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The sun had fallen behind the distant mountains leaving shadows stretching across the forest when Teth decided that they should look for a place to stop. They had been making their way north-eastward as best they could for several hours now with no sign of pursuit from land or sky, and she was almost beginning to feel safe. Given Dasen’s condition and her own stiffness – she could not remember the last time she had been so sore – they had been moving slowly, following easy paths, and stopping frequently.
Though she had done some things to cover their path – wading along streams, leaving false trails, and covering their most obvious tracks – neither of them had the energy or motivation for the kind of antics that had kept them alive the previous night. Teth knew that if the invaders wanted to find them badly enough, they would. There was nothing she could do to fend off a dedicated search as long as she had Dasen in tow. She could only hope that the invaders had better things to occupy their attention and that she had done enough to confuse anyone (or thing) that was still searching.
With that thought in mind, she examined the trees around her. The forest was now a mix of conifers and deciduous with great broad leaf trees filling the gaps between slender pines and firs. The spreading branches of the deciduous trees left great expanses of empty ground between their mighty trunks. It would be easier for riders here, she realized. There were numerous fallen branches and some brush, but nothing a horse could not navigate over or around.
That added to her worry – could the invaders be driving them into a trap, using the creatures to push them into the arms of the riders? With a sigh, she dismissed the idea and turned her eyes to the darkening sky. Why all that effort for Dasen? They must already have Ipid. Maybe they want to use Dasen to control him. Maybe Ipid was killed in the raid, and Dasen is the only Ronigan left. But why would the invaders care about Ipid’s fortune? Try as she might, she could not come up with any solid reason why the invaders would expend so much effort to capture Dasen, certainly not enough for them to dedicate their entire army to it.
A look back, showed Dasen stumbling behind her like a drunk. He looked terrible. His ill-fitting clothes were torn and stained. His face was grey with mud, shoulder length hair matted and damp from his sweat, days of stubble standing out around his chin and along his top lip in fuzzy clumps. He walked as if his joints were rusted stiff. Each step was punctuated by a small grunt. A hand held his stomach while the other found whatever branch or tree trunk was available to steady his stride.
He was lost, utterly overmatched, unprepared in every way for what they were facing, but he was still there, still going. And for some reason it was that vulnerability, that dependence mixed with that persistence, that bravery that made her long to wrap him in her arms, to kiss him as she never had wanted to do with any boy.
“It’s getting dark,” Dasen said to break her contemplation. “How much longer are we going to keep going?” He looked at the sky then the trees around them as if seeing the forest for the first time.
Teth could not hold back her small smile as she watched him. Clearly he must see now. He knows who I am, has seen what I can do. He cannot take it away now, cannot think I can be like the other girls, cannot want a demure little housewife.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Dasen examined himself then turned defensive. “I think I’ve been doing pretty well considering. I mean . . . .”
“You’ve been doing great,” Teth assured. She put a hand on his arm. “How are you feeling? Your head and stomach should be better by now.”
“Yeah, they’re better, but the sickness has been replaced with cramps. I know were saving the food, but can we have something soon?” He held his stomach and doubled slightly as a spasm struck.
Teth felt her own stomach rumbling and cramping. She had not allowed them anything more than a single strip of meat and the few berries she had found along the way. As it was, they only had a few more strips of meat, she was out of arrows, and they had lost their only pot at the bridge. If they made a fire, she could dig some roots and roast them, but that would mean smoke. Unless they found a village soon, they were going to get very hungry. “We’ll eat the rest of the meat when we stop,” she conceded. “It’s not doing us any good in my satchel.”
Dasen nodded his agreement.
“Speaking of which,” Teth sighed, “I suppose we should start looking for somewhere to spend the night. It is already starting to feel cool. I think the weather’s changing. We might have a cold night.” Teth felt the cooling air drawing the heat from her sweat-soaked skin and clothes. She shivered, as gooseflesh rose on her arms. “You wait here. I’m going to scout around. I’ll find us another tree to sleep under and leave a false trail for anyone who’s following us. Hopefully, that will buy us some time if they come while we’re sleeping.”
“Can I do anything while you’re gone? I feel worthless waiting for you. Is there anything around here we can use as food? If you show me, I can gather it while you’re gone. Or can I get some wood for a fire?”
Teth thought. She wondered if Dasen realized the significance of what he had just done. He had just asked to do a woman’s jobs while she performed the very manly task of scouting. He gets it! Teth felt her emotions rising, joy flooding her. She could not help the smile that burst onto her face. “It’s alright,” she said. “Just rest. It’s been a long day. I’ll figure out something to eat. There’s still plenty of time before it’s fully dark.”
