Shepherd's Quest: The Broken Key #1 (6 page)

“The magistrate and his son Rupert were dining with Freya and her father,” he continued. “Apparently Rupert had gone out back and dallied with some girl.” He turned to his father. “And with his betrothed there waiting for his return.” His eyes gleamed, every kid in Quillim hated Rupert and any story that showed him in a bad light was like gold.

“He claimed someone locked him in the jakes,” Eryl said in a tone that said he didn’t believe it. “But when he returned to the inn, there was rouge on his neck that people say looked just like a woman kissed him.” He laughed. “As it turned out, Freya wasn’t wearing any that night.”

Their father smiled as he too didn’t care much for Rupert. He did feel sorry for Freya though, it must have been a humiliation.

“Rupert is still saying he didn’t do anything and is sticking to his story,” Eryl explained. “But really papa, who is going to believe such a story?” Chad grinned to himself as the grinding wheel continued to turn grain into flour. Who indeed? Bart had explained to him last night after they left the vicinity of the Sterling Sheep how he had put rouge on his hand in the shape of a girl’s lips. So that when he grabbed Rupert by the neck and threw him in the jakes, it would come off and leave the tell-tale mark.

“Are they still betrothed?” asked Chad.

“I hadn’t heard,” his brother replied. “But her father took it hard.”

“I can imagine,” their father said. Then to Eryl he added, “Don’t you have chores at home you should be doing?”

“Yes papa,” he replied and turned to head out the door.

“Another hour or two and the flour will be ready,” Chad’s father said before he too left.

Chad nodded in reply. The rest of the afternoon was spent in grinding flour. How he hated doing this. Last night when he and Bart were, as Bart said ‘making Rupert’s life a merry hell’, he had felt more alive than ever before. But all in all, he’d rather be doing this than be in Rupert’s shoes right about now.

The evening of the second day found Riyan deeper into the hills than he had ever been before. Ahead to the west the mountains raised high into the sky. With the crystal blue sky above and the rolling green foothills below, the mountains were a breathtaking sight. A cool breeze blew across the hills to help alleviate the heat of the day. If only he could get Freya off his mind, he would be able to enjoy it all so much more.

The first day out, he railed, shouted, and screamed at the injustice in the world. That actually had helped to rid his soul of the worst of the feelings the situation in Quillim had instilled in him. Now it was more a sense of loss that continued to plague him more than anything else.

If he couldn’t change the situation he must make the best of it. His mother was right in that Freya was going to need a friend in the coming years. And he decided that if that was all he’s going to be able to be to her, he would at least be that.

Near the end of the day he and his flock crested another of the many hills in this area.

On the far side was a small lake that stretched outward from the base of the hill for quite some distance. A truly scenic place with the mountains as a backdrop, he decided to stop here for the night. While the flock grazed nearby, Riyan began collecting sufficient firewood to last him through the night.

Baaaaaaa!

The sheep cried out to him whenever he disappeared out of sight in his hunt for decent fuel for the fire. They continued to cry out until he reappeared again. Now that they were in unfamiliar territory, they didn’t want to be very far from him. Even Black Face hasn’t strayed off since they left behind the lands they usually grazed upon.

He built his fire and then hunted for a small animal to roast for dinner. Though he had plenty of food from home to last him, there was nothing like the taste of a fresh kill roasted over an open fire. Moving off from the campsite, he held his sling ready with a stone in hand. He worked his way through the trees until he came across a rabbit out for a last bite before returning to its burrow for the night.

With a quick twirl, he launched a stone at the rabbit and struck it in the head. The force of the blow knocked it backward over a foot. As the rabbit laid there twitching its last, he walked over and picked it up. It didn’t take him long before the rabbit was skinned and roasting over the fire. The smell of roasting meat made his all but empty stomach growl.

The flock remained close for the rest of the evening and was still nearby when he stoked the fire before turning in.

Baaaaaaa! Baaaaaaa!

