‘You look as though you haven’t slept in days,’ Anya said when they took their places to resume the journey. ‘Why don’t you go in the back and have a lie down?’
Llew wasn’t sure if she was ready to relax in the presence of these strangers but, urged by Aris and Emylia as well, she clambered over the back of the seat and lay against some rolled bedding in the back.
The carriage was filled with the belongings of a teenage girl of far greater means than Llew had ever known. There were dozens of bags bulging, no doubt with fine clothing, a guitar, and even paintings leaning up against one side and carefully roped to the cart struts. The entire carriage interior smelt of perfume. While Llew didn’t love the tangy aromas most of the girls she knew wore, this was a pleasant enough fragrance, with none of the cheap undertones she was used to. The perfume wafted from a stack of papers and envelopes tied with ribbon, with a pen, bottle of ink, and a letter opener attached. Llew had been taught to read, but she felt a pang of jealousy toward this girl who could write as well. Llew remembered her mother writing letters to family they couldn’t visit. But her father hadn’t been one for such things, so he had not taught her the skill. Not that Llew had anyone to write to in any case.
The bedding was made of the softest material she had ever touched and it wasn’t long before the soothing sounds and the motion of the rocking carriage lulled her into semi-consciousness.
A shout startled her awake and the carriage pulled up.
‘How can we help you, officer?’ Aris’s gravelly voice floated back through the canvas to Llew.
Her pulse quickened and muscles tensed, but she swallowed her nerves and the urge to leap out the back and disappear into the trees. For all she knew they were surrounded. Keep calm, Llew. Keep calm.
The silence that followed did little to settle her.
‘Excuse me, sir,’ Emylia’s tense voice broke it. ‘But may I ask what exactly it is that you are looking for?’
‘A witch, ma’am.’
‘A witch? Well, this is Miss Anyunca Orell, daughter of Lord and Lady Orell of Cheer. And I would ask that you cease looking at her in that way.’
‘Sorry, ma’am. The witch is a girl, about your charge’s age. You wouldn’t happen to have seen one, would you? She’s probably naked, and likely dirty.’
So, they’d found the skirt and blouse. Llew guessed they probably expected her to dance around magic stones under a full moon, too. A witch!
‘No, sir. We haven’t seen anyone like that,’ Aris answered.
Llew closed her eyes in a silent prayer. Only a layer of canvas and the silence of her traveling companions separated her from a return trip to Cheer and the noose – or worse.
Then, without another word, the Farries were on their way at a ground-eating lope to spread the word of the witch escaping farther north. Llew let herself relax into the bedding again. But a gap in the canvas at the back of the carriage caught her eyes and, through it, she could see Jonas riding just behind the pack horses tied to the rear of the carriage. She didn’t know if he could see through the hole into the dark interior of the carriage, but it sure looked like he was watching her. She swallowed, gazed up at the canvas roof, and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. No, he didn’t know anything. He was just annoyed that she’d stolen his knife. That was all. She would prove her worth to the group and he would forgive her. Everything would be fine.
She hoped.
The road meandered in gentle curves, negotiating hilly terrain and all the while approximately parallel with the coastline, tracing the edge of the land. The travelers fell silent as fatigue from the day’s ride set in. Hooves and wagon wheels were the only sounds when the road veered from the sea and into a corridor of beech forest, the trees striping the riders with bars of light and shadow. Fallen seeds littered the road and small rodents that had been taking advantage of this year’s feast scurried into the undergrowth as carriage and riders passed.
Llew clambered to the front and sat behind the other passengers, watching the passing landscape. The cool forest air was a relief after months of cooking daily in the heat of Cheer. She breathed the moist air deep into her lungs and the cool twilight gave her a sense of peace.
Three men on horseback emerged from the trees ahead, stopping Cassidy and Alvaro in their tracks. Their demeanor and brandished knives and swords banished any tranquility. A rustle sounded behind. Llew poked her head around the side of the carriage to see four more men span the road to the rear of their party.
More lawmen?
‘Highwaymen,’ said Aris, under his breath, as though answering her thought. ‘Good for nothing no-hopers think they can take whatever they want, whenever they want . . .’ He kept muttering under his breath.
He was right. They didn’t look like any lawmen Llew had ever seen. The only thing uniform about these men was the layer of dust and mud caked on them.
