“They’re hanging by the fire,” said a voice in the dark room.
“What are?” Stone asked.
“Your clothes. My girls washed them for you. Although I doubt that shirt will be of much use.”
“I’ve got another in my saddlebags,” Stone said. “Who are you?”
“Hollist,” the man in the dark said. “Are you the man Lorik calls Stone?”
“Yes. I was riding to catch up with him.”
“And you got waylaid on the trail. That makes sense. Lorik will be worried about you.”
“I should get going,” Stone said.
“Well, that’s not very smart,” Hollist said. “I don’t think you’re all that familiar with the marsh, and unless you are, wandering around in the middle of the night is more than foolish. Besides, your clothes aren’t dry yet, and I’d guess you’re hungry.”
“I could eat.”
“Sure, you could. Here.”
As Hollist approached, Stone could see his shadowy form in the darkness. He opened a door, and firelight from the next room poured in. Hollist was short, with thick, black hair and a kind face. There were streaks of gray in the black hair that caught the dancing light and seemed to shimmer. Hollist walked into the main room of his farmhouse and brought back a cup of mead and a tin plate full of thick stew.
“It’s goose stew. I hope you like it. It may be a little cold, but it’ll fill you up.”
“Thank you,” Stone said as he took the plate and sat back down on the bed.
The mead was an immediate relief, and he drank half of his mug before taking a breath.
“You might take it easy on the mead,” Hollist said. “We brew that ourselves, and it’s a mite stronger than what you’ll find in town.”
Stone nodded and dug into the plate of food hungrily.
“Now, it’s a few more hours ’til daylight,” Hollist said. “You might as well get a little more rest. I’ll wake you at dawn and help you get moving in the right direction.”
“Thanks,” Stone said, yawning.
“Forget it, just keep that shoulder clean. If it gets dirty, you could get blood poisoning and die.”
Stone lay back down and Hollist left the room, closing the door behind him. It was dark, and Stone fell asleep almost immediately. The next morning he found his clothes laid on a chair beside the bed. As light slowly filtered through the thick glass of the little window in his room, Stone could see that it was well furnished, although it looked like most of the items in the room were made on the farm. There was long, low table, with a thick, gnarly wood top. A wicker-seated rocking chair was in the corner, and a tall wooden cabinet was near the bed.
Stone pulled on his clothes and boots, then stepped out into the big main room of the farm house. It had a large stone fireplace, with a big, black cook pot hanging over the flames. There were also small ovens made of clay built into the fireplace, so that it served as the central place for cooking and heating the home in winter. There were four young girls and one woman scurrying around preparing breakfast.
“Thank you for your kindness,” he said to the woman, obviously Hollist’s wife.
“Think nothing of it,” she said. “My girls washed your clothes. I just dressed the wound in your shoulder. Keep it clean and it should mend fine.”
“I will,” he promised.
“Hollist is outside with your horse.”
“Thank you,” he said again, not sure what else to say.
He went outside and found Hollist smoking a long-stemmed pipe and watching the sun come up. His horse was saddled and ready to go. He approached the farmer and stuck out a hand.
“Thank you for your help,” he said.
“It was nothing,” Hollist said. “I refilled your canteen from our well. It’s clean water. And I packed your ruined shirt in the saddle bag when I fetched the good one. It might not be in good shape, but it’s better than nothing in the marshes.”
“I appreciate it.”
“It was no trouble. Now take this path and ride hard. I’m not sure which path Lorik will take but the this trail forks about three hours from here. You’ll want to catch up with him before that if you can.”
“I will,” Stone said, swinging up into his saddle.
One of Hollist’s daughters came out with a round loaf of freshly made bread and some hot sausage. She held it up to Stone, smiling but not speaking. He reached down and took the food.
“Thank you,” he said, as she hurried back into the house.
“Better ride hard, stranger.”
“I will,” Stone said, holding the warm food close and urging his horse into a gallop.
He ate as he rode, once the horse had run long enough. He slowed her pace, keeping a sharp eye out along the trail, but, other than the occasional animal, there was nothing to see. The swamp was murky and in some places emitting a very foul odor. The trail turned and twisted, the trees around it growing in stunted, unnatural shapes. The leaves were gray and seemed lifeless. It was not a pleasant ride, but he kept moving. It was almost midday when he finally saw Lorik in the distance. He kicked his horse back into a gallop to catch up.
“What took you so long?” Lorik said sourly. He had stayed up late into the night, catching only a few hours of sleep. He was tired, worried, and more than a little annoyed.
“I was ambushed,” he said. “The pirates didn’t get the hint the night before.”
“What happened?” Lorik asked. They were riding side by side now, Stone on his horse and Lorik in the wagon.
“I got shot in the shoulder. If the pirates weren’t such lousy bowmen, I’d be dead, I suppose.”
“Well, let’s hear about it. We’ve got a long trail ahead, and a good story helps the time pass more quickly.”
Chapter 9
Stone told Lorik about the attack in terse details. In some ways, Lorik wasn’t surprised. Pirates weren’t honorable men, but he had to admit he hadn’t expected them to come after Stone again. Being in a fight was scary anytime, but after seeing what Stone was capable of with his knives, taking him on seemed more like suicide.