The panicked cries of many sheep woke him in the middle of the night. He tried to get to his feet to see what was going on but was thrown back to the ground. The earth was shaking violently.

An earthquake! He’d been in a couple during his life, but none with the force of what he was experiencing right now. The ground itself seemed to roar as it shook. Off in the distance came the sound of a tree crashing to the ground as it no longer could withstand the forces assaulting it.

The best Riyan could do while the shaking continued was to get to his hands and knees. All around him the sheep bleated in fear, he could tell they were no longer together. In their fear they had ran off across the hills.

When the ground finally stopped its shaking and calmed down, he stood up and looked around. The light from his fire didn’t extend all that far, and only three of his sheep were in sight.

Putting two fingers in his mouth, he whistled loudly. Three long, loud bursts then he stopped to listen. From all around he could hear the sound of his sheep change from that of fear and panic to a more normal baaing.

One more time he put his fingers in his mouth and whistled another three long, loud bursts. When he listened for the sheep’s response, he could hear them crashing through the underbrush back towards the camp. One by one they made their appearance and Riyan was sure they were relieved to once more be back with him.

He counted the flock after the night grew quiet again and as the last one making its way through the bushes arrived. When he finished, he realized he was still two sheep short. He whistled again and then listened for the tell-tale sound of them making their way through the underbrush. But the night remained silent.

“Damn!” he cursed. Two sheep gone! There was no way he was about to go searching for them in the dark. Aside from it being way too dangerous to move around in unfamiliar territory at night, he would also risk the chance that more of his sheep would become lost.

Mad and upset, he counted the flock one more time in the hopes that he miscounted the first time. But the count remained the same, two sheep missing. That’s when he noticed one of the sheep who was missing was Black Face. “Of course,” he said to himself.

Unable to do anything until the sun came up, he placed several more logs on the fire and laid back down. In the morning he was going to have to find the wayward sheep.

The first rays of the sun upon his face woke him. First thing he did was to recount the sheep on the off chance that the others had made their way back during the night. To his surprise one of them had returned. Of course it wasn’t Black Face. At least he has only one to find now which should make his job that much easier.

He left the flock where they were grazing and went to the top of a nearby hill. There he whistled loudly and scanned the forest for any movement. When he failed to see or hear any indication which direction Black Face lay, he returned to his camp. He had half a mind to simply forget about it, his life would be a whole lot easier if Black Face were to be lost forever. But he and his mother needed every copper that Black Face’s wool, and ultimately meat, would bring them.

So after having a quick breakfast of food his mother had packed for him, he left the flock in the small area between the hills and set out in search of Black Face. He didn’t feel there was much of a threat to the flock where they were, and he wouldn’t be going very far from them. He mainly was planning to do a circuit around the immediate area as he didn’t think Black Face would have wandered that far. Of course, if after that time there was still no trace of him, he would give up. He had to at least make the attempt.

For the next several hours, he worked his way in and around the hills. Once he reached as far as he dared to go from the flock, he would pause and whistle. Then he would listen for a moment. When he didn’t hear Black Face’s bleat, he continued. Every once in awhile he would return to the flock, only to find them still grazing contentedly.

He was searching the area closest to the mountains, and had almost completely blanketed the area where he felt Black Face could have wandered to, when he heard a very faint, frightened bleating. Relieved to have found him, he rushed forward toward his wayward sheep.

Following the sound of Black Face’s cries, he headed further west towards the slopes of the mountains. After fording a stream, the trees opened up on a clearing wherein a large expanse of berry bushes lay. He nodded to himself when he saw them for they were just the type Black Face always seemed to gravitate towards back home.

Pausing just within the clearing, he looked around but couldn’t see Black Face.

Raising his fingers to his lips, he whistled loudly for a second then stopped. He stood still as he waited for the bleating to come and after a moment, it did.

Baaaaaaa!

