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Twigs clawed their backs and scratched their faces. Merlana gripped Juna’s wrist with all her might, as though it would help bring Sheorl back to her. Though there was no sound of pursuit behind them, Merlana ran until her lungs felt like bursting. She could not stop, for the pain in her lungs and legs numbed the pain in her heart. Juna stumbled and fell flat on her stomach, close to fainting from exhaustion. Merlana stopped, what have I done, what have I done, I’ve failed Sheorl, her brain screamed at her. She was relieved when Juna coughed. “I can’t.. I can’t.. run.. anymore.” Merlana fell on her knees, “We will find a place to rest for the night. Nobody is following us now.” “Look Merlana,” Sarah called out, “there is light coming out from behind those bushes. I think there must be a cave there.” “No, we will not go there until we know whether friend or foe resides in that place. We will sleep in the trees tonight as Sheorl had taught us.” In his death Sheorl had achieved what he could not while he lived - Merlana had become careful. The teenagers wandered away from the vicinity of the cave. Merlana pointed the way ahead to a sturdy oak tree under the soft glow of the moon. She studied the bark to make sure that there was no poisonous ivy or veins around the trunk then she went up first. They climbed until they each found a branch to their liking. Juna wished that the wind would not blow so cold, since the clothes they wore were meant for the hot noon day. She only got snatches of sleep through the night as the cold and the sound of wolves’ howling kept her awake. Sarah woke just as the sun began to peep shyly over the horizon. Vigorously she rubbed her cold arms and hugged her legs close to her chest. On a branch slightly below hers, Juna had similarly hunched herself up. Merlana slept on with arms and legs dangling down, quite oblivious to her surroundings. Sarah wondered what woke her. Then she saw a young deer beneath the tree munching on grass. Abruptly the animal lifted its head and perked up its ears. A swish pierced through the air and the deer jerked back in pain. It bayed out and started running, crashing into the bushes. The noise woke Merlana. Her body reacted out of habit, for that was a body’s memory, and did not bother to check with her brain about where she was. And she fell off the tree just as a hunter ran under the bough. She fell flat in front of him with her loose hair strewn all over. Viggo stumbled back on his buttocks and instantly jumped up with hunting knife drawn. A burst of giggles drew his eyes upward - children. Three girls, he noted in the morning light, and he guessed who they were by their numbers, youth and gender. Bulgarth would not be pleased to know that they had slept up in a tree. Merlana groaned and lifted herself up. Viggo did not bother to help her, for he thought that she needed a lesson and this was a good one. He decided to pretend not to know them, and give them a good scare. Hopefully it would teach them to behave themselves. “Well, well, what have we here? Three young girls, better than a dead deer if I may say so.” The branches above was silent. Merlana lifted herself up to a sitting position and looked up at him defiantly, “There are three of us and only one of you.” Bulgarth must have his hands full with this one the hunter thought. He hoped that Sheorl was close by so they could have a good laugh about this later in the day. He took some ropes from his belt, and started to tie Merlana’s hands and feet. She struggled and kicked, but Viggo was used to tying struggling animals. After that work was done, he looked up, “How long do you two plan to stay up there?” Juna looked up at Sarah and said as quietly as she could, “I need to pee.” Viggo had sharp ears so he heard what she whispered, and suddenly he felt churlish. There are after all other ways to teach children lessons. “Come down little one, I will not hurt you. Sheorl!! It is time for your charges to go home!” He shouted into the forest. There was no answer from the woods. Soon he heard a child crying up in the branches. The hunter panicked, “Sheorl..., where are you man.” More sobbing. Then it dawn on him, what trouble were they in that even Sheorl could not help them. He untied Merlana and reached out his hand to the other two as they clambered down the tree. “Go relief yourselves behind those bushes there, don’t wander too far, then come back here. I will take you back to the manor.” Merlana said, “The manor is no longer there, some men took Bulgarth away in a wagon.” Viggo was stunned. “What of the servants and manor guards?” “We saw bodies being loaded into wheel barrows and carried into the manor while it was being set ablaze.” “Were the three of you not in the manor at that time?” “No, we sneaked out in the afternoon to go to the dog pen at Byways’ place. I wanted to set the dogs loose, for I thought they were being treated most cruelly. Sheorl found us and stopped us. We were on our way back through the corn fields when it happened.” Viggo was glad that Sheorl found them, yet the very plan of endangering their own lives had saved them. Merlana continued her story, “The men started chasing us. Sheorl told us to run because he said that we could not win the fight, there were too many men. When we almost reached the forest, Sheorl told us to run ahead without him. We left him there, alone in the corn field, and came here.” They both turned their heads to look at the returning two girls. Viggo felt the heat of three pairs of eyes watching him and waiting for him to tell them what to do next. Home had always been the final destination of all their misadventures, but now there was no home to return to. “I need the three of you to stay hidden for a little while. Greet neither friend nor foe, understand?” He waited for them to nod their head in assent, “I have to find the deer I shot. Those men may come looking for you in the forest. A dead hunted deer not attended to after much labour will make them suspicious of all the family of hunters in these parts.” Viggo waited for them to climb back up the tree then dashed off to follow the trail of the deer he shot. The girls sat quietly up in the tree, not even daring to whisper amongst themselves. After some time, they saw a woman with stooped shoulders gathering firewood not far from where they were hiding. She was unkempt, her hair and clothing covered with grime and they could smell her from their hiding place. She came closer and stopped under the tree, noting the deer blood on the grass. She dropped on all fours and started to lick. All three girls gasped as one. She looked up and a guttural sound like that of a hurt animal came out from her throat. She grabbed her firewood and ran back the way she came. Viggo found his deer and cut out the usual chunk of meat to place in front of the cave the girls saw the night before. He had almost reached the place where he left the children, when he heard a shriek. He ran. When he reached them, he was relieved to see none of them harmed. A few pieces of firewood lay on the ground. The girls scrambled down on sighting him. Sarah exclaimed with wide eyes, “There was a woman who behaved like a dog. She was licking the deer blood from the ground.” Viggo knew who they were talking about, for that person was the recipient of the meat he had left behind. He looked at this teenager with her shocked eyes and pity filled his heart. “Do not think it strange child, for even in this land many live like that though not out of choice but out of need. Come let us go.” “Where will you take us?” Juna asked. “I met Frad and Hymae at Dunwood’s place yesterday. They will still be there, for they planned to stay two more days with him.” All worry and fear disappeared on hearing those two names and soon their curious mind turned to other matters, such as the woman they saw. “Who was she?” one asked, “Why doesn’t she live in a home?” another question, “How come she eats like that?”, “Isn’t there anyone to take care of her?” Poor Viggo was trying to move as fast as he could. He also did not wish to answer those questions since he did not know how to explain. “Stop your confounding questions. This is no time to chatter.” The hurt faces that returned his gaze was too much to handle. Viggo muttered under his breath, Dunwood’s place was a quarter’s daylight trek across the forest. He hoped that they would not meet anything or anyone else that would give rise to more questions. His hope was answered and they did not encounter anything else untoward, but the trek was taking longer than his usual time as one of the girls had to stop and rest often. Merlana was hungry, for their last meal was yesterday’s breakfast. She wondered what deer blood tasted like and then was disgusted with herself for even thinking it. They continued their trek, stopping every now and then to give Juna a breather. Viggo wished that he didn’t have the deer, at least he could carry her. He thought of burying the deer to hide it, but he was too proud to allow himself to be the first hunter to bury his own game. When Dunwood's roof came within sight, Viggo heaved a sigh of relief but a customer was with the wagon maker so they had to stay hidden until the fellow leave. He put the deer down then sat cross-legged in front of it. The three girls sat around the carcass, each staring at him with wide eyes. “What is it?” he asked in exasperation. “Can we talk now?” Merlana inquired. He wished he could say no, but he didn’t want them to continue staring at him because it was very unnerving. “What do you want to talk about?” “Who was that woman?” Sarah asked, curiosity overcoming her usual shyness. Viggo sighed, he stretched his neck for another