by Allan Joyal
Heather and I looked at each other and shrugged. Then we decided to return to where the group had been resting for the afternoon. We sat down with our backs against a small rock and concentrated on eating.
Chapter 25: Sliding to Purahomp
The steaks proved to be surprisingly flavorful. Al said it was like eating a well smoked salmon. Interestingly, after we finished eating everyone ended up feeling rather tired. Heather and I found a spot next to our rock to roll out a bedroll and snuggled together for the night. From the sounds I heard as I drifted off to sleep in her arms, the rest of the group also quickly found places to lie down.
I woke up to the crunch of wooden wheels over icy snow banks. Heather was curled up in my arms. It took a few pokes in her side to get her to open her eyes. I sat up and looked over at the cave entrance.
The dwarves were pulling their carts away from the cave and lining them up. They would clip one dwarf into the harness and he would pull it away. As I started to stand, three dwarves approached the sleds. They set up to pull the sleds as I helped Heather to her feet.
"Shouldn't we do that?" Steve asked. "I mean, it feels like the dwarves have already done so much for us. I heard they gave Shaylin a treasure."
"Not a treasure," Shaylin protested. "But I doubt many apprentices have access to these spell components. I still have to study the spells, but with the goods they provided I can develop my skills."
"Which is why we consider it a treasure," I replied as Heather and I worked to roll up the bedroll we had slept on. "I'm sure the value of those simple items will be hard to measure in the years ahead."
Shaylin snorted. "It will be years. I don't have a master wizard teaching me."
"Good," Lydia said. "You'll be able to learn to do it right rather than submit to the teachings of tradition."
"Feminist alert!" Al called out jokingly. "All males should be on full alert."
All the members of our original group laughed. I noted that both Henck and Kariy joined in while Verval and Jeff both looked perplexed. I handed the folded bedroll to Heather and nodded towards the group's newest member. "I'm going to talk to Jeff."
"I'll make sure everything is loaded," Heather said. "And I'll remind Kariy that we need breakfast of some kind."
I nodded and walked over to where Verval and Jeff stood. They were watching as Jennifer, Gertrilla and Corwar finished rolling up several bedrolls. "How are you doing?" I asked the two men.
Verval smiled. "I have the love of a special young lady. I thank you for allowing me to join you and for warning me to be patient."
I looked at Jennifer, who ducked her head. "So you and Jennifer?"
"I'm hoping it lasts," Verval said. "But I worry. Back in our village, her courage and intelligence would have been seen as a problem. I remember how I was that first night we spent in the tent."
"We do too," Victoria commented. The woman walked over and looked at the two men before turning to me. "It looks like the dwarves are ready to start moving. I'm surprised it's so early."
"Mertiln told me we'd start early," I replied. "Jeff, Verval, want to walk by me for the morning?"
Jeff scowled. "Like I'm going to argue with you and that spear. You're not much different from Roy."
I sighed but Victoria jumped in front of Jeff. "Do you really think that?" the woman snapped. "Would Roy have crawled across a cave floor knowing that there were creatures hoping to capture him and eat him just to save your life? Ron didn't even know you and he did that!"
Jeff glared at the woman. "He didn't save David."
"Who was already in the grip of one of the creatures," Verval said calmly. "Although he was alive and not killed like the dwarf we watched get captured."
We moved near the sleds. The first three carts were already leaving the clearing. It was a bit slower than when we had the beetles pulling, but the dwarves seemed content with the progress being made. Mertiln nodded to us. One of the dwarves pulling a sled shouted something to Mertiln, causing the lead dwarf to frown.
I indicated that we should walk next to the first sled so we could stay out of the way of the pulling dwarf. Everyone started to spread out as Mertiln stomped over to us.
"What's this I hear that someone thinks you could have saved the second human?" Mertiln asked with a snarl.
"Not someone asking if we could have saved him. Just that David was alive when I brought Jeff back to the safety of the path. When Holmgar was caught by one of the creatures, it killed him immediately," I replied.
