Chapter Six

Clive wanted to make this short journey to the Millers as long as possible. This was a welcome break from the routine work at the inn. Sat at the front of the wagon, snapping the reins as the horses trotted along made him very happy. Sodbury was a desert town, so all the roads were rough and left a cloud of dust behind anything that moved along them. Despite this, Clive was still able to make out the four riders who were following him at a distance. Clive supposed that it would only be a matter of time before they came past him. The men and the horses would be far swifter than Clive and his wagon. They did not go past Clive, however, they just kept at the same distance. Clive started to feel uncomfortable about the riders and wondered what they would do if he brought the wagon to a stop. He pulled on the reins and looked behind as the wagon came to a standstill. Sure enough, the riders followed suit and came to a stop as well.

"Oh, no," sighed Clive.

He snapped the reins once more and the wagon moved forward again. Clive prayed that he could reach the Millers without anything dramatic occurring. The riders continued to keep their distance right up until the moment that Clive pulled into the Miller's yard. Then they sprinted to Clive before he could close the gate. Clive watched as one of them jumped from his horse and walked over to him. The man had a gleaming smile and ginger hair and he did not look at all dangerous. Clive thought they just must be genuine travellers, but he kept his fingers crossed all the same.

"Hello," said the ginger haired man, extending a hand to Clive. "Name is Wally."

"Clive," said Clive, nervously.

"You know, me and my friends have been following you for a while," said Wally. "We noticed that your wagon was empty and we wondered if we might hire it. I didn't want to stop you on the road. It could have freaked you out."

Clive was relieved and his mood lifted.

"It's not mine to hire," said Clive. "But I'm returning it here because these folks hire wagons out for a business. Do you have something to transport?"

"Oh, yeah, don't we just," said Wally, smiling.

"Well, I'm just going inside," said Clive. "Why don't you come in with me?"

"If it's all the same to you, we'll just hang outside for a while. Gotta stretch our legs, you know?" said Wally.

Clive smiled and walked into the Millers. It was only five minutes or so before he reappeared. He smiled at the four men, who smiled back and then began the walk back to town. The day was bright and sunny without being overly hot, so he enjoyed the stroll. 'Today is going to be a good day', he thought, 'nothing bad will happen today'.

Tym Miller was busy doing the accounts for the previous week when Wally strode into the office. He looked up from his desk and almost had to shield his eyes from the glare off Wally's teeth.

"Can I help you?" asked Tym.

"I really hope so," said Wally. "I have something to transport and I would like to hire that wagon that just came in."

"We have lots of wagons to hire. Some of the others might suit your needs better. It doesn't have to be that one," said Tym.

"Thing is, we have to be very particular about what we use. What we are transporting is very fragile. You understand?" asked Wally.

"Not sure I do," said Tym. "A wagon is a wagon."

"Well we are transporting livestock, and it can get awful irritated by perfume and chemical smells. So, we like to check what our hire might have been used for last," said Wally.

"Well, I don't generally ask the customers what they're transporting, but the one that just came in was hired by some skinny fellow. I don’t know what he used it for, though. I didn’t ask. Someone different brought it back," said Tym.

"The young man who was just in here?" asked Wally.

"Yeah," said Tym.

Wally slapped himself on the forehead.

"Oh, I feel awful. We just saw him walking away. I tell you what. Let me hire that wagon from you and I'll give him a lift to wherever he was heading, wherever that might be," said Wally.

"Sodbury," said Tym. "It's the only town for miles around."

"That would make it the only place where a man might rest up?" asked Wally.

"Oh, yes. Nowhere else for a man to rest his bones," said Tym.

"Good to know," said Wally. "Now let me pay you for the hire."

“You still didn’t say why you want that wagon in particular,” said Tym.

“I like the smell of it,” said Wally.