…and stir up trouble
NOTE: I am now doing full chapters so as to get this finished before October
The Doclopedia #3,014
366 Days, 366 Paragraphs: #253
Chapter Twenty Seven: Seekers Assemble
Seeker Hadolfus was in a terribly foul mood indeed, thought Padro as he poured both of them a mug of strong tea. They had lost the trail of the three runners last night, but had kept looking until well after midnight. Angry, cold and saddlesore, Hadolfus had only gotten about three hours of sleep before he got rudely awakened by the arrival of six other Seekers. This had been quickly followed by a reply from High Curator Porcero that simply said “Report!”, to which Hadolfus had no choice but reply “Prey escaped. Pursuit ongoing.” Porcero’s reply to that had been, “Will arrive in Blue Tree in four days. Expect to find prey in your custody.”
Hadolfus had raged at Padro, the Seekers and nobody in particular for nearly twenty minutes before sending the Seekers off in teams of two, one going south, one going west along the Road and one going southwest across the Great Plains. He knew more Seekers would arrive soon, so he had written out their orders and put them on the notice board of the Museum Hut. Then, he told Padro to make them breakfast while he washed up.
Sitting now and drinking his tea, Hadolfus read the reports from the Town Guard. They had questioned the girl, Golta, for several hours, but she was apparently as dim as she looked. The only useful information aside from the names of his prey came when he read that Dree was best friends with a Wanderer boy named Carso Maneeli, whose family plied regular routes through the Lakes region and then along the Mispy River.
As he drank his tea, Hadolfus thought that a Wanderer boy had a much better chance of finding a relic that a simple Townie boy, but he just might tell his best friend where to find it. That would mean the Townie and his friends would be heading northeast, not west or south.
He grabbed his comslate and sent off the message, “Locate Maneeli caravan traveling south on Mispy River Road. Question boy Carso and report findings.” When that was done, he drained his tea and told Padro to saddle up the horses and pack several days food.
“We’re heading northeast, Padro. I suspect we might find our runners heading likewise.”
Padro started out, but paused to ask, “Will any other Seekers be joining us?” He was pretty sure he already knew the answer.
“Not today,” Hadolfus replied, “but there will be a team of four a day or so behind us.”
Padro nodded. There was little chance Hadolfus might share the glory of success with anyone else.
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