High The Vanes (The Change Book 2) (5 page)

“Was there a body?”
“None was ever found. That is why there are those who believe he lives still. One story tells that he lives in Uricon.”

“Uricon? Isn’t that where we are supposed to be going?”

“Yes, my lady. But I do not know how much truth there is in this story. There are many different accounts.”

As she spoke these last words, now standing upright again, she pulled her bag over her shoulder with the blankets and turned away from the river.

“Tomorrow we will be in Uricon, the Lady be praised. Tonight we rest in another dwelling of the old people. We must find it before the darkness falls.”

I took one last look at the river below where I stood, with its bridge and its terrible past, then turned and followed her.

For an hour or so we walked along the road as it passed through a landscape similar to that on the other side of the river – once cultivated fields long since untouched. The sun shone from a bright blue sky, fierce in its heat, bright in our eyes. It was just beginning to descend behind us, a welcome cool breeze rising as it did so, when Eluned stopped. A huge tree stood to the left of the road, its heavy branches thrusting out in all directions. Some of these extended over the road, and I hurried to stand in the shade that they threw.

Eluned was looking all around. She had put down her luggage and, still stood in the sunshine, held her hand over her eyes as she looked.

“Here we must leave the road, my lady. Our destination is south of here.”

“I thought you said that this road leads to Uricon?”

“Up to this point it does. The old people changed the path laid down by the old Romans. If we continue on the road we will come to one of your people’s small cities. We must not do that.”

“There is a caster out here? I have never heard of one.”

“They say it is called ‘Salopian Caster’. It holds only a small group of your people. When the shadow of the sun is lower, my lady, the old Roman road will become clear. Then we shall follow it. While we wait let us eat.”

She stepped into the shadow of the tree, opened her bag and handed me a piece of cheese and the brown bottle. Ignoring the repellent smell and texture of the cheese, I hungrily bit into it.

When we had eaten, Eluned put the bottle back in her bag and stepped out into the now much weaker sunlight. As the sun sank, the shadows it cast grew longer. I watched, fascinated, as the shadow of the tree under which I was standing rapidly moved away until it no longer covered me. At the same time, in the field opposite where I stood, another shadow grew. Soon it stretched away into the distance, clearly indicating the path of a once existing road.

“We must follow the shadow, my lady. Quickly. It will not linger long.”

She climbed over the remains of what once must have been a gate into the field and set off. Quickly, I followed her. Our going became naturally much slower now, as we pushed through the dense undergrowth. When we reached a hedge we had to hunt for the gap through it before returning to the shadow road. After what seemed like many hours of this struggle, but was probably only about an hour or two, I spotted a building off to our right.

“Is that the building, Eluned?” I said, pointing.

“It is. Further from this shadow road than I thought. Come. Follow me.”

She pushed her way through what was now long, matted grass towards it. Before too long we came upon an opening in the hedge at the edge of this field and, passing through, came face to face with what was left of a once substantial house. Unlike the previous ruin in which we had spent our first night, this house still had an almost intact roof, and on the upper floor there was still glass in the windows. The front door, beneath a small porch, was open. As I stepped onto the pathway that led up to this, Eluned grabbed my arm and stopped me. I turned to face her.

“What? Why are you stopping now?”

“This house was made by the old people, my lady. It should not be like this.” She was whispering. “We cannot stay here.”

I struggled to release my arm. “Should not be like what? I don’t understand. There’s no one here.”

“No one is here now. Soon they will be here.”

“Who? Who will be here? How do you know that?”

“The chimney, my lady.” She pointed out the chimney which rose from one end of the building.

At first, I saw nothing, but then I saw what she was pointing at. A thin line of smoke wound up from the chimney. Some one had lit a fire. Maybe some time ago, but obviously earlier that day.

“We cannot stay. They will return now the sun is setting.”

“Who, Eluned? Who will return?”

“Crwydwyr, my lady. They are like the Vagabondi we saw on the other side of the dyke, only these are from a different tribe. They use these places, though I did not know they were so close to Uricon. They will stay here for two or three days. It is easier than returning to their home place every night.”

