Chapter 17
"Something happened here and recently" said Ruby as they were stopped to look at an area scuffed up with tracks. Humperdinck carefully paced the perimeter of the area observing several different types of trails before returning to the center.
"There was an incident" he said. "It looks like a snake scared the horse and Lowbrow was thrown off. The horse ran off toward the east, the snake went to the west, and Lowbrow continued on foot to the north with the use of a walking stick, probably from that brush over there. I found some of his equipment hidden in the brush as well. It's several hours walk to Florin and it looks like he wanted to make it before sundown."
"Let's hurry as well" suggested Ruby, "we should be able to catch him easily enough."
"Catch up to him yes; I still don't know what to do after we reach him. I may have to banish him to Escudo to keep their secret; that can wait until we reach him." They both remounted and rode north. Humperdinck was delighted that Ruby seemed to be picking up the skills of tracking.
In less than an hour they reached a slope of sand with a clump of bushes at the bottom. A trail of footsteps led up the slope. They tied their horses to the bushes and started a climb up the slope for a better view. Half way up a figure emerged nearing the summit above them. Humperdinck shouted "Lowbrow!" and the figure turned and disappeared over the top. Humperdinck raced up the slope with Ruby in close pursuit. Reaching the top first Humperdinck paused and swung his arms wildly. Just before falling forward Ruby reached the top and grabbed his tunic and pulled him back against her. Time stopped as they stood face to face catching their breath, only to begin again as a loud cry came from below. Looking down, the other side of the slope dropped nearly straight away for 100 feet to a rocky surface below.
At the bottom lay the twisted form of Lowbrow, his cries diminishing while he still continued to move slightly. Humperdinck and Ruby rushed along the ridge and down one side to the bottom where Lowbrow lay. Humperdinck kneeled beside him and turned his head slightly. "Your Highness, you're alive" Lowbrow croaked out.
"Yes I am. There was a misunderstanding but I'm on my way back to Florin now."
"No," Lowbrow said weakly "you should be dead. Tu has been poisoning you for over a month. His wife has been putting it on your dates." His breathing was becoming more labored. "I found out and Tu threatened me, my wife and family if I told anyone. Was going to buy my...family's safety with secret..now it doesn't matter for me."
"I'm not poisoned; I haven't been eating the dates. But Tu and Elle Whithu will pay for their actions, you have my word. A man or woman must protect their family, and for that reason I forgive you for holding your tongue. Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Keep my family safe and...and..." Lowbrow started to answer before his body became still. For many minutes Humperdinck knelt over the body without speaking. When he straightened up he wiped the few tears from his eyes that the warm winds had not already dried. "That is the first death I have ever witnessed." A steely resolve came over his face and steadiness returned to his voice. "It will not be the last."
...
The Amigo lay beached on the southern shore of Florin and three sets of footprints led away into the low foothills that became the northern border of Escudo. They had guessed that Humperdinck and Ruby would most likely come through the central pass simply because any other route would take too long. Only a small copse of trees lay between them and Florin City. If by some chance Lowbrow were to emerge from the pass they had to stop him at all costs.
Max was going through his inventory of items in his travel bag carried by Fezzik. "I could make a smoke pot to signal if you'd like" he offered.
"I don't think so," said Westley "we don't want to announce ourselves to the wrong people. No, we need to hide ourselves the best we can and wait for someone to come through."
"How about three someones?" said Fezzik as he pointed to the south. In the distance there came two horses; one with a rider and the other with a body draped behind its rider.
...
In the castle Tu was quite content as he sat upon the throne and swirled his wine in a goblet. It wouldn't be long before Andy was gone and he would be head of the country. Soon he would have Elle help him write a speech of succession much like she helped him with the fictitious intelligence reports. He'd probably need to find a new Captain of the Guard but...
Tu's thoughts were interrupted when one of his observers rushed in.
"Sir, there has been a sighting of the Intrepid sailing into our waters from the north. What shall we do?" Of course no one here knew that the Intrepid was really the Revenge.
Tu sat with his mouth hanging open. "Errrrrr..." What was the Intrepid doing back? They were told there was going to be no payment, and Humperdinck would be dead by now. The only explanation was a trick, and the only way to stop it was by keeping the Intrepid from reaching shore. "Alert our ships to intercept and sink her" ordered Tu, "they have already stolen and killed our king; now they are back for more. Order all our soldiers to deploy along the northern shore in case she tries to land fighters. Put extra guards at the docks in case they make it that far." The observer ran out to relay the orders.
Tu looked down and saw a fly had landed in his drink. What a wonderful metaphor he thought.
...
Aboard the Revenge Contessa was explaining to Greta and Buttercup the strategy she and Inigo had already worked out. This time there was the threat of danger so she had taken over control of the ship to work better with the crew that already knew her.
"We've been ordered not to hurt them, but we can sure get their attention" said Contessa. "We're going to sail straight at them until their ships come out to intercept us. I'm sure they've already seen us, so it's just a matter of time until they can get their men out onto the water." A call from up in the lookout moments later confirming that masts could be seen moving out of the port.
"When we get fairly close we're going to give them a pair of 'Hello' shots from our bow cannon to let them know we see them. At that point we turn to port as if to outflank them. They only have cannons on their broadsides so they will turn to present arms and only then see we've continued our turn and are heading out. After that we just keep them busy without getting hit ourselves."