"Ah, I didn't think about that," Mertiln said. "We are used to the creatures and I didn't think to talk about it. Your friend's friend was being used to brood eggs. The larvae need live flesh to eat, so occasionally a captured meal is not killed."
I stumbled as blood rushed away from my face. "So that means ... we should have tried to kill him to spare him that fate," I said.
"You couldn't do that, lad," Mertiln said. "The creatures are cunning enough to understand that someone might attempt that. If they are using a body to brood young, they drag it down the tunnels and then wait for the rescue attempt. They will leave once the eggs hatch, but by that time, it's too late."
"So nothing could have been done," I said with a sigh. "Jeff, I'm sorry."
"I know," Jeff replied. There was an edge in his voice. "It doesn't change the fact that the one friend I had made in this world is dead."
"You can make new ones," Verval said. "These people we have joined. They are good people. True people. Sure, there are some conflicts, but they care and want everyone in the group to be happy."
"You sound happy," I said to Verval.
"Much more than I imagined, and I realized that in the future you'll trust me to help with the farming. Although Natalie might have knowledge that can help, I've actually farmed," Verval said confidently.
"Good, you can help me hunt down farming tools to purchase when we visit towns," Natalie said. "There are some things I want to do that will be new, but I'm sure that hoes and scythes won't change much, at least not immediately."
"Scythes? What are those?" Jeff asked.
We were now walking along a wide track that sloped downward. It was curving to our left as we headed into a large valley. Steve glanced around. "Looks like a glacial valley," he mused. "It definitely has the floor to have been glacial."
I nodded as Victoria moved near to Jeff. "You remember how at Halloween some people always dress in the black hooded robe and the gloves that make it look like they have skeletal hands? The weapon they carry is a scythe."
"Wow," Natalie said. "I wouldn't have thought to describe it that way. But Victoria is right. It was used to cut down wheat or other grains. You don't have to bend over as much to use i as you would with a knife or sickle."
"Sickle?" Jennifer asked. "You mean like the hammer and sickle? My father used to show me an old flag with those symbols. I never knew what the sickle was."
"Just a farming tool some people used to harvest grain," Natalie said.
"For a city-bred girl who says she never lived on a farm, you know quite a bit," I observed.
Natalie giggled. "So I found a college class that was all about historical farming practices used in Europe. The professor used it to try to show how the business owners worked to starve the middle class."
Verval was now looking completely perplexed. I glanced at Kariy and Hencktor and the two were whispering back and forth as Hencktor walked next to Lydia. My friend was smiling and just shook her head, indicating that the conversation should not worry me.
There were a couple loud shouts from in front of us. Everyone looked towards the head of the caravan. I suddenly realized that we were walking over snow that had been melting during the day and refreezing at night. The surface was slick and icy. Ahead, we could see a couple of the carts sliding away from the caravan.
"Grab a sled everyone!" I called out. "The surface here is icy and the heavy sleds will want to speed down the valley. Steve, take the first, Henck, you have the seco
nd, I'll work on the last."
I half ran, half skated to the sled and grabbed onto the side of the frame. Heather rushed around the back and then grabbed the sled at a point directly across from me. I heard Shaylin, Gertrilla and Corwar join by grabbing the uprights at the back.
"We'll help!" Corwar promised.
We looked ahead to see the last of the carts in front of our sleds start sliding down the mountain. The cart quickly passed the dwarf pulling it and then started dragging him down the mountain. "Esme!" I roared.
"I saw it," Esme called back. "We can do nothing until we reach the bottom of the slope or he gets free. I'll watch and help if I can."
"Steve, are you ready?" I called out.
"We'll let you know at the bottom," Steve said. "Verval, you can feel how the ground is slick. Don't try to stop. Just use the sides of your boots to dig into the snow. If we can keep the sled's speed down, we should be able to control it."
I watched worriedly as the sled Steve and Verval were escorting started down the slope. You could hear the two men grunt with the strain of keeping the sled from taking off over the icy ground.
