"Shall I call you King Solomon?"
"Only if I were so rich in wisdom, my lord. Needing more trinkets to line the walls, my wife has packed the home with a king's purse of all sorts of worthless creations: incense from the Holy Land, rugs from Hungary and — well, her pricey undertakings are turning me into a madman, or at least a broke one." Godfrey did not attempt to maintain his composure and laughed stridently.
"By all means, my lord, chuckle. Witness Sophie when she is but with you a little while longer." Fulbert then attempted a poor imitation of Sophie's voice, "Godfrey, I love zeez horses I saw yesterday, couldn't you buy me one, Godfrey? Oh and zis ring is so beautiful, if I could only have two for each finger."
Godfrey asked, "So, you shall be leaving this evening?"
"As soon as the hunt ends," Fulbert assured. "Thank the saints I will not be returning to the city. With the wretched farming over the past two years Echternach has hardly a scrap of food worth selling. Two weeks ago, of the two days I browsed the wares, I approached every merchant I could: 'bread one and a fourth quarters' I asked, only to be shown carts full of moldering filth. When I did find what looked fairly acceptable the pompous jackal of a merchant asked four times its worth. Likewise with bread prices inflated, oats soared to triple its cost of last year." Now red of face, Fulbert paused to clear his throat and continued. "Well, without buying any of the city's rubbished goods I returned to Lorraine and purchased from the nobles, taking portions of stock from their mills. As the prices were lowered they still held steep. A quarter of bread, seven sextaries of wine, mackerel, fat for candles, hay and oats, and meat totaling fourteen s—"
Just then Godfrey whiffed in a familiar, musty stench. Without hesitation, he scanned the area ahead of him. The huntsmen were jogging with the alaunts while the dogs vigorously tugged at their leashes. Immediately, Fulbert called on Rainald to fetch Godfrey's spear. The wide-eyed squire bounced about before Godfrey with spear in hand. The weapon was ten feet in length with an ashen stock and a sharp iron head. With an approving nod Godfrey took the spear and tapped the sides of his horse.
Soon Godfrey was riding almost at the heels of the huntsmen. Using his free hand, he reached down to his belt, untied a leather fastener, and took out a lavish ivory horn, also called an oliphant. He blew three distinct notes.
Releasing their grips on the dogs, the huntsmen watched as the furry companions charged off into the thicket. Godfrey gave a final kick to bring his horse up and followed close behind the sprinting dogs. Through the trees, he could make out fuzzy black shapes jolting in all directions. Godfrey's horse smashed through a small bush and spilled out into a large opening. A grey, rocky outcropping materialized just ahead. Fixing his eyes onto the rock face, Godfrey witnessed the alaunts corner a heavy boar to the outcropping.
As he closed in, he judged the pig to be Goliath and himself a mere David. 300 pounds of uncompromising flesh, muscle, and bone stood its ground, squealing and swinging its deadly head back and forth like an enraged rhinoceros. A circle of huntsmen quickly formed around the scene. With mechanistic expertise they each drew out a special arrow designed specifically to penetrate through a boar's thick skin. The men then pulled back their bowstrings.
Godfrey impatiently looked behind him for Sophie and the others. He could feel his heart increase its rhythm until it pounded like a hammer to an anvil in his chest. Beads of hot sweat trickled down his forehead, and he tightened the already titan-like grip on his spear. Finally, Sophie and her parents ascended to the top of the hill. He threw himself from the side of his horse and narrowed onto his target. Like before a storm, the world around him dropped into silence.
Godfrey drew back his spear and heaved the tip into the side of the beast. However, the attack penetrated less than an inch. The boar sneered, knocking the splinter away with its massive head. Godfrey thrust again, this time the weapon sunk deeply into the left side of the pig's neck. Lunging forward, the animal nearly knocked Godfrey off his feet; yet, at the cost of burrowing the weapon more deeply into its neck. Godfrey leaned into his weapon and forced the spearhead into the flesh until the spear eventually came out the other side of the pig's dense throat. A dark rupture of blood splattered onto the pale rock wall. The boar heaved back and forth in desperation, valiantly trying to free itself from the weapon. Straining every muscle in his body, Godfrey kept the beast in place, and finally the pig fell with a sickening thud. He pulled his weapon free. In turn, the archers lowered their bows.
Stifled with heat by his chain mail, Godfrey realized sweat drenched every surface of his body. His chest heaved for air. His body was spent, exhausted. Wiping a swathe of perspiration from his forehead, he purposefully slowed his breathing. The tranquil sounds of nature flowed back into existence, and he slowly turned around to see Isabelle. She looked terrified as she placed her hand over her mouth. In contrast to his wife, Gregory was brimming with excitement, a boyish grin stretching across his wrinkled face. For Godfrey, it was only natural to return a mischievous smile. Soon, the rest of his household arrived at the scene and applauded. And with that, he took a bow.
A few minutes later, by the skill of Godfrey's most seasoned huntsman, the boar was skinned and the meat divided. The alaunts' portion of boar meat was placed on a sheet of the boar's skin. Tails happily wagging back and forth, the dogs lapped up their portions and contentedly licked their maws. As time wore on, the layer of sweat covering Godfrey cooled quite notably. With the chilly twinge of weather, he decided it a perfect time to head back home. He then announced that if anyone was as hungry as he was at that moment, everyone should hastily return to enjoy platters of succulent pork. After the huntsmen tied the boar meat to sticks, the party made their way east.
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