Elrick [Ian], after having scoped out the town of Bandon Bridge (the only crossing of the Bandon river), returned to the group (Roma [Chris], Art [Jeff], Ab [Darryl], Deacon Father [Shane], Baron [Deacon], Tess and Mrs Siddy) to report the gloomy news. Not only was the bridge patrolled, but the witch-finder's wagon was in town.
Since it was still raining, they found a barn and took cover. Then conversation ensued, where they explored various options:
- "Borrow" a boat (there were a few moored, and even some on the south side). Con: might get caught and river was in flood.
- Elrick and Baron (the only non-witches) go across the bridge and walk upstream, with the party following on the south bank. Then throw a long rope across, and everyone get over via that. Con: the river is not a small stream, and was in flood.
- Head downstream to Kinsale at the mouth of the Bandon river. Con: slow
- Head south away from it all. Con: Mrs Siddy's sister lives in Cork.
Option three got the vote.
Sun 4-May
During Second Watch, the door to the barn was suddenly yanked open, and three lanterns filled the place with light.
"'Ere! What are ya lot doin' in our barn?!" came a gruff male voice.
This lantern-holders turned out to be the owners of the barn. Luckily, the party didn't do anything threatening, and tried to talk. When they offered the farmer, his wife and adult son a big bag of (copper) coins, rent for the night, that certainly calmed things down even more. The wife even offered them all some hot stew and bread, and the farmer brought some watery ale.
The farmer's son made several attempts to get Tess to be his wife, but she refused. The Deacon clearly told him that she was destined for a convent, south of Cork.
In the morning, they further helped the farmer by cleaning out the barn - many hands make light work, and all that.
But when the farmer's son was seen saddling up his horse to take a cart to Bandon Bridge, the party was dead scared he would tell some soldiers in town about them. After the lad had gone, Art kept the farmer in conversation while the rest of the party melted away in ones and twos, and headed south-east.
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| 1=Trachen Abbey, 2=Pealneen, 3=Rantzen |
The rest of the day was wet and dreary. It was all rough farmland, small pockets of woods, and muddy tracks. There was no particular main road around these parts, since sensible folk would cross the Bandon at Bandon Bridge, and then follow the proper maintained road, on the north side of the river, down to Kinsale. So the going wasn't very easy.
They camped down that night in a copse of trees on the brow of a hill. The rain had stopped during the afternoon, and the night sky was broken cloud, so the half-moon provided substantial light.
Mon 5-May
It was a quiet night. The morning was sunny, so that raised everyone's spirits.
During the day, they skirted what looked like an abbey. Acres of brush-wood fences and hedge rows surrounded a group of wooden buildings and a central building made of stone: Trachen Abbey. ["1" on map]. But they weren't game to even approach the figures seen moving within.
That night, clear sky, and another copse on a hill.
Tue 6-May
During Second Watch ("Why do we bother with First Watch? It is always Second.") those awake suddenly blinked, and there were three figures nearby. Everyone was slapped and shaken awake. The figures were the size of children.
"'Ere! What are ya lot doin' in our copse?!" came a melodious descant voice from one of them.
Deference ruled the day.
"Your copse? We didn't know."
Conversation ensued in Irish Gaelic. As the party had guessed, these fellows were leprechauns. They were interested in iron (more arrows were surrendered), some of Ab's firewater, and pages from the Bible (of which Tess supplied a couple from Haggai "If a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment...")
Ab Siddy, Father Deacon and Roma then struck up a religious doctrinal conversation, but the wee folk did not think too kindly to the acts of the church, both Catholic (esp the nearby Trachen Abbey) and Church of Ireland.
They parted on good terms. One gave Ab a four-leaf clover, which would hum when in the vicinity of a sidhe area. Just to help that the group would not make camp in such an area again.
The day was bright and sunny. The track they were on approached a village, Pealneen ["2" on map].
