EPISODE 22
If It Wasn’t For Bad Luck…Part 2
As the night
waned, the Cat developed her plans.
First thing is to figure out how to get
out of here. Correction. First thing is to feed this poor thing breakfast. She
has a rabbit. I felt it get caught early this morning. I wonder if she can kill
it.
It turned out Janel
had no trouble killing the rabbit, snapping its neck with quick efficiency. She
was also quite creative, using the Cat’s razor-sharp tip to skin and gut the
animal without once endangering her fingers. In very little time the rabbit was
roasting over the fire, and the sizzling sound brought saliva to the girl’s
mouth. Even though it was not cooked enough and too hot to eat the girl tore
into it anyway.
I guess the berries don’t carry you very
far, do they? Oh. You want more berries? You just ate a whole rabbit. Well, I
suppose you were hungry. Right over there on the roots of that blown-down tree.
A nice, ripe, raspberry patch.
Glad you’re enjoying yourself. Don’t
talk much, do you? I’d sure like to know what brought you here. Maybe a nudge…
The Cat
radiated interested listening, willing the girl to talk. It didn’t work. She
only began to look around as if someone were watching her.
Have it your own way. Probably got
nothing to say, anyway.
She left an
open feeling, gently inviting communication, no more.
I wonder what she’s going to do now? On
up the trail, or back down?
“Now what am I
going to do?” Janel looked left, then right. “Should I keep going? I have no
idea where this trail goes.” She sighed. “But if I go back…” She shook her head
and glanced over at the tree where the skeleton lay. “He obviously made the
wrong choice. Is there a message for me in that?”
His bad choices were all made long
before he started up this trail. Don’t worry about it.
“Oh, well. I
suppose that was a long time ago. Things have probably changed. I suppose if I
was smart I’d try to find out how he was killed, in case there’s some kind of
danger around here.” She shuddered. “I don’t think so.”
He died from stupidity. His commander’s,
not his own. Not likely to be a problem for you.
She looked down
at the Sword. “And what am I going to do with this thing? I’m sure it’s worth a
fortune, but it’s not much good to me when I’m starving to death.”
And that shows how much you know.
“But I’m not
starving at the moment, and that ruby is very pretty. I suppose I can lug it
for a while.”
Don’t sound so enthused. I have my uses.
The girl jumped
to her feet. “Well, no sense sitting around talking to myself.” She grabbed a
stick and spread the coals from the fire. Then she went to the creek, made a
pouch with her dress, and ran a handful of water back to douse the fire. After
she had done this a few times, she ran her bare hand through the damp ashes,
shook it clean, and went back to the stream to wash. Then she straightened her
back, slung the Sword across her shoulder, and started back down the trail.
Interesting. I guess it’s back to
Merida, then. Too bad. For a moment, there, I thought I was going to make it
home. Oh, well. Better than what I’ve been doing for the past ten years. Or was
it fifteen? Twenty? Who’s counting. At this point, any kind of movement is
progress. I’ll just do my best to keep her alive until somebody comes along in
the right direction.
The Cat spread
her senses around them, feeling for any danger, any food, anything that might
help. She gradually slipped this information into Janel’s mind, as she would do
for a Hand but with more subtlety. She heightened the girl’s hearing and sense
of smell, drew her attention to everything useful within sight. At this point,
that meant everything edible.
For the rest of
the morning they made little progress, but as the girl foraged her energy increased,
and soon she was swinging down the trail, her stomach full, her mood light. The
Cat slipped into her mind, reading the images that floated past. There seemed
to be a man. Must be a relative.
Father. That’s it. Her father. She
certainly doesn’t like him much. No, I take that back. She loves him, but he
drives her to…well, to things like running away and almost starving to death.
Hmm. Some father he must be. I gather we’re going back, so I suppose I’ll find
out.
They spent the
night in a cosy bower surrounded by a large bramble bush. The Cat was able to
point Janel to another rabbit run, so breakfast the following morning was very
nourishing.
