Origins: A Deepwoods Book - a Collection of Deepwoods Short Stories (Deepwoods Series 0)

by Honor Raconteur

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  It was close, but they made Siobhan’s half-hour deadline. With such capable help, they bought food, another jug of water, small bowls, leather and buckles that could be made into collars, and two long lead lines that Denney knew would be essential to keeping the dogs close until they learned to stay within a certain perimeter of their people. When they got back to the carts, Denney finally had the space and help she needed to examine the dogs. They had one boy, one girl, both of them healthy if a little matted. Denney had everyone feed them a little morsel of food, starting their relationship with the dogs as ‘nice people that will feed you,’ an important step in human-dog relationships.

  While on the path, everyone took turns playing with and petting the pups, which of course the dogs loved, so that by the time the path ended only Grae hadn’t had real interaction with them. This was something that the Pathmaker protested. Loudly.

  Grae’s path from Vellshire took them to a small village, where they stayed most of the night, and then from there they traveled directly to the desert. Denney’s mother had described a desert to her before, one of the few times she had spoken about home, and her journey to reach Quigg. She’d journeyed through the desert for several days before reaching Island Pass. Denney, now that she faced it, realized that a description didn’t do the place justice. Saying that it was dry, and hot, and full of nothing but sand and cactus—mostly sand—didn’t really give the full picture.

  The heat rose from the sand in visible waves. The air was dry, so much so that it seemed to suck all of the moisture out of her, and she was still lingering somewhat on the edge of it. There was green visible behind her.

  “From here, we walk.” Siobhan put hands on hips, arms akimbo, and viewed the desert ahead with a sort of resigned determination. “Mercy, but I do hate this leg of the trip. I always get sunburned, no matter how much of that oil I put on.”

  Sylvie reached into the cart and handed her a wide-brimmed white hat. “Try this.”

  Siobhan’s eyes lit up as she accepted it and put it on. It did not match what she was wearing, not at all, but it did shade her face and neck very well. “Bless you, Sylvie, that’s already cooler. Master Conli, you’re about as fair as I am, do you have a hat too?”

  Conli pulled out a more masculine version and put it on. “Miss Sylvie made sure of it.”

  “Good, good.” Siobhan eyed Denney dubiously. “Tran doesn’t burn with his skin, but I’m not sure about you. Do you burn easily?”

  “Not really,” Denney said with a weighing stare at the desert ahead. “But I’ve also never been in a place like this before.”

  “Oil up, just in case,” Siobhan advised, already reaching in her own pouch for a bottle. “Here, sit still and I’ll do the honors while the caravan boss gets her people sorted and ready to move.”

  Denney had no idea how to react to this friendly woman that sat her down, rubbing oil over a person’s face that she had only known two days. Siobhan Maley didn’t seem to meet a stranger, and she was as comfortable with Denney as she was with her own guildmates. It was baffling and warming all at the same time.

  “Now, as you can feel, this place can just suck the life right out of a person,” Siobhan said as she rubbed. “So you put this on every time we stop to eat. And drink. Drink lots. Drink when you aren’t even particularly thirsty. I’ve had people faint on me before and it’s not any fun to deal with.”

  Conli went alert. “Will I be treating heat exhaustion?”

  “Hopefully not,” Fei observed, perched at the top of the cart and with a hand shielding his eyes. “These are all veterans, after all. But stupid things do happen so I would be prepared just in case.”

  “Be most wary of sandstorms.” Tran had his eyes trained on the horizon, and he didn’t turn his head towards them as he spoke. “They are a real concern here.”

  “Sand…storm?” Denney repeated the unfamiliar word, turning at Siobhan’s direction so the woman could do the back of her neck and ears.

  “Scary things, those.” Tran continued the explanation, although he bounced on the edge of his toes, as if he wanted to already be moving. “Because we’re somewhat close to the coast, the wind rises, and kicks up the loose sand. It comes in fast and hard, lasts for several hours, and disappears just as quickly.”

