“What happened?” Will heard his mom running toward him over the rocky ground.
Will cracked his eye open experimentally and saw a long gash oozing blood from the side of his foot. The sight sent an uncomfortable shiver up his spine.
“You clumsy oaf!” Elder Madoc roared, stomping toward them. “You let Strider loose! Now we have to catch him again!”
“My son is hurt!” Will’s mom said, straightening up to stand between Will and Elder Madoc with her fists on his hips.
“He wouldn’t be if he’d been watching where he was going! Dropping the lead was a fool thing to do. Now he’s got a bloodied foot and a loose cormant to deal with!”
“You’re not going to make him try to catch that bird, are you?” Will’s dad asked.
“Of course I am. He’s the one that let it go!”
“Could I maybe get a bandage or something?” Will asked, still clutching his foot. The burning pain and oozing blood made him feel queasy, and he squeezed his eyes shut again.
There was a moment of silence while Will’s parents and Elder Madoc stared at one another.
“Well, if the kid loses his foot, he won’t be good for work anymore,” Elder Madoc grumbled. He stomped to the cart and rummaged around. Then he returned to Will with a jar and strips of white cloth. “Hold still,” he said as he opened the jar.
The contents looked like thick grease and smelled like a mixture of grass and medicine.
Elder Madoc scooped out a clump on his finger and smeared it directly over the gash on Will’s foot.
“OW!” Will jerked back. The sticky stuff burned in his wound like lemon juice in a paper cut.
“I said hold still!” Elder Madoc snapped. He grabbed Will’s foot and started tying layers of fabric over the bloody gash and burning medicine.
By the time he finished, the burning had subsided to a dull throbbing ache.
“Better?” Madoc asked.
Will flexed his foot experimentally. “Yeah.”
“Right. Now you’re going to fetch that cormant for me.”
“Now, hold on!” Will’s mom shouted. “You can’t make him walk around like this! That cut looks like it needs stitches. We need to take him to a doctor.”
“The boy lost the cormant, so the boy’s going to fetch it!” Elder Madoc said. “Or, perhaps you think your little family will do better walking to the city?”
Will watched as both his parents’ faces paled at Madoc’s words.
“You’re welcome to run off now with nothing but the clothes on your backs,” he said. Then he raised his eyebrows at their shocked expressions. “No? I didn’t think so.”
Elder Madoc turned his severe stare on Will. “Well, boy? What are you waiting for? Go bring back that bird.”
Will clenched his jaw against the pain and nodded to his parents. “It’s okay. I think I can do it. It’ll be all right.”
His dad nodded solemnly. His mom swallowed and clenched her hands at her chest.
Will took a deep breath, stood, and marched after the cormant, limping on his injured foot. Whatever medicine Elder Madoc had used on the gash had made the pain all but vanish, but a dull ache still throbbed deep in his foot every time he took a step. He didn’t like thinking about what walking around was doing to the injury.
Strider had run into the sparse woods just off the road. Its lead trailed from the halter fastened around its head. Will hobbled after it and spotted the cormant snapping up bugs and leaves in a cluster of bushes. As soon as the bird spotted him, it squawked and dashed away in a burst of speed that amazed Will. There was no way he could catch that bird by chasing it. Even if his foot wasn’t sliced up, he’d never be able to run fast enough.
He decided to try a new tactic. If he couldn’t go to the bird, maybe the bird would come to come to him.
He’d been working with Strider for days now, and their relationship had come a long way since that first day when the giant bird snapped its beak and swiped its claws whenever he got too close. Will liked to think that Strider trusted him now, or at least associated him with getting groomed and having meals. So Will limped back to the cart and grabbed the grain bag and soft feather brush.
Elder Madoc and his parents were down by the river. The old man was teaching them how to gut the fish that they’d caught overnight.
Will slung the grain sack over his shoulder and limped into the trees where Strider was having fun, tearing apart an anthill and snapping up clusters of larvae.
“Hey, Strider. Good bird. You want a brush?” Will ran the bristles over his palm so the soft sound would reassure the bird.
