“You’ll be wanting rooms, and stables for the horses, I expect. I’ll get one of the lads to take care of the horses for you, and then we can discuss rooms and rates and all that,” said Ishly, turning away from Thrang and yelling back into the building.

A pair of young men who looked like they might be Ishly’s sons appeared in the doorway.

“Very good, then,” Ishly went on. “Both of you, take care of these horses, and I’ll skin you alive if they don’t receive the best of care.”

The boys nodded and hurried forward to take the horses from Alex and his friends, leading them around the corner and toward the back of the tavern. It appeared that they knew what they were doing, and Alex decided that he didn’t have to worry about Shahree, or the boys being skinned alive.

“Now then, if you’ll follow me, we can see about your rooms,” said Ishly, smiling and waving his hand toward the door.

“We may be here some time,” said Thrang, looking flustered by Mr. Prow’s quick way of speaking. “You see, we are looking to hire a boat to—”

“Well, this is a good place to hire a boat, seeing as we’re so close to the sea,” Ishly interrupted. “Of course, I don’t know why you’d hire a boat if you weren’t near the sea, but to each his own.”

“Of course,” said Thrang, and tried again. “You see, we wish to sail to the Isle of Bones, and—”

“Not many sailors here in Dunnstal are keen on hiring out their boats. I suppose old Top Mast told you that,” Ishly went on, either not hearing or not caring what Thrang said.

“Well, yes, he did,” Thrang said, “however, we would be willing to pay, and—”

“Don’t mind doubling up, do you?” Ishly questioned, still not listening. “I have a nice single room for the lady, and if the rest of you don’t mind doubling up, it will make things easier.”

“That will be fine,” said Thrang with a resigned sigh.

“I’ll just show you to your rooms,” Ishly continued. “Let you freshen up a bit, and then we’ll talk about dinner. We can make whatever you’d like, but fish is our specialty.”

Alex was amused by the exchange between Thrang and Ishly, and he could see from the looks on his friends’ faces that they were too. Only Thrang seemed unhappy about how things were going, but just as he was about to attempt another question, Ishly offered up some useful information.

“Speaking of dinner—most of the captains stop in for a drink now and again,” Ishly remarked. “They normally start turning up about suppertime. Your best bet of finding a boat would be to talk with some of them—not that I’m saying they’ll hire out, of course.”

“Is their business so good that they can turn down paying customers?” Thrang questioned.

“’Course, there are a few who might be interested,” Ishly went on as if he hadn’t heard Thrang. “Might cost you a bit. I doubt they’d take less than nine or ten gold coins a day.”

“Payment is not a problem,” said Thrang. “However, we do not know anyone here, so if you could—”

“And here are your rooms,” Ishly interrupted. “Feel free to join the common room whenever you are ready.”

“Yes, but—” Thrang tried again.

“I’ll leave you to it, then,” said Ishly. “And if I happen to see any of the captains, I’ll be happy to let them know you’re looking for a boat. I can’t say I hold out much hope, but you never know.”

“Thank you,” said Thrang as Ishly hurried away.

“You tried valiantly, my friend.” Arconn laughed.

“I don’t think he heard a word I said,” Thrang grumbled.

“At least he knows we’re looking to hire a boat,” said Kat hopefully.

“And he did say some of the captains might be interested, though the price seemed a bit high,” Barnabus added.

“Getting a boat to take us to the island seems a small problem. It’s getting one that will bring us back that worries me,” said Nellus.

Alex agreed with Nellus. Since it sounded like only a few sailors might be willing to go to the Isle of Bones, Alex thought that meant they were unlikely to find any of Albrek’s people there.

Thrang suggested that they all wash up quickly and then meet back in the common room.

Alex was sharing a room with Arconn, and it only took them a few minutes to wash up and change their clothes. The two of them entered the common room a short time later and sat at a table to wait for the others.

“Ishly seems to talk fast and listen little,” Alex commented, looking around the common room. He kept his voice low so only Arconn could hear him.

“I think he hears quite a bit more than he lets on,” said Arconn. “After all, he did say the ship captains would be here later and that there might be a few who would take the job.”

“Who might be interestedin the job,” Alex corrected. “I have my doubts. I would like to know what stories are being told about the Isle of Bones.”

“No doubt they are bad,” Arconn allowed. “The man that Ishly called Top Mast looked grim when Thrang mentioned the island.”

“I noticed,” said Alex. “It has made me doubt that any of Albrek’s people are still on the island.”

“Where would they go if not back to Benorg?” Arconn questioned.

“South with Albrek, perhaps,” Alex answered. “Or perhaps they didn’t go anywhere at all.”

“A dark thought for such a sunny day,” said Arconn.

“Dark or not, it is a possibility that Albrek’s people died on the island,” Alex insisted.

“I hope your guess is wrong, but we will not know until we reach the island,” said Arconn.

Thrang entered the room, followed closely by the rest of the company. He looked around the sparsely filled common room as he joined Alex and Arconn at their table.

“Too early for much business,” Thrang said. “Though I don’t doubt things will pick up as the day grows old.”

“You think we should wait?” Alex asked.

“What else can we do?” questioned Thrang, a puzzled look on his face.

“We could go down to the docks,” said Alex. “There are a few ships there. Perhaps we can find one to take us to the Isle of Bones.”

“Perhaps,” said Thrang, stroking his beard as he thought. “However, if all seven of us go, we may have a hard time getting anyone to speak with us. We are strangers, after all, and most men are not overfond of strangers.”

“Then only one or two of us should go,” Arconn said.

“It might speed things up,” said Thrang, considering the idea carefully. “Still, I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

“No harm will be done,” said Alex. “And I want to know what stories the men of Dunnstal are telling about the island.”

“As do I,” Thrang said thoughtfully. “I suppose you’d best go and see what you can learn. Take Barnabus with you. If the people here have reason to fear the Isle of Bones, they may blame the dwarfs for that fear.”

“Very well,” said Alex, bowing slightly. “We will find out what we can and return before the evening meal.”

“Be careful,” Thrang said as Alex and Barnabus headed for the door. “Sailors can be a rough crowd, and they tend to be a bit superstitious.”

Alex and Barnabus left the tavern and made their way toward the waterfront.

“I would expect more trade to be going on,” Barnabus said as they approached the docks. “If the sailors of Dunnstal are so busy, there should be a great deal more happening at the warehouses.”

“It does seem odd,” Alex agreed, noting how few people were moving about the city. “Perhaps this is a slow time of year for them. Or maybe most of the ships are away at other cities.”

“Perhaps, but it still seems strange,” said Barnabus.

They reached the docks, but only a few people were walking around. Alex noticed that two small ships were tied up to one of the docks, but nothing appeared to be happening on either of them. He saw several men sitting near the back of one of the warehouses, talking to each other and playing cards.

“Perhaps they can tell us something,” Alex suggested, nodding toward the men.