Usually quiet the forest outside of Northern Stone was alive with the sound of hoofs and neighing horses. A grand chariot had been making its way through the forest for the past 4 days and after being exposed to mud and snow the chariot didn't appear so grand but it was still obvious it belonged to some Lord or lady from the city.
The boy
The forest outside the city of Nordingston frothed over with the sound of wheels, and hoofs as a grand quartet of shires, led an even grander carriage down a crooked bridle path. Three days of dense forest had left the carriage looking a little ordinary, but even underneath all the forest grime it still exuded a level of luxury. Cole, the boy in the driver's seat didn't have it any better. After braving rain, wind, mud, and even some snow from his unprotected driver's seat he was closer in resemblance to a wild boy than someone who'd just rode out of the the city.
The couple inside the warm safety of the carriage had of course no such worry. Hitherto, their greatest complaint had all to do with taut joints from being crammed into a box for long stretches of time. So, once in while they would order the boy to pull up where the forest was lighter, to stretch their legs, and even ease themselves while at it. The clean forest air provided a much welcomed change to the grime and crime infested streets of Uton.
It was a little passed noon on day four, and there still was no sign of the sun in the endless grey of the sky. Certainly this had to be the coldest day of the journey so far, and neither the thin livery, nor the scarf around the boy's face was able to keep him from freezing his ears and bum off. The leafy ground was still soaking up the rainfall from the previous day, and already the thunder was crackling above the canopy of trees. The pines along the muddy path swayed side-to-side as a cold draft quietly took them for a dance, meanwhile the carriage rumbled full speed ahead down the bridle path as it had been doing al morning long.
The hoofs of the horses leading the carriage and its wheels still were the only sounds the boy could hear. As if that wasn't strange enough, he was yet to sight a single animal--either lurking between the trees, or high up in their branches. At first it was just a passing observation, but now it gave him a sick feeling in his stomach. There was something very off about it all, about this forest. Try as he did, he couldn't make sense of it; it was too quiet.
He pinned his ears back and listened closely. Yes, that was his stomach. He was dying of hunger having blessed the ground with his last proper meal two days ago. He'd already resorted to thievery once, and ran the risk of getting caught if he kept on stealing from the couple. His belly didn't care about any of that as it growled away like a lion cub.
"Boy, my wife and I will be needing to stretch very soon, so find a place to park," a man commanded from the carriage.
"Yes sir, " Cole replied like a good little servant, although what he really meant to say was,"Get lost!".
"Idiots!" He seethed under his breath. They were the two most disagreeable souls under the sun, and there were quite a few foul people where he came from. More than once he'd considered riding away without them, but the kindness in his heart wouldn't let him. He lashed the horses in frustration, but felt awful afterwards. It wasn't their fault he was in this terrible spot, if anything they shared in his pain, since they too hadn't been fed in while.
"I'm sorry," he said to the horses that pressed forward, unaffected by his apology. How did he get into this mess? No, why did he get himself. into it?
At least his misery was drawing to an end--if the spire protruding above the forest was any indication. He had excitedly risen from his seat when he'd first noticed it. Back then it was barely a scratch on the sky. Now it was a full-blown structure with a well defined outline. Nordingston was beckoning.
The boy froze suddenly. He'd seen something--a flash--appear and vanish, behind a tree up ahead. There it was again! Behind a different tree now, and he was steering them right towards it. The boy threw himself backwards, taking the reins with him. As soon as the shires felt the tug around their thick and long necks, their feathery hooves dug deep into the ground. Neighing, and showing off their big yellow teeth, they stood their ground as only beasts of their power could. The carriage rose up on its front two wheels, like a toy-thing, behind them. The exaggerated screams of the two passengers shot through the forest. With a single heavy thud the carriage returned to the earth.
The forest was now as quiet as the sea after a storm. However, there was nothing calm or quiet, about the the boy's heart, which pounced like drum in his ears. He gawked ahead with full round eyes. It was a miracle that he was still in his seat after what had just happened. He wondered how the passengers were doing.
He looked around wide eyed for a bear to leap out. What he saw certainly had the right size and stature. Not that he was a bear expert or anything; he just knew that they were supposed to be big, and that whatever that was, it had looked pretty big. He peeled his eyelids back, so that his eyes protruded like a pair of big red marbles.
He's heard some nasty stories about the furry beasts, which made his skin crawl with fear. All the stories, mentioned that they were an unspeakable terror, hungry as the grave, thirsty as a bottomless loch. A meeting with one, they say, was as good as a date with death herself. An exaggeration most likely, but the boy wasn't planning to find out.
"What in botherations was that boy... hmm!" The carriage door flew open and a short portly man with a grand mustache stumbled out onto the muddy forest floor. He marched up to the driver's seat, with as much dignity as he could muster in his current disheveled state. He straightened his hair down the sides of his head, fixed his collar, and then in an effort to seem stately, stuck out a knee.
"I asked you to park the carriage not to crash it! Do explain yourself right this instant, before I lose my temper any further! What in the hell was that - that THING you did with the carriage! You trying to kill me... my WIFE!"
