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Chapter 32. Public Enemy

by Sheriff Brull

For a group of wretches that just encountered the only aid they had seen for months, the Marties didn't seem very grateful. And considering their plight was the sole reason Brull was even on this island, he didn't take their cool behaviour very well. "Don't suppose a 'thanks for coming to save us' would be in order," he grumbled quietly, fully intending to be heard.

The only reaction he got was a scoff from a diseased ferret. "Save us? You're a bit late for that. After a hurricane, plague, and getting cast into the sewer, how much help do you think you're gonna be?"

"Oh, lots, I think," Zula said, chipper as always. "Sheriff's Brull's good at helping creatures. Aren't you, Mr. Sheriff, sir?"

Slightly put out that the only vocal support he was receiving was from a half-insane fox, Brull mumbled, "Yeah," and sulked.

All things considered, the filth and smell of Evnakt's underground made Brull almost wish he had gone for the Red Brandy. At least with that, there would have been a chance of fresh air, and some resemblance of sanitation. As the group was led through the long tunnels, the Sheriff couldn't help but notice that the ceiling was held up by little more than rotted wooden beams. The floor didn't fare much better, being made up of what Brull hoped was dirt and mud. "Lovely dump," he muttered, perhaps a little louder than he would have liked. The glare he was receiving from a mangy weasel wasn't exactly comforting.

"Sheriff Brull, please," Pearl whispered, "we don't want to offend anyone."

The rat didn't think telling the truth was offensive. Besides, most of these Marties were probably aware that the underground was less than paradise. Maybe that was the cause of those nervous twitches. Purposely hanging back from the leading elements of the small party, Brull looked for a hushed audience with Rekkua. "What d'you think the odds are of this Nev-whatever being any saner than the rest of them?"

The monitor scowled. "Zlim. Zarkleyet zaid he had contracted Martin'z Madnezz."

Brull made sure the other vermin were out of earshot before he continued. "And we're looking for help from this bloke? Seems like we have our choice of one loon or another."

"No other choice," Rekkua shrugged. "If Nevyeer haz power, it would be wize to be on hiz good side."

"Power over a bunch of lepers."

"Army iz an army. I would rather have my own tribe. But if we want to defeat the Felloh'z Heirz, we will need Nevyeer'z help."

After walking through this veritable cesspool, Nevyeer had better go head over heels trying to help the Sheriff. "Hoy, you two!" a gaunt rat called back, "Keep up the pace. You don't want to get lost down here."

A growl from the monitor told Brull that he wasn't the only one who hated being ordered around, even if it was for his own good. He didn't particularly like the Marties so far; if someone came into your home with the intention of saving your city, you should treat the saviour with respect. "We're coming, don't worry your pretty little heads."

Pearl didn't look pleased with this flippancy. "Don't mind him," she offered pleadingly to some of the irate looking vermin, leering ominously towards the rat. "He's just having a bad day."

"We're not down here by choice, you know," a weasel sneered.

"Neither am I, oddly enough," Brull answered before Pearl could stop him. He was cut off when the paw of a vexed vixen grabbed him by the arm.

"Sheriff Brull," Pearl asked pleasantly, "may I speak to you?" Any kindness in her voice was offset by the sharp digging of her claws in Brull's arm, causing the rat to wince. "What are you doing?" she hissed quietly. "We want any help we can get, remember? The island won't save itself."

Gritting his teeth, the Sheriff reminded himself that he liked Pearl, and refrained from speaking freely. "For a bunch of beasts looking like death, they're acting mighty haughty."

"Yes, well, we're going to have to grin and bear. And another thing, mind your manners when we find Nevyeer. We need him on our side."

"Don't see why. If we can't trust Sarkleyet, I doubt we can trust his good buddy."

"Sarkleyet only cares about himself. I don't know, but I hope that Nevyeer will be more interested in saving the town. At least, he seems to be doing something to help those poor dears with the sickness."

"Or he might be even worse."

"Well, we won't know until we ask."

"Ms. Pearl, will you please get your claws out of my arm?"

"Oh!" The vixen gasped sharply, unaware that she had drawn blood from the rat. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean..."

"It's all right," Brull grumbled, not feeling all right in the least. "It'll grow back." Had anyone else talked to the Sheriff in such a manner, he would have put their lights out. "Can't imagine how many little diseases are running into the cuts, though."

