Two days later Arwin was getting ready to head home with the dogs and one of the cows, Raya chatted to Will.
“I am thinking of heading out to check my bees and collect some herbs for Lee. If you want to come along with your horse and cart I would love the company and it would certainly make traveling easier for me. There are good tracks most of the way into the forest.”
“I don’t really think of flow as my horse” mused Will.
“Well, none of us can look after her except you,” laughed Raya “I suppose we could sell her but that doesn't seem right.”
“No, it doesn't,” said Will giving Flow an affectionate pat on the neck.
Arwin agreed and said Will could keep Flow in her stables whenever he liked. Especially if he was happy to do a few deliveries for her.
Will and Raya said their farewells to Arwin then led Flow around the village via Harward's wee cottage to say their goodbyes. Harward joined them while they walked back to the cart. On the way he suggested some training tips for Will. Things he had been working on with the falcons. He also enquirer about the horse and cart.
“There is always demand for cartage if you ask around Will” he suggested once he heard Flow was going stay with Will.
“Thanks for the tips” said Will.
“It would be a nice way to earn some coin working with Flow.”
Fortunately, the cart was still well provisioned from their last trip. Charles met them as they had organized and swapped some fresh bread and veggies for sacks of onion and corn seed. Harward mentioned the cartage idea to Charles.
“There could be a job or two taking some of our produce to market now we are ramping things up a bit, especially later in the summer and into autumn once the fruit is ready.” said Charles “swing by on your way back either way. I would love to top up our starbinder stocks if you get a good supply.”
Raya gave him a hug.
“I almost forgot” said Charles as two of his helpers turned up with a rolled-up canvas. “This canvas was left by some travers a few months back. Their horse fell ill and they weren't able to take it with them, they gave it to us as a thanks for our hospitality. I think it will make a great cover for your cart.
“That would be fantastic but how can I repay you?” asked Will.
“How about we trade it for the first load you take into town for us when you get rolling with your business.” suggested Charles.
“Done” said Will happily and shook Charlese's hand, “thanks again.”
It was still early in the day when they hit the road.
“This is traveling in style,” said Raya, “no stock to heard.”
Will grinned contentedly, “it sure is.”
Tonic circled high overhead as they traveled. They passed a few folk heading in the opposite direction, some from farms taking goods to the Tungol scholars or on to town. That evening they made camp early beside a coppice of young tees and cut some poles to make a frame for the back of the cart.
“Luxury camping too” said Raya smiling as they lashed the poles in place. Soon they had a sturdy tent that was closed in on the front and sides. At the back they tipped Rayas small cart on its side to give a little extra shelter.
“This is great. We could travel in here when it rains, I know Tonic hates getting his feathers wet. They left one of the side poles sticking out to the front of the cart so Tonic had a place to perch.
“Done” said Raya proudly as she tied the last knot, “you owe me a new rope after all this.”
She held up her much-shortened coil and waved it at Will mockingly.
Tonic arrived on dusk after Will and Raya had eaten. He was carrying a rabbit which he proudly dropped. “Good work” said Will patting him affectionately and checking his crop (belly) to see if he had eaten. Will was glad to see that he had so his hunting gone well.
“This one is for us” he said proudly to Raya who had failed to find anything with her bow.
Over a breakfast of roasted rabbit Raya asked Will about his archery skills.
“I'm afraid they are next to none, I always snuck off to work with Harward and his birds when it was archery, or fencing, or writing. Well, basically whenever I could. My parents didn’t mind as they thought I was getting a good education as a bird handler."
“Well in that case it is high time you learned” said Raya throwing a bone on the fire.
Will was right about his skills with a bow. Now it seemed more important he paid greater attention and refined his little skill enough to soot in a straight line by the time they left camp. On the road Will practiced by shooting arrows forward then jumping off to pick them up as they passed them. Flow didn’t like the nose of the bow shooting but grew accustomed to it after a while.
In the evening they saw two travelers in cloaks up ahead.
“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” said Raya. Reaching for her bow.
“Me neither” said Will.
Sure enough one of the Cloaked travelers came forwards while the other produced a bow from under his cloak. The bandit in front drew a sword
“Hand over the horse and cart and we will let you go unharmed” he called out.
Raya had her bow trained on him. “Our master is asleep in the back, you don’t want to wake him. He might let you go unharmed if you stand aside.”
The bandit paused.
“Keep him talking,” whispered Will.