"Not after all the work we've been doing fixing her up!" said Greta with a wide grin. Besides helping Contessa on the refitting of the ship, Greta was also one of the ablest of crew to move heavy things around including the portable bow cannon.
In short order the ships closed much of the distance between them until Contessa judged they were just out of range. "Drop two shots in front of them!" she commanded and the ship shook from the firing. "Hard to port ninety degrees!" The ship pitched and swung around toward the new course. A crewmember in the rigging screamed and fell to land on a pile of rope.
"Is he alright?" asked Buttercup as she rushed to check him out.
"Wilhelm will be fine. He always screams like that when he falls" chided Contessa. Inigo tapped her shoulder and pointed. She looked to starboard and saw that the Zephyr and the Boreas had broken from each other and were taking opposite courses.
This should be interesting, she thought.
...
Humperdinck, Ruby, Westley, Fezzik and Max made their way through the woods on foot towards the castle. They led their horses which carried the body of Lowbrow and the remaining supplies, while off in the distance the sound of cannon fire was beginning to be heard. While Humperdinck led, Max followed in the rear; not from lack of stamina but because he wanted to keep as far away from Humperdinck as possible while still keeping an eye on him. He would have preferred to not see him at all, but if this is what it took to get to Andy so be it.
"Fezzik" said Westley, "you were here when Inigo found the knot switch on the tree. Could you find it again?" Westley was not very enthusiastic about going into the Pit of Despair where his life force had been drained from him, but there was no other way into the castle without a possible fight.
Humperdinck had explained that when his father was a child the kingdom, prompted by the church, had experimented for a time with the banning of alcoholic beverages. During that time the pit was used as a room where trusted people could enter with a password and sit and drink the forbidden spirits without fear of discovery. This included the royal family, who had a passage made between the castle and the room that came to be known as a "talkfreely". So even though Rugen had spoken of the tree being the only secret entrance, in fact there was a secret secret entrance that would serve them today. Unfortunately he hadn't been paying much attention when Rugen used the knot switch in his presence.
"That's not a problem," answered Fezzik "I can still see it in my mind. It should be over this way." He led the group off at an angle and stopped short in front of a large off-color oak trunk missing all of its branches. "It's this one right here" he said and he pushed on a knot. It depressed and a grinding sound could be heard for a few seconds before stopping. Nothing changed so Fezzik pushed again. The sounds started again but stopped more quickly. Further pushes produced nothing.
"I think the gears must be jammed or rusted" said Fezzik with a shrug. They all stepped back from the trunk a distance and several walked around it looking for anything obvious. Fezzik even tried ramming the door to no effect.
Humperdinck turned to Max. "Max, I'm sorry now for firing you from your position. I was told by Rugen that you had become ill and were going senile and unable to perform your duties so I hired his suggestion as your replacement. I see now that I should have investigated myself, but that is cold comfort to you at this moment. But we could use your skills right now; what we need is a miracle to get inside."
...
Some say that miracles must be asked for; others say that coincidence provides them and that opportunists claim them as their own. Regardless of whether one, both, neither or a combination of the two is right, the following events did happen:
Contessa called for a "Rainbow shot" to be fired by the big cannon over the two Florin ships to land in the water behind them.
The cannonball used was lighter than the others in the stockpile.
The cannon was loaded with too much gunpowder.
The angle of the cannon, combined with the roll of the ship when it was fired, provided the optimal setting for maximum distance.
The rotation of the ship pointed the cannon just upwind of the pit entrance.
A large flock of geese flying nearby had just flown the point of their 'V' formation past the ship.
Thus it was that Contessa and crew watched as the fired cannonball sailed over the Zephyr, the Boreas, through the open part of the geese's 'V' and over Florin's castle before disappearing into the trees beyond. "Kinda missed that one boys" was all she said before returning to navigational matters.
...
"I'm just an old miracle man" exclaimed Max. "I can't just pull a miracle out of thin air."
Just then a whizzing noise grew louder from overhead. Westley, who knew a few things about cannonballs, barely had time to yell "Watch out!" before it struck, scattering wood splinters and pieces everywhere. Everyone but Fezzik was thrown back by the impact; the horses were scared but fortunately didn't break their tethers.
Max scrambled quickly to his feet. "Tah-dah!" he yelled. "Just don't ask me to do that again. Now just don't stand there Fezzik, give me my bag." He looked down into the stairs revealed by the smashed trunk. "I'll need my tinderbox to light torches. Come on!"
Fezzik handed Max the bag and told him "Hey Max, good luck storming the castle!"
Humperdinck turned to Ruby. "These horses should be taken to the castle for safe keeping and to return the body of Lowbrow. If you go straight in that direction you'll come to the castle wall; just follow it around to the right and you'll find a hitching post area near the front gate. Tie the horses and meet me inside the castle; tell the gate guard that I brought the body back. I'm asking you because I trust you can do it, okay? Please? You don't know your way around the castle and we might be moving pretty fast; I plan on making quite a noise when I get there. We'll be fine, and if not you can rescue us from the other side."
Ruby bit her lip but agreed and went to go lead the horses away.