The Forgotten Land

Chapter Nine

Both women stepped menacingly towards each other, neither willing to accept defeat and walk away.

Thankfully, someone spoke up before any fists or bullets could be exchanged. "Both of you," barked an unfamiliar voice, "calm yourselves! We don't need no more fighting on this trip! Endi, put away your gun."

Nite whipped her head towards the speaker. She was taken aback to see that the strong words came from the dwarf who had remained silent for so long. The dwarf, though tiny and older looking, had a confident air to him and he spoke his words with certainty.

Endi glared at him, but holstered her weapons. "Just hurry up," she growled at Nite. She turned on her heels and stomped away.

"You must forgive her," the dwarf mused, strolling up to Nite. "She is what we call a 'loose cannon'." He lowered his voice. "But, just between me and you, I emptied her gun before we came to request your services. She doesn't have any bullets in it."

Despite her circumstance, Nite snorted. "I don't think she would be pleased to know that. It gives me an unfair advantage."

"Try not to let her get to you. She's actually really nice once you get to know her, if you can look past her possible psychosis." He had a soft and gentle look in his eyes

Nite couldn't stop the laughter as she felt it bubbling up inside of her. She extended her hand. "My name is Nite."

He returned the hand shake with a smile. "I'm Iphos Almodovar, the doctor on board this trip. If Endi manages to get ahold of some ammunition and does shoot you, then I'll be the one to patch you up."

"So I'm guessing I should make sure that you like me."

"I already like you. You're the only person I've seen besides Craid who's talked back to her when she starts acting up. She's the most stubborn person ever and isn't very used to hearing people talk back to her."

Nite puffed up her chest with pride. "What can I say? I don't like to be bossed around by people I don't know."

Iphos glanced over at the supply carts, which were now almost empty. "I'd say you'd best start getting ready to head out. They're almost done unloading. Not that I'm trying to boss you around." He winked.

"So it would seem. I better start preparing to depart. Nice meeting you." Nite gave the doctor a brief bow before heading to the rear of the boat.

Bickum was there, struggling to untie the ropes that tethered the boat to the dock. The Celis always seemed to flow faster at night, and would normally carry them downstream fast enough. With the horses also assisting, Nite had a feeling it would be one of the fastest trips to date.

"Bickum," Nite murmured as she joined him, "I have a bad feeling about this. It's illegal to enter the jungle."

He unknotted one of the ropes. "Stump, nothing is illegal when you have a gun pointed to your head."

"If we're caught sailing into the jungle, we could lose everything. We would go to jail! The boat would be taken away from us!"

Bickum sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. There was a trace of fear in his eyes. "You know the stories of the jungle. You know that no one will be around to see us enter. And even if they are, they certainly won't expect us to leave. It is not these strangers with guns that we should fear."

"Any sane person would never be foolish enough to go there willingly. So, why are they going into it?" She pointed at the group, who were once again huddled together and talking secretively. "They're planning something, and whatever it is, I know it's dangerous."

"Maybe the jungle will get rid of them for us."

"As long as it doesn't kill us first," Nite grumbled. She undid the final rope and tossed it down onto the dock. She stumbled as the boat lurched forward, caught by the swift current. "But I hope they all die painful deaths."

"Stump," he sighed. He seemed at a loss for words and simply patted her on the arm. "Go get the horses started up. And don't get yourself shot."

"Whatever." She stumbled over to the horses, her legs not wanting to cooperate with the rocking boat.

The horses appeared steadier than her. They whinnied when Nite approached them. Slipping into the routine they knew so well, the horses began walking. The crank turned slowly at first, but slowly picked up speed. The boat began to go faster as the paddles turned and the trees that lined the riverbank began to pass by quicker.

As Nite stood by the working horses, Endi approached her. "Took you long enough to get this boat going."

Nite rolled her eyes and did her best to ignore the woman; Bickum's words were still ringing in the back of her head. Taking a piece of string out of her pocket, she tied her hair up so it would stop getting in her face. She kept her eyes locked on the horses.

"Did you hear me?" Endi taunted, stepping into her personal space.

"As a matter of fact, I did." Nite whipped herself in Endi's direction, throwing all her caution to the wind. "You need to listen to what I'm about to say. I will not tolerate your rudeness, your impatience, or your snobbish attitude. You show up at my house in the middle of the night, kidnap my father and I from our beds with guns to our head, and force us to take you downriver to an illegal, government-protected piece of land. I know you're doing something you shouldn't be doing, and I don't want you to drag me down with you. You will be patient with me."

Endi's mouth dropped in feigned surprise. "Me? Do something illegal? I don't know what you're talking about. We're doing nothing illegal because we have the permission of the king."

"Those words are empty to me." Nite looked Endi up and down, trying to decide if she could beat her in a fight. The woman was taller than her and definitely more muscular. A fight would not be a good idea.

"It doesn't matter if you believe me."

Nite rolled her eyes and walked away. She didn't trust herself not to attack the woman in front of her, no matter how low her chances of winning. She heard Endi huff with anger as she walked away, and it brought a slight smile to her lips.

Bickum and Craid were talking when she approached them. She ignored Craid and said to her father, "I'm going into the cabin to sleep."

"Before you do that, could you please bring out the poles and hammocks for our guests? I'm sorry that I'm having you do everything." He looked just as exhausted and drained as she felt.

She shrugged. "It's fine. That's what I'm here for."

Craid stepped in front of her as she tried to leave. "What are the poles and hammocks for?"

Nite gestured to the small wooden shack that had been added to the back of the boat. "Bickum and I sleep in there. We don't have any room on the boat for indoor quarters for guests, unless you want to sleep in the storage compartment. Since we're not evil, we give all our customers hammocks to sleep on."

Craid smiled at her. "That's very polite of you. You've been nice to us, even though we haven't been the kindest to you. Thank you."

"You're welcome." She had to turn around before Craid could see her laughing. If only the rest of his team was so good at faking politeness.