The girl tossed
a bone aside, wiped her hands on the moss, and picked up the Sword. “You know,
I’m beginning to be happy I picked you up. My luck has certainly improved.”
Not exactly luck, Miss.
“Of course
you’re rather useful as well. I’d never have got to the centre of this bramble
bush without you.”
Cutting is one of my many skills. As you
might expect.
“I just hope I
don’t get in a fight. I have no idea what to do with a sword.”
This was easy,
because the idea was already in her mind. With a tiny push in the right
direction, the girl drew. She held the Sword up to the dim sunshine, watching
the ripple of light along the shiny steel. Then, her eyes still on the blade,
she swung it back and made a slow pass, then another: left, right, then left
again.
The Cat
strengthened her wrist, fed energy to her arm.
Don’t watch the Sword. Watch the target.
“It feels so
light! I can’t believe it.”
She tried
again, and the Cat directed her muscles to make the moves correctly, at the
same time sending a small trickle of pleasure to her mind.
Janel responded
with enthusiasm, swinging more surely, now, attacking a nearby bush.
Control, control. Accuracy is the key.
Aim for something. Right. Take that branch off. Now that one.
“Hey, this is
fun. I’m a sword fighter! Whee!” She danced down the trail, hacking right and
left, whooping. The Cat directed her feet into the proper patterns, keeping her
from tripping on the roots and rocks.
With a final
lunge, which ended with the Sword buried several inches into a large birch, the
girl stopped.
What are you going to do now?
Janel tugged on
the hilt, but there was no movement.
Careful, now. Not side-to-side! I doubt
if you’re strong enough to break me, but even so. There are rules of
consideration, you know. That’s right. Up and down. Up, down, and keep pulling.
Well done. Don’t…Yes, well, I was going to say don’t pull too hard at the
last.”
Janel got up,
rubbing her bruised behind with her free hand. “Well. Learned something,
there.”
Good for you. Now what?
The girl looked
at the Sword again, sheathed her and tossed her across one shoulder again.
“Time to move on. I don’t remember how long it took to get this far, but going
downhill with a full stomach should be about three times as fast as going up
with an empty one. I ought to be home in a couple of days, at this rate.”
That thought
sobered her, and she strode down the trail, thoughts of her father and the
hovel they lived in darkening her mind. As she walked, she held the Sword in
front of her and looked at her. Ideas began to form.
She shouldered
the weapon again. “No. He’ll just sell it and waste the money. This is my good
luck, not his. He is not getting his hands on my sword.”
Now it’s ‘my sword,’ is it? We’ll have
to see. Obviously her father isn’t going to be worth much…
* * *
During the next
two days they worked their way down out of the hills and began to move through
scattered farms and tiny villages. The first town they came to Janel hesitated,
looking at the Sword. “What am I going to do about you, now? Everyone is going
to wonder what a girl is doing with something this valuable, and some big man will
just walk up and take you away from me.”
Not if I can help it.
The girl
grasped the Sword’s hilt. “Just let him try. I’ll draw you out and slash him to
bits!” She tried a few cuts, and both she and the Cat were pleased at how
easily the skill came to her.
“Well, I’m just
going to have to brazen it out.” She strode ahead, her head held high.
The Cat gently
intruded into her mind with an image of herself, a short girl with ragged hair
in a tattered homespun dress and hand-made sandals, striding through the town
with a Sword over her shoulder like she owned the whole realm.
I have learned
something from the creeping creatures of the forest. Perhaps we should be
subtle.
“I suppose I
don’t really want to draw attention to myself.” She returned to her normal
walk, but kept her eyes straight ahead. “As if anyone will pass by without
noticing a sword over my shoulder.”
You might be surprised. The Cat recalled her recent long years
of lessons. I am…a broom. Yes, a simple
broom made of twigs and straw. I am brown and yellow, and rather worn. My
Mistress is a cleaning maid, going to her work. She is tired and walks with
sagging shoulders. Sagging shoulders, Mistress…that’s better.