The next sled was approaching the start of the decline when someone started shouting. "Fuck! That hurt!"
I looked up. Jeff was hopping on one foot as he retreated from the left side on the next sled. I looked at his raised foot and realized he was not wearing shoes.
"Esme! Jeff isn't wearing shoes and it looks like the sled hit his foot," I shouted.
"She's with the first sled and probably didn't hear you," Lydia replied. "And we're about to start."
Heather and I watched as the sled got to the top of the slope. Al and Hencktor quickly moved to the front of the sled and put their hands on the frame. Both men were facing back towards us and carefully walking backwards as the sled hit the slope.
The sled shifted initially, but did not speed up like some of the carts did. It looked like Al and Hencktor were going to successfully guide it down when the back of the sled swung to the left, sweeping Jennifer from her feet.
As Jennifer disappeared from view with a surprised shout, the sled swung back to center. No one said anything as Jennifer's voice faded, only for it to rise again in anguish.
"Ger! Go check on her, but be careful going down the hill!" I said.
The dwarf pulling our sled kept moving as Gertrilla left the rear and ran towards the slope. She gazed down for a moment and then turned to me. "It looks like she slid or rolled into one of the carts. Aine is there and kneeling next to her."
"Esme?" I asked.
"I don't ... wait! I see her. She's looking at one of the dwarves. His leg appears bent in the wrong spot," Gertilla said.
"Shit," I muttered. "Heather, this thing is going to be sliding on the four wheels. We have to keep the front wheels from sliding, which means we have to keep them facing down the slope. Let's try wedging our feet in front of the wheel. It's going to hurt, but it's clear the wheels start sliding on the ice and we lose control."
"Will that work?" Heather asked.
"No idea," I said. "But we're out of time to think about it. We're about to start down. Corwar, Shaylin, you can hang on the back and drag your feet, but if the sled swings to the side, let go and get your body under control."
Shaylin giggled. I could see Corwar adjust his grip as I slid my foot in front of the wheels. The slick icy ground allowed me to almost skate over the surface. Heather gasped as she realized the same thing.
The sled was just starting down the slope. I risked a glance down. The slope would have been a challenge to navigate on skis.
I tilted my foot so that the instep was against the wheel while the outside of my boot ground into the snow. A few beams of warmth from the dawning sun were striking the slope. It was too little to melt the ice now, but provided a silent testimony into how the slope became so slick.
The sled pressed against my foot as the back end cleared the top of the slope. Heather grunted with the effort of controlling the sled as we started to slide. Corwar and Shaylin were both panting with the effort of keeping on the sled as we began to go faster.
I held onto the frame of the sled and tried to will it to slow. The wheel felt like it was grinding into my left foot as I used it as a brake against the slope. The sled seemed to weigh a ton as gravity pulled it down the slope.
Finally, the sled started to slow. I heaved against it, straining to slow it even more and was able to pull my foot out from under the wheel. Across from me, I could hear Heather sigh.
"That sucked," she said.
"Ron!" Shaylin called from the back. "What about the next cart?"
I glanced back up the slope to see a cart sliding out of control towards us.
"Push!" I shouted as I grabbed the sled again and started to push it along the bottom of the valley. We heard a grunt of protest from the dwarf in the harness, but then the sled turned to the left. We passed through a narrow opening between two carts and moved to an open clearing. The sled started sliding across the now flat ground.
"Whoa!" I called out as we heard faint cracks below us. "I think we're now on a pond of some kind."
The dwarf pulling the sled slid to a stop and sat down. Heather and I looked at him and then hurried to the back of the sled to check on Corwar and Shaylin. Both looked at us and giggled. "Can we do that again?" Shaylin asked.
"Not now," I growled, causing Shaylin to step back. I shook my head and tried to smile. "I know you had fun, but we still have to travel. I promise next winter I'll work with the others to make a sled for you and we'll find a slope to slide on."
