Berach's Jewel

Chapter Seven

Two days came and went, Daveth hardly daring to go outside, in fear he'd be discovered for his lies. Groggily, he opened his eyes, yawned and stretched. Aldred and Kjell were still asleep, from what he could see in the low light before sunrise. Oddly, through the walls of the house, he could hear many people moving around, voices raised. He walked to the door, and pulled it back towards him, letting in the orange light of dawn flood through the door frame.

The village compound and the high house was a hive of activity, people carrying as much of their worldly possessions as possible, sharpening weapons for others and themselves, and harvesting what they could of the fields that day. Jalde Frode would protect all who travelled to the high-house to shelter.

Shaken from his thoughts while staring at them, he called out, "Why is everyone up so early? It's like we're preparing for..." His mouth stayed open in realisation

"God's honest truth, Daveth. Dunstan's men were seen earlier today behind the hills," an indistinct voice replied from within the throng of workers.

Daveth made a split second choice - they would hide in the forest. Dunstan was out to find and punish him. Shutting the door, the farmer grabbed a bag and started to frantically throw things into it that he might need, not caring what moved or fell to the floor.

"Hey!" Aldred mumbled, brushing the piece of cloth from his face. "Hey?" He repeated, waking fully. "What are you doing, father?"

As Aldred joined him in packing, Daveth explained that Dunstan was coming to battle and that meant they needed to run and hide among the trees until it was certain that their home was safe. While Daveth was packing everything his eyes could see, his son was taking a more thoughtful approach in what he would take. Having filled up his small bag, Daveth began to walk out of the door and away from the village and Frode's high-house. Aldred stared out at his father turned away and walking from him and Kjell. He picked her shoes up and placed them in his bag - there was plenty of space and they didn't weigh much anyway. He shook his sister awake and dragged her out of the house. She grabbed a small piece of fur to put around her shoulders, and hurried to catch their father up in the forest.

After a few minutes of stumbling through the thick grass outside their village, the siblings caught up with their father, who said nothing at their arrival and carried on. The slope steepened upwards until they needed to use their hands on the ground to balance themselves. As the ground levelled out at the top, the three of them carried on in silence, their footsteps muffled from the springy, orange layer of dead pine needles. Above them towered tall and strong pine trees, the fresh smell of them enhanced by the cold air.

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"It better not snow," Aldred mumbled. They had no time to collect warm things before Daveth had left the house several hours earlier, leaving them to catch up apart from Kjell's fur around her shoulders.

After trudging even deeper into the forest, Daveth suddenly veered off to the right, crashing through the undergrowth of dry, dead bracken and thin clumps of reeds. He had seen what he was heading towards. A hoar stone, a boundary marker between Frode's and Dunstan's lands, there would be practically no chance that either of the lords would expect him to have doubled back into the enemy's territory. He stood still, planning how they could turn it into a shelter. Asking his children to set up the shelter for them to sleep under - he had at least remembered to bring waterproof leather and pegs to fasten it to the ground -he left them to it and carried on for a short while where the forest thinned out on the brow of the hill. He sat down amongst the fern-like bracken, blending in in case anyone was watching the hill, to think about his choices.

He couldn't return to where he came from, everyone was sure to be looking for him by now, and he was well known there, his children too. Even though few people knew him and his children in Dunstan's hundert, they might be able to recognise him from when he stole the stone from Dunstan, his guilt would surely shine through. But you do what you must to live. Even if it meant running like a coward. Life would be better compared to death. He sat, with his fingers to his temples, for what seemed like an age. Hearing Kjell's and Aldred's voices calling him through the forest, his answer came to him. There was another hundert, by the eastern coast, owned by Jalde Crofton. Nobody knew him there! With this final realisation, he let out a sigh he didn't know he had held in.

"We've been waiting for ages!" Aldred called out to him, as he returned from the edge of the forest, kicking up pine needles as his father walked towards them.

Explaining where they were going next after staying until it had calmed down, Daveth crawled under the stretched leather lean-to. Covering the floor were leaves of the dead bracken that Kjell had collected nearby, also clearing a small space in front in the process of doing so.

"Why did you up and leave when everyone was travelling to the Jalde's high-house for protection against Dunstan's men," asked Aldred.

"Because dad, and I suppose we, now have freedom compared to what had before, and that was worth being marked by Frode himself." Kjell said with a hint of anger while walking towards them. She had been calling for Daveth in a deeper part of the forest, and only returned now when she heard both of their voices. "When you're marked for whatever reason by Frode, he would be able to find father quickly. Even though father doesn't want to be found."

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Howdy y'all! Sorry it's late again...I went for nap as I was so knackered so then I slept until 4:30 in the morning! Remember the book to buy is out now as both a paper-back and a Kindle book! Vote and subscribe if you are enjoying it so far! :)