Quest's End: The Broken Key #3 (7 page)

When Bart informed Soth they were heading out, he said, “Thank goodness. If I had to stay around here and look at Seth’s ugly face another day, I think I would have lost it.”

“But,” Bart said, “you’re twins.” Then he saw Soth break into a grin at his expense.

Seth chuckled as he slapped Bart on the back. “I’m the handsome one don’t you know,” he asserted.

Bart glanced from one to the other, unable to tell them apart other than Soth tended to cut his hair shorter. “We’ve been cooped up here too long,” he mumbled as he slung his pack across his shoulders. Heading out down to the stables, he left the twins arguing about who was better looking. “Like it mattered,” he said out loud to himself, shaking his head.

“Like what mattered?” asked Chyfe. He and Chad joined Bart in the hallway outside their rooms. Bart nodded his head back to the room containing the twins.

Chad grinned. “Oh,” he said. Most of the time they had been cooped up during the last week, Seth and Soth had been bickering about one thing or another almost without stop. Fortunately, it had all been good natured sibling rivalry.

Outside, they found the courtyard buried in drifts of snow, some almost as deep as they were tall. Several trails were already cut through the snow from where others had already been out and about this morning. One such path led to the stable and they were soon inside saddling their horses.

Riyan and Kevik joined them a few minutes later followed by the twins. In short order, they were mounted and making their way out into the snow covered courtyard. The horses had some difficulty negotiating their way through the accumulated drifts, it was clear they didn’t care for the icy coldness of the snow. The streets through town were a bit better as others had already broken paths along which they could follow.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Riyan suddenly exclaimed.

“What?” asked Bart as he turned to his friend.

“Look over there,” Riyan said, pointing down a side street.

Bart and the others turned to find a ten wagon caravan slowly making its way along through the snow. “What idiot would take wagons out in weather like this?” Chyfe asked.

“I suppose there’s a profit to be made,” commented Chad, “especially when most of the other caravans are waiting for the spring thaw to resume trading.”

Riyan just shook his head. If it wasn’t for the fact that time was running out to win Freya, he wouldn’t have braved such weather himself. But come summer, her wedding with Rupert will take place unless they find the King’s Horde and he can change her father’s mind.

Bart and Chyfe took the lead as they left the outskirts of Hunter’s Reach. A mile out of town, they came to where a wagon’s width of snow had been removed from the center of the road and placed to the right.

“How did this come about?” Chyfe asked. He could see where a lane of cleared snow came from their right, turned onto the road, then continued ahead of them into the distance. It was of uniform width throughout its entire length.

“I don’t know,” replied Bart. “But it will make for faster going.”

They moved into the cleared swath and continued down the road. A few miles further ahead, the mystery as to how the cleared swath had come to be was solved. Coming their way was a man riding a sled being pulled by a four horse team. The sled wasn’t a normal, run of the mill sled. Instead, it had a slanted front that angled to the right with iron reinforcing the leading edge. As the sled moved along, it scraped snow from the road and pushed it to the side.

Bart was greatly impressed by the ingenuity that had gone into the sled. When he came closer, he saw that the back of the sled held four large logs. Coming to a stop, he greeted the driver of the sled.

“Good day to you,” he said as the driver came abreast of him.

“Whoa there,” the driver said to his team as he pulled back gently on the reins. Coming to a stop, he glanced to Bart and then the others. “Good day to you as well,” he replied.

Bart gazed at the sled and said, “That’s an odd sled you have there.”

The driver grinned. “There isn’t another like it in the world,” he said. “Made it myself.”

“Why?” asked Chad. “I’ll agree that it clears the snow away well enough, but why go to the bother? Won’t it melt soon enough?”

“Sometimes it does,” answered the driver. “Sometimes it doesn’t.” He gestured behind him then continued speaking. “I have pastures down there where I raise cattle. At times I need to bring them closer to home, especially in weather like this. I found that if I make a path with my sled, the cattle follow it without hesitation.”

Bart nodded. “That makes sense,” he said.

