Chapter One

Cobbleknock was a strange town, buried deep at the bottom of a valley. Some less generous folk might observe that it was not buried deep enough, but the people of the town loved their home. It kept them safe from the prying eyes of the rest of the world, and the only way in and out of the town was the narrow, long sloping road. Night came early for the people of the town because of its position at the bottom of the valley. As the sun lowered in the sky, it still cast its light on the rest of the world, but Cobbleknock descended into darkness. It was late morning, at the moment, and the sun still shone down on Cobbleknock. The children were mostly at school and the men and women at work. Some of the population, who had neither education nor a task to attend to, were enjoying a glass or two of grot in the Boggle Head pub. Now although grot was a particular favourite of the folks of Cobbleknock, it was less than favourable with the rest of the world that surrounded them. Made from grapes fermented with pig's blood and freshly squeezed frogs, it was little wonder that they never managed to export the brew to the other parts of the world.

The Boggle Head pub was a wreck. It was partly because of the raucous behaviour of the locals at nighttime and partly because the proprietor, Henry Wolvenbum, had no interest in either cleaning the place or repairing any breakages. Henry looked around at the usual faces. They consisted of those who were too old to withstand the evening antics in the pub and those who were just plain skiving. One of those that you could usually find in the pub at this time was young Walter. For once, Walter was nowhere to be seen in the pub. Walter was a common thief and had not an ounce of integrity or honesty in his body. Henry would often say that every word Walter said was a lie and every deed he did was a crime. Whilst not quite true, as even the harshest judge in the world would not consider eating and sleeping a crime, it pretty much summed up Walter. Walter would not get away with as much as he did if his father Benjamin Badrattle had not been the chief magistrate of the town. The only time that anyone had taken Walter to the town court was when a new arrival in town, Jeffrey Comber, accused Walter of stealing his chickens and pelting his house with their eggs. Despite incontrovertible proof against Walter, Benjamin dismissed the case, and six months later, Jeffrey was arrested for parking his bicycle on an invisible yellow line. Needless to say, he was hanged in the centre of town, and it is also needless to point out that absolutely nobody in Cobbleknock ever pressed charges against Walter Badrattle from then on. It was, therefore, no surprise that Cobbleknock was never listed in the local tourist guides and was never recommended as a place to visit. As a consequence of this, Cobbleknock never had to entertain strangers and to be honest; the townsfolk liked it that way. Therefore, it came as some surprise to the lookout guards on the hill when the man on the horse started to come down the road to Cobbleknock. One of the guards nudged the other one with his elbow, waking him from his slumber.

"What? What is it?" he spluttered.

"Stranger. Stranger come down hill," said the guard.

The other guard sneered at his comrade and climbed to his feet.

"We don't get strangers, Snodberry. You've been at the grot again, haven't you?" he said.

"Grot? No. Snodberry sober. Stranger comes. Look for yourself," said Snodberry, handing his fellow guard a particularly mucky pair of field glasses. "You see him. Cookawakka?"

Cookawakka sighed and brought the field glasses up to his eyes. Anything to humour his witless comrade. Cookawakka gasped and took the glasses away from his eyes momentarily before looking through them once more to check that he was not hallucinating.

"He must be either very lost or very mad," said Cookawakka.

"Stranger might taste good. Snodberry check on texture now," said Snodberry, picking up his sword.

Cookawakka grabbed him by the arm to stop him exiting the lookout.

"Not now. There might be others," said Cookawakka. "Go warn the chief magistrate and the town guard."

Snodberry grunted something about new and exciting foreign cuisine before taking the back exit from the lookout.

The stranger was still a few hundred yards away from the guardhouse, but Cookawakka could see him in greater detail now. He wore a dust covered long brown coat and sported what looked like a cowboy hat on his head. The man sported longish black hair and a covering of black stubble that covered his face. The horse trod gently and slowly towards the guardhouse. It was almost a deliberate taunt for Cookawakka to come out and confront him. Eventually, Cookawakka grabbed his cap from the hook on the wall and stuck it on his head, a head that was obviously far too big for his cap. He left the lookout and stood in the middle of the road with one hand on his sword. Cookawakka felt particularly nervous, as this was something he had never had to do before. He tried desperately to remember what the instructions were in the guard manual.

"Stoop," he shouted.

He shook his head and cursed himself.

"Stop. I meant stop, that's it," said Cookawakka.

The stranger stopped the horse, but Cookawakka realised that he was still too far away.

"Come nearer," shouted Cookawakka, but the man did not move.

"I said come nearer," said Cookawakka.

"You told me to stop," muttered the stranger.

"What? I can't hear you," said Cookawakka.

"Come nearer," shouted the stranger.

"Oh, okay," said Cookawakka, walking towards the stranger before realising what he was doing. He stopped, took his cap off and scratched his head. He rubbed his chin for a little while before looking up at the stranger and wagging his finger at him.

"No, you don't," he said. "Nice try. You come to me, stranger. You must think I'm stupid."

"I do think you're stupid," said the stranger as he kicked his legs, causing his horse to walk towards Cookawakka.

As the stranger stopped in front of Cookawakka, he tilted his hat at him as a greeting. Cookawakka walked nearer to him and studied the stranger carefully. He sniffed the horse and then sniffed the stranger. Cookawakka stepped back in surprise at the smell of the stranger.

"You're a human," he said.

"I believe that is the terminology applied to my species," said the stranger.

"You know where you are?" asked Cookawakka.

"Cobbleknock, and yes, I know all about your town," said the stranger.

"Why would you possibly want to come here?" asked Cookawakka.

"I have business in the town with one of your citizens," said the stranger. "As soon as that business is concluded, I will be on my way."

Cookawakka stroked the side of the horse, which neighed in alarm and moved away from the guard.

"That's a fine horse you have there," said Cookawakka. "Plenty of meat on it."

"Her name is Onyx. She is my friend and I guard her with my life," said the stranger.

"Strange name for a horse," said Cookawakka.

"It's because she is black," said the stranger.

"Doesn't make any sense. Why didn't you call her Black?" asked Cookawakka.

The stranger just stared at Cookawakka but did not reply.

Cookawakka shuffled his feet through the dust of the road nervously and looked down towards the town, hoping that Snodberry was on his way back. He squinted at the road but could see no sign of the other guard. Should he let the stranger pass or should he try to keep him here? His mind was made up for him when the wind blew the stranger's coat to reveal the butt of a shotgun.

"Well, I guess it's okay for you to visit. Make sure you conclude your business quickly, mind. I will be timing you," said Cookawakka.

"How long have I got?" asked the stranger.

"One hour, or I'll be coming for you," said Cookawakka, suddenly feeling slightly braver.

"That's not long," said the stranger.

He stared at Cookawakka for what seemed an age. Cookawakka suddenly felt the sense of bravado disappear from him. He worried that the rumbling in his stomach might give way to something a little more embarrassing, but the truth was he was so scared he could not speak.

"I guess it's long enough. I will be quick. You wouldn't want to come looking for me, would you?" he said.

Cookawakka smiled weakly at the stranger and waved him through. As the stranger continued down the road, Cookawakka ran into the lookout and sounded the bell to alert the village to the presence of an outsider.

Reviews

[Ruly]

I began visiting this hang out, since last Wednesday, and in view of the fact that I like to read, I have pitched a couple of opinions so far. Now, I landed on this first chapter.

I quite liked it. A brief, but a well described tale with something bubbling in the air, and in order to find out what it is, you must go on reading. The original part of this work is the “Brew” I will check the next chapter in a few, just to see if I find something of that nature. Well done!