Hand of Fire (The Master of the Tane) (64 page)

Seeing Thane’s apparent distress, Jack called out and the tongue lashing stopped. “Erl, come on boy. I think our friend has had enough.”

              Thane opened his eyes in disbelief only to be greeted by Erl’s shaggy face which he thought for sure was turned up in a playful smile. “Erl, it’s you,” he breathed sitting up painfully while trying to wipe some of the dripping saliva from his face. The giant wolg danced around playfully as if still a tiny pup desperately wanting to play. Thane watched him, unable to contain his own smile, as Erl ran in tight circles around them.

             
Looking up at Jack, he queried, “What happened?”

Jack laughed. “When you turned so proudly to show that you finally had a hold of the reins, Erl burst out from the weeds and shot in front of the horse.” He laughed harder, remembering the spectacle. “And, as you have discovered, horses don’t take much to wolgs, yours being no exception. When it saw Erl it stopped dead in place.”

Thane’s face turned sour, obviously not seeing the humor.

Jack sobered as best he could. “Well, you know the rest. You fell off…” he said holding back a snicker, “and well, Erl here came to see that you were all right. I would have been here sooner but I had to catch your horse before it bolted.” Jack’s horse whinnied as if in conformation, its eyes rolling back in fright at the wolg that was
lying at Thane’s feet his tail wagging vigorously.

             
Thane only nodded glad to be back on the ground even though it was a bit painful getting off. “Well, thanks Erl,” he said rubbing the wolg’s head, “but I think I had it under control.”

             
“Sure you did,” Jack laughed again and then quickly sobered. “Actually, it is lucky you weren’t killed. I can see we have a few more lessons to go before you pass yourself off as Tjal to anyone while you’re sitting on a horse.”

             
Thane only sneered at his friend while trying hopelessly to fight off the frantic lick bath Erl had suddenly felt the need to start up again.

             
After a short rest and another tongue bath, this time for Jack, the reunited trio was once again on its way toward their planned destination. Feeling they had traveled far enough in the short run Thane had taken them on, they took a sharp left heading west straight for the Dedrik Forest.

When within its cover they continued on slowly, picking their way carefully through the scattered brush that dotted the forest floor and ducking often under the low hanging branches. More than once, Thane’s
Dihne
caught on a tree limb and was ripped annoyingly from his head forcing them to stop while he retrieved and then replaced it. Quickly tiring from the ordeal and suddenly feeling pain in his rear end from sitting so long, he dropped to the ground and led his horse instead.

             
He felt a surge of renewal cascade through his mind and body as he walked among the trees and shrubbery. Too long he had been away from the peace and harmony only found deep within the forest. He stretched out his senses to engulf all around him taking in deeply the fresh scents in the air that cleaned out his lungs and energized his soul. He listened to the life that surrounded them, the chirping birds, the calling squirrels, the rustling leaves that sang in the wind above. He noticed the ants that worked tirelessly as they got an early start collecting food for the far off winter. He touched a tree next to him and felt the life force that radiated from it, the growth it experienced, and its healthy core free from any impurities. Stretching even further, he thought he could feel the entire forest to its most tiny and minute detail sensing the complete symmetry that existed around them. He felt the struggles of life that occurred, the last twists of a worm caught by a mother bird to feed her young, the beetle that gave up its life to an army of ants, the berries that fed a new born faun. Nature was left to carry out her purposes. The great circle was left unbroken or disrupted. All was right within these woods. All was as it should be.

             
At midday, they broke out of the woods and into a small clearing that seemed blessed from the heavens with a few rays of sunlight that penetrated the clouds and cascaded down to the forest floor. Small patches of purple flowers dotted the grassy area adding a breathtaking snap of color that fed on the small bit of welcomed sunshine brushing up against them. Jack tethered the horses together, allowing them plenty of room to graze while Thane rummaged through their packs in search of food. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he remembered that in all the morning fuss, he hadn’t had any breakfast.

In no time, he and Jack were sitting quietly, devouring their meal of corn bread, cheese and apples while Erl rushed into the woods in search of something a bit fresher. Neither said much, concentrating instead on their food as if in a hurry to quell their hunger pangs.

After chasing down his corn bread with a splash of water, Thane finally broke the silence. “How long do you think it will be until the others catch up to us?”

             
“Oh, it won’t be until nightfall, I’m sure,” Jack answered accepting the water skin Thane passed over. After taking a deep swallow he continued. “We have to go a bit deeper still though before we reach the spot where they’ll stop. Then it’s just a matter of sneaking into camp unseen and getting your friend out.”

             
“How will we know where he is?”

             
“Oh, he won’t be hard to spot. Because they’re keeping him such a secret, he’ll be one of the last to leave the fort putting him almost at the very end. His cage will have to be carried on a wagon and I’m sure it will be covered.” Jack bit into his apple and then continued, the concern obvious in his voice. “No, the problem isn’t going to be finding him, the problem is going to be getting the key and getting him out.”

             
Thane watched a ladybug crawl up a blade of grass while he pondered on what Jack had just revealed. He knew he could get into the camp without being seen or heard but where was he to find...“The key?”

             
“What?” Jack asked spewing out some of his apple.

             
“Who will have the key to his cage?”

