The Soldier and the Thief

Chapter 13

By some miracle, the ferry reached the cabin the next morning. They drifted close to the quay but not close enough for Willem to moor the damaged boat, so Robin watched Nikolas jump into the murky water with the mooring rope and wade over to the L-shaped quay. Once he had tied the knot and secured the boat to the quay he pulled hard and slowly guided the ferry in to dock. Willem jumped off and secured the other rope before the ferry could float away again. Robin had been up before sunrise, running on only five hours of sleep after she stayed up long after the sun had set, watching the water for any more monsters. It was also in part because she didn't want to talk to Nikolas, but that wasn't the point. 

Robin walked to the stern and undid the catch holding the back up. She let it fall onto the wooden quay with a bang and cringed when one side fell away completely. She led Sundance and Phantom off the boat and gently urged them along the quay, dropping Sundance's reins when she reached Nikolas. She and Phantom continued on to the end of the quay and found themselves on a worn gravel path that led into the forest that ringed the lakeside. 

"There's a small shack at the back of the cabin where you can put the donkeys!" Willem called from his spot on the ferry. He was inspecting a large hole in the hull, and wiped his fingers along the edge of the wound. He smiled at the slime that came away. Robin rolled her eyes and continued along the path. Willem's singing had carried on into the night and she'd even heard it when she had finally conceded and gone to bed. The old man showed no sign of fatigue even though he could hardly have caught a wink of sleep, but seemed to be back to himself after the previous day's events.

The cabin Willem expected them to stay in was small and obviously designed by fishermen. The floor and walls were primarily made of cobblestones that had been piled on top of one another, with a thatched roof and small chimney. The shack behind it was a compact building with two stalls and a water pump inside. Old hay littered the floor in an attempt to make it comfortable for the beasts of burden that had passed through, and Robin turned up her nose at the smell. She decided against subjecting Phantom to the shack, instead making use of a length of twine she found and tying him to a tree so that he was free to roam. 

The cabin inside wasn't much better. Hay had been spread over the uneven cobblestone in an attempt to make the floor smoother and easier to walk on, but over time it had worn away. Robin could feel the cold seeping into her body through her thin shoes. A fireplace sat at the far end of the one-room building, dead and lifeless. A small table and four chairs sat against the wall, and a gaping hole in the wall provided easy access to the water pump. Four dingy mattresses of hay and feathers lay opposite the table, covered in skins of fish that the men had caught. Robin's nose wrinkled and she decided she would sleep by the fire. There was no food, no cupboards and no cutlery to speak of. Robin was glad she had Emmeline's cloak to keep her warm and semi-dry. 

Nikolas opened the door and walked in. His face said it all as he took the place in. Robin glanced at him and turned away, instead going to study the fireplace. She started stacking hay onto the cold coals and pushing the rest as far away from the fireplace as she could. Nikolas left and returned with firewood and Willem's flint and steel. They worked in silence to start the fire. While Robin worked on getting the fire to catch onto the larger logs, Nikolas reached into their saddlebags and found strips of dried meat and tetia. He handed half to Robin in ask for a temporary truce. She stared at the food for a second before accepting it. They chewed in silence.

"Hoooo! I have caught breakfast for us!" Willem broke the comfortable quiet as he strode into the cabin, a wriggling six-legged creature hanging from his hook. Its skin was scaly and salmon-pink, and a hood fanned out from its head when it bared its teeth at Willem. A dragon-like tail swished wildly as it fought to escape. It hissed at him as he dropped it onto the table and pulled out a knife. Without hesitation he cut off its head and set about skinning the creature.