CHAPTER 5
RETIREMENT
BY SW MO HERMIT
As they had planned, on their way back to Tommy's Crossing, Warren and his party looked for the alleged wizard's tomb. They finally found it, more by luck than the directions Mort gave them. It was upstream from Tommy's Crossing just inside a small canyon, from which a tributary stream ran. The tomb was dug into a cliff above the high water mark by several feet and extremely difficult to access. They couldn't imagine how Mortimer and Kincaid managed to even find it, it was so well hidden. They had to have stumbled onto it by accident.
There was a barely discernible wildlife trail leading away from the larger stream up the bank of the smaller tributary into the canyon. Just inside the canyon, the trail split, the more well defined branch continued upstream and the more dimly visible trail headed toward a crevice leading up the cliff. The trail curled around a couple of large boulders, climbing up the steep ridge as it went. They soon came out into a small valley or glen several feet above the larger valley through which the tributary stream ran. There was a small spring fed waterfall just inside the upper valley. The runoff from it ran past the tomb before falling once again into the lower valley and joining the larger stream.
The entrance to the tomb was just inside the upper valley and overlooked the junction of the two streams. They had to be well near the edge of the drop off to the lower level before they could see the streams which is why they couldn't see the tomb entrance from below. The upper valley was no more than an acre, about half the size of the land area of Wizard's Island, their home.
Both women stopped just after they crested the rise into the valley and looked in awe. Gloria said, "This is beautiful. I can see why the wizard wanted to be laid to rest here. It's so beautiful and peaceful I could live here."
Warren stood between the women and, without thinking, wrapped his arms around each of them. He smiled and said, "Yeah. This seems so peaceful compared, even, to our island and definitely its better than Tommy's Crossing. Now, shall we see what we can find if those two miscreants left anything."
The group slowly moved toward and into the tomb. As they wandered around they were surprised at the amount of "stuff" remaining inside. There were vials of various liquids and powders, tools and utensils of all types, furniture and bedding as well as a small library. Warren stood in the middle of the room and said, "I don't think this is a tomb. I don't see anywhere I would expect a coffin or body to be laid to rest and I've never heard of a tomb with windows. I think this was a wizard's home or retreat."
Brenda said, "Yeah. It looks more like a house than anything else. I suppose it could be what passed for a laboratory considering the small amount of furniture but it's certainly not a tomb. She walked to the door and looked outside then continued, "It's getting late. Are we going to try to get home today or are we staying here or someplace along the trail closer to home?"
Warren followed her to the door and stood looking over the small glen. He moved outside and sat on a nearby rock that looked as if it had been used for that very purpose many times before. He said, "I think we'll stay here tonight. I want to spend more time looking over the things inside, maybe find some books to take back and I'm tired enough I don't want to walk or ride any more today."
Having heard that, most of the group returned to the lower valley, where they had to leave the wagon and horses, to get items needed for the camp. The various individuals quickly began opening packs and getting out bed rolls, food and utensils to set up the camp. Most of them decided to stay at the foot of the trail with the livestock and wagon. Warren and the two women decided they'd sleep inside so they could work on the books and other items of interest for a while before they called it a night so they had to bring some of their belongings into the valley. Warren's teleportation helped immensely with that task.
A couple of the men took off to see if they could find some game for fresh meat. Two more went to the lower river to see if they could catch some fish and the ladies went into the valley looking for edible plants. This left Warren and Jr free to return to their studies inside the house.
The next morning Warren filled his coffee cup and wandered away from the women. He found a quiet spot near the small waterfall and sat on a mossy log. He leaned back against a tree growing up beside it and sipped his coffee as he looked out over the small glen toward the larger valley. After his coffee was gone, he reluctantly stood and returned to the fire for more. While he was there, Gloria handed him his breakfast.
Warren stood holding his coffee and breakfast trying to decide where to sit. He didn't see anyplace that looked very comfortable so he returned to the mossy log he sat on before. After he had eaten his breakfast he just leaned back listening to the birds and the tree leaves rustling in the light breeze. He was drifting off to sleep when Gloria walked up to him. She watched him for a moment before saying, "Husband are you going to sleep the day away or should we finish packing so we can leave? 'Tis getting late and we know not how long it will take us to get back to our home. The men down below are getting restless."
