Chapter 21

"Are you sure, Skipp?" The first loser asked, with a little excitement clearly sounding in his voice.

"Yeah, I am sure. You guys should come take a look, if you don't believe me." Skipp said, as he stopped looking through the lens of the binoculars and handed it over to Grant, the other guy who was seriously guarding the gate with him.

All the other men, except the two fools who were snoring their sorrows away and the idiot drunkard, who was swaying back and forth and was now beginning to speak gibberish, gathered around Skipp and Grant and one by one, they looked through the lens of the binoculars, in order to confirm Skipp's statement.

Indeed, a black carriage, pulled by two black horses, was coming their way, at a semi-leisurely pace. In under thirty minutes, the carriage will reach the men's location and they will be able to clearly make out the face of the carriage driver and the exact features of the black carriage, itself.

After the men had confirmed Skipp's statement, they turned to look at one another and on each of their faces emerged a wide grin, filled with brimming and uncontrollable excitement. Excitement at the good fortune coming their way. Excitement at the misfortune of the unfortunate travelers, who were like chickens or pigs heading to the slaughterhouse on their own accord.

"So, here's the plan guys. You guys should go through the gate and hide somewhere. Only I and Skipp will stay behind and act like normal guards, so as to not arouse suspicion from the travelers heading our way. After we are done inspecting the carriage and doing the necessary checkup, we will then allow them to pass through the gate. When the carriage is close to a mile away from the gate, I and Skipp will pass through the gate as well and then, we will close and lock the gate behind us, to prevent them from escaping." Grant stated his plan, after he had cooled down from his excitement.

"Yeah, that's a good plan." Jay agreed, as the other men nodded their heads in approval, as well.

"Yeah, you are right. If we all stay here, it will arouse suspicion and make them feel that something is amiss." The second loser said.

"So, what are you guys still waiting for? Start moving and let's implement this plan quickly, before they see all of us here." Skipp said, in order to hurry the other men to action.

"Alright guys, let's do this." The fourth loser said. The men began moving quickly towards the gate to pick out a good and undetectable hiding spot.

"Hey, you guys should wake up those two sleepy heads and someone should take care of drunk Derek, as well." Grant reminded.

"And, you guys shouldn't forget that wooden table and the chairs you brought along with it. We don't want to hint to the travelers that I and Grant aren't the only ones here now, do we?" Skipp added.

Four men out of the six gamblers headed to where they sitting and playing cards previously, and they began to carry the wooden table and the chairs away, while Jay and Dirk woke up the two sleepy heads and told them the good news, heading their way and the two guys, in turn went to assist drunk Derek in managing to walk past the gate.

"Jay, I heard a rumor that the guards from yesterday night were killed by a group of travelers coming into the town. Is that true?" Dirk spoke to Jay, with a serious expression, as they both passed through the gate, in order to join the others in picking a suitable hiding spot

"Huh? Where did you hear that from?" Jay asked, as he shot a questioning look at Dirk.

"I overheard some guys talking about it in town, before I came here for my shift. They said the ten men who were sent here last night, never returned back and they heard a rumor in town that the dead bodies of some men with black clothing and a silver moon pattern embroidered on their chest, were found in the corner of some street. They also gathered from the rumor, that some travelers were seen quietly sneaking into the town last night." Dirk replied.

"Hmmmmm." Jay thought for some seconds, before he brushed off Dirk's assumptions by saying "Forget about it. Rumors are just rumors, you know. It might be that those guys from last night are just drunk somewhere and are enjoying their free time. You don't have to work yourself over this."

"Well, maybe you are right, I guess. It might probably just be false information the people in town cooked up to scare us and make us panic. Besides if ten of our guys were dead, there is no way it would have just been a simple rumor." Dirk agreed, as he flashed a grin at Jay, revealing his brown and disgusting set of teeth.

"More importantly though, let's make a bet. If you win, I will remove three hundred gold coins from the five hundred and fifty, you are supposed to pay me and if I win, you will add two hundred gold coins to the five hundred and fifty."

"Okay. What are we betting on?" Jay's proposition to remove three hundred gold coins from the five hundred and fifty, certainly caught the interest of Dirk.

"Let's bet on how many people will be in the carriage."

"Hmmmm, let's see." Dirk placed his hand on his chin and thought deeply for a while, before saying "Plus, the carriage driver, I believe that there are five people in that carriage in total."

"Okay. I bet that, with the addition of the carriage driver, there are four people altogether in the carriage."

...…..........

'Why were the village folks acting so weird?' Senro thought to himself, as the carriage was steadily reaching its destination.

Senro noticed that when some of the villagers, living close to the border of Fleming town, happened to chance upon their carriage passing by, some just stood still and shook their head in sorrow, while others sighed and looked to the sky, like as if to request for help from the heavens above. There was even one old woman, who covered her old, cracked lips, with her withered, bony hands, as hot tears streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks, while staring at their carriage, heading to the destination of Fleming town.

But even with all this sorrowful gestures, not a single one of this village folks said a word to them or even tried to initiate some sort of communication with them. They just stood still and shook their heads or sighed sorrowfully, completely dampening the atmosphere with deep melancholy.

After a while of pondering on this disturbing event, though, Senro choose to ignore this, after he caught a glimpse of the somewhat big, black gate of Fleming town from afar. He felt a rush of excitement and elation course through his body immediately, from this sight. He clenched his fists in nervous anticipation. The long awaited mission was now about to commence.