look, the customer was still there, now going through some plans with Dunwood. “She was the daughter of a property owner, many years ago. A very beautiful lady.” He stopped. “Why is she living in the forest then?” Merlana asked. “One day her home was ransacked. Her family killed and she was taken by a group of men. She had lived in the forest since then.” “They let her go?” Merlana asked. “They kept her for a time, then they let her go. Many say that she has gone mad since.” “Why did they take her? Why didn’t they kill her like the rest of her family?” Juna asked. Viggo did not want to answer that question. He had already told them as much as he felt he could. “I don’t know child.” He let out a heavy sigh, “Just remember this, there are people out there who are very different from Bulgarth, Sheorl and men like myself. You must not trust anyone until you know for sure that they will do you no harm. As long as you remember that, you will be alright.” Viggo studied the young girls before him and Sheorl’s death no longer made him sad, neither did it made him glad. Merlana asked, “How did you know about Sheorl or Bulgarth or Hymae or Frad?” “We are friends.” “I’m Merlana, Bulgarth’s sister, these are Sarah and Juna.” “How do you do? I am Viggo.” Merlana blurted, “Why, you are the unkempt hunter who doesn’t like children.” A burst of laughter erupted from Sarah. The man shhh-ed her, Dunwood and his visitor turned their heads to the forest. Now Dunwood was shaking his head and waving his arm in the air as though in exasperation which made the other man laugh. A while later the visitor mounted a fat horse and rode off. Viggo stood up and slung the deer back on his shoulder. Then he walked towards Dunwood, with the teenagers in his wake. The wagon maker opened his front door, which made the teenagers gasp with wonder. He let them in and opened a large wardrobe. He pulled a handle built on the inside and the bottom panel slide open to reveal stone steps leading down into a natural underground cavern. Dunwood turned to Viggo and said, “There is a fireplace down there where we can roast this thing.” The teenagers trotted ahead down the steps without invitation for their curiosity had overcome their good manners. The room underground was lit, and the girls could make out that the walls were unadorned. Frad and Hymae were sitting on the benches of a long wooden table, pouring over some plans when they heard a pitter-patter of feet. It made them looked up. Imagine their surprise, when they saw the three girls, and their delight when they saw Viggo with a deer slung over his shoulder. Juna took in the sight about her. Shelves brimming with tools and keys hung on the wall to one side. She peeked into an opening just next to the bottom of the steps. It was a small kitchen with a stone hearth holding two cooking pots. Two feet to the left of the hearth, a small stream gurgled down and disappeared into a crack while an air hole above the hearth ventilated the underground kitchen. Hymae’s sharp eyes noticed that the girls had not been home for some time and that Sheorl was not with them so he asked, “Why are these urchins with you Viggo? How is it that you could suddenly have seek out the company of children?” “I did not seek for it; one of them prostrated herself before me. How could I refuse?” Merlana’s face turned red and she said, “I did not prostrate myself.” “I stand corrected; you fell off a tree.” Viggo changed his version of the story as he walked towards Dunwood’s underground kitchen. “Okay,” Frad said, “What happened this time? What trouble have you all gotten yourself into?” A frustrated Merlana began to cry. Her weariness, her desperation, her hunger and thirst got the better of her. “Why must it always be my fault?” She shouted, “Why does everyone think that?” Viggo was so glad he was in the kitchen, for he could hear the storm brewing outside. Merlana continued hysterically, the pitch of her voice rising with every breath, “It was not my fault that the manor was burnt, it was not my fault that everyone was killed, it was not my fault that we lost Sheorl.” Frad and Hymae stood up from their seat with mouths wide open. Viggo came out from the kitchen since his half day experience with them had made him wiser than the other men. “Come now, sit down child. Dunwood, do you have any water down here for them. They will need food too, they should be hungry after the trek this morning. I suspect that their last meal was lunch yesternoon.” It was a close guess. The three men quickly went about to get food and drink for them - water, bread and some roast meat. Merlana continued to cry even as she ate and her two friends sobbed with her. The four men were at a lost, for the food they thought would calm the children down had not. Viggo suddenly realized from the pained look on Frad and Hymae’s face that they thought Bulgarth was