"Diseases don't run, Mister Brull," Zula added, nodding her head confidently. She alone seemed easy going inside this eerie predicament. "They sit on dirty paws, waitin' to jump at unexpecting foxes. That's what me mam said. She'd say, 'Zula Higgins, wash those paws after touching the bed sheets! Do you know how many beasts have been on...'"

"Yes, dear, very nice." Pearl cut the younger fox off. Ignoring the uncomfortable coughing from Brull, the vixen shrugged her shoulders. "I'm just saying, I don't like this place more than anyone else, but we can't go back the way we came, and I'm not keen on staying here. We'll just have to go forward."

The procession continued on in silence, almost funeral-like, except that the dead and living were walking together without discrimination.

"We're here."

After witnessing the grand mansion of Sarkleyet, Brull was less than impressed with the broken down shack (more like a shed) that looked like it had simply fallen from above ground and been forgotten about. An alcove had been dug in the side of the tunnel for the dwelling, giving the impression of a roadside inn. "Magnifizent," Rekkua mumbled, obviously not enthralled.

"That's a nice wood shed," Zula approved. "So where's the rest of the house?"

"Nevyeer's in there," a rat indicated with a flick of his head. "I should warn yeh, he's a bit of a nut, even for one of us. Just watch yourself, s'all."

Realizing even his office was bigger than Nevyeer's, the Sheriff waved off the other rat. "Fine. You scurry along, we'll only be a minute."

The mangy rodent did not move. "We only take orders from Nevyeer."

It was timely intervention from Pearl that stopped Brull from decimating his smaller counterpart. "Yes, of course. Thank you for your time." The rat glared at Brull, and knocked on the door.

"Who's there? What do you want? I'm busy! Go away!" A shrill, panicky voice sounded from within the shed, cutting through the otherwise silent underground.

"There's some beasts here to see you, Nevyeer," the rat replied calmly, apparently not taken aback by the hysterics of the voice.

A moment of silence prevailed, until the voice, still tinged with fear, inquired, "Do they have weapons?"

The rat opened his mouth, paused as he glanced over at Rekkua, and decided that the monitor didn't count. "No."

Slowly, warily, the door creaked open just a crack, allowing the eye of a gaunt ferret to peer through. Vanishing behind the wall, his voice still crept through the rotting wood. "Who is it, who is it?" he mumbled, unaware that he could be heard. "Two vixens, concubines..."

Zula blinked. "Now, how d'you s'pose he knew that?"

"Because I know everything!" the voice snapped. "It's my business to know! Not knowing leads to not breathing!" With alarming speed, his mood returned to musing. "Never seen the rat before. Looks uncouth."

"Oh, he's asking for one heck of a..."

"Mr. Brull, please!"

"And a monitor! Disgusting! It will ruin the carpet! It will make a mess!" Rekkua's tongue flicked out, but a warning glare from Pearl inclined her to say nothing. "Still, it hasn't the brains to do anything." Another period of silence before the ferret reappeared at the door. "Show them in, Beverly," he proclaimed regally, standing upright, staring down his nose at his guests. "And then see to the garden, it's starting to wilt." Inexpicably, the ferret slammed the door before any one else could enter.

"I knew a fox named Beverly once," Zula grinned to the rat.

The rodent shook his head. "It's Blacknose, actually. He hasn't got my name right once since I came down here."

The young vixen frowned sympathetically. "That's okay, me mam used to get my name wrong too. Sometimes thought I was called 'Muffin-head.'"

Seemingly warmed by this small chat, the rat turned his attention to Pearl. "Right, you lot can go in. Keep in mind he means less than half of what he says. But we only take orders from him. So make sure you don't rile him, or you'll get nothing at all from any of us." And with that, the rat shuffled back down the tunnel.

Once he was gone, Pearl whispered earnestly to the other three. "Alright, you heard him. If we want any one to help us, we'll need Navyeer's approval. Brull, Rekkua, I know you don't like being talked down to, but unless you fancy going up against the Felldoh's Heirs by yourselves, I'd appreciate if you held your tongues, at least for the moment."

"Won't say a word."

"My lipz are zealed."

"An' I won't say nothing too!"