“I’m surprised the town doesn’t hire you to clear their streets for them,” Soth said. “From the amount of cursing we heard from those out in it, they’d probably pay you pretty good to get rid of it for them.” Seth nodded agreement.

The driver’s eyes lit up as if he hadn’t even considered the possibility. “I might just do that good sir,” he said.

Bart gestured to the logs sitting in the back of the sled. “What are those for?” he asked.

Glancing back to the logs, the driver grinned. “When I first constructed my sled, it didn’t work all that great. Instead of pushing the snow to the side, my sled would be the one being pushed. After I added the logs to give it more weight, the snow no longer pushed my sled aside. Four logs are the best number. Any less and my sled begins skewing to the side, and any more will quickly tire my horses.”

“You are truly an ingenious man,” Riyan said. Then he gave the driver a nod. “Good luck with your cattle.”

“Thank you sir,” the driver replied. “You have a good day too.” With a flick of the reins and a ‘yah!’, the sled began moving out once again.

“Never seen anything like it,” Chyfe said as the sled pulled away. They watched the sled as it scraped the snow off the road and pushed it aside, widening the cleared swath another two feet.

“Come on,” Bart finally said. “We still have a ways to go.” Getting his horse moving, he continued down the road.

They were able to enjoy the cleared swath for another three miles, then it turned off the road to the left. “Must be where his cattle are located,” guessed Riyan. Looking off to the left, he saw where the swath continued to the horizon. “Quite a long way he’s done.”

“Wonder if something like that wouldn’t be handy back in Gilbeth?” Seth asked. “Snow gets pretty deep there at times.”

“Maybe,” agreed Soth.

Pressing on, they passed from the cleared area made by the farmer and reentered the snow covered road. Their progress was noticeably reduced once they left the cleared swath the sled had made.

Several times throughout the day, the blanket of snow covering the ground was so level, it was difficult to determine if they were still on the road. But despite that fact, they somehow made it to the roadside inn an hour before dark.

The weather was still holding and if it continued to remain clear, they may be able to reach the crossroads by tomorrow night.

Baaaaaaa!

She stared out the window and looked to the world outside. All too often she’s found herself standing there looking out at the world outside. Not so much seeing what lies on the other side of the window, rather reliving days gone by. Days when she was not so alone.

Baaaaaaa!

A smile came to her as she reminisced about times long gone when a much younger Riyan would wake to a morning such as this. Most often he would wake her up with cries of ‘Snow mama!’ then run outside half naked to play. Back when her husband had been alive, he would as often as not be out there playing with him.

Baaaaaaa!

Her eyes turned to the pen where Black Face stood looking at her. She knew he wanted out and later on she would go out and spend some time with him. He was all that she had left of Riyan now that he’d gone of to Gilbeth and joined the Warriors Guild. She was happy that he had found something that he enjoyed doing. True, she worried about him as his chosen profession was fraught with danger, but at least he had one in which he could hold his head high.

Baaaaaaa!

“Later Black Face,” she said quietly. She turned from the window and returned to the table where she had left her half eaten breakfast. Picking up her fork, she pushed her food around the plate until realizing it no longer held any interest for her.

Nowadays, the only breaks to her loneliness were the days Freya paid her a visit, and when Raestin was in the area. During his last visit, which was over two weeks ago, he had explained to her that once the snow fell he would winter his caravan in Terix, a sizable town east of Quillim midway to Byrdlon’s capitol of Aquillian. He said he might ride on his own to visit her, but when that was likely to happen he couldn’t say. “It all depends on the weather,” he had explained.

Baaaaaaa! Baaaaaaa! Baaaaaaa!

Outside, Black Face suddenly began baaing excitedly. He only did such when someone was approaching. Getting up from the table, she hurried to the window hoping it would be Raestin that Black Face was making the fuss about. But when she reached the window and looked out, saw that it was an unfamiliar man riding through the snow toward the house.

