"We can't all enter the city, " she said. "I don't want to take Grod in. There are too many people on our trail now. " She looked over her shoulder giving Grod an accusing glare.

"Grod no go, no get more steel pieces, " Umpth reminded her.

"That's exactly why he won't go, " Halmarain announced. "We don't need more trouble. "

"He didn't cause the stranger with the kobolds to follow us, " Trap reminded the wizard.

"Whether he did or not, we've too many people on our trail, " Halmarain said. "I'll ride in to buy some pots. At least we can have a hot meal tonight. "

"I'll go for the pots, " Trap volunteered.

"Oh no, " Halmarain said. "I'm not having any more trouble with… " She paused as Trap's expression darkened with anger.

"Umpth and I will go, " Trap announced. His voice turned hard and raspy, anger just under the surface.

For once, neither Halmarain's glare nor her sharp tongue moved the kender. His grandfather had traveled to Solanthus and had talked about the city. At that time the damage from the earthquakes that had come with the Cataclysm was still visible. Their grandfather had been fascinated by the raiding, the sporadic fighting, and the attempts to rebuild.

Within the hour the travelers found a dry gorge that would give them shelter and hide them from other travelers. Halmarain and Grod made camp, though she was impeded by his wandering off, looking for another dead animal to replace his squirrel.

Trap and Umpth left most of their gear behind and rode into Solanthus, using the south gate. Since it opened toward the mountains, they were in the quarter of the city where most of the dwarven population lived.

"Dwarves make good pots, " Trap said softly as if he begrudged the admission. He wanted to see some of Solanthus. He knew he shouldn't spend much time in the city.

"We really should visit more than one shop and try to get the best price, " he suggested. "After all, we know Orander's purse doesn't make steel pieces, and we didn't bring Grod. "

"Look dumps? Find pots?" Umpth suggested.

Trap ignored the suggestion.

When they had seen the city from a distance, they had seen the towers of the central fortress. Solanthus had spread into the hills to the south and some of the streets climbed steeply to the hilltops while others wound around the lower regions. The tower was not visible from their location.

Like most cities on Krynn, several inns were located near the gates. Beyond them were the shops usually frequented by travelers who wanted supplies for their journeys. After having visited Lytburg and Thelgaard, Trap expected to find stabling for their mounts close to the gate. Dwarves seldom rode ponies unless they were traveling long distances so the stables that served that quarter of Solanthus were on a hill close by.

Trap and Umpth rode into the first stable. The dwarf hostler glared at the kender and the gully dwarf and demanded the price of a day's keep in advance.

"Him not like kender, " Umpth said as they left the stable and wandered up the hill. Neither expected to find a tinker's shop on the heights; they wanted to look over the southern quarter of the city.

"Look for good dumps, " Umpth said. "Maybe find a good This Place. "

They turned a corner and had walked two blocks up a steep street when they heard a shout behind them.

"Thieves!" The shout rang up and down the street.

Trap and Umpth paused and turned to look behind them. They saw two dwarves running up the hill. Four others came around the corner of the street the kender had passed.

"Is mad dwarf?" Umpth asked.

"Big Jiggies! It certainly is, " Trap recognized the dwarves from whom Grod had taken the necklace. "Maybe we can explain… then, maybe not. They don't look like they want to talk. "

"They still mad. We go now, " Umpth said hopefully. He turned his back on the dwarves who were fast approaching. "Want to see city. Want to see dumps. Want to find new This Place. Not want to see dwarf. " He suited action to words and sprinted up the hill.

At first Trap followed, but just before they came to a curve in the street, he paused to look back. The dwarves were still coming, but they had little chance of catching the fleet-footed kender.

When Trap turned to follow Umpth, the gully dwarf had disappeared.

"Beans! Now where did he go?" the kender asked of no one in particular, since the street was deserted except for his pursuers. What appeared to be an alley opened on his right and he dashed along it until he discovered his mistake. The passage that angled off between the two barn-like buildings gave into a stable yard with high retaining walls on two sides. The third and forth sides were windowless building walls with only the alley width opening. Umpth had not come that way.

Trap turned to reverse his course, but he was too late. The dwarves had seen him run down the alley and they were advancing, blocking the entrance.

"Hello, how are you? Nice day. We could talk about this, " Trap suggested to the angry dwarves. "I don't know why you are so anxious for our company, but if you want me to tell another tale-"

He was interrupted by the dwarf leader who stepped forward and swung his axe. The kender brought his hoopak up and struck the side of the weapon, deflecting it. He skipped backward up the alley.

"I know why you're angry, but we didn't know we had your necklace until a few days ago, " he said. "We'd be glad to give it back-"

"Kender thief, you'll pay for your stealing, " Tolem said.

Trap kept backing away until he was in the storage yard and found himself up against the stone wall.

"That wasn't nice, " he said. "You shouldn't interrupt a reasonable conversation by swinging weapons, you could get someone hurt, and then you'd be sorry. " He skipped away from Tolem, only to face another dwarf with an axe just as large.

He feinted with his hoopak, ducked to avoid the hacking axe, and lunged by the dwarf. Four had been concentrating on him and he was behind them, but two others blocked the entrance to the alley.

From above came the sound of creaking wagon wheels. The dwarves were too intent on the kender to notice. The sound had not meant anything to Trap until he heard Umpth's voice.

"You no go back!" The gully dwarf cried out.

Trap didn't understand what Umpth meant. Trap certainly wanted the dwarves to go back to wherever they came from.

Trap skipped about, further angering the dwarves who were unaccustomed to such nimble quarry. Then the kender found an opening and dashed for the wall. In his efforts to guarantee that no one could get behind him, Trap failed to think things all the way through. Suddenly he realized that he was trapped. The two dwarves who had been guarding the alley to prevent his escape, joined the others. All six dwarves, their axes ready to swing, advanced on Trap.

"This isn't fair, " he told them. "You almost make me sorry I saved your lives. You could thank me instead of being so mean. "

Tolem stopped in surprise. He stared at the kender for a moment and then took another step forward.

"You? Save our lives? Bah!"

"I did, " the kender insisted. "Who threw rocks at you and made you stop arguing in the forest? Who made you hide and listen for the goblins that would have surprised you? They could have killed you, you know. You should be thanking me, not threatening me. "

"I don't believe it, " one of the other dwarves said, continuing to advance on Trap.

From directly above Trap's head came the crash of wood striking heavily on the top of the stone wall. A deluge of manure poured down on the dwarves who stood directly in front of him. In the blink of an eye they were almost buried in cow and horse dung. A few pieces struck Trap, but he was partly sheltered by the wagon that sat rocking on the top of the wall.