Geoffrey was home. Well, it was as much of a home to him as homes come. It was a small home to in the north of Bree, nestled by other homes that adjoined it. There his wife, Edith, lived with their children: Henry, Paul, Clara and Royston. Geoffrey had returned from his travels only a day before Edith had gone into labour. A great gift was given to the family: twins, a boy and a girl. The boy they named Adam and the girl Alice. Geoffrey had taken his children away from home during their mother’s labour, whilst a midwife attended to her. He took them just outside the village and set up a little target to practice shooting as well as a camp for them to spend the day at. Henry, his eldest, struggled with the bow and quickly became frustrated with it. He was known for his mood swings – after all, he was at ‘that age’. Paul on the other hand, showed a natural talent. When news reached them that twins had been born, they all quickly returned home. Geoffrey did not want to leave Bree now, to be away from his family. At the birth of all his children he felt this way, but duty still called.
In the late evening, Edith asked Geoffrey to go to her sister’s home on the other side of town to inform her of the birth of Adam and Alice. Taking a lantern and lighting it up, he left the house and strolled across the street. Afterward he had told Edith’s sister, he thought, he would pick some flowers to present to his wife – as he always did. A he passed a narrow alleyway on his left, something caught his eye. A group of three cloaked figures, rushing down the path and into the path. The cloaks covered all of them, and he could not make out who they were. But whoever they were, they hastily knocked on a door, whispered a sequence of words and were let in. Geoffrey sensed some mischief was about. And so he approached the alleyway, only to hide behind the entrance when two more figures came running down – knocking heavily on the same door and being let in after whispering the same words as before. He placed the lantern down on the floor, and entered the alleyway. The building was a tall one, blocking out the light of the moon which darkened the street completely. The houses here were shabby and narrow, but where in fact three stories tall. No more came rushing down the alley.
Geoffrey was concerned. What was going on here? Without applying much thought, he approached the door and clasped the handle. To his surprise, it was not locked. A trap, maybe? Slowly and quietly, he turned the handle and opened the door. Swiftly he was in, closing the door in the same manner that he opened it. He sighed in relief somewhat, finding nobody was in the room. The room was completely empty of life and decoration. No chairs, no tables and no light. Only a disused hearth was at the end of the narrow room. Next to the hearth was a small doorway, with stairs leading up and down. Geoffrey could faintly hear the voices of several people beneath him, in the cellar. He made his way cautiously across the room, to avoid any creaky floorboards. Thankfully, his footing was true and he noiselessly reached the doorway. Then he descended halfway down the stairs, so he could now hear the conversation clearly. With his back against the wall, he began to listen. It took him a few seconds to adjust his hearing to the conversation.
‘—guards all around the streets. Were you followed, Kim?’ a gruff voice asked.
‘Nah. No eyes caught us, all too busy drinking themselves over at the Pony to care what goes on ‘ere.’ Replied the voice of a lady, who had an extremely dull and sarcastic tone about her. Geoffrey guessed that this was “Kim”.
‘Let’s get this over with, eh? Got a lass waitin’ for me, keepin’ me bed warm.’ Another voice spoke in an arrogant tone.
‘You’ll get back to your wench in time, Ivybrand.’ Kim retorted. ‘You all know why we’re here. Too long have we suffered down here whilst them privileged sorts count their gold before they sleep. My days of serving some dumb, rich bitch are over! We’re gonna make it big, gents. Big enough to get away from his pit and build our own place.’
Geoffrey could hear them clapping their hands together as though a tasty feast had just laid out before them. He leaned in a little further down the stairs. Ivybrand began to speak again.
‘Aye, our own place and all the wenches ye could ask for. He-he! Aye, there be plenty of gold, silver and other… precious things locked up at the Vault. Sits there for years and these rich buggers don’t even touch it. But Goodroot has found a way to take it.’
The gruff voice that Geoffrey heard first now spoke. This was obviously Goodroot. ‘Right you are, Ivybrand. The rich cannot keep all their wealth in their own homes, lest they have gold spilling out of their windows. So they built the Vault to keep their jewels and trinkets away from prying hands. Dragons aren’t the only ones who hoard stuff of value, you know. Our hands! They have guards dressed up and armed around the place, as to keep the begging and thieving sorts away. But the bounties within are quite within our grasp, gentlemen… and ladies. You see, there is half an hour – between the eleventh hour and midnight– where the guards swap shifts. Only, they aren’t too hasty about doing this, leaving that what is locked up… up for grabs.’
Several voices could now be heard talking at each other, in a heated discussion it seemed. Geoffrey could hear two different voices that had not yet spoken. A conclave of burglars! He thought to himself.
‘How d’ye know this, Root?’ One of the news voices asked with a lisp.
‘Through watching, you fool.’ Goodroot replied, even more gruffly than before. ‘Each night for forty four nights I have watched the place from a distance. The same story every time.’
‘Yes, yes.’ Ivybrand butted in. ‘I’m sure ye’ve been very busy with all this, Root. But when are we to make our move?’
‘In two nights time. A storm is predicted!’ Goodroot said with a cry, though the others were silent. He sighed loudly. ‘Meaning that it will rain hard. Those guards on duty will be eager to get home, likely to leave even earlier than normal, and those who are supposed to take over will be in no rush at all to face the weather.’ He laughed, almost diabolically.
‘Then let’s end this here and make ready for this.’ Kim announced. The sound of chairs backing up squeaked about the house, alarming Geoffrey. He would have to leave swiftly before they came up the stairs and found him eavesdropping. But as he turned on the stairs, he walked straight into what seemed like a wall. But it was not a wall, but an extremely large (and ugly) man. He had long, greasy hair and a scruffy beard. He was unnaturally tall, and broad. With a grunt, he grasped Geoffrey by the top of his head with one hand, squeezing his skull. The last thing Geoffrey could remember was a large fist coming towards him. And then it all went black.
