VALLEY OF THE MISTY MOUNTAIN: Book One of the Kodi Trilogy

VALLEY - CHAPTER 13

Chapter 13

The midnight rider

It was a moonless night and nobody noticed a lone rider exit the camp from the less used and unguarded exit at the back of the camp; no one, save Gardon, who woke suddenly, sensing something was not quite right. He sat up abruptly, looking through the window, just catching a glimpse of a shrouded figure on horseback as rider and horse were quickly swallowed into the darkness of the night. All is not as it appears to be, he said to himself. He quietly left the hut and moved stealthily to where the rider and horse had gone before him. After a while he found the narrow exit, hidden by many bushes. It was an exit and entrance, ideally situated to come and go unseen by others in the camp.

Gardon hurried to the main entrance and crept through with such stealth that the lone sentry on the cliffs above did not notice him. He peered through the aperture but could see nothing as the night sky was black. Clouds hid the moon making visibility quite limited. He positioned himself in a crevice and stared out across the meadowlands. The moon suddenly came from behind a cloud and now Gardon could see way beyond the exit. Squinting, he could see in the distance a rider and beyond the rider he could see the outcrop of rocks where he had rested a day earlier. The rider was making directly for the rocks. Gardon knew that the rider was probably meeting someone there… but who? Who indeed would be there at the rock at this time of night, surely no other person from this camp; there would be no need to go all the way over to the rock when there were perfectly good places to rendezvous within the camp itself. The only explanation was, to him, an obvious one. Alcock had sent out a reconnaissance mission to find them and they had reached the rock. But who would leave the camp to meet with them? A spy in the camp? Gardon had not considered that possibility before because the settlement seemed well organized and people seemed genuinely happy with their life. Lesson number four: Be prepared and always expect the unexpected. This, after all, was totally unexpected and Gardon was now prepared. He went back into the settlement, to the secret exit the rider had used. Finding a large bush he positioned himself underneath the bush and lay in wait for the midnight rider’s return. He would doze with one eye open and his ear to the ground.

***

The reconnaissance party from the Valley of the Misty Mountain, having reached the massive rock outcrop, decided to spend the night there. Tomorrow by the early light of dawn they would scout out the encampment of the meadowland people. Their task was to see if there were many able-bodied men or just a few. Were they scattered or was the camp heavily guarded? They would not ride to the obvious opening between the two cliffs as that would be guarded heavily for sure. No, they would search on both sides and ride as far each way as they could, looking for any access and weaknesses in the fortified camp. Maybe there was a way to climb up the cliffs, or a rear entrance?

With luck, they could be back to the rock outcrop in time for a meal before they left on their return journey to Alcock’s encampment in the Valley of the Misty Mountain. That was the plan.

The horses now tethered and resting for the night the trio made themselves as comfortable as they could on the stony ground out in the open. They brought blankets with them but the cold night’s air kept them in a state of wakefulness. It looked like there would not be one decent night’s sleep between the three of them, but finally Antas and Cantut drifted off in a fitful sleep. Balduk seemed to be more awake than he had been before; earlier he had has as much energy as a block of wood. Now he seemed quite alert and lay there with his eyes open, thinking. This was when he was to deviate from the original plan as he had an assignment of his own, one that Antas and Cantut knew nothing about. He kept looking at the moon, or rather where the moon glowed faintly behind the clouds, waiting for it to move to a different angle in the sky. He knew when it got to a certain position he was to rendezvous with someone from the camp of the meadowlanders. He was to look in a north-westerly direction and wait until he saw a rider approaching. The rider would not go close to the rock for fear Balduk’s companions would see him. Balduk had to start walking as soon as he saw a rider, if he could indeed see him as the night was pitch black. Not knowing the exact night the rendezvous could take place the rider was prepared to repeat the exercise a few times until finally contact was made. Tonight the scouting party was here; this would be the night.