The Charlatan

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

In the chill of the night the rustling of movement and hushed voices pulled me from sleep. The hard wet ground was far worse then any bed I'd ever slept on, but when I sat up and gathered my thoughts, I longed to lay once more. Before I could decide to act on my desires I realized who- or what, had awoken me.

The look on Tandy's face was one of pure fear. She was close to me, moving quickly, rolling her bedding and kicking dirt onto our already smoldering fire. I opened my mouth to ask her what was wrong, what had happened but she shook her head fervently, pointing off into the darkness with a shaking finger. I followed her gesture and peered into the darkness, searching for the cause of her terror, but seeing nothing in the tall grass but dark shadows where the moon refused to shine.

Dennison was already up and packed, his sword drawn, face haunted but alert. He stood tense by his horse, watching Tandy and I warily, the way he would if danger was close by as it seemed to be.

I quickly rolled up my bedding and unsheathed a dagger from its place in my belt, helping Tandy ready the pack horse in silence.

I could see that we would be forced into Fiercewood at night, unprepared and already afraid, but that we had little choice in the matter, and Tandy and Dennison had already made up their minds.

No sooner had we mounted and gone then the loud cry of a creature I could not see and had never heard before split the silence of the night. I gripped the hilt of my dagger tighter. The sound on my ears was unbearable, and I fought to control spooked horses and hold my head as the cry shook me with pain. Tandy cried out, her horse throwing her to the hard ground of the forest path, and Dennison stopped short, obviously against his better judgement, jumping from his saddle to help Tandy back into hers.

The maid gritted her teeth in pain as we rode on at a full gallop, neither of us chancing a glance behind us until our horses sides were foamy with sweat and the rising sun began to shine through the thick canopy overhead.

"What was that?" I asked, finally, when Dennison slowed and Tandy muffled a moan in pain. We stopped beside a point in the path where a trickling stream ran alongside it, easily accessible through a few sparse trees. The horses went to drink, their sides heaving, and Dennison and I pulled Tandy from her horse. She winced as I held her shoulder, the broken bone of her collar protruding nearly through her skin, swollen and red even in the questionable light. If the pain from her shoulder was more then she could bear Tandy didn't let on as much. She was gritting her teeth and clenching the fist of the unbroken arm, her shoulder causing her right arm to lay at an odd angle at her side. "We have to get to a place where we can set this bone," I told her, looking up and down the path, only able to see so much as the curvy trail allowed.

There had been no sign as we rode that we were followed after the roar, but it was a gamble as it were deciding to stop now or continue. When Tandy began to moan, her hold on consciousness slipping away, I decided we would stop for her sake. If I lost her in the night of Feircewood I would never be able to forgive myself.

Dennison and I carefully laid her on the ground, peeling back her shirt when she was stable to peer at the break in her bone. From what I could see through her skin her shoulder was bent at an odd angle, stuck had broken, one part resting atop the other.

"It has to be set in place or she will never use this arm again," Dennison said to me, a worried look in his eyes. The pain of setting a bone was more then even many grown men could handle, and I looked down into Tandy's face, wishing she was coherent enough to decide for herself.

"I'll do it," I told him, and he nodded, placing a twig between her teeth, knowing that pain of setting the bone would be much worse then the pain of breaking it. He nodded to me, holding both the woman's arms still. One false move and I stood a great chance of making the break far more complicated then it already was. I placed a hand on either side of the bone, pushing with my left hand and holding with my right.