Strider looked at Will and swallowed a mouthful of grubs.
“That’s right. I’ve got your brush. And look what else I have. How about a mouthful of grains, huh?” He shook the grain bag.
Strider’s stubby wings fluttered with excitement.
Will scooped out a big handful of grains and dropped them in a pile on the ground.
Immediately, Strider trotted over to snap them up. Will decided not to snatch the bird’s halter. If he did, then this trick might not work again in the future. What if Strider got loose again sometime? He couldn’t teach the bird that coming near for grains meant getting caught.
So, while Strider snapped up the grains, Will started his grooming routine as usual, just as though they were standing by the cart getting ready for the day.
He ran the soft brush under the thick feathers, fluffing out the downy undercoat and removing all the grit and dust. When Strider finished the grain, he stood patiently waiting for Will to finish their grooming session.
Will casually took the lead in his hand and stroked the bird’s shining neck. “You ready?”
Strider blinked a bright yellow eye at him.
“Okay then, let’s get back.” They walked back to the cart as though the jaunt in the woods had been part of the plan all along.
“So, you caught it, did ya?” Elder Madoc said, lashing the camping gear back into the cart. “Well, get it harnessed and let’s be off.” He tightened a knot with a quick jerk of his fist. “We’re wasting daylight.”
Will sighed and led Strider to the cart, but he wasn’t too upset. He could barely feel the gash in his foot anymore. And even though the bandage squeezed uncomfortably around his foot, he was pretty sure it was doing a decent job keeping his skin together and the dirt out.
When he finished fastening the harness and clipping on the tracers, his parents came wearily up the hill carrying a string of silvery fish between them.
Elder Madoc had them pack the fish in a parcel filled with salt, then they all climbed back into the cart. There was significantly more room for them to sit than there had been when they first climbed on. With eating all the food and feeding the grain to Strider, they were running low on provisions. And with Will’s family to feed, it was no wonder. Maybe that was why Elder Madoc had set the fish baskets.
“I don’t know what we’ve gotten ourselves into,” Will’s mom muttered as the cart started rolling ahead again. “How did things change so drastically?”
“I know,” his dad said. “One moment we’re on a family vacation, then next we’re stuck being servants in a pre-industrial civilization nobody’s ever heard of.”
His mom sighed. “It doesn’t sound like this city we’re going to is going to have the kind of help we’re looking for. It might not even be a city by our standards.”
“Well, let’s not get too pessimistic, Dear,” his dad said. “We don’t know what to expect in a place like this.” He gestured toward the front of the cart where Strider was pulling them forward, his colorful feathers glistening in the sun.
“I wonder what a city looks like in a place that’s got giant rainbow birds for horses and flying dragons that people ride on,” Will wondered aloud.
That evening, when they stopped to make camp again, Will hopped off the cart and immediately crumpled to the ground as pain flared through his foot.
“Augh! It hurts!” he moaned.
/> “Here, let me look,” his mom said, crouching down and untying the bandages. They came away tinged with blood. The gash in his foot was red and jagged, the skin surrounding it slightly swollen.
“The salve must’ve worn off,” Elder Madoc grumbled, scratching his fingers through his rough beard. “I suppose I’ll have to use more if you can’t handle a little pain.”
“You can’t make him keep walking on this! It might get infected!” Will’s mom yelled, standing to stare Elder Madoc down.
“And why do you think I’m wasting so much expensive salve on his stinging foot?” Elder Madoc jabbed a finger at Will. “He’s no good to me if his foot rots off, is he?”
Will’s mom went pale, seemingly stunned into silence.
As Elder Madoc smeared more goopy medicine over Will’s injured foot, causing him to hiss in pain, his dad crouched down and watched.
“I’m curious,” his dad said. “Does this salve of yours have antibiotic and antiseptic properties?”
Madoc shot a glance at him. “I’m no healer, but everyone knows medicinal salve keeps wounds from going bad.” He closed the jar up with another grunt and mumbled to himself. “Should have brought the second-rate salve with, not the expensive stuff. That boy’d better be worth it.”
