They had done a complete inventory the night before and found that while Nahoot’s men hadn’t been paid in a while, they certainly were well provisioned. Erik and Roo made their way to the tent they shared with Luis and Biggo—Sho Pi and Natombi had moved in with Nakor and Jadow in another four-man tent—and found the other two sleeping inside. Half a loaf of trail bread, baked only a couple of days before, and a bowl of grain and nuts were sitting by the entrance, so Erik sat, let out a sigh, and picked up the bread. He tore it in half and gave a hunk to Roo, and then scooped up a handful of grain and nuts and started to eat.
The air was chilly, but the sun warm, and after eating, Erik felt drowsy. Looking at Luis and Biggo, he felt the urge to follow their example, but fought it off. There was still work to be done and he knew de Loungville would make it harder on them if he had to tell them.
Erik got up and woke Luis and Biggo. They saw Roo and Erik, and Biggo said, “It had better be good.”
“It is,” whispered Erik. “Come with me.”
Luis looked at Erik with eyes made even more dangerous-looking by the dark circles underneath. As he rose, Erik asked softly, “Got your knives?”
Luis whispered, “Always,” and whipped his dagger from his belt in a motion so swift it was almost unseen. “Are there some throats in need of cutting?”
Erik said, “Follow me.”
He led them through the tents, moving quickly and pausing often to look around, as if to see if they were being observed. Erik moved to where the digging continued, as men made the quickly dug trench of the night before a deeper, wider barrier.
Reaching the work, he pointed to a stack of freshly cut dowels laying in a bundle and said, “Quickly, before they get loose! Those need to be sharpened and placed around the perimeter.”
Roo and Biggo smiled and picked up a piece each as they pulled their belt knives, but Luis glowered. “You woke me for this?”
“Better I than de Loungville, isn’t it?”
Luis stared hard at Erik a moment. For a second he held his knife point directed at Erik, then with a grunt he leaned over, picked up a dowel, and started to sharpen it.
Roo and Biggo laughed as Erik said, “That’s good. I’m going to see that the horses are moved.”
As he left, he looked over his shoulder at the men sharpening stakes. Anyone coming across that trench would have a difficult climb over the rampart because of the stakes; and once they broke camp, they could pack them away.
Erik moved to the other side of the large defensive square. He joined two men fashioning a drop gate out of wood cut from nearby trees. The lack of proper tools was making the job difficult, as they were basically having to cut the timber with the one ax Nahoot’s company had carried, then trim the planks with knives and daggers. Erik would have given the small amount of gold in his purse for a proper drag plane and some iron working tools.
Erik knew a little about woodwork, so he suggested they carve some notches and dovetail the planks together as best they could, then lash the whole thing with cord. They could run it out when they needed from inside the compound. They wouldn’t be able to break it down and carry it with them, as they had with the gate they had built at Weanat—that one had been lost with most of their other equipment outside the barrow up on the Plain of Djams.
Erik wondered about crossing the plain. Even though they were miles farther south than when they last encountered the Gilani, he knew that to encounter the diminutive warriors could spell the ruin of this mission. At the last he decided there were too many things to worry about, so he’d leave worrying to Calis and de Loungville while he just did the work that needed to be done.
After seeing the gate finished, he noticed the day was rapidly approaching noon. He ordered a couple of fires started and then decided to see if the watch had changed. He found the same men on duty since he had passed them at first light, so he went back into the tents and kicked some protesting men awake, telling them it was their turn on watch.
He was seeing that the mess was in order for the noon meal when de Loungville returned from interrogating Nahoot’s men. De Loungville got off his mount and asked, “Is that parapet finished?”
Erik said, “About two hours ago.”
“Stakes?”
“Being sharpened and placed now.”
“The gate?”
“In place.”
“Sally ramp?”
“It’s being built—I doubt it will be much use, though; more than a single horse at a time and it might fall apart.”
“Has anyone changed the watch?”
“I took care of that a few minutes ago.”
“Where’s the Captain?”
“Up talking to Greylock, Praji, Vaja, and Hatonis.”
“Regular officer’s country, eh?” asked de Loungville, taking a cup from near the cook’s fire. He dipped it into a bubbling kettle, then blew on the contents before he finally took a sip of hot soup.
Erik said, “If you say so, Sergeant. I’m still new at this.”
De Loungville surprised him with a grin, then drank his soup. Making a face, he said, “This needs some salt.” He tossed the cup down and stated walking away. “If you need me for anything, I’ll be with the Captain.”