  “When they do come, there’s no way to outrun or avoid them,” Fei picked up the explanation. “We hunker down inside the cart, with a steady tarp tied taut over us to keep the sand out. It’s harsh enough to take off your skin if you’re not protected.”

  This alarmed Denney and without meaning to she jerked away from Siobhan’s hands. “What about the animals?”

  “We have their heads in with us,” Siobhan assured her, amused. “Don’t worry. Their hides protect them from the bulk of it. As long as their eyes, ears, and mouth are covered, they weather the storms just fine.”

  “She loves animals,” Conli explained to the group in general.

  “I can see that,” Siobhan responded, amused. “Turn back around, Miss Denney, I’m not done yet. If I don’t put oil along the part in your hair, you will be cursing me later.”

  Oh. Right. Denney obediently turned back around. “And the puppies?”

  “We’ve always got extra material to screen with. We’ll just wrap it around the pair of them and try to keep them still and calm until the worst passes. But Miss Denney, I’m counting on you to keep an eye on the pups and make sure they don’t get dehydrated out here. They’ll heat up fast with all of that fur on them.”

  “I will,” Denney promised, already watching them from the corner of her eye.

  As Siobhan worked, she ordered, “Tran, run ahead and see if we’re ready to go. We should be by now.”

  Tran tapped his heart twice in a quick manner and moved off with a loping gait. It made Denney’s eyes sting to see that mannerism, as her mother used to do the same thing all of the time. It had been years since she’d seen someone do it.

  In possibly the strangest pose ever seen, Fei stood up in the cart and then put one foot flat on the side, using it to balance himself as he leaned sideways. It looked so odd, as if he could fall over anytime, but he stayed rock steady without any apparent strain or worry.

  His guildmaster had apparently seen him do this before as she casually asked, “See him?”

  “He’s waving us to move.”

  “Then we must be ready. Fei, which side do you want today?”

  “East side, front.”

  “Then go.”

  With a sideways flip, he leapt free of the cart, long coat flaring out. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he went ahead of them in a ground-eating stride.

  “Wolf?” Siobhan asked.

  “Back and east,” he responded, staying firmly planted where he was.

  “Works for me. Tran will take the west side, it seems. I’ll take back and west. We should be covered on all sides that way. Beirly, Grae, both of you keep your eyes peeled for storms. This early in the season, we have a fifty-fifty chance of getting one on this leg of the trip.”

  The men gave her nonverbal grunts of agreement and sat on the cart so that they faced opposite directions.

  It was odd. Denney wasn’t sure why she thought this way, but she had the impression that Wolfinsky knew very well that Siobhan would take the back side. He had chosen to stay in the back to be near her. She’d seen it before—if there was a choice, then Wolfinsky always chose to be near Siobhan. Was it because of how Siobhan had rescued him from being a slave? Did he still feel as if he owed her something for that? Or was it something else entirely?

  Her uncle fell into step with Siobhan as the whole caravan started moving. “Guildmaster. I’ve spoken to Man Fei Lei about this already, but I think the only way to get a diagnosis is to carefully document everything he eats and drinks for the next two weeks. That will give a baseline of information about what types of meals he reacts to. From there, you should be able to break it down to the ingredients, which ones e
very meal has in common, and experiment. Take everything out that looks remotely suspicious and then add each one back in, see how he reacts.”

  “Sounds time consuming,” Siobhan noted, rubbing at her chin. “And definitely not something we can easily do on the road.”

  “No, doing this at home would be better,” Conli agreed. “I wish I could see this through myself, as it’s a fascinating case, and I’d like to know the answer.”

  “As to that, sir, I think Fei would prefer it if you could see it through. He mentioned to me this morning that he’d like to pick your brain about medicine as you seem much more knowledgeable about things than most of the Apothecarists we run across.”

  Conli flushed and ducked his head. “You flatter me. I don’t have anything against teaching him, if he’s interested.”

  “Very much so. Fei finds the whole world interesting. He’s just a little shy about sitting people down and grilling them about their professions.”

