“On the way back to town, I read and reread the note, a frown forming on my face. It was quite unlike the formal letter of the night before, instead it looked to have been hurriedly penned and simply read:”

  `Silas, I am being held captive against my will

  and if you feel there remains any debt between us

  would you please meet with me tomorrow night by the

  crofter’s cottage, just past the village mile marker.

  I will explain all then.`

  “It was unsigned, but could only have come from one source. I sat quietly in thought for the rest of the journey back to town, trying to make some sense of what I had just read. Was it bandits? A rival merchant practicing skullduggery? What possible help could I be? Should I alert the town authorities?”

  “As the mile marker to town came into view I noticed a partially burned house, overgrown with weeds.”

  ““Who lives there?”, I asked the driver.”

  “Just ghosts”, he said while making a sign to ward off evil. “It’s been abandoned since I was a boy after the previous occupants died when their home was struck in a winter storm, and none have dared claim it since, you can still hear them at night some say”.

  “I too made a sign to ward off evil, which the driver seemed to appreciate. “Nasty business”, I said, wondering to myself why Syrene would choose such an ill-omened place for a meeting.”

  “Back in town, I arranged for some more permanent lodgings, taking a room upstairs with an old matron called Mother Marta who was partially sighted and must have mistaken my formal robes for a priest’s cassock as she kept calling me Father.”

  “It was a small room but sufficient for me and I had a nice view of the riverside and the comings and goings on the wharf. It also had its own set of stairs down to ground level so I could enter and leave without disturbing my landlady.”

  “We had a quiet dinner and I spent my evening moving the rest of my belongings from the Bean and planning out who to meet tomorrow in regards to the state of carpentry in the town, also wondering if I should perhaps talk to an actual priest and get some advice about my dilemma.”

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  “Early in the morning I slipped down the back stairs, the market stalls were still unpacking and there were still quite a few yawning faces as I made my way to the tradesmans stalls. My hope was to catch an apprentice that I could interrogate for directions to the local carpenters, but that proved unnecessary as I found two of them arguing quite loudly at each other and pointing to a slightly damaged lectern lying on the ground.”

  “Good sirs”, I said, stepping forward, “Please, let us sort this with dignity”.

  “Both men stopped and turned to look at me, then noticed my Masters Chain that I was wearing - I’d decided before leaving the house that it would probably save me having to prove myself, and in this case it did cause them pause. “Who are you?” they asked.”

  “I introduced myself as Master Silas, guild carpenter travelling from the South in search of apprentices. I looked down at the lectern, “I suppose that was headed for the Church before it met its untimely demise?” One of the men grimaced, “Took a week to get that right, then this lummox, he pointed at the other man, had to trip me!” At this the other man roared out “You were bloody running, not looking where you were going! I mean what sort of idiot runs while carrying Church furniture!” I calmed the men down and said I was sure I could fix it for them this morning, if they had the tools available - I was a master carpenter after all.”

  “You would do that?” One asked, what’s the hidden price? “A pint and a chat about apprentices” I said, “I don’t want to spend a week wasting my time on every passing logger’s get trying to escape the forest.”

  “Silas”, I said, “wasn’t that a description of you a few years back?”.

  “True, it wasn’t my proudest moment, but it did get them to stop their fight and lead me back to a workshop that they both seemed to share. I quickly replaced the broken part then offered to add some finer filigree for free - which was quickly agreed.”

  “After dropping off the lectern, we met for drinks in the tavern and I asked them if they had much dealings with the merchants in the manors hereabout. “You mean the Vltava”, Tripper said, “Ain’t no other nobs around here, nah - they don’t deal with the likes of us. Their people arrive on ships and leave on ships. Wait, didn’t ‘you’ arrive on a ship?” Runner peered at me, “I assure you”, I said, “before last night I had never heard the name Vltava, and as for my ‘ship’ the Bean is closer to a log with a pole than a ship.” Both men guffawed at that and we then got sidetracked discussing how business was going, me quite forgetting to get advice on apprentices”.

  “The rest of the afternoon I wandered about town, sightseeing basically. If I was going to be spending any time here I wanted to get a feel for its atmosphere and hopefully find the businesses that I would need to deal with for timber, tools and the like. I ended my wanderings and returned to my room to write down a few things the builders had talked about regarding suppliers and current sites still needing builders, before sharing a pleasant dinner with Marta, who insisted that I did the blessing, still calling me Father.”

  “I asked Marta if she had a lantern that I might borrow for a night time stroll, and she handed me a sturdy brass affair with a candle hidden behind smoky glass. I grabbed my fire steel and tinderbox from upstairs and changed into my travel robes even though they badly needed cleaning. Taking the outside stairs once again I meandered my way along the waterfront and sat on the wharf for a while watching the water flow past.”

  “As the sun began to set I made up my mind, leaving the wharf for the road out of town.”