A Taxing Time

Common Room

This large and rectangular room serves the purpose of Common Room for the Prancing Pony. Large windows along the western end of the room peek out over the Great East Road which runs outside the Inn. There are long tables with bench seats for the patrons in the centre of the room. Nestled into the wall is a large fireplace with several bundles of wood piled next to it. Overhead, lamps hang down from roof beams, but their light is dim and half-veiled in smoke. The corners of the room are wrapped in shadow.

Contents:

Nob

Keldean

Aaah, autumn! A lovely time of year when the artistry of nature is truly a wonder to behold. The leaves slowly turn to red, brown, and golden hues, the grass prepares for the long sleep of winter, harvests are collected and the heat of summer is past. It\'s also a great time for Brenden to collect taxes, and so he has been. The mayor has been very active visiting the farms around Bree and making sure that people pay up. Those that don\'t are getting threats of losing their land, but the mayor hasn\'t taken such drastic measures... yet.

He sits at a table late in the evening, sipping from a mug and relaxing. His family is home asleep and Ferny is enjoying some peace and quiet.

The aroma of woodsmoke hangs in the crisp autumn air outside of the inn, the first night fires presaging the coming winter. A woman wrapped in a cloak against the chilly night slips into the room and makes a quick hard search of the room before releasing her collar and revealing her face. Her brown eyes do not warm at the sight of her brother, she pats her widow\'s cap back into place and strides to his table.

\"Should have known you would be here. Not quite hiding out are you. Though I would be if I were you.\"

Brenden looks up, slowly setting down the mug upon the table. \"Good evening, Ada.\" His mop of brown curls hang around his face, only making the mayor look all the younger. He lifts a hand to scratch and unshaven stubble on his chin. \"What do you mean? Why would I be hiding out?\"

She sighs hard shaking her head back at him. the same brown curls jostle under her cap. Her voice is biting as she repeats, \"What do you mean? Why would /I/ be hiding out?\" Putting her hands on her hips she looks him in the eye, \"Well, shall we start with dunning the poor for taxes, scaring them witless when you know they could never pay so much?\"

\"What makes you think they cannot pay? It is harvest time, it was a long, hot summer and there are crops aplenty.\" Brenden lifts a brow slowly. \"-I- think that they do not want to pay. Bree is not a charity town. You pay your taxes or you pay the price. Laws are laws. I did not write them. Don\'t get mad at me for doing my job.\"

Nob is bustling around the room, as usual, seeing to people, chatting, wiping a table here and there. Quite obviously, he avoids Brenden\'s table.

\"Well, I never thought I would be here explaining /this/ to /you/. How many times did tax time make you take a little trip out of town leaving your wife to deal with things?\" Ada takes a deep breath to get her wind, shaking her finger at her brother oblivious to the room and who might be listening.

\"What will they put aside for the winter if they pay it all out in taxes?\"

Several people are gawking, a few openly, some more discretely, as if by staring into their various mugs of ale, they can pretend they aren\'t really listening.

\"It\'s not my problem, Ada. They either pay the taxes, or they get off the land. When I took office, the coffers were empty.. Empty! People want guards to protect our gates, they want the streets cleaned, they want a an affordable healer\'s house for the sick, the list goes on and on. These amenities cost moooney. That\'s why we have taxes.\" Brenden rubs his fingers together as he holds his hand up. \"Let the people moan and groan. They have no one to blame but themselves if they didn\'t save enough coin for the winter. I\'m not afraid to turn out the freeloaders.\"

\"But,\" someone says, soto voce, \"he can\'t use all this money to help find that lad.\" There are nods and rumbles of agreement, and several very evil looks cast at the mayor.

\"Freeloaders!\" she sputters. \"Why...why...unless it were you or your family or one of your cronies. They will do more than...\" She stops suddenly and looks about her.

\"You will get yours if that is anything to go on. Oh, Brenden!\" Her voice lowers, love and exasperation roughening it, \"How did you get like this? What lad?\"

Brenden Ferny looks over sharply at the man that\'s grumbling, a scowl on his face. \"The Pinewick boy has run away before.. bloody ashes! The boy was only -here- because he ran away from his home! I know, I checked on it. He\'s probably gone back home.\" The mayor waves a dismissing hand and looks back at his sister. \"Ada, taxes are taxes. Unless you want to start paying for everyone that owes from your shop, stop griping to me on it. I\'m trying to enjoy a drink here. At least the Pony pays their proper coin.\"

Ada Fiddlehead nee Ferny\'s hands tighten into fists. \"Listen to you. A runaway is nothing to be concerned about! They have the right of it. You are tight when it is wrong and loose with money when it...\" She takes a sharp breath and speaks again in a low, controlled voice.