killed. “Merlana told me that they saw Bulgarth tied and carried off in a wagon.” He repeated Merlana’s story; from the reason why they were not in the manor, to Sheorl’s deed, and ended it with their meeting in the forest that morning. Sarah reminded him, “You forgot to tell them about the woman we saw.” “They know about her.” Viggo got up and went back into the kitchen to tend to the meat which he planned to do the slow way. The girls now turned their eyes to Frad and Hymae. “Why does she live in the forest, isn’t there anyone who wants to take care of her?” a young voice asked. Dunwood, a gentle person by nature, felt hot stings in his eyes. How could anyone show her kindness, she had become terrified of people. Some like Viggo, would leave food or warm clothing for her when they passed the place. Yet they would approach her crude home like thieves, so as not to frighten her. Frad spoke, “Some stories are difficult to tell, for whatever words we may possess cannot do justice to the tragedy. I can only talk about that which I had heard. She was once a beautiful woman, the pride of her father. It was rumored that a suitor came to ask for her hand, but she rejected him. So people say that out of anger, the man with some others, ransacked her home, killed all in her family and took her in revenge. They hurt and maimed her for some days, then threw her into a river hoping to drown her. A maid working in the man’s place saw them do this, but was too terrified to help her. The woman however did not drown. Somehow or other, she found her way to the forest at Dew Valley and she made her home there. Some hunters found her and recognized her, but she ran from them.” He did not mention that the hunters had unwisely chased after her; he did not mention about her screaming and her seizures when they caught her. He did not mention that the tough men became terrified with what they saw. A woman in their group came forward and understood. They returned without her and spread word that she should be left alone, for solitude was the only comfort now left to her. Hymae watched their faces, “There are wicked people who roam this land. That was why Sheorl became your bodyguard, to keep you safe from such men.” Hymae did not go into the details. A part of him wanted to continue protecting the teenagers from even a hint of such cruelty. Juna asked, “Would the men who chased us at the corn field hurt us too?” “Yes.” Frad felt goose bumps all over himself as he answered her. “Eat your food, then to bed, all of you.” It was only an hour after noon, but Frad could tell that they were tired. The men needed to talk and he did not feel that their discussions should be heard by the children, for that was no time to entertain questions. After their meal, Dunwood picked up a small lamp and led them through another opening in the wall down to another storey below. It was dark in the ground. The girls saw a few doors to the left and right of the corridor they were standing in. Small unlit lamps, much like the one the wagon maker was holding were spaced evenly on the wall. Some of these rooms were natural and some dug out though each had a door built into it. The large natural room he showed them into had no windows, but the air was cool and fresh. Dunwood carried in an extra sleeping pallet, wisely assuming that they would want to sleep together. The three were so exhausted they did not wait for him to leave before they started dozing and snoring away. The man smiled as he walked out and left the lamp for them. Upstairs the mood was subdued. Viggo was still in the kitchen tending to the venison. Hymae found it difficult to imagine a life without either Nana or Sheorl. Frad felt that even his horse, Speed would miss the stable-boy, Teal. Viggo wondered how he was to tell Hotpan that his mother might had been killed together with the other servants. He hoped that some of them at least had escaped. Dunwood found them all lost in thought when he returned to the dining room. He went and sat down at the table. Hymae broke the silence, “Dresden. I should have been more careful at the House of Law. I should have stayed anonymous during the trial to free those children.” His voice was heavy with grief. The wagon maker shook his head, “Poppycock. If they had wanted to burn the manor down, they would have done it even if you did not go to the House of Law. At least you managed to make good use of Bulgarth’s backing before this thing happened.” Dunwood may be wise, but he was not very tactful. Luckily Hymae and Frad knew him long enough to understand that he meant no harm in what he said. Viggo on the other hand was not very forgiving. “Have you no heart left. Are you so full of sense that you have no heart left” Dunwood was mortified, he put his head down, and the men heard a sniffle from him. Frad cleared his throat, “There is no use for us to argue like this. We