Lorik was glad that his new partner was okay, but he had worried through the night that he’d made a huge mistake. If Stone had just dropped out of their partnership, Lorik would have been disappointed, but not all that surprised. But he had worried about Vera. What if Stone was working with the Riders or even just working some kind of con on his own, and Lorik had left Vera right in the young warrior’s hands? He had debated turning back, but in the end he knew he had a job to do. He had been entrusted with Hollist’s future, and the truth was that Vera had made her own choices. So, after a restless night, Lorik had pushed on. When he finally saw Stone hurrying to catch up, he hadn’t known what to expect.
“How’s your shoulder?” he asked.
“Better. Still hurts, though. I wasn’t in very good shape and ended up at Hollist’s farm. They took care of me. I should be fine in a day or two.”
“All right, well, I’m sorry about that. I guess splitting up was a bad idea.”
“It’s okay, it wasn’t your fight. It should be over now.”
“I hope so,” Lorik said, thinking again about Vera, all alone in Hassell Point now.
Before, when Vera was working, it certainly wasn’t an ideal situation but at least she had people around her. Now she was alone at Lorik’s home. It wasn’t far from town, but it was far enough that she could be hurt or kidnapped without anyone knowing it. He had spent most of his life looking out for Vera. It felt strange now that she was moving out from under his protection. He knew he needed to let her go, but it was difficult. Even though she hadn’t left the Point yet, her impending absence made his own uncertainty about the future even more difficult to bear.
They were nearing the end of the main trail. The high ground had disappeared, and the thick, stinking muck was crowding in on both sides. After an hour of travel, Stone was forced to follow behind the wagon, rather than beside it. The trail was winding ev
en more now, and progress was slow. Lorik had to carefully steer his way though the soggy ground. When they came to an area where the ground was covered in shallow water, Lorik called a halt.
“Let’s take a short break,” he said over his shoulder to Stone.
Lorik stood up and stretched his back, then climbed down from the wagon. He was used to moving through water in the marshlands, but he had a heavy load, and he knew it was better to walk his route through the mud and water before attempting to drive the wagon through it.
“I need to walk this path and make sure it’s good,” he told Stone. “Ready to get your feet wet, literally?”
“Sounds like fun,” Stone said sarcastically.
“It’s not, but it’s necessary. Come on and I’ll show you how to find a way through standing water like this.”
The water smelled of rotten fish and vegetation. The ground was muddy, but their boots didn’t bog down in it. They walked slowly, side by side, as Lorik pointed out things that Stone needed to know.
“You can tell the difference between mud and sucking mud just by the way it clings to your boots. Sucking mud will also make a squelching sound when you pull your foot free.”
“Hence the name, I suppose,” Stone said.
“That’s right. You don’t usually find it in places like this where the ground is just too saturated for the water to drain off. It doesn’t even feel that muddy, does it?”
“No,” Stone said.
“What you do need to be aware of is what may be under the surface of the water. There can be holes or rocks that will damage the wagon, and you might not see them until it’s too late. There are also some nasty snakes that like to stay hidden in the water. In most instances they won’t try to harm you, but if the horses see them they’ll be frightened. In deep water there are other creatures, but I’ll show you how to spot them when I see one.”
“So basically, we’re checking the mud and making sure there’s nothing around here that might damage the wagon or spook the horses.”
“Yes, nothing better than walking the path to make sure everything is okay. I usually walk up one side and back down the other.”
“And this is why I needed a second pair of boots,” Stone said.
“This and the sucking mud,” Lorik explained. “If you happen to get caught in some, you may have to leave your boots behind.”
“How did I make it through the marshes without knowing any of this?”
“You got lucky, I suspect,” Lorik said. “Of course, riding a horse helps, and if you’re traveling light it can be done. You didn’t fall into any quicksand and didn’t get bitten by anything venomous, but most importantly, you didn’t lose your sense of direction.”
“I’ve always had a good sense of direction,” Stone said. “But these winding trails make it more difficult.”
“You’ll get used to it. Once you know what to look for, they stand out. The hard part is remembering which ones get you somewhere and which ones are dead ends, so that you don’t waste too much time wandering around. The key, though, is understanding that the marshes and swamps are always changing. So if you took a path today that was clear, it might not be clear the next time. You have to be willing to double back and change your route if you run into the unexpected.”
They returned to the wagon, and Lorik drove it across the flooded plain. Stone led his horse for a while after that. He hated the water that squished in his boots, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it. The air was warm and very humid, so changing his boots would give him dry feet for now, but his first pair wouldn’t dry, and he might end up with two wet pairs of boots on the first day of the journey.
They didn’t have any other problems that day, and when evening came, they made camp in a fairly dry spot. There was plenty of scrub brush for a fire. Stone saw to the horses while Lorik situated the camp. There was a pleasant fire crackling when Stone was finished with the horses, and Lorik offered him some mead.
“I’m surprised you drink on the road,” Stone said.