The cry was coming from the right side of the berry patch but the sheep was nowhere to be seen. “Black Face!” he hollered. “Where are you, you stupid sheep?”

Baaaaaaa!

Again the cry came. Shaking his head, Riyan moved towards the sound. As he drew closer to the edge of the berry bushes he saw a snatch of sheep’s wool dangling from one of the vines. He walked quickly to it and plucked it from the vine just as the cry came again. This time, it sounded close, and was coming from just before him. Yet there was no sign of Black Face.

Baaaaaaa!

When it came again, he looked more closely and saw a fair sized hole in the ground hidden beneath the berry vines about four feet in. It was from out of that hole Black Face was calling from.

“You really got yourself in a fix this time didn’t you?” he asked.

Baaaaaaa!

“No use complaining at me,” he said to the sheep. “You’ve got no sense whatsoever.” He then took a moment to figure out how on earth he was going to get him out of there.

The hole in which Black Face had fallen was covered in a thick layer of thorn laden vines. He was sure that he could get him out of there, but it wasn’t going to be easy.

Turning his attention to the vines, he contemplated his best course of action. Pulling his knife from his belt, he sighed and began cutting away segments of the vines. Almost a quarter hour later, his hands were covered in dozens of pin-prick sized holes, some of which were still welling blood. He had managed to clear a good portion of the vines away and reached the edge of the hole. His attitude towards Black Face continued to deteriorate every time another of the thorns pricked his skin.

Baaaaaaa!

“Oh shut up,” he yelled down to the hole. When he at last reached the edge of the hole and had cleared the vines back enough to look down, he saw Black Face moving down below. The side of the hole sloped down a steep embankment until reaching where Black Face stood.

He gauged the angle of the slope and determined that it was inclined sufficiently that he could possibly make it back up if he went down to get the sheep. Though with Black Face in his arms, it would be a little trickier. So after another few minutes of pruning the branches back a little bit further, he went to the edge of the hole and began climbing down.

Baaaaaaa!

When Black Face saw him coming down towards him, he started baaing excitedly.

“Yeah, just wait until I get you out of here,” threatened Riyan, “then we’ll see how happy you are.”

Baaaaaaa!

The threat of possible repercussions for being down here didn’t seem to worry Black Face any. He was just happy to be with someone familiar again.

Sliding down into the hole was relatively easy. Once he hit the bottom, Black Face immediately came to him and practically jumped into his lap. “Calm down,” he said as he got to his feet.

He glanced around and was quick to realize that this was not just some hole in the ground. The light filtering down from above revealed that he was in what looked to be some kind of passage. It was roughly ten feet high, half that wide, and extended into darkness to his left and right.

Excitement filled him as he saw the unmistakable signs of human construction.

Though the sides of the passage were worn with time, they still showed where stone blocks were used in its construction.

“What did you find?” he asked Black Face. Visions of treasure and adventure raced across his mind as he wondered what wealth may be hidden down here. Then, from down the passage to his right, something caught the light from above and glittered. Turning his head towards it, he tried to see it but had lost it in the dark.

Unwilling to give up on it, he moved slowly down the passage until the glitter came again. Then he rushed forward and discovered that the glitter came from a tarnished coin almost completely buried in the dirt covering the floor. “Treasure!” he exclaimed excitedly. Never in his wildest imagination did he ever think he, a shepherd boy, would find something like this.

Dropping to his knees, he reached down and picked up the coin. He couldn’t see it too clearly and got back to his feet. Returning to just beneath the hole, he held the coin in the light from above and saw that it was made of copper. It was roughly the size of the coins he’s used to using, but the impressions on both sides were nothing like he had ever seen before.

On the one side was a bust of what could have been a man, but it wasn’t easy to make out as the coin was quite worn. The other side bore a symbol the likes of which he’s never seen before. “This has to be old,” he said to himself. Looking down the passage that extended into darkness in both directions, he wondered just how many more such coins could be down here.