Lost Histories [5] The Gully Dwarves by Parkinson Dan

Author:Parkinson, Dan [Parkinson, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780786992942
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2012-04-16T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

The Breakout

Pert, Lady Lidda and a gaggle of other females had begun a forage of the big pavilion, where interesting bales and crates were stacked along the walls. But the expedition was cut short when the Lady Tall with the bright attire returned, along with a lot of her followers.

“Prepare to break camp,” she ordered. “Our next sleep will be at the gates of Tarmish.”

Suddenly the pavilion was full of busy Talls, hurrying about, poking here and there, moving packs and bales. The Lady Lidda decided it was a bad time to visit. “Everybody scat,” she whispered. The command was relayed among those behind her. Within moments a dozen gully dwarves had burrowed out, under the sides of the pavilion, and were scurrying through the brush, back to where the tribe waited.

“Lotta good stuff back there,” Pert noted, sadly. “Might be spices an’ corncobs an’ yard goods … an’ maybe shoes an’ ribbons an’ stuff.”

“An’ maybe a comb,” the Lady Bruze mused. “Could use a good comb. Clout been gettin’ fleas a lot lately. Shoulda’ stayed longer.”

“Easy come, easy go,” Lady Lidda said. A troop of mounted Talls thundered past, shouting and pointing, almost on top of them, and the Aghar ladies dived for cover beneath spreading brambles. “We better do our shoppin’ later,” Lidda decided. “After th’ rush.”

At the dugout bank, gully dwarves were bustling around busily, gathering up whatever came to hand—sticks, used bird nests, pieces of fabric, bits of gravel, a surprised tortoise. Pert glanced around, bright-eyed, and asked, “what goin’ on?”

Most of those around her ignored the question, having no answer to it, but two or three paused. “Highbulp say pack up,” one explained. “Didn’ say what to pack, though.”

“Highbulp say time to leave here,” another added. “Say, all these Talls aroun’ here, neighborhood gone to pot.”

The Lady Lidda went in search of Glitch, while other ladies scattered here and there, becoming involved in the collection of whatever was being collected. The legendary Great Stew Bowl went trundling by, on its way to the pile of goods. Its trailing edge almost dragged the ground, and nothing but feet showed beneath it. Pert squatted to peer under it, then turned away, disappointed. She had hoped it might be Bron under there, carrying the big iron thing. But it was only a grumbling Clout. Apparently he had lost his best bashing tool somewhere, and he wasn’t happy about it.

Come to think of it, Pert didn’t recall seeing Bron lately. She wondered now where he was. Vaguely, she recalled Bron saying something about the Highbulp wanting him to go and look at Talls. Cautiously, she climbed a few feet up into a scrub tree and looked around. Just beyond the brush, on all sides, there were Talls everywhere—unimaginable numbers of them, doing all sorts of mysterious things. But she didn’t see Bron anywhere.

Directly below her, Scrib wandered by, carrying a shard of dark slate in one hand and a piece of soft limestone in the other. He had found that when one was rubbed against the other, it left an imprint.

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