“I don’t ever get drunk,” Lorik said, settling down beside the fire. “But finding fresh water can be difficult. I usually don’t bring an entire keg of mead, but with two of us I thought it might be wise. Also, I rarely cook, so having a bit of mead or wine makes the dried rations easier to stomach.”
“That’s a fact,” Stone said, pulling a small loaf of crusty bread from his pack.
“Do you regret coming along?” Lorik asked.
“No, why would I?”
“It’s not glamorous work,” Lorik explained. “Being in the Marshlands can be depressing.”
“How so?”
“Just look around, everything seems stunted and wilting. The weather is always wet and muggy, the colors bland. Not to mention there are a lot of dangers out here. Some people don’t like it.”
“I don’t mind. I didn’t grow up in the Marshlands but might as well have. We were close to the sea, and the streets in the poor section of town were always covered in thick mud. It stank of garbage and refuse. And I’ll take natural dangers over the human kind anytime. In comparison, the marshes seem like a haven of peace and safety.”
“Does danger always follow you around?” Lorik asked.
“No, I’m hoping to move past all of that.”
“All of what?”
“I guess it’s time for my story, eh?”
“I was hoping you might be willing to let me in on a little bit of your history.”
“Well, my father was killed when I was young. We had always been poor, but with my father gone we were destitute. I did whatever it took to survive. My father gave me the only bit of good advice that ever passed his lips right before he died: ‘A man with a sword can have whatever he wants,’ he told me. ‘No king or lord can own him.’ So I found someone to teach me how to use a blade, only it came with a price. I had to do some unpleasant things to earn my lessons. In the meantime, my mother was an easy target for brutish men. When I was old enough I set out to settle the score with them. When my sword master was killed, I avenged him and robbed the lord who had ordered his murder. Then I came here.”
“Well, that’s more truth than I was expecting,” Lorik said. “I’m hoping the Earl of Yorik Shire wasn’t the lord you stole from?”
“No, it was farther north,” said Stone.
“Good, we don’t need to stir up trouble if we can help it.”
“I really do want to put that life behind me, Lorik. I didn’t know what to expect to find at Hassell Point. I didn’t know if I’d stay in Ortis or book passage to another of the Five Kingdoms. But I want to make a good living, not just enemies. I want to have a life and not end up with a knife in my back.”
“Or an arrow,” Lorik said goodnaturedly.
“Or an arrow,” Stone agreed. “I got lucky.”
“Well, luck is usually earned through skill. I’d say that training in your youth has served you well enough.”
“It has served its purpose. I want a quiet life now. Do you think that’s possible?”
“Probably not,” Lorik said, breaking off a piece of bread and dipping it into his mead. “The pirates should sail away soon enough, but Marsdyn will not be as easy to deal with.”
“You think he’ll be angry?”
“It’s in his nature. He can’t allow an offense, real or perceived, to go unanswered. Men like that have a need to insure no one gets anything over on them. I can’t imagine he’ll just let bygones be bygones.”
“So how do I avoid it, move away from Hassell Point?”
“That’s one way,” said Lorik. “In the end, the only way he’ll let it go is if he gains something he feels is of equal value to the offense.”
“What do you suggest, that I offer him something? Coin or trade goods, maybe?”
“I don’t know. If you come back to the Point and start offering to buy him off, he’ll think you’re scared. He has to respect you before he will deal with you fairly.”
�
�And how do I earn his respect?” Stone asked grimly.
“Men like that respect only one thing, and that’s power.”
“How do you know so much about all this?”
“I’ve seen it before. Marsdyn wasn’t always in Hassell Point. In fact, the Riders are only the latest gang to set up shop here. All my life I’ve seen men like Marsdyn bullying everyone around them to get what they want. I try to stay quiet and out of everyone’s way, but I’m always watching. And I’ve been lucky enough to avoid crossing the wrong people.”
“Until now,” Stone said. “That gray-haired man you fought was a Rider. Your axe crippled him. How do you think Marsdyn will respond to that?”
“Well, you said yourself it was a fair fight, no retaliation needed. It might have been enough to get me by for a day or two, and with Marsdyn going raiding he might have let the incident go altogether, but not now.”
“Because we partnered up?”
“Yes, he’ll paint both of us with the same brush, so to speak.”
“I’m sorry,” Stone said.
“Don’t be. I made the decision, and I knew what I was getting into.”
“So what do we do?”
“I plan to mind my own business,” Lorik said, then drank the last of his mead.
“And if Marsdyn won’t let you?”
“I figured you would take care of that,” he said with a smile.
“I would if I could,” Stone said. “I’ve taken on worse odds, but that was when I had nothing to lose.”
“And what have you got to lose now?”
Stone looked at the fire, his face a mask, but Lorik could see the conflict just beneath the surface.
“Look, Vera is not in love with me. You can talk about her whenever and however you want.”
“It’s not that,” Stone said. “It’s just that I do have things I don’t want to lose. I want to have a home, a legitimate business, a family. I’m not taking for granted the fact that you were willing to take a chance on me. I’ve found more in Hassell Point than I dreamed.”
Lorik (The Lorik Trilogy) Page 10