Wolfe Pack (6 page)

He looked at her a bit thinking, it had to be words that would have an affect, something that might appeal to her, he knew already that this young woman would be a good addition to the team.

“I mean to have a well trained group of people who will ride together working towards a common goal. It will be dangerous work, what I am doing now is surveying along the eastern borders for the Lord Cazzara and there will be plenty of orcs to deal with along the way. That work will go on for another year at least, then well there will be new challenges, I am sure of it.”

Keera sat there and stared for awhile and he could see she was thinking a lot, obviously the words had an affect and she was considering things. The other two had been sitting there quietly watching, letting Wollfen talk. This was no longer a social sit down, he was making a pitch. Finally Keera spoke again with measured words,

“You know I have been doing the same thing for ten years, yes I do like what I am doing but it is starting to lose its attraction. I spend weeks at a time in a saddle and most travels are boring out in the wilderness, nothing happens. This little encounter I had this morning is the first of its kind in over a month. Do you suppose it be will be like that?” Wollfen shook his head,

“I can't guarantee that there will be action every week, but it isn't going to be rare where we will be traveling.” Keera gave a little smile,

“I have a contract with this trader I am riding with, I have to escort him all the way to Port Volarus which is over a week away. But I am intrigued by your offer, it is an offer isn't it?” Wollfen nodded,

“Yes, I would like to take you on and see how things go, I think you would fit in rather well with us.”

“How about we make a tentative meeting for two weeks from now? Then I can give you my final answer. Where will you be?”

Wollfen thought about that, he expected that their travels over the next couple of weeks would take them south too.

“I am thinking that we could meet at a place called Outrock, it is south east of Port Cholandra, do you know of it?” Keera nodded and sighed,

“Yes I know of it, I have been there twice. It's forsaken place filled with deadbeats and bandits, hardly a worthy meeting place.” Wollfen chuckled,

“Somehow I don't think you would fear treading there Keera.” She smiled at the backhanded compliment,

“Then it's a deal, we shall meet in Outrock two weeks from today.” She shook his hand and stood up, “I am going to go get drunk, find me a man or two and enjoy the rest of the evening, till we meet again.”

They all bade their goodbyes and Keera walked off to the bar with her ale in hand. Solynne was the first to speak up,

“She is a little rough around the edges but she seems to be not only skilled but quick witted.” Wollfen agreed,

“Yes she is one that can certainly take care of herself, all we need to find out now is if she is a good team player.” Kane had to add his five coins worth,

“And she has big tits, that's always a plus.” Solynne backhanded him in the chest for that one.

The evening passed by quietly enough and the three retired for the night, Solynne had paid for another room and both her and Kane went there. Wollfen was thinking of Dark and hoping she would manage to sleep okay, tomorrow he would find out.

The next morning Wollfen was downstairs at a table eating breakfast, eggs and bacon with a couple of bread rolls that he as enjoying. A cold mug of milk stood by his plate half empty. It was some time before both Kane and Solynne descended the stairs and they almost missed out on having breakfast served.

“So you two didn't manage to sleep much last night I take it?”

The two of them looked at each other and smiled coyly, it was still early days for these two and they were acting shy.  Their breakfasts were brought out in short order and they got stuck into their fare, Wollfen noticed that Kane looked a bit bleary eyed. Obviously Solynne taxed him somewhat but he wouldn't pry, though he did find it rather funny. Each time he had seen them together with others around they acted like they didn't terribly like each other but it was obviously a front.

They all sat there quietly, the two lovebirds eating while Wollfen watched on sometimes scanning the room, of Keera there was no sign. She had obviously left with the wagons that had moved out earlier making their way south.

“What time do you want to go see Dark?” It was Solynne who spoke now that she had polished off her meal.

“Oh there is no rush, when Kane finally finishes we can go have a look in and see how she is.”

Kane gave a grunt and squinted, he kept eating at his own pace. He wasn't going to be pushed.

About ten minutes later the three of them left the tavern and started the walk towards the healers residence. As they passed the tavern's stable though a rather disheveled Keera came stumbling out, she was still in her clothes but they were mostly undone. As the three of them stopped and watched she started fixing herself, buttoning up her pants and top. Kane was smiling and Solynne gave him a thump in the upper arm.

“Keera? Are you okay?”

She looked around, squinted at the sun and then turned, puking on the ground. She was badly hungover. Wollfen motioned for Solynne, she went and held Keera steering her to a log and sat her down.  Wollfen stood before her,

“Something tells me you don't have a job anymore.”

Keera could only shake her head slightly, it hurt. Wollfen looked around and then made a decision,

“Why don't you two take her back to the tavern and deal with this. I'll go see Dark and see how she is, then I'll come back to see you three.”

They all agreed and Wollfen walked off toward the healers place.

A few minutes later Wollfen showed up in the open doorway of the healers practice and the nurse ushered him along, they walked in to find Dark sitting up in bed propped up on some pillows. She smiled as she saw Wollfen and he came over sitting next to her facing each other.

“It's good to see you are awake, you don't look too bad at all.” Dark managed a wan smile and replied in a weak voice,

“I'll be back up workin at the bar by this afternoon.”

He gave a little laugh, at least she still had her sense of humor.

“I'm glad you aren't too seriously injured, I was worried about you.” Dark's interest perked up at that last statement,

“You care? Even after what you saw that night?”

He nodded quietly and gave a little smile. A tear welled up in her eye and she reached out with her good arm, taking his hand. They each gave a squeeze in understanding. Nothing more needed to be said, they understood there was something between them.