Seven men to their three. Big men, too. Llew doubted Aris was up to much these days – he was a touch on the potty side and older than her father would be now. And, she doubted the ladies were expected to fight. Cassidy and Alvaro drew swords, prepared to engage the three men at the front, but that left Jonas to deal with the four at the back alone.
‘Leave the carriage, and we’ll let you live,’ said one of the highwaymen.
‘Have you met my boys?’ Aris’s quiet voice cut clear to the men at the front. ‘I suggest you think twice before startin’ something.’
‘There are seven of us, old man . . .’
Llew didn’t like those odds either. She slunk into the carriage, looked around for something useful and then clambered over the other luxury items to the writing set and retrieved the letter opener. She might not even the odds, but she was worth something. She watched through the small hole at the back of the cart.
Anya cried out and Llew instinctively turned towards her. The stamping of hooves and the clash of steel on steel, the snorting of horses and the grunts and shouts of men filled the air all around the cart, and Anya climbed into the covered part of the carriage. Llew swung away to look out the back.
All four of the riders had converged on Jonas and, for a brief moment, he seemed swamped and certain to fall. But, miraculously, he held his own and more. With a knife in each hand, he parried and struck back at every attack, his horse twisting and turning to keep him in the action and out of harm’s way. His blades whirled with a speed and accuracy that looked unnatural to Llew, and his skill appeared almost magical. Who were these people she’d got caught up with?
The highwaymen kept pressing, though judging from the shocked and panicky expressions on their faces, they had not expected any resistance, much less this deadly whirlwind. Still they outnumbered Jonas four to one, and he surely must tire or make an error soon. Llew untied the back of the carriage and pulled back the canvas. Taking careful aim, she flung the letter opener at one of the riders just as he was edging round behind Jonas. The handle struck him in the head and with an ‘uh!’ the rider fell, crashing into the dust and spooking his horse, which took fright and desperately tried to disentangle itself from the maelstrom, treading on its rider’s slack limbs before galloping into the trees.
The man’s downfall came as a further shock to the others, one of whom paused to look wild-eyed at Llew. It was a fatal mistake. Jonas plunged a knife into him and before the other two highwaymen recovered their wits he yanked his loaded crossbow from his saddle, leveling it at one of them. They clearly hadn’t reckoned on putting their lives on the line for a few belongings. One threw his knife at Jonas, who leaned to one side, letting it pass harmlessly by. As he straightened in his saddle and took aim the two riders turned and took off back up the road.
As suddenly as the fight had started it was over. There was a silence broken only by the horses’ heavy breathing.
Cassidy and Alvaro had killed two of the highwaymen and sent the last running. They regrouped about the carriage. Anya looked frightened and clung to Emylia for comfort while, if anything, the boys looked energized by the assault. Their eyes were wide, bright, and alert, and they could scarcely stop grinning. Apart from Jonas, who seemed unmoved.
‘Well, there’s one more group of Aghacian bandits dispatched,’ said Cassidy. ‘You think they’ll thank us?’
Llew said nothing. She was still staring at the knife embedded in the frame of the cart just a few inches from her head.
Llew picked up the letter opener from the road as Jonas claimed his knife from the fallen man. He had used knives from his vest, choosing to leave the bigger, ornate one in its holster. Llew helped him lift the body from the road and into the trees. She had to focus all her attention on not looking at the corpse that used to be a living, breathing man. Jonas seemed not to be bothered by it.
When they went to move the one Llew had struck with the letter opener, she exclaimed, startled. ‘He’s still breathing!’
‘You brained him good, though,’ said Jonas. ‘He’ll have a killer headache when he wakes.’ His lips actually curled in a lop-sided smile. Llew’s lips twitched in an effort to suppress her own grin. She had made the angry man smile.
They shifted the unconscious bandit from the road, then removed the tack from the lingering riderless horses, leaving it all by the side of the road and scattering all but one of the animals into the forest. One was judged suitable for Llew to ride once she had footwear and better tack. In the meantime, he was tethered to the rear of the carriage with the pack horses.
‘Thanks for your help,’ said Jonas.
The gratitude was unexpected and Llew faltered in her attempt to clamber into the carriage. She shrugged. ‘I told you I could earn my way.’
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