Chapter 28: The grapevine

Butcher swung a hard left hook at Hammond's head, all the strength of his body behind it. Hammond crashed to the dirt with a great thud and rolled over just in time to dodge Butcher's next punch, kicking him in the gut and getting back to his feet. Around them cheers rang out and Hammond shoved his foot in Butcher's face. The big man rolled on the ground, groaning from the last blow.

"You givin' up Butcher? Huh? Givin' up all ready? I thought you were more than that!" Hammond shouted.

His face was flushed and beads of sweat ran down his neck. Butcher staggered to his feet and brought both fists up in a fighting stance.

"Not to a puny shrimp like you," Butcher answered bitterly.

Hammond flew at the big man, shoving his shoulder into Butcher's stomach, both of them falling on the ground and rolling in the dirt. Butcher landed a couple of good ones in Hammond's stomach but the smaller man was almost immune to that, taking the opportunity to sock Butcher in the jaw, his head smashing into the ground. The crowd exploded in cheers and hollers while Berglund watched from the raised platform.

Butcher rolled on top of Hammond and wrapped his hands around the thick neck of his opponent in attempt to choke him. However, Hammond was more than familiar with this situation and slipped both his hands in the gap between Butcher's arms and, gathering all his strength, shoved them upward, thrusting Butcher's jaw up and back painfully. Butcher let go of Hammond's neck and fell back, Hammond having the advantage. The smaller fighter stood up and brought one foot up, slamming it hard in Butcher's stomach. The big man gasped and groaned, clawing at the dirt and rolling over.  A man ran into the square and counted down ten seconds. Butcher did not get up.

The crowd roared once more and Hammond walked over to his seat, grabbing a ladle full of water and pouring it over this head.

"Hammond," Berglund called, pushing his way through the people.

"That was a good fight you put on."

"Just something to pass the time," Hammond answered, pulling a clean white shirt over his head.

"I was wondering if you were interested in a little deal."

"Ah yes, I heard that the Marinos brothers were back in town. Is that true?"

"Not exactly. My men spotted one of them in town a while back but not since then," Berglund explained.

"Which one?"

"He doesn't know. They look the same, it's not easy to tell them apart."

Hammond chuckled while buckling his scimitar sheath.

"Your men don't know the boys like I do. They may look the same, but they are ever so different. I had a bit of a dealing with Diomedes. He's quite naive you know?"

"He may be naive but he still played you on the raid," Berglund mocked.

Hammond's face hardened and he looked at Berglund with threatening eye.

"I wouldn't say such things if I were you."

"You won't kill me. You care about the money too much...Which leads me back to the beginning. I have a job for you. The Marinos twins joined Cephalus. They were last seen heading for the mountain and I want you to intercept them as they come down."

"What for?"

"That's none of your business...I will pay you five thousand now and five thousand when the job is done. Deal?" Berglund asked, holding a sack of coins in one hand.

Hammond stared at the bag for several minutes before taking it, not being able to resist the call of gold.

"Do I kill them?"

"No, I need the twins alive...You can kill the others. I don't care how either. Just deal with them."

Hammond smiled greedily and tossed the sack of coins in the air, chuckling a little. It was more of a sport for him to kill people. He enjoyed the challenge, the competition. 

"The grapevine hasn't failed me yet...Don't ruin that record," Berglund warned.

"Haha, you have little faith in me Berglund! Don't worry, this won't be a problem."

The two men parted ways, Berglund heading back to the palace and Hammond walking down a few stone steps to the seashore cave where all the thieves hid their loot. Many bandits chose to hide their more valuable possessions in smaller hideouts that no one else knew about. After all, everyone in that small haven was a thief and no one actually trusted each other.

"Good fight Hammond," a young teenage boy said.

"Keep watching Toby. Someday that'll be you up there."

Toby smiled and handed his hero a mug of ale, sitting down at the table to hear the new plans.

"Where are we heading next sir?" he asked eagerly.

"I need to speak to Old Man Finch first. I'm guessing the Tralem forest. I just spoke to Berglund and he has a job for us."

"Does it involve stealing?" Toby inquired, sitting on the edge of his seat.

"Not exactly. Unless you consider capturing people stealing...Have I ever told you about the Marinos boys?"

"Yes. I still remember you telling me about how you ran them out of Crow Haven with their tails between their legs."

"Well Berglund wants them for some reason or other. Shouldn't be too hard...However, there is a small problem. They're traveling with a few others, I'm not sure how many, and we'll have to deal with them."

"Shouldn't be too hard," Toby said, biting into a red apple.

