Chapter Four Hundred and Fifty-Four - Broccoli Wants You!

Jean-Pierre actually took a long time to make up his mind. Finally though, he nodded. "I want to go on ze record first and say zat zis is a very bad idea."

"Which part?" I asked.

"Ze part where we'll be basically attacking a camp with unknown allegiances, in unknown terrain, with people with far too little experience and equipment, during ze middle of ze day, to try and save someone who might not even be present," he said.

"Oh... that part," I replied. I chewed on a knuckle. If it came to it, I think my friends and I could try to rescue Booksie on our own. We had very little idea what we were up against, though. We knew it was a dozen or so baddies, but that was about it.

Could we rush back to Port Royal, get some help, then come back with that help, return to Booksie, and rescue her in time to stop a disaster?

That would add several hours to the time that Booksie--or whoever it was--spent in captivity. By then, she could even have been moved further away.

Jean-Pierre took a deep breath. "I'm in," he said.

I felt a weight lifting itself off my shoulders. "Thank you!" I said.

"But I can't speak for ze recruits--zis is beyond what zey signed up for. Zey'll have to make zeir own decisions," he said before turning to the recruits in question. "You all heard what the captain had to say?" he asked.

Hannah raised a hand. "Someone was kidnapped and you suspect they're being held nearby?"

"Yes," I said. "My friend, Booksie. She's also the fiance of one of the dragons living over in Port Royal."

Harrison hissed a word that wasn't fit for polite company.

"Sir Tissue is right," I said. "We can't demand that you help us. This might be dangerous. There's a chance that the kidnappers will surrender Booksie without a fight, but they might fight extra hard because they'll know that a dragon will be chasing them down soon. I can't demand that you help, but I would appreciate it."

Jean-Pierre rubbed at his chin. "As would I. I want to say zat zis is exactly ze kind of messy situation zat crops up once you're at ze higher echelons of ze guild, but none of you are members yet, and zis is far beyond ze bounds of a test. I would consider it a personal favour if you were to assist, but if you chose not to, I won't let zat choice impact your results for ze evaluation."

"That's fair of you," Guy said. "I'm in, however."

"As am I," Harrison added.

Hannah was nodding fast, a smile firmly in place. "This is what I joined the guild for!" she said.

Next to her, Davis sighed. "I'll come along too, to keep Hannah here safe."

Jake and Kerri glanced at each other, then they shrugged. "I'll make for a good story later," Kerri said.

I smiled from ear to ear. "Thank you," I said. "Really. I appreciate it. Now... Jean-Pierre, you probably know more about this kind of situation than we do."

"Do you know where this camp is, exactly?" he asked.

"We have rough directions," I said.

"I can scout ahead," Calamity suggested. "As long as everyone here keeps to the road and walks slowly, I can make it to the camp, circle around it from afar, then get back to you all."

"That's dangerous," I said. He'd be alone, near the baddies, and we didn't know if they'd installed traps and such around their camp.

Calamity shook his head. "I'm a hunter. This is hunting. Different prey than usual, but not so different that my skills won't help. Let me handle this one, Captain. N'ya don't have to worry about me."

I'd probably worry anyway, but Calamity was probably right, this was something he was suited to do.

"Alright. Should we head out now?"

"Everyone, we're dropping any gear we don't need alongside ze road. We can cover it up and come back for it later," Jean-Pierre said. "We want to move light and fast and be ready to fight at a moment's notice."

That seemed like a good idea. Everyone stashed their stuff onto a tarp that Hannah had in her overstuffed backpack, then it was pushed under a bush where it would be harder to spot. Someone tied some ribbons in a nearby tree, so we'd still know where the stuff was on the return trip.

Then we started heading out. Calamity jogged out ahead, then slipping into the forest and basically disappeared from sight.

We continued after him, though we kept to the road. "Alright," I said. "I think... Jean-Pierre, did you want to take charge of the, ah, attack?"

"I'd rather not," he said. "I don't have any leadership skills."