Giving them one last forbidding stare, Pearl led the way into the shed. The place was as unkempt and disorderly inside as it looked from the outside. Books were every where, either stacked in massive piles or tossed aside without care. Remains of various foods and papers were littered everywhere, with no attention to sanitation. What little furniture there was consisted of a few old chairs, a handful of potted plants, and a crate that seemed to be serving as a desk. Behind the latter sat Nevyeer, who looked up at the newcomers with shock. "Who are you? Where did you come from?!"

Remembering the rat's warning, Pearl contained her surprise and gave a smart bow to the ferret. "Hello. I'm Pearl, and these are my friends, Zula Higgins, Sheriff Brull, and Rekkua. We've come because we need your help."

Once again changing from panic to civility, Nevyeer nodded. "Of course, of course. Ms. Pearl is well known for her... establishment." He didn't sound overly pleased with the concept of the vixen's selling of companionship. "I trust the young Higgin's mother ran the same kind of business."

Pearl seemed slightly vexed at the distasteful tone the ferret was using. "It wasn't as shady as you seem to be implying."

"I hate it!" Nevyeer shrieked suddenly, yet retained his composure the next second. "The monitor has to stay by the door."

Rekkua took a step towards the desk, but was stayed by a paw on her shoulder. "Steady on," Brull mumbled. For his part, he was waiting for some kind of acknowledgement from the ferret. For better or for worse, Nevyeer ignored the Sheriff altogether. Brull wasn't sure if he was pleased or annoyed.

"I'm a very busy beast, so state your business."

Pulling up a chair to the desk, Pearl placed her hands on her lap and looked Nevyeer in the eye. "I'll be brief. You see..."

"I don't see," the ferret contradicted, apparently pleased with this small jest.

"Can I hit him yet?" It had been less than a minute, and Brull was already tired of this self glorified trash-monger.

"Sheriff Brull, you're not helping!" Pearl cried, though the rat expected her frustration was misplaced. Turning her attention back to the ferret, who was cringing deeper into his chair after the threat, the vixen put on a plainly forced smile. "We're planning an uprising to take back the city, and we need your help."

"Everyone needs my help. Day in, day out, they knock on my door, they beg me for favours, they ask me to heal them. And I can, you know," he whispered, winking at the vixen. "I figured it out! I can slow it! No one knows how but me. That's why they listen to me. Because only I can save them." Retreating again into his chair, the ferret resumed his mumbling. "Why should I help you?"

"It won't be much trouble, really. All we need is for you to ask the Mart... that is, those who answer to you, to assist us."

Nevyeer looked aghast. "But... but they're mine!" he whined. "They answer to me! I don't want to give them up. You can't have them!"

Pearl sighed in exasperation. This was plainly going no where fast. "We don't want to own them, we just want their aid."

"I see," the ferret sighed. "You just want to use me. Everyone does. Nobody loves me."

"Can I hit him yet?"

"Not yet," Pearl growled, though with less conviction than before. "Mr. Nevyeer, please, focus! I need you to tell the diseased beasts to lend us their assistance to defeat the woodlanders. But they won't help unless you tell them. We're planning on retaking Evnakt, and only you can aide us. Surely you don't enjoy living down here?"

In yet another one of his many mood swings, Nevyeer glared at Pearl. "Enjoy it? Certainly not! Do you think anyone enjoys living in a gutter? Especially me? I used to have a lab, a big one! In a mansion! And it was magnificient! Until that traitor kicked me out." His voice dropped to a barely audible murmur. "And after all I did for him, too. Shouldn't trust pine martens, their ears are too big to be trusted."

"Oh, you mean Mister Sarky?" asked Zula, who had taken to sitting on one of the many book piles. "He's trusty. Let us stay at his place, he did."

The young fox had to duck to avoid the tome that was thrown at her head. "Sarkleyet sent you!?" Nevyeer shrieked, half furious, half terrified. "How does he know I'm here?! You want to kill me!"

Shocked at this outburst, Pearl raised her paws in a placating manner. "Mr. Nevyeer, no one here wants to kill you! Please, settle down!"

The ferret could not be calmed. "No one wants to kill me, eh? Everyone wants to kill me! That's why I'm here. Down here. And not up there! That marten wants me dead! Don't you know who he is? Do you know what he's done?"

"Iz thiz about the Red Brandy?" Rekkua queried, eying the ex-scholar with distaste.

The monitor's question failed to help matters. "What do you know about the Red Brandy?! He's looking for it, isn't he? He's promised it to you if you kill me! Well, I'm on to his game!"