Wollfen spent about half an hour sitting there being quiet and watching on. He could see she was getting tired though,

“I am going to leave you for now, I am off on a journey for awhile but I will return. You take care of yourself okay? I will be back.”

Dark gave a slightly pained look, not from her injuries but knowing she wouldn't see him for awhile.

“Take care of yourself on the road and come back soon.”

He nodded, then leaned forward, kissing her on each cheek then softly on the lips.

He left for the tavern to check up on the other three and wondered if what Keera had done was something she normally did? It could be a problem in the future. When he arrived he saw Kane and Solynne together but there was no sign of Keera.

“Hey you two, where is she?” Solynne shook her head as Kane spoke up,

“Oh she didn't sit for long, she decided to go off and get her reward money from the sheriff, I'm thinking she will leave after that.”

Wollfen sighed, things were never easy were they? It didn't look like it was going to work out with the new girl. Just as Wollfen allowed himself to fall down into a seat Keera came clumping in and she was fuming.

“Can you believe it? That bastard took my money!” The three looked at each other,

“Who? The sheriff?” Keera looked exasperated,

“No, my boss with the wagons! He made up some cock and bull story about collecting the money for me and left town! I am going to open him up when I see him! Mark my words!” Wollfen motioned for her to sit down,

“Okay hang on, take a moment to catch you breath. I can see you are swaying on your feet, you are in no condition to ride.”

“Bullshit! I am going to go after him right now!” She turned to go out the door and Wollfen called out in a sharp tone,

“Keera! He isn't going to get away! He is moving slow with a bunch of wagons, we can catch up with him rather easily.”

She turned back holding her head and almost crying, she had been cheated and she felt like shit. Wollfen was right, she was in no condition to ride.

“I need an ale.”

“No! That's only going to make it worse later, you need lots of water and get some food into your stomach. Come sit down and I will see what Kels can make up.”

Keera relented and came over, sitting down with a plop that was a mistake in itself and she put her head in her hands. Kane was smiling and looking up trying not to laugh, to him it was so comical.

Wollfen went off to find Kels and came back after a few minutes with some sandwiches on a plate. He put them down in front of Keera who still had her head down and Kane reached for a sandwich but Solynne batted his hand away, shaking her head and looking cross at him. Kane looked back at her petulantly.

Keera did manage to keep a couple of sandwiches down and she pushed the plate towards Kane who gladly accepted the rest of them, happily chewing away.

She was visibly better now and Wollfen made a suggestion,

“Let's gather enough supplies for the next week and ride out in about two hours, we can catch up with the caravan of wagons by mid afternoon I would say and then we can move on to my patrol of the borderlands, what say you?”

Both Kane and Solynne readily agreed with Keera simply nodding her head with her eyes closed. 

“Alright then, you two go off and buy up the supplies needed and I will take care of Keera,” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little pouch of coins handing it to Solynne, “There's more than enough to pay for all we need, I expect change back.”

Solynne gave a wink as the two of them stood up and left. Wollfen turned back to Keera,

“Come on, let's get you upstairs so you can lay down for awhile.” She silently nodded and allowed herself to be led away.

After Wollfen got her in bed he came back down sitting in a booth at the rear. He spent some quiet time thinking about the events of the last couple of days and wondered how things would transpire over the next few days as well. He certainly hadn't seen any of this coming so far. This past year he had only managed to recruit Solynne and then the last two days they had managed to pick up another three people. Oh well, the world worked in mysterious ways he supposed.

Later that afternoon the four of them were riding along the south road expectantly watching out for signs of the wagons and sure enough in the distance a cloud plume could be seen, surely it was the wagons. Keera picked up now seeing this, she had been grumbling most of the time since leaving Comberwell and had not been a pleasant companion so far. The other three hoped that she wasn't always like this.

After another twenty minutes they rounded a bend and caught sight of the rear wagon of the caravan slowly winding its way through the woods, Keera was looking forward in anticipation of the confrontation. She went to gee her horse on faster and Wollfen placed his hand on her arm, she looked across at him,

“What is it?” Wollfen nodded towards the wagons,

“Look, there are extra riders now, more than when you first entered town.” Keera didn't care,

“So? I can easily take care of them same way I took care of the bandits.” Wollfen shook his head,

“We are not here to kill them just get your money back. If you are to be part of this group then there must be some sense of justice. Yes the boss stole and we will confront him for that, but there's no need to go killing everyone.” Keera sighed and sat back in her saddle,

“Fine, we will do it your way.”

The rear guard of the caravan spotted the approaching riders a few minutes later and called out to this companions, the other two fell back and watched on warily. Wollfen held up his hand to speak and one of the guards moved back a little further, he was the leader.

“What is it you want?”

“I have Keera here who is owed money by your boss,” Wollfen looked to Keera and asked in a low tone, “What is his name?”

“It's Attley.”

“What? Attley?”

“Yes, Attley.” Keera repeated a bit impatiently. Wollfen called out again,

“His name is Attley.”

The lead guard wasn't interested,

“We know of Keera, Attley let her go yesterday, there is no further business between the two.” Wollfen didn't like where this was going,

“I am not going to argue with you, just fetch Attley so we can sort this out.”

“It's not going to happen. Now begone with you otherwise we shall have to use force.”

Wollfen looked at the others, getting into a fight over fifty silver coins was hardly worth it, but then again this Attley fellow had falsely claimed them too. He was sure Keera wouldn't let it go and if he insisted on backing down then he would look weak. No, they would have to follow through, he just hoped no one got killed over this.