jaycadiramen
It started off so simply - get in, get the jewel, get out. So how did he end up in this predicament, with a girl tied to a bed, a man locked in a cupboard, and a dog the size of a carthorse trying to break down a door as thick as his thigh? His entire life had been one long calamity, but this situation was certainly a lowlight.
The going was rough over the mountainous terrain. Even the goats, which had followed them for days, seemed to not want to come up this far. The stones had given way to boulders and the treacherous path had all but disappeared. They made their way by sight alone, simply moving up and ever up to the peak.
"I see you've returned," said the woman, "and not before time too. Where've you been, gallinvanting all over the country. You ain't a young man no more." Her shrill tones weren't interrupted as she bustled good naturedly about the kidchen, setting down plates and picking up pots, stirring things and tasting others.
"When he signals we must be ready to move," the woman whispered to the boy, twitching aside the curtain to gaze into the gallery below. The man stood at the far end of the long room, by the door, bowing to each dignitary upon their arrival. "This may be our only chance."
The flames licked against the drapes and then leapt up them, hungrily, and the woman seemed frozen in fear and indecision.
"Here!" cried the old man, gesturing frantically with one outstretched hand, "come to me, quickly!"
She flicked panicked eyes at him, just for a moment, and then continued to stare at the rising flames around her.
A lamb was in the road ahead and the old man held out a warning hand to, striking the boy's chest gently. He motioned with his head, never taking his eyes off the lamb, for the boy to stay back. "There is something wrong here," he whispered, and his voice was tense.
"You seem to have been instilled with some decency, at least," the old man said, looking at the boy.