The Forest and the Farm

by Vance Huxley

  Ellibeth put her hood and coat on but came to Billi as he put his own coat on. “Since my Da can’t protect me in the lamplight, there’s no point him trying in the dark.”

  Those who heard laughed, especially when Viktor shook his head sadly. “That’s true. You’ll be safer with a Hunter, a Hound and a Bear to look after ye.” That caused more laughter, followed by some scandalised tutting when Ellibeth left the dance all alone except for Billi and Rabbit.

  When they reached Viktor’s house, the long way round, Ellibeth snuggled up close. She pointed out that everyone thought the bear had dragged her off to inspect her tattoos and behave badly. What a pity not to take advantage when everyone thought they might have anyway? Not only that but this blouse fastened up the back. That made it hard to get off on her own and where could she find help at this time of night? After all that bussing Billi had no intention of even trying to talk her out of that idea!

  * * *

  When they arrived back in his hut Billi helped a very giggly Ellibeth off with her coat, then took off his own. As he turned back to the room Ellibeth came into his arm and he tossed the crutch to the side to use both arms. This time he bussed her like he’d wanted to for a very long time, and Ellibeth didn’t struggle at all. Her eyes twinkled a little as she looked over at the door to her bedroom. “Do I have to go in there and wait for a bear to break down the door?”

  “Maybe for a pillow?” They both looked at the single pillow on Billi’s bed.

  “But if we squeeze up? If strong arms hold very tight?”

  Billi had trouble keeping talking, and not just because of the maid in his arms. His head seemed to be alive with the song, the sheer joy and triumph made him want to dance and sing. Since Billi was short of a leg and a singing voice, not a good idea. “We could manage with one?” Billi could barely speak. Ellibeth was here and she was his and this would be her home.

  Even as that worked into his mind it blazed with glory and Ellibeth’s eyes went wide. “Rabbit?” she whispered. “Just then, just for a moment?”

  Billi couldn’t answer. He’d been stunned and even now had trouble thinking straight. The Hound’s song rang out cleaner, clearer and brighter than ever before, encouraging him, just a little. Rabbit really wanted Ellibeth in his pack! Billi had to get to the bed before he fell over because he felt drunk on the sheer happiness, his and Rabbit’s, and the wonder that shone from Ellibeth’s eyes. He concentrated because since he’d thrown his crutch away this would be awkward on one leg and then a shoulder slipped under his arm.

  He didn’t have to manage, he wasn’t alone now and never would be, and getting to the bed turned out to be no trouble at all.

  THE END

  People and Places

  The People of the Farm

  Abbe - Syman’s carver apprentice

  Adalmar - Carpenter

  Aescon - Edan’s most rabid supporter

  Anise - Prostitute at the Village alehouse

  Arikk - An old Farmer. Has a daughter, Kelli, late in life

  Autumn - Canitre’s Hound

  Barimar - Hektor’s Da, a Hunter

  Bettram - Stockman

  Billi - Aka Stumpy - Hunter with no left leg, childhood accident

  Bliss - Maid on the Wood Hunt

  Canitre - Edan’s Da, a Hunter

  Cynel - Hunter on Winter Hunt

  Dapple - Hektor’s Hound

  Devved - Elder Farmer - one of the elders

  Edan - Impetuous youth hoping for a Hound

  Eddmune - Experienced Hunter

  Eddwyn - Littlun of nine summers. Friend and rival of Rubyn’s

  Ellibeth - Oldest of Viktor’s, back home with littlun. Widowed and the landshare isn’t available yet.

  Eweyna - Eddwyn’s older sis, careless button

  Ewward - Youth on first winter hunt, Hunter on second

  Farimer - Hunter

  Fellip - The Thatcher

  Fleet - Raban’s Tan Hound

  Gerant - Bettram’s second born,

  Gordi - Thatcher’s nephew - youth

  Grantel - Youth on the Winter Hunt

  Guthra - Musician who plays on six shoes from carthorse down to small pony. Also an elder

  Hektor - Youth waiting and hoping for a Hound

  Hurwald - Farmer. Friend of Arikk

  Kina - Eldest - old woman - eldest surviving villager

  Kravitt - The Blacksmith

  Lilith - Gerant’s bonded, waiting for her brideshare

  Kelli - Young maid - Arikk is her Da

  Mandy - Mother of three who tends to take charge of firewood collections

  Midnight - Farimer’s Hound named because he turned up at midnight and roused the house.

