ASilverMirror by Roberta Gellis Page B

be a mob around the gate they were
approaching.
    “What can have happened?” John groaned.
    “Nothing, except an unusually rich market,” Alphonse
answered soothingly.
    He turned to gesture his servant ahead toward the gate to
make sure with a small bribe to the guards they were not delayed there. But it
was not the guards who put obstacles in their path. The guards were caught
somewhere among the shouting, milling throng, and Chacier never found them.
Fortunately, John and Alphonse did not wait for the servant to return but
forged ahead, picking their way around the outer fringes of angry farmers and
carters whose confused and frightened oxen balked and backed and started
forward just when it was least expected and most inconvenient.
    When men, beasts, and carts became more tightly packed,
Alphonse and John laid about them with the flats of their swords, which quieted
most of the protest at their pushing through ahead of others. They found
Chacier staring in perplexity at two carts that had locked wheels and jammed in
the narrow passageway that pierced the thick wall. The oxen were bawling and
bumping into one another in the dark tunnel, trying to escape from the carts
and each other, and the farmers on the far side of the gate were exchanging
blows and recriminations.
    “You will have to go around to another gate, sieur,” Chacier
said.
    “Nonsense,” Alphonse replied. “How do I know it will be any
better than this?”
    On the words, he handed his reins to John, loosened his foot
from his right stirrup, and slid from his saddle to the top of one cart, using
his sword to brace himself upright. Unfortunately, just as he stood erect, the
ox attached to the cart chose to back up, and Alphonse lost his balance,
pitching forward onto a heap of unwashed and well-fertilized vegetables.
    Alphonse’s remark and the voice in which it was uttered
silenced the mob nearest the gate, and they remained quiet while he got to his
feet again and worked his way to the front. Having studied the situation for a
moment, he leaned down and cut the leather traces that held both oxen to their
carts. One being a little ahead of the other already, both were able to lumber
forward without hindrance when Alphonse smacked them smartly on the rear with
the flat of his blade.
    Their emergence from the gate drew the attention of their masters,
who left off their quarrel to pursue the beasts. Meanwhile, Alphonse had
clambered back and gestured the nearest men to him. The gesture being made with
his bared blade and Chacier standing by whip in hand encouraged cooperation.
John had been struggling not to laugh, until he had to dismount and get his
horse and Alphonse’s out of the way. He was soon splashed with dung and mud
himself, and much less inclined to find the situation exquisitely humorous.
    Now that the oxen were no longer pulling forward, it was no
great feat to draw the carts back out of the gate, and John and Alphonse were
first through. The streets were almost as crowded as the gate, however, which
made John remark despairingly that he was sure Hugh would be gone and they
would never be able to find him with the city so crowded. But Alphonse had
recovered his good temper and retorted with laughter that, if so, he was going
to lie down in the gutter to sleep, since he had no longer anything to lose and
it would be better than trying to battle their way out of the city again.
    Neither awful prognostication came true. As they worked
their way past the market area, which spread out from the port, and climbed the
hill toward the castle at the top, the streets grew somewhat quieter. John’s
conviction that the crowding was sure to have displaced his lord was proved
wrong at last when Hugh’s own manservant opened the door to them and welcomed
them in with considerable enthusiasm, despite their dirt. He apologized for
leaving them to make their way up to the solar themselves while he helped
Chacier unload the baggage animals and showed him