Shaylin smiled and clapped her hands. A moment later the two puppies ran up and sat by her heels. "Wow," Heather said. "Those are well trained puppies."
"How are the other sleds? And how is Jennifer?" I asked.
"Jennifer has a broken arm," Steve said as he emerged from behind a snow bank. "The other two sleds both have cracked runners. We can get them into Purahomp on the wheels, or at least the dwarves are indicating that the sleds will survive the trip, but after that we'll have to unload them and probably leave them."
"We'll have to find a wagon or cart anyways," I said. "We have too much stuff for the sleds to really be useful. And most of what we carry we just want to store until we reach our goal. The sled should be carrying the camping equipment."
Steve nodded. "You realize we'll probably end up guarding our stuff if we stay in an inn."
"Yuck," Heather said. "But that makes sense."
Heather put a hand on my arm. "Shouldn't we get the sled off the ice, just in case? I mean, it seems thick enough, but I'd rather not watch a sled sink beneath the snow."
Steve walked over and looked at the sled. The dwarf that had pulled it was standing just in front of the sled, glaring at us. Without a word, Steve walked up to the dwarf and carefully reached out to touch the harness.
The dwarf nodded. I couldn't see his expression through his thick beard, but he got out of the harness and held it out to Steve. My friend took the harness in his hand and started to walk towards the shore of the frozen pond. Corwar ran to the back of the sled and helped get it turned around so Steve could guide it.
"And that solves that," I said. "We should check on the others."
Heather grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the shore. The ice was fairly smooth, so we had to slide our feet in order to make headway. We had just reached the shore when Victoria walked up. She had a smirk on her face.
"You realize that Mertiln probably wants to give us all crowns," she said.
"What?" Heather asked. "That makes no sense."
Victoria pointed to the blockade of carts at the bottom of the hill. We could see Hencktor, Al and Verval working to right the carts and get them lined back up.
"Oh," Heather said. "I'm guessing the dwarves didn't expect that."
"Well, they expected the sliding," Victoria said. "Al looked at the carts. Those things are built to crash into each other. We watched some of the dwarves getting a c
art started down the slope. Once it was moving, they would unlatch the harness and roll out of the way. They just let the carts slide to the bottom."
I was looking around. "Where are Jennifer and Jeff, and how badly are they hurt?" I asked.
"Jennifer broke an arm," Gertrilla said from my right. I turned to see the preteen girl helping Jennifer walk towards us. The older girl's right arm was wrapped in bandages. I could see three sticks under the bandages. "Natalie is looking for something to use as a sling, so that Jennifer's arm stays against her body."
I looked at Jennifer. Her face clearly displayed her pain as she slowly walked toward us. "I got spun around and my arm hit right on one of the carts when I reached the bottom. Esme tells me I only broke my radius. She thinks it will be thirty days before it knits."
"The break was clean?" I asked as the rest of the group started to gather.
"Appears to be," Esme said. "We'll have to keep the arm from moving much for a while though."
I turned to the young woman who was in charge of our health. "How is Jeff?"
"The cart ran over his foot," Esme said with a small smirk on her face. "He's got a nasty bruise on the arch, and might have a couple of bones with minor damage, but nothing is broken."
"I can't walk, I tell you," Jeff shouted. I looked toward his voice and found him sitting on the ground at the edge of the pond. He had his legs pulled in so his feet were against his thighs. "And my feet are cold. What will you do about that?"
Steve heaved a loud sigh. "We don't have any extra shoes," he said. "The best we can do is hurry to Purahomp and then get you shoes while we are there."
"I have to walk?" Jeff said. "But my foot is broken!"
"You could crawl," Victoria replied. "But you aren't going to be carried, and you won't fit in any of the sleds."
Jeff frowned, but said nothing as the rest of the group finally trickled over. Al looked at me. "Ron," Al called out. "From what I can see the dwarves plan on taking several hours before they resume the walk to Purahomp. They are rigging the food wagon with ropes and probably plan on lowering it slowly."
