by Allan Joyal
“I can take a turn. I’ve done it in town,” Borlan said.
“I can learn,” Ximenia said. “I mean, I’m willing to try. Is it hard?”
“Not hard,” Lenoir hissed. She was clearly in pain. Al swept her up into his arms and held her against his chest. “Al!”
“You need to rest the leg,” Al replied. “Right now this is the only way. I can’t do it for too long, but even a few minutes should help.”
“My suggestion would be to have Ximenia work with Amalya for now. She can show Ximenia the basics. Borlan should probably offer to relieve Gerit and Verval when they tire,” I said. “Meanwhile, how is Joelia?”
“Walking right behind you and wondering why you didn’t notice,” I heard Joelia say from directly behind me. A second woman tittered as I shook my head.
“Come up and join us,” I suggested. “The ground here isn’t too bad, but I’d rather not try to walk while facing backwards. One wrong step and we have another injured person.”
Joelia must have sped up because a moment later she was walking at my left shoulder. I could see a rather mousy young woman of perhaps eighteen years walking next to her. The woman wore a thick wool dress that laced up to her neck. She was looking at the ground about ten feet in front of her feet as we walked.
“Is this Konstanzia?” I asked.
Joelia looked surprised. “You remembered. Yes, this is Konstanzia. Stanzi, this is Ron, he’s the leader of this group.”
The mousy woman looked away. I thought she frowned, but could not see her face clearly to really judge that. Instead I looked at the Baron’s daughter.
“So, I’m sorry we couldn’t take more time for proper goodbyes,” I said. “I knew the merchant might be a problem, but I didn’t expect quite that much conflict.”
Joelia shrugged. “It’s been that way for years. My father says that some of the other barons haven’t taken care of their fields, and the yield on their crops has been falling. At least two have turned to trading in slaves in an effort to maintain their estates. Wrektor has been one of the more enthusiastic supporters of the barons who are struggling.”
“And we represented a nice haul of beautiful women and even some supplies,” I said sorrowfully. “I don’t like it, but I can hardly say it surprises me. But you could have stayed with your father.”
“Not with Baron Gruben after her to marry the scum that calls him father,” Konstanzia snapped. “That beast would have made sure I was dead before the sun set on the day of the marriage.”
I sighed. “Well, that won’t happen here. We understand. Meanwhile, I guess I should ask, do either of you have any experience with carts and wagons. We seem to be short of people to guide one.”
“You can,” Konstanzia snapped.
“I replaced Lenoir for a while after she got hurt. I also plan on switching in regularly. But I’m also supposed to be looking ahead at where we should go, so I can’t always be next to a cart. In fact I should probably go and look for Krysbain. We had to leave in a hurry, so it would probably be wise to camp early tonight so we can make sure everything is loaded properly. Gerit didn’t really have time to sort the goods we received,” I pointed out.
“Damn,” Al muttered. “Ron, I should have noticed that. And with so many injured members perhaps we can rest a day.”
“I hate to do that only a couple hours onto the plains. We don’t know enough about the magic available. If Baron Gruben or that merchant Wrektor has access to a wizard with a crystal ball they might be able to find out we stopped and where.”
“A crystal ball?” Ximenia asked.
“He’s saying that they would be able to use magic to see us without leaving Saraloncto. If such magic exists,” Victoria said helpfully.
“It exists,” Cimbra said. “It’s a powerful magic, and the human wizards definitely know it. There are almost certainly wizards in Saraloncto with access to the spell.”
“Damn,” Heather snapped. “So they can watch us without leaving the city?”
“If they want and know to look,” Cimbra said. “It also depends on the wizard. We aren’t in a familiar area, so they have to search. That means a pool will have a better chance of finding us, but a pool won’t work if we are near water. A looking glass might show us, but most of those look through the eyes of birds in flight. Who knows if there is one watching.”
“No one tells Lydia or Aine to shot down any birds,” I said firmly. “In a couple of days we should be far enough away to escape any pursuit. From what you are saying, most of the ways wizards have to see us require a rather large object. That limits their ability to chase.”
“I’m going to worry for you,” Heather said. “We all know someone is going to try at some point.”
“Many things will happen,” I paused; my memory was telling me I had forgotten someone. “Um… we added a father with three kids. Where are they?”
Victoria looked over at Ximenia. “This is why we keep him. He actually thinks of everyone.”
“I didn’t ask what we did with Trexco’s body. I’m sure that Ximenia and Soldrin would have wanted him to receive some respect. And I haven’t even checked on Kariy today,” I protested.
“My brother deserved what happened to him,” Ximenia said acerbically. “You know he tried to sell me to a brothel? And he was going to trick Soldrin into leaving town so he could deliver him to some slavers.”
“Well, he won’t do that now,” Victoria said. “Instead he’ll spend the next few years fertilizing some trees.”
I winced. “I’m not sure Ximenia needed to hear that, and I’m sure we shouldn’t tell Soldrin that just yet. He might still like his brother. Meanwhile, what about the three children weren’t they eight, six and three? And where is the father?”
“Lawus is helping Natalie,” Heather informed me. “His youngest is actually riding one of the mules pulling the rickety cart. She’s small enough that he should be fine doing that.”