Moments later, the burning sensation in Will’s foot shifted to a soothing heat that drained all pain away.
Madoc still made Will do his evening work. With fresh cloth bandages keeping the dirt out of his wound and fresh salve keeping him from feeling any pain, it didn’t take him long. He almost forgot about the gash in his foot as he focused on brushing feathers and scooping grain.
The next morning the pain returned again. He got another fresh layer of salve to help numb it. The cut seemed to have mostly sealed up, though the edges were still red and angry looking.
They’d been riding in the scorching sun along the river for so many days that Will had almost forgotten they were trying to go somewhere. It came as a shock when they rounded a hill and an enormous glistening blue lake came into view.
A cool breeze blew over the water, smelling slightly of algae and reminding Will of a vacation his family had taken up to the mountains when he was little.
Wooden fishing boats sailed in the open water, looking tiny against a backdrop of distant mountains crowned with clouds.
Along the shore was a sight that really took Will’s breath away. Thousands of buildings clustered together, hugging the waterfront. Some around the outside were simple homes or shops—one-story buildings with stone walls and wooden roofs—but many others were large, extravagant mansions. These mansions were elaborate white-walled structures with stained-glass windows—cathedrals perhaps?—government buildings with huge pillars, and what looked like a giant, heavily built castle at the center of it all. Instead of a dreary, smelly city from the dark ages, Will felt like he was gazing at Rome in all its glory.
It was the city of Aldlake.
Chapter Six
They continued on toward Aldlake, wooden wheels bumping slightly over smooth-worn cobblestone, while the buildings seemed to grow as they drew nearer.
Will was excited to get among the impressive structures and figure out what they were. What was that building with tall pillars? A courthouse? The giant building with tall walls, stained glass, and domed roof looked like a cathedral. And what was the enormous castle for? With walls made of heavy dark stone and towers with thin vertical slits for windows, it looked designed for practical defense against some enemy.
Before they got among the clustered buildings of the city, Elder Madoc turned them off onto a long gravel road.
Strider picked up his pace as they made their way past a dense vineyard and swaying fields of golden grain, sensing that they were nearing his home.
Curious about where they were going, Will leaned over the side of the cart, gripping the rail for support. He took in the warm fields of wheat and the clusters of ripening grapes. Ahead, a fenced field of close-cropped grass reminded him of fancy horse pastures he’d seen in Rhode Island before leaving on their sailing trip.
“Wow, look at that!” Will’s dad pointed ahead.
Will looked.
A flock of six cormants was running over the grass together, splaying their wing feathers. They moved swiftly and gracefully, like water rushing over the ground. Their colors were even brighter and more prominent than Strider’s. The lead bird even had shades of orange and red mingled in with its breast feathers.
“Holy cow!” Will said as they raced away.
Elder Madoc brought them right up to the front of a huge manor where several men rushed out to attend to him and Strider.
“Elder, there are a few matters that need your attention,” an older, nervous-looking man said, wielding a heavy book and a pen as he approached. “The river flooded while you were gone and washed out a good portion of Farmer Dole’s flax crop. He’s asking that—”
“Swarms, man! Let me knock the dust off my boots first!”
“Certainly, Elder. Though I’ve never approved of you traveling alone to Silverlake in the first place, no matter how valuable the silks are. Surely you could afford to—”
Elder Madoc shot a disapproving glare at him, and the older man’s mouth snapped shut. He bowed apologetically as Will and his parents hopped off the back of the cart.
Pain flared over the arch of Will’s foot again. He hissed and lifted the bandaged foot off the ground, hoping that someone would offer to smear more medicine over it.
“Oh! Do we have more work hands joining us?” the old man asked, noticing Will’s family as another servant led Strider away, pulling the cart with him. Then he did a double-take. His eyes popped wide.
“That’s right. They’re off-landers. Found them down by the old traders’ bridge outside Blackstone Forest.”
