Leighton Goatleaf tidied up his tools on his workstation and then wiped the table clean with a wet cloth. He leaned the saw against the wall and cleaned the blade thoroughly so as to prevent the formation of any rust on it until the next day and put on his coat.
“Off for today, Leighton?” asked Gib Heathstraw.
“Yes, I’ll continue with these handles tomorrow. Jon has to bring me one of the blades to see how they fit anyway, so I can take an early night and visit the Prancing Pony. What about you?”
“Bah, I need to finish these cabinets as soon as possible. The sooner I finish the more I get paid and I am already two days late with the rent. That old hag Marley starts to get annoying and Daisy is pregnant.”
“If you need any kind of-”
“Not at all, it’s just a matter of time and my own skill and all will be fine again,” interrupted Gib.
Leighton didn’t argue, the young man wanted to do things by his own skills and strengths and no one could accuse him of that. That’s how it is, you get by with what you have and can acquire by what you can do. He put on his hand and bid the young man goodnight before stepping out of the Hall. He turned right and went past the Boar Fountain The sun was just starting to set and the air carried the smell of blooming flowers.
“Did you hear that a body was found in the forest?” old Humphrey said and took a sip from his beer.
“Whose body?” Mat asked in reply and the old man shrugged.
“What’s it to do with us?” Leighton asked in turn.
The old man shrugged.
“We have our own things to look after. The Watch will deal with it as they always do,” Leighton spoke again.
“They say it’s Adela’s young son,” Cuthbert Tillow chimed in from the other side of the table where he sat alone and gently slid closer to the three. “Rumour has it that he was mixed in with some bad company.”
“See,” Leighton interjected. “He asked for it. Nothing happens to you if you don’t stick your nose to other people’s business.”
“What was he mixed in with anyway? Asked Leighton.
“I heard that he was smuggling stolen pipeweed from the Shire that Blackwolds stole.” Humphrey said.
“Nonsense,” said Mat. “He was a good lad. He was helping the woodworker by the vault and that day he was sent to the lumber-camp to find make arrangements for wood to be brought to him.”
“How do you know that?” Cuthbert asked.
“My wife’s sister is married to Adelia’s eldest.”
“A friend in the watch said that they found him cut in half at a distance and his intestines were connecting both parts. He had cuts along his arms and he was hit by a crossbow bolt in the left eye and it came out from the right back side of the head. Two arrows held his hands on the ground and a heavy stone crushed his right foot completely,” Cuthbert said and then spoke with more details about the whole affair.
No one spoke a while. Leighton put down the empty tankard. “It’s getting late and all this talk to killing creeps me out.”
“Don’t be afraid, old Leighton,” Cuthbert laughed. “You have never hurt even a fly, I doubt that someone has something against you,” the others nodded in agreement.
“I have to get up early and it’s almost midnight, I work tomorrow.”
The dark haired man turned left at the Boar Fountain and walked up the alley towards his home next to the gate that leads to Combe. The lamps weren’t lit for some reason and it was very quiet that made him grumble and hasten his steps, he was feeling uneasy after what he heard at the inn and he kept looking over his shoulder. To his surprise, and horror, he heard the creaking of the door to his right and when he turned to look he saw a man in a hooded cloak carry someone outside and behind him another dark figure. When they saw him the stood still for one moment, as still as his heart was probably and at once they let the body hit the floor. Upon seeing that Leighton turned around and started running towards the centre of the town with the two men at his heel.
Leighton reached the fountain and stopped just for a moment to see if anyone was there before turning left making for the jailhouse, he was too scared to shout anything and the footsteps behind him were gaining on him. He was almost by the road to Staddle and some distance was the Townhall and then the jailhouse. He could see the fires coming out of the jailhouse, it was the patrol on shift and Leighton leaned forward in order to give himself some momentum to reach them. He was so close.
Something heavy fell on him and he let out a moan of surprise and pain. Before even trying to get up he felt a hand reach and cover his mouth and knew that all was lost. Leighton Goatleaf extended his right hand towards the two Watchmen that were leaving the jailhouse in the distance in some sort of a desperate plea and then the blade came. It slit his throat from left to right and he didn’t feel anything at all, his mind was fixed on the Watchers. Suddenly he realised that he was losing control of his body and felt the cobbles beneath him wet. The hand was still covering his mouth and his eyes started to turn up. And then came the darkness.