“How do you know this, Eluned?”

“When we crossed the dyke we entered their country. In the old people’s speech it is called ‘Lloegr’. Some of our people have travelled here since the time when your people came. Some did not return. The few who did have told of them. The crwydwyr are everywhere. By day they wander the roads. By night they live in places such as this. Or they return to their home place.”

“Then why have we not seen any? We walked along that road all day and saw no one. Sounds to me like a story made up to stop your people coming here.”

As I was speaking I became aware of the sound of voices. They were some way distant, but clearly approaching. Eluned, still holding on to my arm, hastily retreated back into the neighbouring field, where she half-dragged me along the line of the hedge away from the opening. We stopped, both breathing heavily. The voices grew louder. They seemed to be coming from the other side of the house.

“Check the front.” A woman’s voice separated itself from the chatter. At this point she clearly entered the house as her voice became muffled, but she was still shouting orders. “See to that fire. Open the window in my room. Well, go and collect more wood. Idiot.”

We could hear the noise of some one’s heavy boots walking along the path I had recently stepped on. Another, younger woman’s, voice pierced the evening. “Nothing. Who’s going to come here, anyway?” The footsteps returned and we heard the door closing. I looked at Eluned.

As our breathing slowed, I whispered, “That was two women’s voices.” Eluned nodded. The door opened again and footsteps came nearer. A figure appeared in the opening to our field. We shrank back into the hedge. I was convinced that we were about to be discovered, but night was falling quickly.

“How much should I get?” The shadowy figure was another woman, again quite young. A window opened in the house and the first woman’s voice called, “Enough for tonight. Stupid. Get a move on. We need to make something to eat.” The young woman quickly crossed the field. Within minutes she returned carrying a bundle of sticks. We froze, but we were obviously not visible to her. Or she was not looking in our direction. Again, footsteps, followed by the door closing.

“We must cross to the next field,” Eluned whispered. “Further away.”

“What if they hear us?”

“I think they are all inside. They will not come outside when it is dark. Come!”

She stood up and scrambled back across the field, heading for the opening we had taken earlier that day, although it was more difficult to find in the near darkness. Once through, she turned along the hedge until she reached a corner.

“We must stay here tonight. There is no other choice. They will leave early in the morning.”

She unrolled one of the blankets and laid it out over the thick grass. I lay down on it, pulling the other half over me. The grass was a little more comfortable than the cold stone in the previous place, but it was damp, and I could soon feel the dampness seeping through. Eluned pushed her bag under the hedge, unrolled her blanket and lay down herself. Surprisingly, I was soon asleep.

Some time later I awoke. There was a thin light in the distance, which suggested that dawn was coming, but I was only aware of how much I was shivering. My blanket was thoroughly wet, as was the side of my shift where I had been lying. I sat up, clutching my arms around my knees trying to find some warmth. It made no difference. I sat feeling totally miserable until I heard the soft murmur of voices. They must be awake. I threw aside my blanket and stood up, my shift clinging to my side, damp and cold. Eluned was still fast asleep, so I left her. As quietly as I could, I crept back to the opening in the hedge. Across the field in front of the house I could see movement. The murmur of voices grew louder, that of the woman who issued orders once again standing out.

Suddenly a figure appeared in the opening in front of the house. “All right. All right. As quick as I can. Yeah.” It was the young woman who had collected sticks the previous night. And she was heading straight for me. She moved quickly, following the rough path she had beaten before. I tried to run back along the hedge, but my shift caught on a branch. As I struggled to undo it, she was upon me.

Looking back, she was obviously much more surprised than I was. I had seen her coming towards me, she was not even aware of my existence. I am sure that the last thing she expected to see when she set out to collect some wood was a bedraggled young woman of about her age. For the moment that I had the advantage, the Teacher’s skills kicked in. Still attached to the hedge, I raised my arm and swung around with the full force of my body. With a dull thud, my elbow contacted with her face. A sharp pain shot up my arm to my shoulder as she fell backwards. As she hit the ground I heard another, louder thud. Her eyes stared at me for a couple of seconds before her head fell to the side.