“You are bluffing kid he would have been up already” replied the bandit with the sword.
“One step closer and I will let this fly” threatened Raya.
“Then my friend back there will take you both out before you can take a second shot.” answered the swordsman, taking another step forwards.
“Give it up now before...”
He was interrupted by a scream from behind him. As he turned Raya let loose her arrow into his leg. Tonic had swooped on the bowman, his talons tearing through his hood into his forehead. The eagles weight dragged the bowman off balance, he stumbled forwards dropping his bow to wipe the blood from his eyes.
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Will yelled to Flow. “Go Flow Go” and Flow charged forwards.
The Swordsman only just managed to roll out of the way of the cart. As they passed the bowman Raya dived off the cart landing in a roll on the grass at the roadside. Quickly she regained her footing and grabbed the bow that had been dropped. Tonic was making a second swoop at the bowman calling out with a chilling cry. Will slowed down enough for Raya to catch up and jump on the back of the cart.
"You alright?” Asked Will as Raya poked her head through the front of the cart’s cover.
“A bit bruised but not bad” she replied, “I figured that would lessen the chance of them following and attacking from a distance. How far can Flow run like this?”
“Not far. She is bred for pulling not running. Flow is, however, just as keen as us to get away from that scene as I am. She will slow down from this gallop when she is ready and can canter for a good while after that.”
“Hopefully that will be far enough, I think with an arrow in his leg and a fear of eagles we should be ok but let's push it a bit later before we camp just in case.” said Raya looking back from her vantage point in the body of the cart.
“No need to convince me of that” replied Will.
It was already dark when they pulled in for the night, they chose a place where they could see back down the road. Tonic had arrived on dusk as was his usual pattern.
“He should keep us safe” said Raya.
“Unfortunately not, he is practically useless at night.” replied Will.
“Well let's hope they don’t know that,” said Raya. They took turns keeping watch that night. During her watches Raya thought how handy Stripe would be when he grew up.
Fortunately, the night was uneventful, they were on their way at first light. By midday they had started to relax a bit.
“At this rate we should be at the turn off by midafternoon.” Raya pointed out.
“There is a great campsite hidden by a hill just past it.”
They were eating lunch on the go when they caught up with another group of travelers. Raya reached for her bow, but Will held her back.
“Look there is a young kid up in front of them and I think that one of them is carrying a smaller child. Surely, they will be ok.”
The Man was carrying a huge bundle tied up with rope and the lady had a full backpack with a 2 year old sitting on top of it all. They both looked hot and bothered.
“Do you need some water” asked Raya as they approached knowing that there was a good river beside the camp they were heading to.
“We would be most grateful” replied the lady who tool a swig and handed the flask to her Man. “My name is Rosie, and this is Parsley, Tussock is on my back and Emma is up ahead, Emma come and get a drink!” she called.
Emma came back with some flowers she had found. “I'm tired mum are they going to give us a ride?”
“They were good enough to let us have some water, drink this.”
“Where are you heading? We can give you a ride a wee way up but are turning off in an hour or so.” said Raya.
“Yay!” called Emma and climbed up with Raya and Will before her parents could answer.
“Throw you things on the back it looks like you are joining us.” said Will smiling.
“We are heading up to my uncles' farm, he died last winter leaving it to us. I remember going there when I was about your age. There is a map we are following but it isn't super clear.”
“What was your uncle's name? I know a few of the farmers around these parts.” said Raya.
“His name was Richard Clouse” answered Rosie.
“Grumpy Old man Clouse, out on the edge of the Vior?” said Raya in surprise.
Parsley laughed, “that sounds like your uncle. Cantankerous old man. Do you happen to know where his farm is?”
“It is close to where I head into the Vior but on the Northern side. I remember the place because he denied my parents and I the use of his barn during a terrible storm. We camped in the forest that night. We stayed well clear of the place after that.” said Raya “It's not far out of our way at all. We could have you there by this time tomorrow”
Parsley lay down on the cart deck smiling. “It has been a tough journey and a ride to the door would be magnificent. What can we do for you?”
Will told them about the would-be robbers “We would sleep better with some extra people around camp.”
They made camp early. Will gave Flow a much needed rub down while the others lit a large fire so they could wash themselves and their clothes in the river.
“Will you stop fussing over that horse and get in the river” called Raya.
A scream from Emma caught everyone's attention. Tonic came swooping across the camp and landed on his perch on the cart.
