The Rats Refrain - ONC 2023

Chapter 2 - Gwen

Present day

For as long as I can remember, I have called Grotwick Thorpe my home. If there was a time before it with my parents, that was gone, along with any memories of them.

I was lucky my aunt and uncle had agreed to take me in after my parents passed away. Few others would have been so fortunate. A fact they are only too happy to remind me of whenever I spent too long with my nose in a book instead of doing the chores they deem more important.

But if there's one thing that reading history and fairy tales taught me, it's that you don't make promises you have no intention of following through on.

A lesson Mayor Merridean either never learnt, or chose to ignore when he made an agreement with the stranger who promised to free our town from the clutches of cursed rats.

I could see he was regretting it already as we watched him send a charismatic smile into the crowd. "Thank you." He declared with a wave of his hands to the hooded stranger.

The thin sheen of sweat on his upper lip and the slight tremble of his hand were enough to tell me that despite his proclamation of gratitude, he was afraid of the stranger. Whatever he had agreed to give the stranger had to be impressive considering the feat he had just achieved.

The crates were silent, but they had reliably informed us they were full to the brim with the rats that had terrorised our town.

No more clawing our doors and windows in an attempt to get inside. No more frightened horses and panicked running from building to building.

Maybe now I'd even be able to go for a walk without fearing for my life.

For as long as I could remember, the rats had run the streets, but they had increased in numbers in the last few weeks and we had almost lost hope of ever being free of them.

The stranger didn't speak as he stood alongside the Mayor and his family at the head table. Merely nodding his head as if the accomplishment of capturing the vicious little creatures to remove from our town had been just another Tuesday to him.

Perhaps it had been? We knew nothing of this man, save for the fact he was the latest in a long line of strangers who had promised to save us.

I leaned a little further out of the booth, ignoring my Aunt Lucy's tut of disapproval, as I tried to catch a glimpse of the face beneath the cloak. All I could see was the darkness where it should be. There was no way to tell who he was, or where he was looking as he spun what looked to be a hand crafted wooden flute between his fingers.

I wondered if he might play it for us later. Why else would he be carrying it?

"As promised," Mayor Merridean continued, holding out a small wooden chest, "fifty gold pieces in recognition of our thanks."

The stranger took the box without speaking, allowing a brief glimpse of tanned forearms before the cloak covered them again.

Was that it? The Mayor had gold aplenty, more than enough that this should be nothing to him. So why was he so unsettled by the reward giving?

"And my other required payment?" The softly accented male voice was so at odds with the stranger's dark and mysterious appearance.

My forehead creased into a frown. How could something so lyrical come from someone so deadly?

Mayor Merridean looked uncomfortable as he shifted back a step. "It will be ready to leave in your carriage at first light." He promised, voice trembling slightly, "For now, let us celebrate your impressive feat." He clapped his hands, and the band at the far left of the raised stage immediately broke into song.