know that it was Dresden who planned a visit yesterday. It is interesting that the law implementer should insist on visiting the estate himself. He could have easily asked Bulgarth to meet him in Monqui. What reason would he have in visiting?” Hymae was jolted out of his reflection. “Of course, what a fool I’ve been. A law implementer has the right to enter a place and arrest anyone they consider a trouble-maker. They even have the right to kill all who got in the way. Only a witness who can prove that the accused is innocent can stop the execution of this regulation.” Frad interjected, “But what reason would he have to arrest Bulgarth. Your explanation makes no sense at all.” Hymae gave out a frustrated sigh, “It doesn’t have to make sense. Don’t you see, he can very easily create his own accusations, and there would be no witnesses to come forward to deny it.” Viggo began to develop a headache. He preferred hunting on a cold wet night to being in the thick of one of those arguments. The mounting frustration on Hymae’s face proved to the hunter that he was not the only person who had a blank expression on his face. Hymae blurted out, “Listen, all he had to do was to accuse Bulgarth of planning an insurrection against the king.” Dunwood, without realizing it, raised his voice, “That is the most ridiculous accusation. No one would want to rebel against such a benevolent King as our Posadom. Why life in Netherweld had been much improved since the time of his father. And I for one had never heard of news of any such sentiments from any part of the land.” Hymae sat back with his arms over his head, “See what I mean, no one will come forward to deny it.” Realization dawned on the faces of his listeners. Viggo was the last to get it, but he was the first to speak, “To what purpose?” Hymae leaned forward, both arms on the table, “The lands and estate of a rebel will be sold in public auction. The registrar of lands will sell it to the highest bidder. But in most cases, since the bidding price is secret, the buyer tends to be a patron of his choice.” Viggo recalled what Hotpan told him the previous year. “Hamina, it must be her. Last autumn, Hotpan said that Hamina had brunch in his inn with the law implementer, the registrar of lands and the public notary. They could have been planning for this that day.” Hymae nodded, “Yes, you are correct Viggo. All these three persons are necessary to make the ownership of the estate legal.” Dunwood then thought of something, “You said that the law implementer had the right to kill Bulgarth, if that was so, why did they take him away in a wagon?” Hymae was thoughtful, “That is curious; I wonder what they are up to.” If they were in the forest, Viggo would have spit on the ground, but he still had some sense of civility in him, “Arkhh, they are being spiteful. Bremargh used to cause much trouble for them. In fact Dresden was almost discharged dishonourably because of him. It was Hastire that forced the council members to re-elect the blackheart.” “Where is the worst place you can send a man for revenge?” Frad asked. Dunwood, full of too much knowledge said, “If not the dungeons then the mines. I highly suspect the mines, because it is dark and dank in there. Nobody would recognize him. He will be forced to live like an animal and to beg for his food. Why before long he may even be eating...” Viggo shouted, “Enough! Have you no heart man?!” “You already asked me that question.” Dunwood retorted. Practical Frad took control of the situation. “We have to put lookouts at all of Hastire’s mines, now that we had established Hamina as being party to the plot. I know of Basten, Coth and Berth.” “There are two others,” Viggo spoke from his side of the table, “Otl and Bain. Basten is only partially open, most of the slaves work on the surface and not inside the mines. It is more a collection point for ores from the other places now, ever since the collapse.” Frad said, “Dunwood’s reasoning is very sound. Why keep a strong lad in a dungeon if he could be made to work. This scheme will also appeal to Hamina’s nature.” Viggo stood up and made for the stairs, “I will return to Monqui and find out how many of our people are still able to assist us. Some of them may even be at the manor when this atrocity happened and managed to escape.” “You will not sup with us first?” Dunwood called out and stood up from his seat. “No.” the hunter responded from the top of the steps. “One of my friends will not sup with us tonight, the faster we find him, the sooner he can have a hot meal. Do not trouble yourself my friend. I can let myself out. Remember, the children need cheery companions, no long faces.” They heard his long strides above; one, two, three, then quiet. Hymae shook his head, “So, who started the rumour that he doesn’t know anything about children?”
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