The Fall of Dewan

Chapter 13The Hunt

 She slept deeply that night, without dreams or nightmares. She woke to Leona giving her a gentle shake that next morning, informing her it was time to go hunt. Genevieve never particularly a morning person, did her best to suppress a groan as she rose to her feet, slid on her shoes, and followed Leona out of the tent.

Batholomew was waiting by three horses at the edge of camp. "I trust you know how to ride?" He asked.

"I wouldn't be much of royal if I didn't. My parents had my brothers and I on horseback by the age of six" she responded, still waking up.

"Well do your best to keep up then, we are hoping to kill a deer but that means we are going to have to go deeper into the forest" he said as he hopped onto his horse and took off.

"Oye he can be such a show off sometimes, I just can't with men. We better get going, he won't be waiting for us" Leona said, beckoning her to get on her own horse.

Genevieve did as she was instructed, hopping on her horse and following Leona in the direction that Bartholomew had ridden. They rode for nearly an hour without rest, deep into the forest. They eventually came to a stop. Bartholomew looked back at them, looking fresh as can be while both the girls were covered in sweat, and said "This area should be good. I spotted many dropping in the area on our ride. Let's tie up our horse and go a little further on foot."

Both the girls just nodded and did as they were told, both exhausted from the speed and length of the ride. Genevieve had spent much time on a horse, but never rode off a beaten path for that long and as such a high speed. They walked for another ten minutes before spreading out behind a large group of trees. Bartholomew climbed up the tree, 'so he could get a better view from above', Leona and Genevieve both staying on the ground. Genevieve and Bartholomew both held bows in their hands, Leona held an axe. They sat in dead silence for at least an hour, the only sound being the insects that surrounded them. Eventually a deer slowly walked near to them, sniffing the ground and biting at some greenery. The deer clearly hadn't spotted them yet. Bartholomew took the first shot and missed by a matter of inches. Genevieve took the next, as the deer attempted to gallop away. As she drew the draw string back she was momentarily transported back to the months of lessons she had done when her parents were away at war. The reminder of home gave her a sense of calm, she took a deep breath and released the arrow. It flew nearly one hundred fifty feet through the air and pierced the deer threw the eye mid stride, the deer dropping dead immediately.

"Oh my. Well you weren't kidding when you said you had some experience with a bow." Leona said as they inspected the dead dear. "She's even better than you Bartholomew!"

Bartholomew nodded, giving Genevieve a curious look, "Yes, I suppose you're right. That was quite impressive."

Genevieve simply gave them a small smile to thank them for their compliments then they began to gather the deer to be brought back to camp. There had been a large piece of cloth with netting that had been on the side of Batholomew's horse. They wrapped the deer in this, attaching it to the backs of the horses and began to pull the deer back to camp. It took double the time to return to camp as the horses could not ride nearly as fast pulling such a heavy load.

They made it back to to camp in the early afternoon. They were greeted by the four that had stayed behind as they pulled the deer towards the fire pit, all very impressed by the kill. Archibald, Alice, and Ohamed were impressed by the size of the deer and how many meals it would feed them for. Agnes was impressed by something else. She turned to the three hunters and asked, "Who shot the animal?"

Leona said, "It was Genevieve, a very impressive shot at that. But Agnes we've talked about this, don't go lecturing her on the treatment of animals. We need food and sometimes that food has to be animals."

Agnes turned and walked towards Genevieve. Genevieve began to mentally prepare herself for whatever oddities were about to come from Agnes's mouth, but instead was surprised as she was embraced in a hug. Agnes said in a quiet voice, "It was a shot threw the eye. The animal died instantly, without any pain. Thank you."

Before Genevieve could find the words to respond, Agnes had already walked away. Leona yelled in Agnes's direction, "What was that?! Every other time Bartholomew or I have come back with a deer or even a rabbit you greet us with a long lecture and you give her a hug?"

Agnes didn't even acknowledge Leona's words, simply continued walking towards the horses. Leona and Bartholomew both groaned in annoyance before continuing to pull the deer towards the fire pit.