I pulled at my shift and it came away, leaving a tear in the fabric. I knelt down beside the young woman, but she was clearly unconscious, if not dead. I felt Eluned’s hands grasp my shoulders. She pulled me to my feet.

“What have you done? What have you done? They will know we are here.” She was shaking.

For once, I took command of the situation. Adrenalin still pumping through my veins I turned to her and said, “Stop it. We must get away. Now. Get your bag. And mine. Forget the blankets.” The control in my voice worked. Eluned turned and ran back to the corner, before returning with both bags. I grabbed her hand.

“Now. Away. Before they realise she’s not coming back.”

We ran. Ran and ran and ran. Stumbling through fields thick with overgrown grass and crops, our lungs scorched with each intake of breath, we ran. Without once looking back, regardless of which direction we were running in, we ran. Until I could run no further. My chest burning, my legs turned to jelly, I could not continue. I collapsed in a heap in the middle of the last field that we had reached. Eluned took a few more steps before she, too, collapsed. We lay spreadeagled like that for who knows how long. Slowly, very slowly, my breathing returned to normal. As the pain in my chest subsided, I was able to gulp in more air. When I opened my eyes the sun was high in the sky.

Half a day had passed. We should have been approaching Uricon by this time. Instead, we lay in a field surrounded by other fields. Nothing else. I sat up and lifted my shift to rub life back into my legs. As sensation returned, I was able to lift myself up to a standing position. Every muscle in my body ached. The backs of my thighs felt as if they had been stretched beyond breaking point. Even though my breathing was now near to normal, the muscles of my stomach felt stiff and unyielding.

“Eluned?” I said, looking over to where she still lay.

She turned her head towards me, wincing as she did so. “My lady?” she whispered.

I crossed the short distance between us and knelt beside her.

“I’m so sorry, Eluned. We had been doing so well. Now where are we? And it’s all my fault. I should not have struck that poor woman. What was I thinking?”

She opened her eyes. “Your strength is greater than I had thought, my lady. This will be a good thing in the future. But you must learn to control it.”

“Do you think I killed her? Was she dead, do you think?”

“I do not know. She was terribly injured. Your blow inflicted much damage.”

“Oh, God.” I sat back on my heels. “What have I done?”

“She may have seen you, my lady. If she did the others would have come. They would have taken us. Our task would have been over before it began.”

“Do you think so?”

“It is possible that they still do not know of us. It would have been some time before they noticed she had not returned. More time to discover her. It is possible they would think she had fallen. They had not seen us.”

“What about our blankets? We left them there, remember?”

“They were far from the place where she lay. I pushed them under the hedge. They would need to search for them. Why would they do that? They did not know we had been there. If the woman lives, she will no doubt tell them of you. If she is dead, we may still be safe.”

“What a terrible thought. To hope that someone is dead so that we may be safe. And if she is, I killed her.”

“She is a
crwydren
, my lady. She must expect to die. If she died in some conflict it would be a great honour.”

“Some conflict? What conflict? She didn’t stand a chance. She only saw me for a few seconds. I shall never forget the look in her eyes before she lost consciousness. It was a look that said, ‘Why?’. You cannot call that a conflict.”

“Warriors die in battle, my lady. Some die slowly, an agonisingly long, painful death. Others die swiftly, struck by the first blow. It was your first blow that killed this one. That is conflict enough.”

I closed my eyes. The young woman’s eyes stared at me wherever I turned my head.

“They have not followed us, my lady. We have run far and I do not hear them in any direction. We must give thanks to the Lady that we are safe. Now we must discover a path that will lead us to our destination. I think it may not be too far. Yesterday the sun went down in the same direction. Perhaps we were running the right way. ‘
In all your ways acknowledge her, and she will make your paths straight.’ The Lady will guide us.”