“Off-landers! But then you should—”
“Don’t tell me what I should do!” Elder Madoc snapped at him, causing the servant to flinch. “And I don’t want to hear about anyone going to Aven about them. That bard sticks his nose in where it doesn’t belong. The boy here alone has already cost me a good portion of salve.”
“Yes . . . I–I mean, no. Of course not,” the servant stammered. “Here, Jerrol! Take these three and get them settled.”
Another well-dressed servant—there seemed to be many—stepped forward.
“Put the boy in the stable,” Elder Madoc said, making his way to the manor’s huge double doors. “He’s got a way with the birds.”
Will smiled at the mild praise while the servant led them around to the side of the house. They went through a side door into a room with cabinets, heavy chests, and bunks built all along the walls.
“The first thing we need to do is get you three dressed properly,” he said, eyeing their modern clothes. “You, madam, will find clothes suitable for women in the next room over.” He gestured to a door leading out to the hallway. “I’ll send the housekeeper word of your arrival presently. Wait there for your assignment.”
Will’s mom bit her lip and shot a nervous glance at Will and his dad.
“Wait a minute!” Will’s dad said. “We won’t be together?”
Jerrol raised his eyebrows. “Not all the time, of course. But mealtimes, off hours, and night you can. Elder Madoc may be a stern, and some would say ruthless, employer. But he wouldn’t unnecessarily separate a family.”
Will caught the caveat “unnecessarily” and wondered how often Elder Madoc separated families when it suited him.
“It’s okay, Dad,” he said. “Remember, Elder Madoc told us we can leave whenever we want. I’m sure we’ll find Mom later. We aren’t prisoners here.”
It took a little more reassurance to get Will’s mom to grudgingly go to the next room. When she left, Jerrol took a multi-colored string, which seemed to function like a tape measure, and measured Will and his dad for new clothes. When he knew what sizes they wore, he rummaged in the trunks until he found sturdy trousers and a linen shirt
for his dad and close-fitting breeches, a durable shirt, and a vest for Will.
They both received a fresh pair of boots and tight-fitting socks. Will struggled to get his boots on, especially over his injured foot. He ended up having to remove the bandages, but he figured the sock and boot would protect the injury. The cut was already closed, even if it did still hurt horribly when he walked on it.
“Since you, sir,” the servant said, nodding to Will’s dad, “won’t understand the functions or customs of a noble house in Avria, you’ll be working in the fields tending the grapes, cutting hay, or harvesting fruit.”
Will’s dad paused while tugging on his fresh shirt and narrowed his eyes at Jerrol. “What do you mean I won’t understand—”
“And,” the servant continued, turning to Will, “as Elder Madoc believes that you have a talent with cormants, I’ll be placing you under our stable master.”
“Sure, I guess.” Will shrugged.
The servant eyed him coolly for a moment, seeming unsatisfied with Will’s answer. “Very well, then. Come along.”
He led them out through the hallway and past the kitchen. He called to a large white-haired woman, who was busy instructing a group of girls, and explained that Will’s mom was waiting for her.
With that done, they left the manor and walked across the road to the edge of the vineyard. Here a group of men rested against a large cart, using wooden mugs to guzzle water from an open barrel.
Jerrol introduced Will’s dad to the foreman, and before Will realized what was going on, they were leaving his dad behind.
“But, can’t I say goodbye?” Will asked, hesitating.
“You’ll see your parents again soon. Now come along.”
He followed Jerrol around the manor to a long building with rows of shuttered windows. It was unmistakably a stable. As they drew near, Will realized it wasn’t some dirty, smelly stable swarming with flies. This building shone with luxury. It looked like a place where the fanciest racehorses in the world might live.
When he finally limped through the main doors, Will looked all around with wide eyes as Jerrol led him down a clean, paved aisle between polished wooden stalls. Out of a few of them, colorful cormant heads poked out, eyeing them curiously. Each one bore bright, flashy plumage in an array of colors that put Strider to shame.
Secret of the Dragon Egg (Dragon Riders of Avria Book 1) Page 5