when I die how long they will go on in their perpetual childhood.”

Ellie let out a long, slow breath. “He doesn’t sound very happy, does he?”

Bealomondore sat down with his back against the arm of the chair. “No, he doesn’t.”

He clasped his hands and rested them on his knees. He appeared to be lost in thought, and Ellie did not disturb him. As he puzzled over whatever was on his mind, she read the second page in the book.
“I think perhaps Wulder has sent someone to take my place as guardian of the library. A tumanhofer—”

“Bealomondore, look.” She pointed to the lettering. “He does know you’re here. He’s mentioned you.”

The tumanhofer started and followed her pointing finger. He jumped up and read aloud.
“A tumanhofer visits the library. For almost two months now. At first I thought he was my overactive imagination, a vision of a dream of mine come true, or perhaps a thief who stumbled upon our bottled city. I can’t bring myself to talk to him. It’s been so long since I’ve had a conversation with anyone but myself. But since he came, I find I don’t talk to myself as much. I fear he will overhear me and jump out of some shadow to confront me. That would be most uncomfortable, and I am old. Surely he wouldn’t frighten an old man.”

The entry in the journal ended.

Ellie giggled. “I don’t think he wants you jumping out at him and scaring him to death. He obviously wanted you to be forewarned. Scare him, and he won’t answer any questions.”

Bealomondore took hold of the page and hauled it to the other
side. He glanced up and smiled. “Good guess. Listen to this.
‘I fear I would be scared to death. I am no longer striving to live longer, but my idea of a pleasant passing would be to sleep and not wake up.’
 ”

“That’s sad,” said Ellie.

“He often writes about years of being alone. I’ve only been here two months, and I have had too much of my own company.”

“So you are glad Tak and I showed up?”

He studied her for a moment before smiling. “You aren’t too bad.”

“You sound like one of my brothers.”

He winked at her. Her brothers never winked at her. Something passed through his expression that did not look like a brother at all. She looked away and wondered if the warmth in her cheeks meant she was blushing. Did the amount of heat determine the height of the red coloring? She looked back at him, but he didn’t seem to be aware of her discomfort. Perhaps he was as obtuse as her brothers.

He studied a fingernail on his hand. Her brothers would have had half a yard of dirt under their toenails and the other half under their fingernails.

Bealomondore put his clean hands on his thighs. “I have sisters and one brother. I enjoyed giving my sisters a hard time. My older brother did not take well to teasing.”

She laughed, then sobered. “I have lots of younger brothers and sisters, and I miss them. Bealomondore, we must find a way to get out of Rumbard City.”

He nodded, then turned, stretching out a hand to help her rise as well. “There are older journals on the floor. Shall we go down and see what we can find?”

Tak had been busy while they were occupied high on the chair. He munched on long, spindly leaves from one of the ornate plants. Holes
in the greenery indicated he had snacked from almost all the pots. He stamped his feet when he saw Ellie.

“There’s a park behind the library,” said Bealomondore. “I’ll take him out there.”

“I want to go too.” She went to Tak and rubbed his ears. “It’s not dangerous, is it?”

“The park isn’t, and the mob rarely comes close to the library.” Bealomondore walked between two bookshelves. “This way.”