“Okay. I won’t argue with you, but you should let me help if I can.” He smiled back at her as he eased himself to sit on the trunk of a fallen tree. “We are joined after all. We’re supposed to be a team.”
Teth smiled again – a team of equals. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. If you see anything, knock on a tree like we discussed the other day. Okay?” Dasen nodded, brought his hands to his knees, and stretched his back. With that, Teth bounded into the trees feeling as if she were floating despite the stiffness and fear that had weighed on her a few minutes before.
She had not gone far before she saw the first stump. The remnants of an ancient oak, it spanned nearly three of her feet end to end, and it had been recently cut. Tracking the line of its fall with her eyes, she saw the piles of sawdust where its branches had been removed, the gouges where it had been dragged away, and additional stumps scattered among the trees, leaving leering holes to the dark-blue sky above.
A freehold, she realized immediately. We’re outside of Ipid’s lumber rights. Someone else has these rights and they’re taking the most valuable trees. With the realization, she felt her pulse rise. Somewhere around here there would be a compound where the owners lived. It was exactly what they needed, food, shelter, and a cart to take them to a village.
Teth ran back to where she had left Dasen. He had moved to the ground and fallen asleep leaning against the fallen tree that had been his seat. His head was cocked back at an uncomfortable angle, and he was snoring softly. Teth smiled as she lightly shook his shoulder. “Dasen, wake up. I think there may be a freeholder compound nearby. We can probably get food and shelter there, maybe even a cart or horses to carry us to a village.”
Dasen’s eyes slowly fluttered open. He smacked his lips, rubbed his eyes, and stretched his neck. Finally, he focused on Teth crouched a few feet in front of him. His breath caught and he looked down at her hand resting on his bent knee. “What? I mean, what did you say?”
Teth repeated herself, but she was not sure if Dasen heard her. He was looking at her in the strangest way, absorbing her features, watching her lips, considering yet hesitant, fearful, unsure. She wondered if he was going to kiss her and found herself looking at him in the same way. She licked her dry, cracked lips, brushed a strand of damp hair back from her face, and tilted her head slightly. I’m right here, you fool.
But Dasen did not rise to the bait. He cleared his throat and look
ed away, “A freehold, you say. What is that?”
The moment broken, Teth snapped herself back and stood. She took a deep, shaking breath. What is this stupid boy doing to me? “You haven’t heard of freeholders?”
“No. It must be unique to this area. Or a term they just use here.”
“I suppose.” Teth paused. She reached a hand down to help him up. “A freeholder is a man who has purchased or been given the land he works and owns it outright rather than working for a landlord. There are several of them in this part of the forest. They are remote, and there’s no easy way to get the trees to market, so they usually cut down the most valuable trees on the property and sell them to woodworkers for furniture and such.”
Dasen yawned then looked around as if expecting to see someone walk out to greet them. “They have something like that out east, but I don’t know that there is a common name for it. Usually its servants or workers who have been especially loyal or useful who are given their own plots of land, but they still have to sell their crops back to the landlord, so it’s not that much different. I’ve heard of something like that for mining too . . . .”
Teth stopped listening. Dasen had barely said five words all day. She had obviously hit on a topic of interest. As he droned on about the commercial efficiencies of small-scale landholders, she made a mental note to not make the same mistake again.
When they reached the stump she had seen earlier, she turned and motioned Dasen to be quiet. He complied immediately and watched the trees nervously. “It’s alright,” she assured. “I haven’t seen any signs that people have been here recently. But we should be careful. It’s possible the invaders have found the compound too or that the owner isn’t very fond of strangers.”
Dasen nodded and looked suddenly nervous. “Do you think the invaders could have made it this far already? If so, should we be risking it? Should we go around instead?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if their scouts have gotten this far, but most of the freeholds are miles from the villages. I don’t think they would have found it.”
“But it has a road leading to it, right? They have to get the timber out somehow. Wouldn’t the invaders just follow the road?”
Teth thought. Dasen had a good point. “Maybe, but we might as well see. As long as we’re careful, we should be alright. They can’t be expecting us.” Dasen did not look any more confident. “Do you want me to scout it, and you can stay here?” she offered.
He thought about that. Teth could not decide if she liked or hated the fact that he would consider letting her go alone. “No,” he finally decided. “We should stick together. You lead. I’ll follow as quietly as I can. Just signal if I need to stop.”
They moved slowly, cautiously, following the clear trail left by the trees that had been dragged from their homes. Teth tried to keep them obscured as much as possible, and the soft ground muffled even Dasen’s steps. Still it was over a mile before the tracks stopped and they peered out from behind one of the few trees that still surrounded a set of rough plank buildings.
