Free Escana by J. R. Karlsson

some of it on his trousers. No, not
these trousers. Jeans . The word seemed alien to his own mind.
    Much
like his time at the waterfall, he came out of his own thoughts to
find that his feet had autonomously guided him to where he needed to
be. Jimmy was rummaging through a pile of clothes, tossing a series
of shirts and trousers aside in disdain. He finally seemed to settle
and Jakob had to admit that his taste in clothing was acceptable.
    Now
that he had been suitably attired for the party, they made their way
back down to the main floor of the inn. Picking his way through the
crowd, Jakob followed Jimmy to a door behind the bar that led out to
the exterior.
    Jimmy
eased himself onto a small bench, clasping his hands behind his head
and letting out a contented sigh. Jakob joined him unprompted,
waiting for the inevitable chatter.
    'So
why were you out at Harvester's so early today?'
    Jakob
shrugged. 'Your father refused to give me work so Harvester offered
some instead, you could say I was out on business.'
    Jimmy
turned his head to him, somewhat confused. 'He didn't offer you the
job then? He said you were a certainty to Thom, what changed his
mind?'
    Jakob
tried not to wince at the mention of his father, focusing instead on
the question. 'I believe that Ella told him about my rather poor
joke.'
    This
brought a sigh from the young man. 'You still never told me what it
was you said to her.'
    He
stared off into middle distance, reluctance building in him. 'It's
not important.'
    Jimmy
chuckled, it was an unexpected sound considering the uncharacteristic
seriousness of his question. 'You're a terrible liar. You realise
that, don't you?'
    A
twinge of annoyance shot through Jakob, he didn't like derision of
any sort, even in this jocular tone. 'I just don't see what business
it is of yours what I said to her, maybe you should ask her.'
    The
smile faded from Jimmy's face as he met Jakob's eyes. 'I'm asking
you. I hoped I'd been accommodating enough to merit an answer.'
    Jakob
took in a deep breath. 'Fine. I told her that if she wanted to wake
up with her clothes on she should try going to sleep in them more
often.'
    He
expected Jimmy to burst into a gale of laughter, it sounded so
ridiculous and petty when he finally spelt out her reasons for
sabotaging his potential job at the Chipped Flagon.
    Jimmy
wasn't laughing, he sat in thoughtful silence as if Jakob had given
him a conundrum to puzzle over.
    'It's
harder for you I guess,' Jimmy finally said, rising from the bench.
'You're the new boy from the city and you don't know the people here.
Ella doesn't make friends easily, you have to be very careful with
what you say around her.'
    Jakob
shrugged. 'She didn't need to take the issue up with Gooseman.' His
temper started to rise as he spoke the man's name.
    Jimmy
raised his hands, clearly seeing the look on Jakob's face and not
wanting any conflict. 'Just hear me out before you rant and rave at
me, okay? If you had got the position, Ella would have resigned. If
Ella resigned, Harvester would take it up with Gooseman which would
be very bad for business indeed. My father was just doing what was
best for the inn.'
    Jakob
frowned, unconvinced by the explanation. 'What does Harvester have to
do with all this?'
    Jimmy
cocked an eyebrow at him, that wasn't the question he was expecting.
'Ella's father would think she had been mistreated if she were to
stop working at the Flagon.'
    It
dawned on him, Harvester was Ella's father.
    'You
didn't know,' Jimmy said. It was more a statement than a question.
    Jakob
shook his head.
    'You're
going to go to work for a man fiercely protective over his only
daughter and you've managed to upset her before you've even started.'
    He
rebounded at that, he wasn't going to let Jimmy lecture him like
this. 'How was I meant to know that she was his daughter? How was I
meant to know any of this? I'm the new boy from the city, remember?'
His head began to ache at the various implications. He was supposed
to be