The Wizard's Misery The Chronicles of the Midlands Book One

Chapter Twenty Two

It was a beautiful morning and Celine was pinning out the laundry she had just finished washing, being in good spirits and in an excellent mood. She had awakened feeling very happy having had a wonderful dream which she couldn't quite remember. But, it had made her joyful and she whistled while she worked. Her father had left a little while ago to go into town and this was the last chore she had to completed until dinner time. So, she was planning to have a peaceful rest following all the excitement of the past few days.

As she was pinning out the last of the laundry, she noticed two riders coming out of the forest path which led to Midtown and she watched them curiously. "That's strange," she thought. "How did they manage to get through the woods without being caught?"

From out of the basket, she picked up the brown cloak that Brandon had bought for her and as she pinned it up, something fell out of its pocket. Reaching down, she retrieved the fake Wizard's Misery that Robin had given her when they had been on their way to King's Port."I'd forgotten all about this," she thought as she put it into the pocket of her apron.

As she picked up the empty laundry basket and headed back to the house, she noticed that the two men were riding towards her. She carried the basket to the porch and set it down as the two men approached.

One of the men held something small in his hand which was pointing towards her and he turned to the other man. "It's her," he said excitedly. "The thing is pointing towards her!" Both men dismounted and hurried towards her. Suddenly, the man holding the object stopped, looking a little confused. "It stopped working," he said as he shook it before putting it in his pocket.

"Its magic must have quit. But, it led us here to the girl so she's the one we're looking for," the other man said as they neared the porch.

"What's going on? What do you want?" Celine asked as she backed up, heading towards the house's door. She didn't have her sword so she was unarmed and knew that her best chance of escape would be to enter the house and bolt door. The men ignored her and kept approaching so she quickly turned to open the door and tried to get inside but one of the men leaped up and grabbed her.

She grabbed him by the wrist and turning out of his grasp, she bent his wrist up the wrong way while simultaneously kicking him in the groin.He released her but then the other man grabbed her by the arm and punched her hard in the face. She started to fall and the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was the laundry basket rolling off the porch.

When she awoke, she was bound and gagged, lying trussed up in a large burlap sack. She could hear wagon wheels rolling along on cobblestones and she assumed that she was in the back of a wagon. The sun was still shining so she knew that it was still day time and she wondered at how long she had been unconscious. She had a head ache and her jaw hurt where the man had punched her in the face while she worried about where her captors were taking her.

She could feel other sacks all around her that were filled with round, hard objects and from the smell, she knew that she was in a wagon full of recently harvested turnips. Her hands and feet were tingling from lack of proper circulation so she tried to shift position in the confined space. She finally managed to flip over and then someone kicked her side. "Stay still," the man warned her and she recognized the voice of one of the men who had accosted her.

"I wonder what they want with me?" she thought anxiously. "At least they haven't killed me!" Her thoughts were racing as she tried to figure out what to do. She lay there considering all of her options and realized that if the man had told her not to move, that they may be where other people might see her. She listened intently and could only hear the wagon wheels and the clopping of the horses' hooves. "If I hear anyone, I'm going to sit up and start making a ruckus!" she decided, ignoring her headache, aching jaw and ribs where she had been kicked.