  “Is that right.” Conli grinned at her. “I’ll find a way to corner him and force information on him, then.”

  “That’s the spirit.”

  They started walking. Denney found that most of this path was worn in with hard packed sand. If she veered too far away from the cart, though, it became loose sand and harder to walk on. In fact, it was loose enough that if she didn’t watch her footing, she was in danger of turning an ankle.

  “Miss Denney, come back,” Wolfinsky urged and pointed a finger to the area in front of him. “Don’t stray too far away. When those sandstorms hit, I want you close enough to yank inside the cart.”

  Oh, right. She obediently went back to walking in front of him.

  “And drink more,” he added with a frown. “You’re not drinking enough.”

  She took a healthy swallow from her canteen, surprised at how quickly she felt dry again afterwards. It was like the water was absorbed from her before it could even properly go down her throat. Denney snuck a peek over her shoulder and found that he was following his own advice and drinking as well. She’d thought it was just Siobhan, but really, he did look out for everyone, didn’t he?

  Wolfinsky caught her look and asked, “What?”

  Not sure if she should ask, but too curious to leave it alone, Denney decided to try prying a little. “Do you like guarding the back over the front?”

  “As to that, I do. In front, I can see dangers coming at me, but it’s harder to see what everyone else is doing. I prefer being in the back, where I can get the full picture.”

  That did make sense. If Denney was an enforcer, she would choose to do the same. She hopped onto the side of the cart and checked on the puppies, but their water bowl was still full and they had found a shady spot to sleep in. Satisfied, she hopped down again and debated whether to say something more than she had. Two days earlier she might have let it lie, but after seeing this giant man being used as a chew toy, she no longer had any real fear of him. Deciding to push the matter a little, she pressed, “It’s not because your guildmaster likes to guard the rear?”

  “Ho?” His eyes crinkled up into a quick smile. “Caught that, did you? It’s true, my Siobhan is a people watcher. If she has a choice, she’s in a corner so she can keep an eye on the whole crowd. I try to stay in the back with her, as she’s too quick to jump into a situation without calling for help first.”

  “I see.” ‘My Siobhan’ was it. Denney was absolutely certain of it now. The man was at least half in love with his guildmaster. The last of her fear toward him dissipated. She still wanted to stay on his good side, but she now saw that to the people under his care, he was a gentle giant.

  “Where did you grow up, Miss Denney?” he asked her.

  An innocent way of figuring out her heritage? Probably. Most people ended up asking in one way or another. “I was born to a Teherani mother in Quigg.”

  A dark thunderstorm swept over his face. “That is not a good place for a child like you to be.”

  Her heartbeat sounded heavy and loud in her ears. He knew. “How…?”

  “I was a slave there for seven years.”

  “You poor man,” she breathed, the words tumbling out without her truly meaning to say them.

  “You’re a sweet girl, you are,” he responded with a gentle smile. “You know as well as I how bad that city is. How did you escape the place?”

  “Conli came and got me when I was almost eleven.” Denney never said ‘uncle’ aloud as she didn’t want to bring shame to his him in front of other people. If they didn’t know the full story, they often came to the worst possible conclusions, and his ability to work as a surgeon and Apothecarist depended on his reputation.

  “Fortunate, that.” Wolfinsky glanced over the cart and ahead, to where Conli and Fei were walking with their heads together. “It was a relief, meeting him. Master Conli’s a good man, one I can trust around my girls, and that’s a rare thing. Sylvie especially can tempt most men past reason.”

  She was a startling beautiful woman after all. That was no surprise to Denney.

  From the other side of the cart, Siobhan complained, “Wolf, I’m bored.”

  This didn’t surprise the giant Wynngaardian as he drawled, “Song or story?”

  “Song.”

  “Which one?”

  “The one where the woman saves her village.”

  “You always ask for that one,” he retorted, winking at Denney to show that he actually didn’t mind this.

  “I like it,” Siobhan protested, sounding amused. “So?”

