First of all-congrats to the winners. Well done! And KmS, thank you for putting me in your choir (LOL,
me
in a choir?!) Anyhow, I agree with you-I too would very much like to read the other entries and I think they should publish here. I wrote something too and here is my short story. I hope you all will have as much fun reading this as I had writing it. The Smugglers Ring By Esme A mournful howl echoed out of the cemetery gates as Sam silently pressed against the outer surrounding wall. Those dratted werewolves were getting more numerous every day. She sighed...not her problem. Across the wharf road the lights of Paunchy Ragnar’s pub glowed thinly through the damp night mist. Some drunken sailors were singing an old Larki ballad and the words floated faintly across the road: “The grass on the plain is burning, My dragon’s crest is sinking with thirst, Old dragon he had all our whiskey, Now with 8 aching heads we are cursed.. dry, dry sweet Larkinor...” The chorus continued but Samantha Spade had other things to listen for tonight. This was the big night, the culmination of their investigation, The end of the smugglers ring. She had been charged with writing the report of everything that had transpired regarding
The Case Of The Missing Ore Putties
. In two pages. Only. It had begun with the rapid reduction of oreputty on the markets. Those that did come up for sale were priceless. If they weren’t successful tonight-building on TA would, simply, cease. As to the “ where and the why”-those were questions also to be answered tonight. Sam shivered in the darkness, only a few more minutes and the rest of the Larkinor operatives would be here. They were going to stake out and some might already be here. She smiled to herself , all Larkinorians loved a party and they had planned a wow of a welcome party when the smuggler’s ship arrived! Hah! What a break the tipoff had been! Not a few bones had been broken, heads knocked, but hey, a life of crime isn’t supposed to be easy. And the prize had been a name.
The
name. Mr. Big. Only his name was “ Mr. G’. And that was all the info they had ..so far. Sam swung around sharply toward a scuffling sound on her left but relaxed when she saw only a drunk staggering toward the pub. She wrinkled her nose as he passed by-definitely
not
grilled beef. Then , without a sound, Werepanther loped out of the murkiness “anybody else here?” “No, just us, so far..” she answered. Another shadow loomed in the darkness and a quiet voice said “ I’m here, where’s the party? ..just joking.. It’s me, Braves.” It was obvious he had just polished up his old halo . It glowed in the dark! A few more minutes dragged by and another shadow emerged beside them. It was.TeT in a bellydancer disguise, but both heads gave her away. She was armed with a baseball bat and Sam was glad someone had thought to bring a less then lethal weapon. Suddenly MoleKat skipped in slightly out of breath “ Just had a close one -but I got away “ she grinned. Involuntarily Sam checked for her wallet . heh .. e-v-a walked up out of the gloom and quietly told them that she had just seen the 2 silver wolves on the pier where the smugglers would be docking. Good! Lusha was their front line. Sam really didn’t know who all were scattered around the wharf hidden in ambush- virtually every good citizens had volunteered for duty. She would do a name count afterwards and hope they all could be squeezed into a only two page report. They all stood silently in the damp gloom listening to the water slap against the pilings . Faintly and slowly the sound of gurgling water became more pronounced. Became more rhythmic. The muted bumping sounds of a large boat being moored was unmistakable. The smugglers had dimmed their running lanterns - there had been no warning of their arrival! The stillness shattered with wild wolf wails. Lusha was alone on the dock! Sam spun around but the others had already headed down towards the wharf. The sounds of running feet, huffing breaths, grunts and howls of war rushed by her. The darkness obscured details of wraithlike figures clashing on the cobblestoned street immediately in front of her. Further down she could hear the clanging of metal weapons against metal weapons. Clutching her shields she made her way towards the wharf, pausing sometimes briefly to send a lightening blast in the direction of a fleeing smuggler. Few of the smuggling crew had armour and even fewer had weapons of the caliber needed to be effective against the enraged Larkis. It was taking more time to round up the smugglers in all the murk then it had taken to defeat them. Several of the higher level fighters had taken charge of the captives and were debating their fate. AA’s head feathers were bobbing furiously as he shook one of the culprits declaring loudly “ Let ‘em walk the plank!” Suddenly a loud Whoop whoop sounded in their midst and Thora lowered his horn to declare “Everybody to the pub!” Those magic words mobilized the milling fighters and everyone that could walk trudged off to the pub for a bit of “recuperation”. Paunchy Ragnar’s pub had been hastily turned into a “field”hospital and a few prone bodies were sprawled on wooden tabletops-- but no casualties were apparent . All the activity in the room seemed organized and as Sam glanced around she saw a large table in the corner with Ralph The Dog carefully seated in a chair. He was obviously in charge and busy going through the smuggler’s documents. She headed in that direction but then accidently tripping over some long bones. She quickly apologized to the bones propped up against the wall and saw that it was Callum, frame askew, but otherwise unhurt. Sam had always thought he looked a little peaky. She continued to wend her way toward Ralph when a hard bump to her back sent her lurching forward. bob1345 had backed into her. He and Montsegur were carrying a large body between them .She had often wondered if they were related – the resemblance was amazing. . The body looked like Sasquatch Bob but then it said :“ Oh, I do beg your pardon , Miss, these kind gentlemen were just helping me...”. Sam was still shaking her head as she squeezed by Affe and Cinder who were rolling bandages , their large carrybags neatly stashed under the table where they could keep an eye on them. She thought they had very agile fingers. Ralph The Dog looked up as she approached. “I suppose you want the whys and wherefores,” he growled. She smiled at him and nodded. “ Well, first thing-“Mr G” got away. Yep!”. He scratched his whiskers. “Don’t know how I’m going to tell V.” He scratched his neck. “ Second –it wasn’t what we all thought! This “Mr G” didn’t bribe and threaten all those diggers because he wanted to corner the market,” he stopped and scratched his whiskers again “ Oh no, he planned to use those oreputties! The truth is he held secret meetings with a certain tourist who visited our island a number of times. This tourist was a travel agent and felt Larkinor was ripe for the holiday crowd. So Mr.“G’, the developer, and Mr.travel agent hatched a scheme in which the tourist agent would supply loads of holiday makers and Mr “G” would build 5 holiday condo blocks to rent out to these visitors! On the north shore of the Kings forest!” Ralph’s account came to a halt with a sharp bark. Sam’s mouth had dropped open in amazement listening to this tale of infamy. Ralph then assured her that preparations were already under way to pursue this villain ...but that is another story. Sam the Scribe, 11.28pm, 16June, RL .