Bundled as he was in winter garments, she wasn’t able to get a good look at him. For a brief moment she thought it might be Riyan, but quickly realized it was neither him nor Raestin. Moving away from the window, she went to her door and locked it. A woman living all alone in an area where the closest neighbor was a mile away couldn’t be too careful.

Baaaaaaa!

The stranger glanced over to where Black Face was making such a fuss, then turned his attention back to the house. At his hip hung the scabbard of a longsword and from where she peered from the corner of the window could see what had to be an unslung bow wrapped against the weather across his back.

She watched as he rode to the front door and dismounted. Her eyes went to where Riyan’s staff leaned against the wall by the door. Reaching out, she took it. Not nearly as good with it as her son had been, still, the feel of it in her hand gave her some comfort.

With staff in hand, she positioned herself next to the door. From the other side came the sound of footsteps as the man approached the door. Ever since an assassin had come and tried to kill Bart, she had feared someone would come searching for him. Closing her eyes, she prayed this man had nothing to do with that.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

For a moment she thought about being quiet and pretending no one was home. But then she realized a fire burned in her fireplace and the man had to have seen the smoke rising from the chimney. “Yes?” she asked through the locked door.

“I’m looking for Riyan Borenson,” the man replied. “I was told he lived here?”

She relaxed the grip she had on the staff. “He used to,” she replied. “He moved to Gilbeth and has joined the Warriors Guild.”

“Oh,” the man replied.

She stood there leaning against the door waiting for the man to leave. Surely he would now that he knew Riyan was not here.

“May I come in and talk with you then?” he asked. “It’s kind of cold out here.”

Like I’m going to open the door for a complete stranger, she thought to herself. Remaining firmly against the door, she asked, “What do you want?”

“I’m looking for information,” he replied. After a moment’s pause, he said, “I promise I won’t hurt you.”

An honorable man would honor such a promise while a dishonorable one wouldn’t. She wasn’t about ready to open the door to find out which kind he was. “About what?” she asked.

The man on the other side remained silent for several seconds, most likely waiting for the door to open. When it didn’t, he asked, “Would you talk with me at the inn in town? What’s its name? The Starling…”

“
The Sterling Sheep
?” she questioned.

“That’s the one,” he replied. “It’s really too cold to stand out here and this is important. Will you meet me there in say an hour?”

She almost immediately refused him. But then, what else had she to do? And if this did have something to do with Riyan, she would be wise to find out what’s going on. “Okay,” she replied. “I will meet you there in an hour.”

“Thank you ma’am,” he replied.

She could hear his footsteps as he moved away from the door. Still gripping the staff, she moved over to the window and peered around the edge. The man had returned to his horse and was swinging up into the saddle. He then turned his head toward the window from which she was staring. Their eyes locked for a split second before he turned his horse and headed back into town.

Kaitlyn Borenson kept her eyes on him until he moved out of sight. Thoughts of what the man could be here about flew threw her mind. First she thought that maybe Riyan had gotten himself into trouble. Then she thought that perhaps this was a man whom her son had met while at the Guild in Gilbeth. Either way, she had to find out what he wanted.

She stared out the window a few more minutes until he was out of sight. Once he was, she quickly put on her winter coat, boots, and wrapped a scarf around her neck to keep warm. Then she banked the fire in the fireplace before going back to the window. She cast one more glance outside to make sure the man hadn’t returned before opening the door.

Baaaaaaa!

Black Face greeted her excitedly as she emerged through the front door. He was practically hopping up and down in his happiness to see her.

“Sorry boy,” she said. “But I can’t take you out right now.” As she turned away from him, Black Face came to realize he wasn’t getting out. He began baaing pitifully, pleading for her to come back but she had more important things to see to than the happiness of a sheep.

Kaitlyn didn’t immediately head for
The Sterling Sheep
. As nervous as she was over what the possible meeting would divulge, she didn’t want to go alone. So trudging through the snow, she made a beeline for the home of Elle Kelon, Chad’s mother.

Their two boys did everything together, where you found one the other usually wasn’t very far away. They even joined the Warriors Guild together. More than likely, whatever the man had to say about her son, would affect Chad in some way as well.