The boy wanted to respond, he really wanted to, but in-between the little man jabbering away, he couldn't think of anything smart to say and had only ended up with a stumped look on his face.
"The fool can't speak!" The man's expensive look, topped off by his black fur cape, and velvet shoes that also would have been pitch black if they weren't inches under brown mud gave him a very important look. Like a baron or something similar. The boy didn't know and didn't dare ask him.
"Sir, please get back in the carriage sir." he said.
"Finally, he speaks, and the first thing he does is issue a command." the man said with words dripping with sarcasm.
"I saw somethin sir?"
"Did you now?" the man said, looking around nervously. "I see nothing."
"I saw something by the trees over there. It could have been a bear... I think. "
The man's face turned as white as the snow on the branches on the trees surrounding them, at the mention of the word bear.
"So, you better get back to safety sir." The boy added.
Just then a blood curdling scream rattled his ears.
"Elizabeth!" the man shouted, rushing back to the carriage. When he got there he happened on the sight of a stranger sitting inside his carriage, and saying something to his wife. He was a large fellow, practically a giant next to the small woman who was sitting with her knees turned towards him as she listened attentively.
"Hello," the stranger greeted him peering over the woman's shoulder, ending his conversation with her. He waved at him with a hand that big enough to break his wife like a twig. With his other hand, he held onto a long twisted stick, that was too small for him to use as a cane.
"Hope it wouldn't be too much trouble if I hopped in for a ride," The stranger said, more declaring than asking.
The man outside the door glared at the stranger, and then as if to to say yes, nervously climbed into the carriage,and sat in the only open seat, opposite his wife and the stranger.
"Start the carriage, now boy!" He shouted as he shut the door, and in a minute they were back on the road.
The stranger inspected the faces of his two travelling companions. He thought the woman had lovely blue eyes. His nostrils were trained to sense magic, but the only thing he could smell on these two was their chocking perfume. Did he have the right people?
A drawn out silence ensued as no person was ready to speak.
"I'm Sleeswik. You're wife and I already met." the stranger finally said, extending a hand to the man. He was patient while the man figured out how to grab a hold of his large hand and shake it.
"And you are" The stranger asked the man as they finally shook hands.
"Wilfr..." the man mumbled reluctantly, "Wilfred." he then snapped after the stranger asked him to repeat himself. Thereafter, he folded his hands and began to look out the window.
"Tell me Emma, how did you and your husband come upon the boy, I mean the driver?" The stranger said, giving her a look that demanded a response.
"Eh, well I'm not sure. He works for us I think." She looked at her husband who returned her stare without saying anything.
"I see. So you didn't raise him?" The stranger asked.
"Raise him?" The man blurted out amused, opening his mouth for the first time since telling the stranger his name. "The boy is not my son. He is a hired employee. Why should I have raised him?"
The stranger merely looked at him and sighed. He had become quite bored of talking. It was time for a little action. He held up his stick in the middle and flicked its tip against the air; first while pointing it at the man, and then at the woman. They both sneezed once, but nothing else happened. So he did it again, and just as before the couple sneezed, again only once.
"What is the meaning of this!" The man finally demanded, raising his voice high enough to draw the boy's attention.
"Is everything alright in there," the boy said from his perch, turning his head slightly but still keeping an eye on the road. He waited for an answer that never came. He wasn't going to inquire more, it was probably a private matter.
Meanwhile back in the carriage the man was still demanding an answer from the stranger. He was crouching on his feet now, and bravely shaking his finger at the larger man.
"That's enough!" the stranger roared, returning the man on his bum, "Clearly I've made a mistake here. You're not the people I'm looking for. But I am still curious about how you came upon that boy." He looked at them waiting for an answer.
"I told you he works for me, old man. He's just one of my many drivers. If that displeases you, then so be it." The woman looked up at her husband in astonishment, clearly troubled by his daringness to challenge the much larger man.
"I'm afraid the two of you will need to summon one of your other driver to take wherever it is you're headed, because this one is coming with me."
"And just how do you expect us to do that!"
"That's for you to worry about." The stranger said to the man, "Maybe you can drive yourself."
Ignoring the suggestion the man continued to vent, "You can't just leave us here in the forest."
Their argument had reached the boy and troubled him enough that he decided to stop the carriage.
"Is everything alright sir." He said getting off from his seat. Again he was ignored by the people inside, but this time he was going to find out what was going on. He approached the door of the carriage and knocked on it.
causing the carriage to wobble as he stood up from his seat. The man opposite him rushed to open the door, and rushed through it as he got it opened. The large stranger was right behind him, and sighed cheerfully as he straightened his back outside. He looked even more imposing now that he was standing up. His broad shoulders towering not only above the two people standing in front of him, the other being the boy, but also above the carriage. The boy stared at the beast of the man with a gaping jaw.
"What?" The stranger asked him.
"What - what are you?" he breathed, still staring at the man in amazement.
"What, they don't have old men where you come from?"
"Sorry, I mean are you a giant."
The question elicited a chortle from the stranger, "I wish. By the way I didn't mean to scare you back there."
"That was you?" The boy blurted in amazement. "Of course it was." The boy thought to himself staring at the bear's head the man was wearing as a helmet.
"Yup."
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