             
“Oh. The guard I suppose. He’ll probably be the one driving the wagon.”

             
Thane thought about it for a moment and then smiled. “Great. So when the caravan catches up to us, I’ll just slip into camp and get Dor out.”

             
Jack choked on the last of his apple spitting out a lump that had caught in the back of his throat.
“You’ll
get him out? Now, just a minute there. I’m the one who knows what to look for and how to find him, not you.”

             
“I do now that you’ve told me,” Thane said not understanding why Jack was so upset.

             
“Maybe, but I know these people better than you do.”

             
“Exactly,” Thane said cutting in. “And that’s exactly why I should be the one to go in and get him.”

             
“But...”

             
“Also,” Thane continued, not letting Jack speak, “Dor knows me. If you were to try and get him out, he would probably run away the second he touched the ground and then we’d lose him for sure.”

             
“But...”

             
“And, I might add, if I am caught they will just think it’s another Chufa found running around in the woods. If you’re caught, you won’t be able to explain why you are trying to release a prisoner.”

             
“But...”

             
“And if I am caught, then I can trust you to come and get us out, right?”

             
“But...”

             
“Plus, you make too much noise when you travel, whereas I can sneak in without a sound.”

             
Jack’s face suddenly turned red. “Now wait just a minute,” he growled.

             
But before he could say another word, Thane got to his feet and ran silently into the woods behind them. Jack watched him disappear wondering if the boy had gone crazy, when his voice suddenly carried faintly out from the trees. “See if you can hear me approach.”

             
Jack turned back around and chuckled.
Who does this kid think he is dealing with
? He concentrated his ears behind him trying to judge the distance Thane had to travel and how long it would take him to quietly reach the clearing. He chuckled again, knowing he had time before he caught the over confident boy.

             
“So, did you hear anything?”

             
Thane’s voice spoke right into his ear. Jack threw his cheese into the air and almost lost his water. “By all that’s dead and buried,” he breathed giving Thane a looked of mixed surprise and building anger. “You almost killed me of fright, boy. What did you think you were doing?”

             
“Well,” Thane smiled, “I’ve been sitting here for a few seconds now. I thought for sure you would hear all of the noise this mail and these boots make.”

             
Jack made as if to reply but nothing would come out.

             
“So, do you believe me now? Are we settled?”

             
Jack tried to think of something that would defend his position and soothe a bit of his dented pride, but he couldn’t seem to come up with anything to refute Thane’s logic. The boy was right and he was going to have to admit it.

             
When he didn’t answer Thane just smiled. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

             
Erl suddenly appeared out of the woods and lazily sauntered over to Jack’s side accepting a scratch behind the ear as he slid down and began to clean himself.

“Maybe,” Jack finally said, stealing Thane’s smile. “First we have to see how well you can take care of yourself should the need arise.”

Thane’s heart sank as Jack pulled out his sword while instructing him to do the same. He wanted to learn how to better use the large daggers but he also knew that he had hurt Jack’s pride some and that now he was going to pay for it. Jack laughed loudly at the pale look on his face.

             
The rest of the afternoon was spent at Thane’s expense, as the lessons were beat painfully into him. As with the first time though, he caught on fast and as the afternoon reached for evening, Jack became hard pressed to deliver a blow. Thane even came close to delivering a few bruises of his own.

The lessons were finally brought to a halt when a sudden burst of rainfall forced them to take cover under the trees. After a short rest, Jack suggested they move on, anxious to reach the spot where he was sure the convoy would stay the night.

              With the coming of dusk, the rain continued to fall not letting up in even the smallest amount. At first, the cover offered by the trees had been enough to keep them relatively dry, but now as the tree tops became drenched large drops found their way through the myriads of limbs and dripped with great splashes onto the three below. The smell of rain was pleasant, filling Thane with a strong desire to shed all of his human clothing and run freely through the forest. By the look on Jack’s face though, such a thought was far from his mind.

             
Just as the last bit of light was beginning to wane, Jack finally called a halt satisfied that they were close to where the caravan would stop. Thane helped prepare a quick meal of radishes, dried meat and some wild mushrooms he had found earlier on the forest trail. Not much was said as they sat and ate, doing the best they could to remain dry. Jack was in foul spirits due, Thane figured, to the weather but Thane found he became more excited with each passing moment.

They decided that midnight would be the best time for him to leave figuring that the camp of soldiers would be too tired from the days packing and forced march to stay up any later. Thane could hardly wait out the minutes, excited for Dor’s freedom and their reunion. The memories of their last meeting swept into his mind with agonizing clarity turning his mood gray but he tried his best to brush them away. It had been more than a moon’s passing since the two had seen each other. Surely the past would be left forgotten after such a reunion as they would have. Worrying about their last moments together was not going to help him get his friend free.
I hope you still are a friend
.

After their small meal, Jack became more talkative, telling Thane little details about the camp that he thought would be helpful but that were really not necessary. He listened attentively trying to ease his friend’s growing concern nodding every once in a while and grunting to feign interest but Jack’s voice just became a buzzing sound in his ears. He knew what he had to do and he was confident that he had the skills to be successful.

Time dragged by slowly until, finally, Jack conceded that it was time for him to go. They decided it best that they saddled the horses just in case something went wrong and they were forced to retreat quickly.