Chapter 10

"It doesn't appear to be Captain Tiggular, ma'am," Lieutenant Balfour said to Glinda. She had returned to the abandoned castle with a contingent of Gale Force in an attempt to retrieve the body. It had taken them a better part of the day to get troops to the location and to figure out how to climb down to the body.

"Doesn't appear?" Glinda raised an eyebrow.

"Well until we get the body up here, all I can say is that the hair color is wrong and so is the build. The lighting down there isn't very good and Private Basheer is doing his best," Balfour explained.

"Well that is a relief but who is it and why is he in the well?" The blonde wanted to know.

"My guess is that he was killed and dumped. Could have stumbled upon smugglers or been drunk. This old castle is often used for shelter in bad weather and not much else," the Lieutenant told her.

"Very well. I will continue my search for the Captain. Though it would seem that I have run out of leads," Glinda sighed. Balfour was about to say something when the Private down in the well shouted up,

"Found his papers! Pull me up!" Quickly the men holding the line on the top side of the well began to pull. Within a few minutes, the Private emerged from the hole and laid the papers down on the edge of the well.

"Is there any chance I can get clean sir? The body was in really bad shape and I smell like death," Basheer asked the Lieutenant.

"Corporal Smythe will help you. I'm glad we brought water. You'll scare the horses," Balfour was practically gagging, just standing next to hm. Smythe nodded and pointed to the outside where the wagon was stationed and the two headed out.

"The papers are soaked in the…" Glinda was about ready to vomit. She was as close to the papers as she wanted to be but reading them was going to be a problem.

"I imagine they aren't very legible," Balfour frowned. While they debated about what to do with the papers, the raven that had been following Glinda flew back to the Emerald City. Glinda's journey had met a dead end, quite literally. She would be unable to move from here. He had stayed behind while she went to fetch help and surveyed the castle and the grounds. There was no definitive proof that anything else was out of the ordinary.

"What could you tell about the body? How did he die?" The Lieutenant asked. He'd left Glinda behind to see if she could use her magic on the paperwork while he questioned the still stinky Private Basheer.

"Must have been mauled by an animal. His throat was all torn open," the Private said while he scrubbed with the soap. He'd stripped down to his skivvies and the Corporal was busy burning the other clothes he'd been wearing. Trying to get the smell off with the small bar of soap and a bucket of cold water seemed next to impossible.

"His throat was torn open and then he fell into the well? Hmmm…." Balfour frowned and returned to Glinda.

"Something is afoot ma'am. It would seem that an animal killed our soldier but then he somehow ended up in the well," he told her.

"An animal wouldn't cover its tracks," Glinda gave him a look.

"No they wouldn't. Men! Fan out! I want this castle checked inside and out and then I want a perimeter established!" Balfour ordered. Quickly, the men dispersed and scoured the grounds for anything that they could note as a disruption of the rotting castle.

Meanwhile, Sam had led Fiyero, Elphaba, and Brrr into the mountains. They weren't far from their destination when a wave of nausea hit the green woman. She turned off the path and brought up her entire breakfast.

"Fae!" Fiyero turned around and followed her. He grew very concerned that she had picked up some sort of sickness from hiding in the tunnels and cave.

"How much further is it? Miss Elphaba might need a doctor," Brrr asked Sam.

"About another thirty minutes," he replied as he watched Fiyero rub Elphaba's back and helped her swish out her mouth.

"Then we better get a move on," Fiyero said from his position. It would seem like an eternity to go another thirty minutes by foot but they needed to get to help and as quickly as they could.

To Be Continued…