\"Why are you not out looking for that boy?\"

Now, Nob does stop in his rounds, and for the first time, look directly at the table where the Mayor sits. \"Young Keldean,\" he says loudly enough that all can hear, \"hasn\'t made a wrong step since he came back.\" And with a sharp nod of his head, he returns to his duties.

\"Why am I not out.. Are you actually asking me that?\" Brenden lifts up the mug, slowly waving it in the air in front of his sister before he takes a long, significant drink. He\'s still tipping the tankard back when Nob speaks up, and the mayor slams it down on the table to turn a scowl on the hobbit. After a long, quiet glare of consideration, a rather insincere smile takes his features. \"Master Nob.. If you are so concerned, I will hire the very next ranger that skulks into our town to go look for the lad. Okay? And of course I\'ll be paying the man out of the tax money that everyone is grumbling about!\"

\"Drunk.\" She rounds the table and sits, her face near his though when she smells the drink on him she leans back with a grimace of disgust. \"And drunk both day and night or a drink in your hand. I feel sorry for Louisa.\"

Leaning back in her chair she sits up straighter and looks behind her at Nob. \'Master Nob might know one you could hire, brother.\"

Nob lifts his head and says, almost quietly, \"I would prefer that you were concerned.\"

\"Drunk?? I\'m not drunk! Ada, get off my case. I -should- raise your taxes. Then you\'ll have something to cry about.\" Brenden shakes his head, his curls bouncing back and forth with the motion. Nob\'s soft words catch his attention again, and the mayor seems to crumble a bit in his resolve. He runs a hand through his hair, his tone becoming more reasonable. \"Okay.. So, what about the boy\'s friends? Have they seen him at all? Where did he go the -last- time he ran off? Bywater has it on record that he\'s disappeared more than once, and was involved in theft.\"

Ferny pauses, his brows pinching together at a sudden realization. \"Come to think of it.. it\'s one of the few things Bywater did put on record..\"

Ada\'s lips curl in derision at his threat and she lifts her hand and waves it away.

\"He\'s a -boy-. How many times did our mother have to come and get you out of trouble when you were young and not so young, for that matter? You may have to loosen some of that hard won money for a search.\" The last is said with a distinctly please tone.

Nob stops washing the table again. \"He was going to visit someone. He didn\'t say who. Lek saw him in the morning that day, but not since. And his horse came back without him.\"

\"Okay. I will look into it first thing in the morning. I promise!\" Brenden says loudly, looking around at all the people watching him in the room. He smiles another of his charming, yet rather cool smiles. \"Can\'t be saying the mayor act when the people call on him. I thought the boy ran off like before but obviously that\'s not the case. Sleep soundly, we will find him!\"

He looks back at Ada and hisses quietly, \"Happy?!\"

Crossing her arms she settles herself comfortably and gives her brother a short, satisfied nod. \"You\'d better do it,\" she hisses back.

Nob watches and listens to this without any discernible expression on his face. When Brenden is done, and has turned to Ada, the hobbit says, even more quietly, possibly softly enough that few, if any, can hear him, \"No.. no, we can\'t be having that.\"

He receives a strange look or two, but most people are nodding in approval of Brenden\'s words. \"That\'s right,\" says one man, in satisfaction. \"Doin\' what\'s right, din\'t I say he would?\"

\"Sure, sure..\" Ferny mutters, still speaking under his breath. \"And you can take care of Benny while I\'m out scouring the countryside for the runaway.\" The man stands now, giving the people another gracious smile. \"I guess I\'ll be getting to bed, then. I\'ll be up early. If any want to volunteer to help, I\'m sure Master Nob and other concerned folk will be appreciative.\" He looks around in a slow, studying fashion, then heads for the door.

\"I\'ll take care of him. You know I love to do that.\" She lets Brenden leave with some of his dignity intact and then stands. Ada looks at Nob as he moves about the room at his work, her eyes follow him with a question. With a small shrug she dismisses the question and pulls the cloak around her with a quick tug and follows her brother out of the room.