Molnar nods his approval of the discussion and planning taking place. He holds up two meaty fingers.
"We'll be taking two wagons filled with produce and flour and other things the city needs. None of the farmers like going into the city so one of us goes for all. We sell our goods to the city who gives us a tally..." Molnar trails off when he realizes the details of the farmers' business with the city is probably not relevant.
"Anyway, two wagons. I'll drive one and Katalin will drive the other." He scowls and glares over at Katalin as if that has been a point of contention between the two.
"You can ride on the wagon's seat with me if you want, Tasanto," says Katalin with a grin of triumph. It's clear her father didn't want her to go but her brother's arrest forced his hand.
"Put your weapon behind the seat hidden by our goods and it should be easily enough overlooked and within your reach."
Molnar shakes his head sadly.
"As for Benedek, he had been concocting reasons to go into the city for weeks. I thought he was making excuses to see a girl he had met last time. Now I'm not so sure. He was taken at the gate with a small, tin icon of the Lady of Sorrows in his possession." Molnar sighs deeply and stares at the table with a furrowed brow and obvious concern on his face. Eventually Molnar's expression hardens into one of resolve and he slaps his hands down on the table.
"We've an early day tomorrow and two days travel til we reach the city. Best we make an early night of it. The women can take the loft where Katalin sleeps, the rest of us will make do down here."
---
The next day Molnar and Katalin are up early and Katalin cooks a hearty breakfast for all while Molnar goes to the barn to ready the wagons in the dark of the pre-dawn. The breakfast is good and filling but Katalin and Molnar are quiet and focus mainly on the eating and serving. Soon it is time to get situated for travel and depart. Katalin seem buoyant, Molnar melancholy.
The two day ride to Sumbru is uneventful and Molnar and Katalin talk quietly with the group as if the specter of the city represses their ebullience. Indeed, the cloud cover gets thicker and hangs lower and darker the closer to the city gates lending a sinister feel to the journey. Occasionally, a shaft of golden sunlight will pierce the clouds and Molnar looks at it with a faint smile on his lips.
"That's how the Lady shows us there is still hope," he mutters.
Finally the gray, battered walls of Sumbru rise and the wagons come to a halt at the end of a line of people, carts and wagons awaiting entry into the city. It is early in the day but still gloomily dark and apparently the gate has just opened. A pair of guards move around at the head of the line talking with each group before finally letting them enter or exit the city after an exchange of coin.
The line moves slowly and the animal pulling Katalin's wagon seems skittish and impatient. When the opportunity comes to move it moves too far and crowds itself up against the back of Molnar's wagon. Discomfited it pushes back and her wagon rolls back a pace or two causing the whole line to shift awkwardly as Katalin struggles to keep the animal under control.
"Hey! Watch it there!" comes a disgruntled call from a group of workmen that has just come up behind the wagons.
[sblock=OOC]Please describe where you are on/around the wagons when you post. Molnar's wagon is ahead of Katalin's; you all can be wherever you place yourselves.[/sblock]
. . . . . . . Molnar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katalin . . . . . . .