“What is that bird?!” called Emma.
“Emma, meet Tonic, he is my eagle.” said Will who had run over to settle things down.
“woah” said Emma. “Is he bitie?”
“Only to people we don’t like” replied Will.
After a shared meal their new friends camped under the cart wrapped in their big canvas. They decided that they were far enough off the road not to set a watch.
Will woke up to the smell of smoke and food. Parsley was up cooking a couple of eels he had speared over the fire.
“Good morning Will, you hungry?” he asked, “I woke early thinking about the new place and went for a walk up the river and caught these two.”
“Nice, can I get a raw bit for Tonic he loves fish.” Will took the piece of eel to his eagle before it took off for its morning flight.
Will noted how much better he looked since he had come out of his cage. The others woke up soon after and everyone was keen to get on the road. Flow was happy to be back to a slow plod and seemed to enjoy the extra company. Rosie and Parsley walked ahead gathering any firewood as they came across it while the kids played on the cart. Raya turned to the sound of Emma giggling. Tussock was standing precariously on the back of the cart weeing off the end.
Will laughed “I wish I had thought of that.”
About midafternoon Raya jumped off the cart to catch up with Rosie and Parsley. “Our turnoff is just up ahead, your place is a couple of miles to the right along the edge of the Vior.”
The farm was composed of a small barn and a modest stone house with a thatched roof. Out the front a wild looking garden stood surrounded by a stone wall.
“It's beautiful Rosie” said Parsley, “but look someone or something has kicked in the door. Parsley took out his axe.
“Hold on a sec” said Raya grabbing her bow. “Rosie, can you shoot? We have a spare bow in the cart.”
“Very well, thanks” replied Rosie.
Will was happy to stay at the cart with the children while the others went up to the house. Covered by Rosie and Raya, Parsley peered in the door. Inside the place was a mess, the table was on its side and shelves emptied on the floor. There were only two rooms, so it didn’t take long to establish that there was no one there.
“Look there is deer poo on the floor and it's more than a few weeks old. I don’t think anyone has been here for a while.” said Raya.
“Raya can you go and tell Will the kids everything is, ok? And keep them busy for a moment while we straighten the place up a bit.” asked Rosie.
Raya, Will and the kids explored the barn. There was a single stable and a work bench. Will noticed some basic tools and an old saddle showing that the thieves hadn't been in the barn or that they were on foot and couldn’t carry much. Tonic joined them and was soon chasing rats around though finding it difficult to fly in the confined space the barn offered. It was comical to watch. Rosie called them to the house after 10 minutes or so, Tussock had fallen asleep in Wills arms despite all the din Tonic was making.
“You are a natural, thanks so much” said Parsley who was mending the door.
With just 15 minutes of love and care the house looked more like a home. Rosie had the fire on and some basic soup simmering.
“Are you all hungry I will have to make soup in shifts, there was enough in the garden to get us going but our pot is barely big enough for the four of us now that Tussock is eating more. Raya looked to Will who nodded knowingly.
“We have come into the possession of a cooking pot of fine army quality. Don’t ask us how we came to possess it, but we would happily pass it on to you if it would help.” said Raya helpfully.
“I also noticed that there is no bucket in your well. We have a helmet that would do the trick nicely as well, it is a bit beaten up but will hold water.” added Will.
“That is most kind but we are already in you debit.” said Parsley.
“They came easy, and we would love to help, besides I was eyeing up your stable and wondering if you could house Flow for a week or so. She won't fit well where we are going, and the cart certainly won't. I was wondering how we were going to work that out.” said Raya.
“We would be very happy to help with that. I have done a little bit with horses and grazing seems to be the one thing we are not short of.”
After soup everyone mucked in and bought the beds into the main room by the fire. Parsley and Will went out to get the well in order again. While they were there Will noticed some fresh pig rooting out on the forest edge.
“Do you want to keep out spare bow while we head out to Rayas camp. I can't use it to save myself and we could trade you for some pork on the way out if you manage to shoot a pig.” suggested Will.
Parsley agreed “I hate to admit it but Rosie is a much better shot than me.”
In the evening after Will and Rosie had settled Flow in the barn with some oats. Will impressed everyone with some old tales he remembered from court days. While Parsley and Rosie told them of their adventure getting to the farm. They had been in a rented house just out of town, but the rent had got so high they thought they would be better off having a go at living on the farm. They had been on the road for the better part of a fortnight on their journey.