Warren looked out over the glenn a moment longer before he stood and started toward the front of the cave and small cabin. Truthfully, it was more cabin than cave because whoever had built it had just rocked in a rectangular area underneath a large rock overhang turning it into the tomb or home or whatever.
When he got back to the cabin, Warren stopped, leaned forward, and picked up his pack, settling it onto his shoulders. He looked around once more and started walking toward the trail into the lower valley. As he began moving, he said, "Well, I suppose we need to move on. It's so peaceful here, I hate to leave."
When the men saw Warren and the women moving down the trail from the upper valley they completed departure preparations and were ready to go by the time they got to the lower camp. After a few words of greeting Warren mounted his horse and said, "Well, lets get on the road. I'd like to be home before dark if we can.
When they arrived at the larger river (which was less than a half mile from the cabin/tomb), they turned downstream and headed back toward Tommy's Crossing. They weren't moving very fast because everyone was still tired even with the rest they got during their stay at what Warren decided to call the cabin. Their travels and the short fight they had with the Wizards and their gang had tired them physically and mentally. It was a beautiful day to just be alive, and they all were enjoying it as they traveled.
As they traveled, they kept alert for danger of the two and four legged variety. They didn't expect trouble but the prudent traveler paid attention to his or her surroundings because it wasn't unheard of. It had been several years since there was serious trouble with bandits in the area but it was possible they could stumble onto some, mostly from gangs that had recently moved into the area. In general, wild animals didn't bother humans but if they crossed the path of a predator, at the very least, the horses might spook.
Warren's policy probably had more to do with the peacefulness of the local citizens than did the supposed law enforcement officials. He made his services available to any who had need if they were sick or injured and sold his enchanted items indiscriminately as well. Of course, no one sought trouble with a Wizard but they might attack, not knowing one was with the group if bandits were around.
Warren was hell on wheels bad to deal with if you committed a crime, especially a violent one. He and Brenda, the ex FBI agent, hunted down violent criminals like a pair of bloodhounds. When they caught them their ending wasn't pleasant but it was normally humanely fast. They never punished an innocent person either. Warren had discovered a spell that could force someone to tell the truth so when they caught a suspect, he questioned them and they damned or cleared themselves.
Occasionally, he caught the wrong person and discovered a heinous crime in their past so he punished them for that crime then continued hunting his original quarry. It became known far and wide that you didn't harm anyone near Tommy's Crossing either personally or by proxy. Serious thievery from time to time also caused Warren to hunt you down although some did get by with petty thievery merely because it wasn't worth his time and effort to find them. Of course, non violent crimes Warren punished with less severe punishments but each criminal they caught knew they would be punished. From time to time, if a criminal discovered Warren or Brenda was after them, they gave themselves up (especially if they had only committed a minor crime) because they knew they couldn't escape the wizards. Violent criminals, the few there were, got as far away as they could, hoping Warren either wouldn't find them or would give up because they left the area.
The group was anxious to get home so didn't stop and cook a noon meal. They did stop to eat and rest for a while at lunch. By noon, they were traveling through country some of the men recognized so they were confident they could make it back home by nightfall. Everyone was exceedingly happy when they could finally see Tommy's Crossing ahead of them. When they got to the ferry landing they split up. Those who lived in town went home. Warren and his small group of island dwellers had to get the boat and paddle back to the island. Warren wanted to just teleport home but since he could only take one person with him at a time, he opted to ride the boat with the rest of them.
Those who went on the trip spent the next two days after getting home resting except for absolutely necessary tasks. Warren or one of the other wizards did go to the Inn daily in case there were medical emergencies that required their attention. Thankfully, there were none. The less powerful Wizards in training, the healers and hedge witches had taken care of all the minor illnesses and injuries while they were gone.
As they settled back into the normal routine, Warren found himself strangely unhappy. He was restless and wandered around the island more than usual. He had trouble concentrating on his research and didn't feel as comfortable teaching the few apprentices they had. After the third day of him wandering around or sitting staring into space Brenda asked, "Warren, what's bothering you? You've been as restless as a cat on a hot tin roof since we got back."