  Mikkel - Young Hunter

  Nortan - Hunter injured on Winter Hunt

  One-shut - One-eyed cat that guards Billi’s the chickens and grain, never has two eyes open.

  Patches - Hound

  Patre - Farmer. Tempert’s Da

  Perry - Slightly older Bro of Bliss

  Raban - Hunter on winter hunt,

  Rabbit - The three-legged Hound that chose Billi

  Robbin - Hunter - Seifort’s Da

  Rubyn - Ellibeth’s littlun of eight summers, his Da died when he was five summers

  Seifort - Youth - Da is Robbin

  Starr - Elder woman

  Steban - Mandy’s bonded

  Streak - Eddmune’s Hound

  Syman - Stonecutter, wood carver, basic potter, widower.

  Sythyl - Seamstress

  Tempert - Youth - Winter Hunt

  Timath - Slightly younger Bro of Bliss

  Treese - Raban’s lass

  Viktor - The Tanner, widower, Bliss’s Da

  Werne - Fiddler with a real fiddle - an heirloom. Also an elder

  Wynn - Billi’s eldest Bro

  Terms Used on the Farm

  Babe - Baby

  Beguiler - Tinkerer maid with few clothes and many sparkuls and tattoos. Will sell kisses or perhaps more

  Blackstone - Coal

  Bonded - Married

  Brideshare - Portion of the family business or land inherited by a daughter

  Buss, Bussed - Kiss, Kissed

  Elders - Group of the oldest villagers who advise the Village and enforce a few Laws

  Eldest - Oldest surviving villager

  Full-weight - About a hundredweight, eight stones or fifty kilos

  Gobbler - Turkey

  Greenstone - Copper ore

  Landclaim - New land or business registered with the Eldest

  Landshare - Portion of the family business or land inherited by a son

  Lass - Wife

  Littles - Toddlers

  Littluns - Children

  Maid - Unbonded Female teenager

  Skull Rock - Huge boulder covered in niches containing the skulls of dead villagers and Hounds

  Sparkul - A stone that shines with an inner fire, diamond

  Stones - Pebbles exceptional enough for the Traders or Tinkerers to want them

  Tithe - Portion of a kill left for the Wild, usually guts and bones

  Travois - Triangle of timbers that allows people or ponies to drag large weights

  Village - The small settlement of Trail’s End, the only one on this area of Farm

  Wake - Dance and feast to celebrate the life of a Villager who has gone on

  Youth - Unbonded Teenage male

  The Forest and the Farm

  The Farm - Land which is cropped and kept clear of weeds. This land comes under the Law of the Farm. Every effort is taken to ensure that any land in the Farm never returns to the Forest, and every inch is claimed by someone. The Village and all the farmhouses are on the Farm, since no man can live in the Forest.

  The Forest - The great woodland stretching across the world’s edge, all the land not settled and farmed by Man. It is guarded by the Wild and cannot be cut, and any farmland not maintained is taken back to the Forest. Only fields, and trees in tended orchard
s, hedgerows or occasional lone trees permitted to grow by man on farmland do not belong to the Forest.

  The Wild - All who live in the Forest and they protect it fiercely. They will raid the Farm but are fair game then. In the Forest Wild hunters will take or attack anything but Hunters with bows and Hounds, and occasionally them as well. There is more sentience and purpose about the Wild than the tame beasts of the Farm and there is a recognition of a balance, a bargain.

  Laws of the Wild and the Farm - The rules agreed between the Forest and the Farm. Their origin is lost in time.

  Great-Beast - Animal of extraordinary size and strength, Great-Bulls, Great-Stags, Great-Boars, Great-Cats and Great-Wolves have been seen. There is on-going controversy over if they are oversized beasts or a different species. Rare but pelts are highly prized and very dangerous to get. They are never intentionally hunted because they are so dangerous, though occasionally killed while raiding farms in hard winters. Great-Hunters are the largest and nobody has seen one of their striped pelts, and only a few have even seen their paw prints.

