The Hibernian Runaway

Chapter 5

 Lilly woke up and yawned. She was sore from riding barebacked, but it was nothing for her, considering that she had been working in a farm field coming from a castle where everything was done for her. She walked to the farmhouse and found Joseph half-way down a mug of coffee.

 "I go back to town to speak with Baron." Lilly said, hoping to god that he would allow her.

 "Hunh?" Joseph asked, still not awake. "Oh yeah, you can go."

 Lilly left before he could come to his senses and change his mind. The clouds were gray and bulging, threatening rain her entire journey there.

  

She got to the tavern and walked in, just as it started to downpour. She sat at the stool, wringing out the bottom of her cloak, waiting for Gary.

 "How, ya doing, Lilly?" He asked, walking up.

 "Good." She replied.

 "What can I do for you?" He asked.

 "Did Christopher force Jonathan drink?" She asked, deciding to get right to the point.

 "I don't know." Gary said, thinking. "But I do seem to recall that Christopher asked Jonathan to drink more than once before Jonathan actually did."

 "Thanks." Lilly said.A cold wind blew through the door, accompanied by the slight sound of rain and Lilly shivered.

 The door clanged shut andthe young Ranger walked in. He took a seat two down from her, his cloak dripping water. Lilly kept her head down, her face unseen due to the cowl on her cloak. Automatically, Gary put a hot mug of coffee in front of him.

 “Did it finish raining yet?” Someone asked from the crowd in the tavern.

 The Ranger flipped back the cowl of his cloak and took a sip of his coffee. He swallowed. “It stopped pouring, but it’s still drizzling.”

  She finished her coffee and nodded to Gary. She had decided that the Ranger was too close for comfort. She wrapped her cloak tightly around herself and walked out of the tavern.

 She mounted the work horse and started to ride out, the horse’s hooves splashing in the puddles of water.

 There were almost no people on the road. Lilly let the horse plod on, becoming deeply engrossed in thought.

 “Hey! Watch where you’re going.”

 Lilly apologized quickly, and caught her mistake too late. Too preoccupied with her thoughts, she has spoken in Hibernian. She hoped that the person wouldn’t think anything of it and urged the horse on.

 “Hey you, come back.”

 Lilly froze and wheeled the horse around slowly. She saw her least favorite person. Christopher was standing there, his cloak dripping mud and water.

 “Did you just curse at me?” He asked, his eyes angry.

 “No, sorry. I apologized. For hitting you with my horse.” Lilly said.

 “Clean my cloak. Now.” He ordered.

 Lilly almost laughed in his face and kept going on her way. Almost. She remembered that the family she was staying with had to sell their wool to him. He could make their lives very miserable.

 “I said clean my cloak.” He shouted. He took off his cloak and threw it at Lilly. She caught it and looked around. By then a small crowd had gathered, most of them coming from the tavern.

 “I said clean it you stupid bitch.” Christopher said, growling like a dog.

 “No.” Lilly said, finally making up her mind to stand up to this idiot.

 “What was that?” Christopher asked.

 Lilly knew that she could easily leave. She wheeled the horse around and maneuvered him through the crowd. She had just passed through the ring of onlookers when something wet and hard hit her in the back of the head. It threw her forward into the horse’s neck. Then she lost her balance and fell into the mud.

 There was a gasp from the crowd.

  

 Will watched as more people walked out of the tavern. He got up and followed the last man out, when he heard a shout and a gasp from more than one person. Gary was close on his heels.

 Will saw a man on his knees in the mud, wiping the brown mass from his gray cloak. Then he saw the wool trader’s son, his hand stained with mud. Gary went to the man in the mud and helped him to his feet. They went into the tavern, to clean up.

 “That’s right you coward. You run. You stupid son of a bitch.” Christopher said.

 “You shut up, Christopher. You’re the stupid son of a bitch.” Someone shouted from the crowd.

 Will saw Gary’s son come out from the crowd. He had a determined look on his face and Will started to make his way to the center of the circle. He had to stop the verbal quarrel before it got nasty.

 “Oh look it’s the poor bartender’s son. Come to defend a peasant like you, Nial?” Christopher taunted.

 “At least I’m not like you. Rich, stuck up, and denser than a pound cake.” Nial laughed.

 Will smirked at that one. “The kid’s got wit.” Will muttered.

  Will watched as Christopher tackled Gary’s son. He sat up on his chest and punched him once in the face, splitting Nial’s lip. Nial kneed him in the back and shoved Christopher off of him. Nial got up and stared down Christopher who was circling him slowly.

 Will got there just as Christopher charged Nial again. Nial was ready and tripped him and jumped on top of Christopher. He punched him repeatedly in the face, and Will heard a crack.

 He grabbed Nial by the back of his shirt and pulled him off of Christopher. He hauled Christopher to his feet.

 “This will stop right now!” He shouted. “You two, get to the Baron’s office now.” Will shoved them forward. “Everyone else go back to what you were doing.”

 He sent a boy to Barret and walked into the tavern. The man with the gray cloak was coming out at the same time.

 "Sorry." He said, stepping aside for the taller person.

 Gary placed a fresh mug of coffee on the counter and Will tossed down the payment. He drank it slowly, enjoying the heat.

 “How you doing Ranger Will?" Gary asked, scooping the coins into a pocket.

 "Fine, just doing my job." Will said, he looked around the tavern, studying the people who were coming back in. “Your son, Nial got into a fight with Christopher. I sent them to the Baron.”

 Gary looked at him, the towel in his hand stopped moving. “My boy is raised right. He didn’t do-”

 “He didn’t do anything wrong. He was just protecting himself; Christopher attacked him first. I just thought I’d let you know.”

 Will finished the coffee and left. He walked out to Tug and rubbed his head. Will mounted Tug and turned him towards Redmont Castle. Without warning, Tug nickered and turned around, facing the farmland.

“What are you doing, Tug? We’re going to Redmont.” He turned Tug around and went to the Baron's.