  Wolfinsky wasn’t really planning to sing, was he? He had a nice enough speaking voice, but Denney couldn’t imagine him singing.

  To her absolute surprise, he did just that. From his mouth came this beautiful, steady voice that was amazing to listen to. He’d obviously had some training at some point in his life, as he knew how to carry a tune very well.

  Also to her surprise, Siobhan joined in, singing a harmony to his bass, and it was done so well that it was obvious she had done this many times before. Denney listened with rapt attention as the song told a story of courage and winning against all odds, complete with a happy ending.

  Wolfinsky ended and said, “You didn’t join in? You’re welcome to.”

  “I didn’t know that one,” she confessed, and was jealous for a moment that she couldn’t sing with them, as her heart wanted to join in on the fun.

  “Then let’s sing one you know,” Siobhan suggested, using the cart as leverage for a moment to pop into view. “Name off some.”

  Denney knew few songs that weren’t of the bawdy variety. Conli wasn’t much for singing, either. It stymied her for a moment. “Today’s Blossoms? Lady in the Garden?”

  “Oh, I know the last one,” Wolfinsky agreed, already humming the first few notes. “Siobhan, I don’t think you know all the words.”

  “I’ll keep up as I can. I want to learn it, anyway. Wolf, start us off.”

  Wolfinsky sang, Denney singing timidly along, getting more courage as Siobhan joined in. Beirly and Grae, on top of the cart, started using the sideboards as a sort of drum to help keep a rhythm. Even the puppies joined in, barking and wagging their tails, not understanding why the humans were making such noise, but enjoying it. That set the people to laughing, making it hard to sing, but they did manage to complete the song despite all the interruptions. It was the first time she had traveled that Denney found it fun and not completely stressful.

  After that song, then took a break and drank a great deal of water, discussing what to sing next. Wolfinsky and Siobhan both taught her two songs, and then Beirly gave all of their voices a break and started telling funny stories. There was quite an assortment of those, as apparently Wolfinsky and Tran fell into trouble on a regular basis. Some of the tales of Fei’s drunken episodes were just as hilarious and had Denney holding her sides.

  Was this what their group was normally like on trips? If they weren’t deliberately putting on a show to keep their guests entertained, then Denney imag
ined it would be great fun to be a part of this guild.

  Chapter Five

  Trudging through a desert with two puppies in tow was no laughing matter. During the day, Denney was constantly worried about them overheating, but fortunately the dogs seemed to have the sense to stay in the shade as much as possible. She made sure their water bowl was topped off every time the caravan stopped to eat, and between her actions and the rest of the guild’s doting precautions, the puppies weathered the most brutal section of the desert just fine.

  After three hours of debate back and forth, they finally landed on the names of Pete and Pyper. It took another two days for the dogs to pick up on their new names and to actually respond to it, which Denney found amazing, as normally it took a little longer than that. What she found particularly amusing was that the puppies found everyone to be equally cuddly. She’d settle in with them to sleep, using them as little mini-heaters against the cold desert nights, only to wake in the morning and find them in Beirly’s bedroll. Or Fei’s. Or Sylvie’s. Really, anyone was fair game.

  Denney thought she had this whole ‘traveling through the desert’ thing down pat until the fourth morning. She woke up to a terrible cramp in her right calf that nearly doubled her over. Gasping around the pain, she called hoarsely, “Conli!”

  Her uncle rolled out of bed with his eyes still struggling to pop open, turning toward her. Somewhat to her surprise, Fei moved at the same time, although with more grace and less flailing.

  “Cramp?” her uncle guessed, shifting so that he knelt next to her legs. “Right or left?”

  “Right.” Although her left was giving sympathetic twinges that might turn into a full blown cramp soon.

  “You haven’t been drinking enough,” he scolded as he pulled off her sock and stretched out her foot to a straight angle.

  Denney hissed in a breath, as her foot didn’t like that position at all.

  Clearing his throat, Fei drew their attention to him. “I have some skill in this.”