"Nevyeer, please," Pearl pleaded, "we are not here to kill you."

Scoffing as he sat down, Nevyeer put on a cynical, yet brave, face. "Hah! Tell Sarkleyet that if he wants me, he can come and get me himself, and to not his latest conquest in bed! And his standards must have dropped pretty badly!"

"Why you..." Pearl sputtered, and for a moment Brull thought she was actually going to strike the ferret, who was cringing in his chair. The vixen managed to stop herself in time, with the help of several deep breaths. Coughing into her paw, she gave a dignified bow. "Beg pardon." Turning from Nevyeer, Pearl smiled quite pleasantly at the Sheriff. "Sheriff Brull, would you mind taking over?"

There was no stopping the grin of anticipation from crossing the rat's face. "Thought you'd never ask." Rolling up his sleeves, Brull nodded toward Rekkua. "Watch the door," he asked. The monitor clearly didn't like being ordered around, but slid in front of the door regardless.

Nevyeer glared up from his chair at the looming rat. "I told you, I'm not helping Sarkleyet's goons! Get out of my house!"

A noticeably large lump appeared in the ferret's throat as Brull not only didn't leave, but pulled up a chair of his own, directly in front of his host. Gates, it was always a treat to see trumped-up society types realize they were powerless to enforce their will without beasts like the Sheriff to back them up. "That's nice," Brull leered. "If I see any, I'll let them know you're not helping them."

Shifting uncomfortably, Nevyeer managed to sputter, "You were with him! You're here to kill me!"

"Much as I'd like to disagree, I'd be lying. I'm only here because I want off of this island, and to do that, I reckon I need you alive."

"Don't talk to me like that!"

"Oh, I'm going to be doing a damn sight more than just talking in a moment or two."

In a shift of character that emphasized the ferret's madness, Nevyeer suddenly became imperious. "Phaw! Why would I, one of the smartest minds in vermin history, be inclined to help you? Geoffrey," he asked a nonexistent aide, "see these beasts out."

Had Geoffrey even been there, he couldn't have stopped Brull from kicking Nevyeer's chair over. The ferret gasped for air, almost in a state of shock, as the rat stood over the scrabbling scholar. "That's enough of that." Grabbing Nevyeer by the scruff of the neck, Brull hauled him upright and pushed the ferret into the wall. "We're gonna play a new game now, called 'Shut up and Listen.' You get to go first."

For once, it looked like Nevyeer had nothing to say, and nodded sullenly.

"Lovely. Now, as my good friend Ms. Pearl was saying, we're taking back this desolation you call a city, and you're going to bend over backwards to give us whatever we need."

"I don't..."

The ferret's protest what cut off by a hard back-hand slap from the Sheriff, sending Nevyeer back onto the floor. The action got a grin of amusement from Rekkua. "About time."

Dragging Nevyeer back up, Brull sneered at the scholar. "Guess I forgot to explain the rules. I talk, you listen. You agree, you nod. You disagree, you nod anyway. Got it?"

Nod.

"Good. As I was saying, those half-brained nit-wits outside could be mighty useful to us. But it seems they only take orders from you. So you're gonna tell them to give us a helping paw, right?" No matter how low they sunk, those with power never wanted to give it up, evidenced by Nevyeer biting his lip earnestly. "I don't hear you nodding," said Brull, raising a warning fist in the air.

Nod. "What do you want them to..."

Another hard smack sent a fang flying from the ferret's mouth. Pearl looked away; Zula was half distracted by a fly buzzing around the lamp.

Shaking the nearly unconscious Nevyeer, the Sheriff wagged a discretionary claw. "I'm not done. Ms. Pearl's gonna ask you a few things, and you're gonna answer her nicely. Or I'll start feeding you, claw-by-claw, to my friend Rekkua." An anticipatory smile from the monitor, showing her fangs nicely, was more than enough incentive to make Nevyeer's head bob like a fishing lure. "Lovely." Shoving the ferret back into his chair, the rat winked at Pearl. "All yours."

Sitting down, the vixen glared at the ferret, placing her paws on the desktop. "We need to find the Felldoh's Heirs' head quarters. Do you know where it is."

"Yes."

"Can you get us there?"

"Yes."

"And will you tell your beasts to assist us?"

"Yes."

"Good." Rising, Pearl gave a pleasant nod to her compatriots. "There, see? Always mind your manners."

end of week two.