They proceded
along the busy street. Suddenly the girl gave a start and her heart raced.
A man was
striding towards them. A large man, slightly overweight, but he radiated the
confidence of one used to being obeyed.
Janel grasped
the Sword tighter, and her pace quickened.
Easy, girl. Head down, shoulders
stooped. Nerves of steel. Remember how the little creatures survive. She sent an image of a rabbit crouching
as a fox slunk by.
The girl’s nerves were taut as
bowstrings, but she held her pose and slowed her step. The Cat sent waves of
disinterest into the man’s dull mind. He stared straight ahead and strode past.
Janel continued, her shoulders twitching as if she expected an arrow, but no
shout broke the silence of the street. They walked on. They made it from one end
of the village to the other and not one person noticed the Sword. In fact, it
seemed doubtful that anyone noticed either of them at all.
When they
reached the forest at the edge of the fields, the girl’s shoulders relaxed and
the tension ran out of her. Knees weak, she found a log at the roadside and
sank onto it with a sigh.
“I don’t
understand. He walked right by me! I’m sure that’s Lord Jacio’s bailiff, and he
must know me. Dad worked on the castle drawbridge last year, and I took him his
lunch every day. And the man walked by me as if I wasn’t even there! I don’t
understand it. If he’d noticed me with this sword, he’d have taken it away from
me. If I argued, he’d have hauled me up before the lord for theft. But he
didn’t. He must have something else on his mind, I guess. Good luck for me.
He did have something else on his mind.
A drudge with a broom. A very interesting experiment. I will think on this.
Soon the girl
regained her energy and marched on, her step swinging. The sun burned through
the high clouds and it became pleasantly warm. At several places where the road
was deserted, she drew the Sword and ran through some drills.
Actually, she drew me and waved me
around a whole lot. I’d hardly call them drills. They help, nonetheless…
Until they
reached the outskirts of the next village. It was a small place, perched on a
ledge above a rugged stream, with rocky fields stretching along the valley
floor in both directions. Scrubby trees tried bravely to cover the barren
hillsides above, but boulders pushed through anyway. It became evident from the
rush of memories that this was Janel’s home. She slowed to a trudge, the Sword
forgotten in her hand. Reluctance shouted from every muscle of her body.
It can’t be that bad, girl. Think of
your new-found luck.
Then she drew
up, straightened her back. “This is no good. I can’t just go walking in there
with this treasure.” She frowned at the Sword, then gazed around. “I’m going to
have to hide you.”
A sensible idea, much though I don’t
like it. I’m not enthused about getting forgotten for another decade or three.
Janel scanned
the area again, concealing the Sword as best she could in her skirt. There was
no one in sight. In fact, except for smoke rising from two hovels, the place
looked deserted.
On the other hand, the kind of person
who is likely to take me away from this girl is not much to my liking either.
Back into hiding I go.
Now that she
had decided on a course of action, Janel strode ahead confidently, cutting off
the road by a little-used trail up into the rocks. Soon she left this trace as well,
although she moved with the confidence of one sure of her path. Rounding a
corner, she ducked into a wide niche that opened further in into a semi-cave,
fingers of light filtering in through the bushes that lined the top. The dead
leaves and sticks of an animal’s abandoned lair were piled against the far
wall, and the girl scooped a trough in them. Before she laid the Cat down, she
regarded her in the dim light. “You’re my good luck, Sword. Don’t you go
anywhere.” She kissed the ruby, hesitated a moment, then buried the Sword under
the leaves, stood hurriedly and left.
Hmm. Seems a bond has formed, whether I
meant to or not. Well, that helps, I suppose. She’s not likely to forget me,
anyway. By the Forge, she’d better come back.
…soon?
Darkness seeped into the niche, and the
Sword began to wait again.
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