All told there were half-a-dozen buildings of various sizes and states of repair. The largest was a two-story house that sprawled across one side of the great clearing with numerous additions that made it look like a miniature version of a Morg lodge. Given that three or more generations of the family might live in that house, it was probably nowhere near big enough. In front of the house, encompassing the entire center of the clearing, was a small field of vegetables with green stalks just beginning to bear their fruit. Arrayed around the garden were a small barn with pens for animals – likely pigs, a few sheep, and a milk cow – radiating from it, a chicken coup, a large empty structure with no walls that likely housed the wagon, a stable, and two ramshackle sheds. All the buildings were made of rough grey planks over stout wooden beams. The roofs were mossy wooden shingles with the exception of the house, where a new set of shingles still stood out tan against the weathered gray of the building below them.
And all the buildings were empty. No animals were in the pens. No women worked the garden or sat on the house’s long porch. No children ran between the buildings. There was no wagon or men stacking it with logs. The garden appeared to have been ransacked and trampled – plants were broken, uprooted, sprawling on the ground. The door of every building stood open. Tools, clothing, even furniture had been torn from them and scattered.
“The invaders have already been here,” Teth gave voice to what they already knew.
Immediately beside her, Dasen released a long breath that she could feel on her neck. “So they’re ahead of us. We’ll never get clear now.” His voice held defeat. She felt him deflating.
“There’s still hope,” Teth replied. “They are probably desperate for supplies after their trip across the mountains. They are probably sending raiding parties out ahead of the army to steal food and supplies. If they have an army large enough to conquer the continent, it will take days for all of them to get through the forests and across the river. Then they have to regroup and plan their advance. It may be days or weeks before they march in earnest.”
“I hope you’re right,” Dasen said with a sigh. She noticed that his eyes had turned to the rapidly darkening sky, but there was nothing there to see.
“Well, let’s take a look,” Teth declared. Dasen stared at her as if she were crazy. “Don’t worry. Whoever did this is long gone. Haven’t you ever played hide-and-seek? The best place to hide is somewhere that the seeker has already looked.”
“Isn’t that cheating?”
“Not if the seekers plan to ‘beat the wildcat out of you.’ Come on.” Teth snickered at Dasen’s shock then rubbed his arm reassuringly. “Well its better than fucking the wildcat out of me, right?” Dasen looked like she had just slapped him. She stood and walked cautiously to the back of the first building, a shed that looked like it might collapse with the slightest push.
Dasen joined her a few seconds later, and they snuck together around the building then crouched down and watched the yard for a few more minutes. There was nothing. Doors swung slightly in the gentle breeze. Water dripped slowly from an overturned bucket teetering off the well. A rabbit shot out from the garden, sprinting toward the cover of the trees, leaving Teth reaching reflexively toward her empty quiver. Finally, she stood to her full height, and, with a final glance at the first stars above, walked confidently into the yard.
Nothing happened. There was no trap. No hiding freeholders. No creatures waiting. They walked across the garden, found nothing worth taking, and cautiously entered the umbrous house. Once their eyes adjusted to the dark, they found empty dishes with the remnants of porridge still sitting on the table. The invaders had come at breakfast, near dawn, hours ago. The kitchen was ransacked. Shards of shattered crockery crunched under their feet. Every scrap of food had been taken as had pots, pans, knives, anything useful. Blankets had been stripped from beds. The pantry and vegetable cellar were barren. Even in their desperate state, Dasen and Teth could find almost nothing that would help them. So with their stomachs rumbling, they ate the remnants of cold porridge from the wooden bowl that remained on the table. Teth allowed them to supplement the barely edible goo with what remained of the dried meat. It was not enough, but it waylaid momentarily the aching of their bellies.
By the time they were done, the house was so dark that they could barely see each other across the narrow table, but Teth saw the jerking of Dasen’s shadow. He was falling asleep as he ate. She felt her own eyelids creeping down unbidden and knew that their day was done. “We shouldn’t sleep here,” she said through a yawn. “The freeholder or some of his family may come back and get the wrong idea. Or your friends might find our trail.”
Dasen yawned long and deep. His head eased toward the table before he caught himself and jerked it back up. “So back to the forest? Under another tree?”
Teth thoug
ht. She barely had the energy to stand let alone find a suitable tree. “No. The barn should do. The yard is such a mess no one could track us across it. They’ll search the house first, which will give us a chance to run. And there should be some hay there for the . . . .” Teth words drifted off and her head nearly hit the table before she snapped herself back up. A look at Dasen showed he had already succumbed, his head resting on his hands. She pulled herself up through a great force of will and roused Dasen.
They walked like the dead across the darkened yard, under a moonless sky. As Teth had predicted, the barn had a small loft with a foot of hay spread across it. They tumbled into it, lying as close as spoons in the cool evening, and were instantly asleep.