The Storyteller

The Storyteller Part 7 chapters 18 - 20

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

OFF TO THE CAPITAL

Raif had been worried about what to do with wounded nomads but it turned out that none with survivable wounds had been left by their comrades. Six had been left but two had already succumbed to their wounds and all that could be done for the four others was to make them as comfortable as possible for the short time that remained.

It turned out that fifty-seven nomads had been killed. About half had been hit by the archers, both from the farm ramparts and from the archers from the reinforcements. Thanks to the palisades none of the farm's archers had been hit. The soldiers from the farm garrison said that they'd killed three of the nomads circling the farm on their sleds and, after that, the attackers had stopped using that technique. Raif felt sure that the practice he'd given the men with shooting at targets on the wagons had been worthwhile.

The rest of the dead were the result of the fighting threes. Raif had emphasized the need to strike fatal blows. "A wounded man is still a danger" he had said "Stay calm and study the best place to hit, while defending yourself." Raif was not a cruel or bloodthirsty man. He knew, all too well, that, in war, if you're not willing to kill you will be killed. He wanted his men to live.

The farm youths had loved firing the catapults and, apparently, had to be physically restrained from continuing when the reinforcements had arrived and were in danger of being hit by the projectiles. Apart from the one woman's broken leg there was no certainty that they'd done much damage. But they had felt useful and it kept them busy.

It wasn't right to leave the bodies strewn around outside the farm. There needed to be some way to stop them from being eaten by the wolves that had, once again, come out of the forest and out of the northern wastes with the snow.

After some discussion with Yarrow, and other people from the farm, it was agreed that enough wood could be spared for a funeral pyre. All the bodies would be collected and burned at the same time. While the farmers were doing that Raif had his men search all the bodies and recover all the weapons, especially the spear launchers. He wanted to study them and see if there would be advantages to using them sometimes. The men also collected most of the boots, as they were thick with fur and better adapted to the winter conditions than the boots that the army had issued.

When all was complete, and his men fed and ready to return to Moot Farm, Raif went to see the condition of the injured woman. She was conscious and Willow was carefully spooning warm soup into her mouth while the warrior watched. He no longer seemed suspicious. An empty soup bowl was beside him as he sat on the edge of the bed.

In pantomime Raif tried to show that the two of them would come with him. After a while the man grunted in what seemed to be understanding. The woman had finished the soup. Two soldiers picked up her stretcher and carried it out to one of the sleds. Raif made sure she was well wrapped up with warm blankets. The warrior sat next to her, his bound hands on the stretcher to steady it when necessary. Two guards sat behind them, just in case. But it seemed unlikely that the man would try anything with the woman unable to move.

Lyrra's trunk was already loaded. Raif and she sat next to one another. She leaned against him as the sled moved along. She was happier than she had been in weeks.

***

It was three days before Sola rode into Moot Farm to see Raif. The patrols from Forts Two and Three had found the trace where the raiding party had crossed the wall. Estimating the time that it would take them to reach the farms, be engaged in battle there and then to return, Sola had time to set an ambush in place.

Some scouts found a place where the nomads had passed down a valley. An ambush could be set up with soldiers on the hillsides on either side.

He took seventy-five men each from Forts Two and Three and ordered the two patrol sleds from Forts One and Four, that would have made nearly two hundred in ambush. With the sections of palisade he set up shelters to keep the men somewhat protected from the cold. The outsides of the shelters were covered with snow to make them invisible from a distance.