“She might fall off,” I said.
“Lawus and Gerit rigged up a saddle for her. She should be fine for now. His other two children are probably helping with the herd,” Heather said.
“Can they keep up?” I asked. “We are going to be walking for hours.”
“We’ll make sure they keep up,” Al said. “If the worst happens, we have enough mules now that they can ride on a mule.”
“Without a good saddle, they will be sore in the morning,” I pointed out.
“I think all our new members will be sore tomorrow,” Victoria said. “Even Krysbain. None of them are used to walking for miles.”
“And now I should probably check on him,” I said. “Since he’s been scouting for us. Did anyone talk to him about where he should try to lead us.”
“East,” Victoria and Heather said together.
I nodded. “In that case, I’ll catch up to him and see where we want to go.”
I picked up my pace and soon passed ahead of the carts. The rising sun was definitely drying any bare ground and a small cloud was being thrown into the air by the passage of the carts. At the same time I noticed that larger snowdrifts were appearing as we moved from the river.
Krysbain was walking about two hundred yards ahead of the carts. He was moving briskly and often would rush off in one direction only to return back toward a path centered on the route the carts were following. He noticed me during one of his sprints, but merely nodded as I jogged up to him.
“I’m worried about the route,” he told me.
“We don’t exactly have a set route. The goal is to travel to the east, but if we have to turn to avoid a problem we can,” I said.
“I’m more worried about the weather. Near the river the snowdrifts were small and many had already melted. But as we move away from the river, I’m seeing larger drifts. Once those melt we can expect any streams or rivers to swell. We really should be travelling on a ridge line to avoid that, but I’m not finding a good one,” Krysbain protested.
“Can we at leas
t stay above the flood plains?” I asked. “And how soon could the first floods occur?”
“I’m sure there already is flooding to the south,” Krysbain said. “But the snows are always lighter there, so I doubt it’s severe. But the snows to the north were almost certainly deep, and those flood waters will flow south to meet rivers.”
“And will eventually meet the Elfwall around here,” I said. “Well, we should probably keep moving for today and tomorrow at least. Can we watch for groves of trees? We should be able to tell if they have had flood waters reach them, and it will give us some shelter and wood.”
The elves might protest,” Krybain said.
“I get a feeling that the elves stay mostly in the forests by the river,” I said. “We will just have to show respect for the forest. Corwar and Piemal know how to find deadfalls we can use for fires.”
Krysbain nodded. “I’ll say this, it’s been exciting.”
“I could live without it,” I replied. “I mean who expects a merchant to try that hard to steal from a wandering group like ours.”
“That is a lot of goods,” Krysbain said pointing at the wagons. “It’s probably more than any one caravan that has visited Saraloncto in the last year.”
“And we need all of it,” I pointed out. “We won’t be looking too hard for anything for at least the next twenty days. If you want you can be the group’s scout, but for now we aren’t expecting to find a permanent camp. Instead, look for good places to stop for the night and safe routes over any obstacles. Especially try to avoid or point out predators as we go. We are a large group, but our herds would be very tempting.”
“I can do that,” Krysbain said. “Although I doubt we’ll have too much trouble with predators. Our group is a bit large and will intimidate a pack of wolves. Anything else?”
“If we have a choice of turning north or south due to an obstacle, try to go south when we can for now. I don’t want to hit the south coast just yet, but the warmer climate will be better for farming when we do finally look for a valley to settle,” I replied.
“That I can do,” Krysbain said. “Should I hunt as well?”
“We shouldn’t need it today,” I said. “We still have some of the antelope left don’t we?”
“Plenty,” Krysbain admitted. “But it won’t be good after tomorrow. I should probably keep my eyes open.”
“Do it if you can. I should ask the shepherdesses to use their slings on any birds or rabbits they see. It won’t be much, but it might help, especially the birds for dog food, and we can have Corwar or Piemal work on preserving the skins.”
“Why?” Krysbain asked.
“We have sewing supplies finally. The furs can be worked into clothing. Probably nothing large, but we will need clothing eventually,” I said.
“You pay more attention than I do. Oh we did take Trexco’s boots before we buried the man. It turns out his feet were just a bit larger than Jeff’s,” Krysbain told me.
“That is good to hear, although I’m pretty sure we’ll have to start making new boots before we arrive at our destination,” I said.
Krysbain nodded. He held up his right hand. We both stopped and he pointed to the northeast. “I need to check something over there,” he said.
“I don’t see anything,” I admitted as I gazed in that direction. Krysbain had drawn an arrow and was nocking it to his bow.
“That’s what bothers me,” Krysbain admitted. “I have this feeling that something is staying just ahead of us. That part of the plains is a bit quieter and our shadow might be over there.”
“I’ll lead the wagons just a bit southward then. Do you need someone to back you up?”
“No,” Krysbain said. “I should be able to fight off anything I run into. This close to Saraloncto and the forest we won’t find goblins. They aren’t stupid.”
I nodded. “Be careful,” I said.
Krysbain slipped off. He crouched down and moved so smoothly that I barely noticed when he crested a ridgeline and vanished from my sight. I looked back at my friends and the carts. I could see that there were two women next to the lead cart.