"Oh," I replied. Which meant... yeah, it was my job. "Okay then. Jean-Pierre, who would you say is the best scout in the group, after yourself and Calamity?"

Jean-Pierre glanced back. "Davis and Hannah are both closer to rogues zan most. But zey're not used to forests and swamps. With zat in mind, I suspect Harrison is ze most experienced after Calamity."

"Alright. So, once we get to the camp, I'd like for you to go..." I paused as I considered things. The road would be... more or less to the right of us if we went off-road to hit that camp from the side. "Go right, not too far, but a little ways. Harrison, do you mind going left?"

"Fine by me," he replied.

"Awen, you and Kerri and Guywill provide ranged fire, I think. Guy's blunderbuss is, uh, loud, so don't fire that until they know we're there. And only if they're very dangerous and hostile! Ideally, we can win without anyone getting hurt."

Jean-Pierre nodded. "If we injure zem and it turns out we were wrong and zey're innocent, zen we could land ourselves in severe trouble with ze law. I would advise caution before using heavy force."

I wasn't thinking of the legal stuff, more the... common decency stuff, but that was a fair point. "Yeah, since we're acting to save an innocent, we probably have significant leeway, but I'd rather not test that, let's try not to hurt anyone too much. That being said, if your life is in danger, do whatever you need to defend yourself."

I got a bunch of half-hearted nods. That was good enough.

"And the rest of us?" Jake asked.

"Hannah, Davis, Jake and I will be the melee group," I said. "Hannah, Davis, you have a bit less experience in a fight, right, so, uh, keep the flanks safe."

"Got it, captain," Hannah said.

"Can do," Davis replied.

I nodded seriously. "Alright everyone, you have your roles. Our mission is to save Booksie, a bun woman of about my size, with brown eyes, brown hair, and brown ears. She ought to be the only bun woman in the camp. The enemy is about a dozen ne'er-do-wells. We will fight them only if they obstruct our rescue." I glanced across my impromptu troops. "If you understand, say 'Yes!'"

"Yes!" they all chorused back to me.

"Okay! I think that's probably not the most complicated plan I've come up with, but it's something. Let's do our best, everyone." It wasn't a great plan, but I'd be at the front. If anyone on our side got hurt, it would be me before anyone else.

Congratulations! Chivalry is now Rank E!

Oh! That was exciting! Had I done something chivalrous? Or had I thought something knightly? In either case, I was pretty happy with the result. It wasn't a huge boost, but if we were going to be in any sort of scuffle, then I'd take the bump!

Would saving Booksie count as a chivalrous action? She was technically a princess, and saving those was entirely in-line with what a knight would do.

"Broc?" Awen said.

I jumped. "Huh?" I asked.

"Are you okay? You were staring and giggling?"

"Oh, uh, just thinking," I said. It wasn't the time to look silly, not when I had so many people to lead and help.

We moved just a bit further down the road when Calamity popped out of the woods and jogged over. We all came to a stop, then Calamity gestured to the side, a finger over his mouth.

When we were all in the woods, Calamity gestured us closer. "Took longer to circle the camp than I thought it would," he said, voice pitched low. We could all hear, I think, but he wasn't making any effort to speak up.

"What's it look like? Is it close?"

"It's going to be interesting, I'll say that much," Calamity said. "Looks like a proper bandit camp, Captain. Half a dozen small tents, a big pavilion tent, and a cave."

"A... cave?"

"You know, a hole in the ground?" Calamity asked. "They've got one."

"Is it a big one?"

He shook his head. "Not from what I can tell. Especially not with the area being so swampy. There's a small ridge back there. Hard to see with all the brush. The camp's nestled into it. There's a creek that runs by too, right in the middle of the camp. Barely a trickle, but I bet it's enough for them. Then the cave, it's dug into the ridge."

"It won't be deep," Jean-Pierre said. "Not unless it's filled with water. Still, a natural or unnatural cave will give zem a strongpoint zat will be hard for us to attack."

That would make things a lot more complicated. But I was sure we could manage it!

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