"No, but we will have to be cautious...Do you want to come with me to Finch's?"

"You bet! Are we going now?"

Hammond nodded and got up from the table walking out the cave and into the sunlight.


                The two walked up to an old house with a thatched roof and a crooked chimney, the smoke curling out of it like an invisible snake. Hanging from the porch was a rotted wooden sign that had the words 'Old Man Finch's Antique Shop'. The only reason it was called an 'Antique Shop' was because everything in the building was old and broken down.

Hammond stepped up to the door and knocked three times, stepping back down and waiting. It took several minutes before an old man opened the creaky door, his sunken in face adopting a toothless smile. 

"Well hello their young lads, what can I do for ye?" he asked in a scratchy voice.

Hammond laughed and walked closer, taking his hood off.

"Hammond! Good to see ya lad! Come in, come in, and sit yourself down."

Finch hobbled out of the way and allowed the two to enter the building. It was dark inside aside from a few streams of sunlight coming through the cracks in the walls and the floor was scattered with various types of chairs, tables, chests, candle sticks, and lots of random 'antiques'. 

"Now, what can I do for you?" the old man asked, leaning on his cane.

"We need some information about a group coming down the mountain. I'm not sure how many but the Marinos twins are with them."

The smile faded from Finch's face and his light eyes grew dark.

"Those two are still making trouble are they?"

"Yes they are. Berglund wants me to bring them back to the castle for something or other. I have a feeling he's going to pay them back for what they did...It was quite embarrassing for Berglund."

The old man chuckled at the memory and leaned farther onto his staff, looking at Toby who had taken to looking over some old paintings.

"You young man, are you going to help Hammond?"

"If he let's me," Toby answered with a grin.

Toby was a rather good looking boy with sandy hair and a strong tanned face. However, he was far too eager to do anything that Hammond requested and it led him down the wrong path.

"Toby along with a few others will help me. I couldn't ask for better men."

"What about Butcher? I heard you beat him up pretty good today," Old Man Finch cackled.

"News travels fast around here."

"Well, I do happen to run the grapevine. If the King eats a banana, I know about it."

"Do you know about the twins?" Hammond asked, steering back to the original topic.

The old man scratched his head, thinking over all the news his men had brought back.

"Ah yes, I remember now. There was a group coming down the mountain...Yesterday morning I believe. Although it wasn't just a couple of others with them. As far as I can tell there were 13 all together."

"13? What do suppose they were doing up there?" Hammond wondered, stroking his chin.

"Looking for the stone is what I was told. I doubt they found it."

"Hah, those idiots will believe anything. How desperate can people get?"

Toby laughed at his mentors remark but Finch did not seem as amused.

"The Rinopenya is not a joking matter...I don't think they would go looking for it unless someone knew where it was." 

"Well who would know? That thing is just a legend," Toby said in an extremely naive manner.

"Each kingdom has a keeper of the stone, which is one particular person who knows the destination, but the only one that I know of is the Cieven Princess."

"There is no Cieven Princess," Hammond said, slightly confused.

"I'm an old man Hammond. I have seen many things in my time and the death of the Cieven King and Queen was one of them. However, there was never a report that the Princess died. For all we know she could still be alive...And that is the one person who would know the destination."

"I thought you said your men know everything that is going on?" Hammond said with a raised eyebrow.

"My men work everywhere, except the mountain. Magic folk live up there and we leave them alone. That's where I believe she would have gone."

"Even if she did, that's not the problem at hand. I need to know where the group is now."

"Hold on there a minute laddy. I'll go ask the men."

Old Man Finch stood up shakily and walked across the room and out a back door, Hammond and Toby following close behind. They entered a long room with several bunk lined up against the wall, a long table down the center of the room and a fireplace. A few men were deep in a game of rummy and a couple others were catching some shut eye.

"Did any of you men see a group with the Marinos brothers heading through Tralem today?" Finch asked.

One man looked up from the game and scratched his head, trying to remember everything from that day.

"I think I did...At least the group had twin brothers. I don't quite remember what the two look like, but it's probably the same group."

Another one of the spies, a Cieven soldier, looked up from the game as well and tilted his head to one side.

"You did? What sector were you searching?" he asked.

"Right around the road through Ellestar, at the fork bending off on the West and North road."

"Were they at the fork?" Hammond asked, wanting to be sure.

"Without a doubt. In fact, they probably didn't go much further. I would say they're making camp right now somewhere on the West road."

Hammond nodded and gestured for Toby to follow him out of the building.

"Where are we going?" Toby asked eagerly.

"We're gonna pay the Marinos brothers a visit."

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