  Hound - Possibly the dog equivalent of a Great-Beast. Large, powerful and have some sort of a mental connection to ‘their’ person. Each Hound comes out of the Forest and bonds to a young man, making him a Hunter, one of the select few entitled under the Law to hunt in the Forest with bow and spear. Hounds will not outlive their Hunter but can reach ages of more than three-score summers, allegedly, if their Hunter does.

  Hunter - Man who has a Hound and a bow, and is therefore allowed into the Forest to take prey according to the Law of the Wild. It can happen to any youth and most practice the bow just in case, though only about one in four is chosen. The song of ‘his’ Hound is always present in a Hunter’s mind. If the Hound dies the Hunter will grieve deeply, and usually go out into the Forest with just a spear to meet the Wild and never returns.

  Landclaim - When there is a chance to take more land from the Forest it must be described and the location given. This is so that the land will not be lost to the Village if the claimant dies. All land is precious. The heir or heirs to a new landclaim must be revealed to the Elders at that time, to avoid any dispute. If they are too young to work the land when they inherit the Elders will rent it out until the heir is sixteen summers. This keeps the land clear and cropped so that the Wild does not reclaim it for the Forest.

  Landshare or Brideshare - The inherited portion of a parent’s holdings. This inheritance cannot be claimed until after the last parent has gone on and their skull is on Skull Rock. Until then, a bonded couple will live with the family of the man. This can cause overcrowding and is why the family home is so large. It is impossible for the couple to move out before then as there is no unclaimed land on the Farm.

  Tinkerers - Itinerants living in gaily painted and carved wooden carts who set up small fairs. Their leatherwork, metalwork and jewellery are expensive but high quality, and they love to bargain but only for the better quality products of Forest and Farm. They do not steal or cheat, but bargain very hard. Their women assist in bargaining by ‘beguiling’ the victim, flaunting sparkling stones and delicate gold jewellery as well as their tattoos. Tinkerers tell fortunes, play tunes, sing and organise dancing. Their women are exotically tattooed and dance for silver, often removing items of clothing if the bids are high enough. Reputedly loose with their favours for silver or stones, and notorious for parting a man from his goods without paying though few complain. Tinkerers will pay good prices for the right rough stones and have the secret of making them shine as the stars do.

  Traders - Trader caravans with a score or more wagons bring goods that cannot be produced in Villages and take the pelts and meat of the Forest back to the great cities to sunwards, allegedly beyond the Forest edge. They sell anything and everything and will take most things in trade, but the quality they supply can vary so beware. Usual source for blackstone, iron, charcoal, salt, rough cloth and most plain goods. Reputedly steal if they can’t buy. The purple wagons carry dancing girls who do most things for silver or even for copper in hard times. Traders offer huge rewards for the secret of the glittering stones or for a Hound.

  Sparkul - A found stone that has been enhanced. Only the Tinkerers have this skill and nobody else even knows the process. The Tinkerers can make a rough stone of the right type burn with an inner fire, which makes the sparkuls very expensive. Tinkers will only trade for the right type of stone, the Traders will take any pretty stone but won’t give the same value even for potential sparkuls. Pretty stones and occasional nuggets are usually found in streams by Hunters.

  Vance Huxley

  Vance Huxley lives out in the countryside in Lincolnshire, England. He has spent a busy life working in many different fields – including the building and rail industries, as a workshop manager, trouble-shooter for an engineering firm, accountancy, cafe proprietor, and graphic artist. He also spent time in other jobs, and is proud of never being dismissed, and only once made redundant.

  Eventually he found his Noeline, but unfortunately she died much too young. To help with the aftermath, Vance tried writing though without any real structure. As an editor and beta readers explained the difference between words and books, he tried again.

  Now he tries to type as often as possible in spite of the assistance of his cats, since his legs no work well enough to allow anything more strenuous. An avid reader of sci-fi, fantasy and adventure novels, so his writing tends towards those genres.

  Vance is a prolific writer whose other series include Fall of the Cities and Breach of Contract.