I waved at the two guiding the cart. Immediately one of them waved back. The other woman seemed shy. She kept her attention on the horse. I allowed them to close up the distance.
They were about fifty yards away when I shouted. “Amalya, can you see if Lawus has a moment to run up here? And follow me. Krysbain thinks we have someone or something stalking us. He’s gone to check.”
“Should we be worried?” Amalya shouted.
“We should let the shepherd crew know,” I said. “Any attack is likely to be aimed at the animals.”
The other women nodded. She turned and ran away from the cart.
“Ximenia will take the messages,” Amalya shouted.
“I’m sorry I scared her off,” I replied.
“She’s just adjusting to the situation. She will be fine soon,” Amalya replied.
I nodded and then looked forward. Krysbain’s worries now became mine as I tried to chart a way across the plains.
Chapter 18: Becoming a Company
I seemed to spend the rest of that afternoon meeting with the various members of our band. Everyone claimed that they could keep up and that they were happy, but there was a palpable strain in their voices as we marched on through the day.
Krysbain’s little expedition took hours. The sun was getting close to the horizon when I finally spotted him waving from a hilltop just to the north of our path. I headed directly for him.
When I arrived at the top of the hill I realized that Krysbain was smiling. He pointed over his shoulder at the ruins of some stone structure. “The fire pit is in good condition, and it gives us walls,” he pointed out.
“What about the herd?” I asked as I looked at the broken stone walls that stood about four feet tall.
Krysbain pointed to the right of the stone building. He started walking. I followed around the wall and found that the building had once had a second attached building. Again, the roof was gone, but the crumbled walls still stood. It looked like an area about fifty by sixty feet was enclosed by the walls. “We can keep them there.”
“Only for a day,” I said. “But if we throw some fodder down, they should be content. I’ll suggest to Gertrilla that they use up some of the hay. But that means we’ll need to try to collect more.”
“We need it,” Krysbain said. “I never caught our stalker, but it appears to be a dire wolf.”
“I thought you said wolves shouldn’t give us trouble,” I pointed out.
“Regular wolves shouldn’t, but the dire wolves were bred for intelligence. They will seek a way to ambush us so they can steal several animals. However, from what I can tell, we are at the edge of their territory. If we can keep them from attacking tonight, they should give up.”
“How is their night vision?” I asked.
“Not great,” Krysbain said. He looked confused and then laughed. “Ah, you are thinking to use Cimbra to spot them tonight and to hit them.”
“If they see that we can fight them at night, they should stay far away,” I said. “Between Shaylin and Cimbra we have the ability to hurt them fairly badly. If they are as intelligent as you claim, they just might underestimate us.”
“And the messages they send might keep other packs from bothering us,” Krysbain said with a nod. “But for now, should we camp here?”
“This is a good find; I’ll let everyone know.” I said.
Krysbain smiled. “Thank you. I’ll get a fire started. I did not find any good groves of trees, but I did find a few lone trees and was able to claim a couple deadfalls. We should have enough wood for the night.”
I nodded and then headed back to the top of the hill. Amalya had continued to guide the lead cart. She was at the base of the hill and looking up. I waved to her and started walking down carefully. The slope was not very steep, but the ground was not entirely stable. Immediately, I found myself wondering how to ge
t the carts and wagons up safely.
“Krysbain found a ruin on the backside of this hill,” I said. “We will need to get the carts up.”
Amalya looked at the slope. “We can probably skirt around the hill and climb it as we circle. There is no way we can go straight up though.”
“Circle to the left,” I said pointing to my right as I walked down. “We can aim for the downhill side of ruin. Oh, there is a large room that we can put all of the animals in.”
“Why?” Amalya asked.
“Krysbain thinks we’ve been stalked by some dire wolves,” I replied as Amalya started to turn the cart around so she could lead it up the hill.
Amalya had to struggle with the horse for a few moments. I came over to offer to help and the two of us finally got it to circle the cart and start heading around the hill. Amalya immediately waved for me to head to the next cart. “It will be easier if they turn early,” she shouted.
I headed towards the next cart only to discover that Natalie and Lawus had already seen what was going on and had the cart turned. I did notice that both mules were sporting some kind of saddle on their backs. Lawus’ two youngest children lay asleep in the saddles with their heads on the necks of the mules.
“Where is your oldest?” I asked Lawus.
“She’s with the herd,” he told me. “She insisted on helping.” He pointed to the left. I found that the herd was clustered at the bottom of the hill. I could see Gertrilla’s staff quivering in the air. It appeared she was trying to get someone to listen to her.
I glanced at Lawus. “I need to see what this is about. Can you stay and make sure the wagons follow Natalie and Amalya. There is a ruin on the other side of this hill we can use for shelter. I’ll find out what the herders want.”
Lawus nodded; so I took off running toward Gertrilla. She was saying something to a young man. The conversation had caused her to turn her back to me. I was about halfway to her when the boy pointed at me.
Gertrilla whirled around. I could see tension and stress in the set of her shoulders as she brought her staff up defensively. The instant she recognized me she relaxed allowing the staff to drop.