Low on supplies, they decided to send Elrick and Baron into the village to get some stuff. This trip was without incident and the two returned with eight loaves of bread, a wheel of cheese, a bag of apples and a demi-firkin [20 litres] of ale. They probably overspent, but they didn't care. It was nice to get some fresh food.
The Deacon's ale portion was severely rationed, with Tess taking up the role of the fussing mother hen. Knowing the Deacon's craving for drink in no-way matched his ability to handle it [he has the fault Susceptible to Poison], they didn't want him unconscious in a pool of vomit and urine after only the second mug.
With full-bellies, and a peevish Deacon, they made camp under the stars in another copse on a hill.
"No sidhe here," boasted Ab proudly, holding his four-leaf clover aloft.
Wed 7-May
It was a clear night. The moon was waxing to a sickle (new in two days), had just risen, but still provided a bit of light. Second Watch [!] could see a group of torches approaching.
Everyone was roused and they all tried to hide. Emphasis on the word "tried". It was a pathetic sight indeed, as everyone rushed around like Keystone Cops, bumping into trees, bumping into each other, and tripping over the now empty firkin, as they tried to climb trees, tried to hide, or tried to run.
Half the group were crouched down behind saplings or miniature bushes, and those that climbed the trees weren't hidden at all. [Someone threw a -4, so he had his head stuck in the empty barrel.]
Ab, gloatingly invisible in his magical Camouflage, shook his head sadly.
Elrick rushed off to one side - at least he was quiet.
Suddenly, a disheveled woman sprinted into the group; the exact geometric mean centre of the group (even allowing for Elrick's three standard-deviations off to the side to skew the mean). She didn't pay any attention to the poorly hidden souls, and she could not have failed to see them, as she careened headlong through.
Expecting the torch carriers, of which there were seven, to follow the lady's path, everyone left the pathetic safety of their hidden holes, got out their bows, and fired at the torches. Except for Art, who, after one arrow, began the laborious loading of his Spanish match-lock.
Arrows flew aplenty (Art, Baron, Ab, Roma, Elrick). The chasers had one crossbow between them, and it wasn't loaded. So, they soon realized the error of their ways, and did a turn-about and rushed off. A few were injured, and the cross-bow carrier was dropped, but none of the routers stopped for him.
The party fired a few arrows at the fleeing men until they had fled over the far hill, then went back to see to the dropped one. He was still alive, but unconscious, so the Deacon and Tess bandaged him and tied him to a tree.
"They will be back," growled Art.
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| Esther of Rantzen |
The chase victim, the woman, having seen the rout, made her way back to the group. She introduced herself as Esther. She was an indentured slave and had recently become the bed-favourite of her master, the local plantation owner Henry Rantzen. Hence she had fled, but she was not very quiet with her stealthy moves, and had roused the plantation: "At least I can hide better than you clowns."
The Rantzen plantation ["3" on map] was "over yon hill". The thugs chasing were stable-hands and workers.
They all quickly packed-up and left, giving Rantzen a wide berth. The eastern sky was starting to glow.
Esther knew the area well, so they deftly avoided any trouble and made good progress. But worryingly, Esther had heard about the "Baltimore witches", and how they were on the run. She put two and two together and realized who the group was. But, a pragmatic girl, she didn't look a gift-horse in the mouth (or maybe a "free-from-slavery-horse"); she could even accept the obvious devil-spawn Ab, and did feel sorry for his mother.
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| Kinsale Dory |
Elrick reported back. Then the party came up with a cunning plan. Elrick would buy a boat from the local boatman, and then sail back to a quiet beach, around the coast from the village, to pick everyone up. Then they would sail up the coast, and into Cork harbour and thence to Corke. That boat trip would only take two days [dotted line on map].
So, Elrick went back with Esther to the boat-maker "O Donnell's Boats", and bought a 12-seat dory for 22 shillings. This was a good sum of money, but Mister O'Donnell was happy to take one of Elrick's Spanish doubloons.
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