Chapter 10

Andrew

Andrew slept lightly with a strange woman nearby. He was worried she would either stab him in his sleep or try to climb into his tent with him. The first option was a cause for worry. The second had him plain terrified. When the predawn chorus of birds began their daily battle of song, Andrew woke and decided they needed to get moving early. He was worried that somebody would find Brena before she had fully healed. He could tell the replacement of Hara’s reproductive organs had taken its toll on her. Crawling quietly out of his tent, he moved a few feet to the old tent that Hara used. He tapped on the leather flap, hoping to wake her without opening it. When she didn’t respond, he said, “Hara, we need to get moving. Time to get up.” He listened but didn’t hear any stirring inside. He waited a few more seconds, then pulled the end flap open. The tent was empty. He did note that the blankets were neatly rolled and ready to be packed. ‘Where is she?’ he thought. ‘If she ran, I would have a slower trip back carrying everything.’

Hara

Hara woke at her usual time, just before the birds. She climbed out quietly, not wanting to disturb Andrew, her new master. He didn’t like the thought of having a slave, but he had won her fair and square. She was his now. She would serve him however she could, or he would allow. She knew she would serve his woman as well. She had been with other women a time or two when her old master had shared her out. Brena seemed nice, but she would only know for sure once they got to know each other better. She slipped from camp and relieved her morning waist in a small, dry runoff gully. Noticing several plants with edible roots further up the gully, she picked up a small branch to dig them out. Hara folded the bottom of her shirt to carry Roots back to camp. By the time she had returned, Andrew was up and looking around for her. She didn’t want to sneak up on him, so before she entered the small clearing, she called, “Master, I am back here; I have some fresh taters, turnips, and carrots.” She was glad she had stayed back. Andrew spun, sword out, ready to do battle. She stepped into the clearing, seeing him relax when he saw her alone.

Walking to the fire pit, she knelt and set the roots on the edge of her tent to keep them from getting more dirt on them. “Mast ... Andrew, I need a small pot of water heating while I clean these.” His face clouded, then relaxed. She could see he would need more time before he could accept her calling him master.

Andrew

Andrew walked to the nearby brook that fed into the river. He filled the cooking pot with water and returned to the camp. Hara had scraped the dirt from the roots, preparing them to cook while he was gone. He sat the pot down next to her and stepped back. ‘I am afraid of this woman. ‘Why?’ he thought. ‘She isn’t a threat to me, nor to Brena. Whenever she calls me master, I feel a pain in my gut. I can’t own another human being. It is wrong.’ While she prepared the vegetables, he broke down the tents, keeping a wary eye on her. He had done this chore enough times he had the tents down and stored in just a few minutes. Gathering the rest of the loose items took even less time.

He left the cooking gear out for Hara to complete her work. With the pot over the fire, she soon had the water steaming. Hara added the peeled taters and carrots to the water to let them soften. From the on-hand supplies, she found the container with flour. Hara had no eggs but could make a fast-cooking flatbread with a bit of water. She used a flat stone to heat and cook the dough. Andrew watched this and smiled. ‘I may not like owning her, but she knows her way around a wood camp.’ He finished breaking the camp down so they could leave as soon as they ate.

“Hara, how far are we from your home?” he asked.

Hara didn’t stop what she was doing but was deep in thought at the question. “Well, we are several week’s travel from my family’s estates. I can’t go back. My brother sold me, so I cannot go back.” She spooned out the cooked tubers from the pot and checked the flatbread. It was ready to eat as well. They ate in silence, listening to the woods around them. They would be fine if the birds didn’t seem upset. Hara could tell that nobody was close enough to bother them.

Andrew ate, thinking about the implications. Hara, in her mind, belonged to him. ‘I am not going to be her master. That would violate everything I believe in. Yet she would remain with me even if I took he home.’ The soup turned out quite good, and when soaked into the bread, it filled him and warmed his belly. This made for a fair start to the day. “Tell me, Hara, is there a town or village nearby? I don’t know this area.” He watched her as she brushed a few loose black hairs from her face. He opened a side pouch on his pack and removed a few inches of string. He closed the pouch and stood, walking around behind Hara. She stiffened when she felt his hand touch her head. Hara relaxed as she felt him tie her hair back so it would stay out of her eyes. With the task complete, Andrew returned to the log he had been leaning against.

She frowned again, “There is a town about two hours walk downstream from the mill. It is a strange place. The mill used to supply all the flour for the town. Now, they grind it all in the town. A strange building that always has smoke coming from the chimneys.”

Andrew considered this news momentarily, then finished loading Brena’s pack. Hara stood and held her arms back so he could slip the straps over her arms and shoulders. He let the weight down carefully, not knowing if Hara could handle the load. She grunted as the weight settled on her back. “That woman must be as strong as an ox. This is heavy,” Hara said.

“Brena is strong; I’ll give her that,” said Andrew. “We need to get moving to make it back before nightfall.” Andrew started off, this time following the creek that he hoped would get them back to the river faster. After a few minutes of breaking trail, he glanced back and saw that Hara was struggling with the pack’s weight. He slowed down so she was able to catch up after a minute. “Hara, I would have thought those men would have used you as a pack mule for all their gear. You should be stronger than this.”

“Most of the time, we had a pack mule. It would carry most of the heavy items,” Hara said, panting hard to keep up.

“I didn’t see a mule around the mill,” he replied.

“It caught a hoof in a hole and broke a foreleg on the way to the mill. It had to be put down.”

“Ouch, I see. Just try not to break one of your legs,” said Andrew. He kept a close eye on the path he was cutting, looking for such holes. Andrew didn’t need the injury, nor did Hara. ‘I am drawn to this woman, yet I shouldn’t be,’ he thought. ‘I need to talk to Brena; maybe she can help me clear up these feelings.’ Andrew continued in silence, pausing occasionally to drink, making sure Hara drank as well. One break was needed to relieve full bladders about midday. For Hara, he helped get the pack off her back so she could squat. He noted she didn’t have any unclothing to protect her skin. ‘Another thing for Brena to help with,’ he sighed.

Brena

Brena ached. Her lower abdomen was sore as hell. She knew it was from the replacement of the uterus. How Hara had survived that experience, she couldn’t guess. For most women, that would be a death sentence. She assumed it to be late morning from the angle of the light coming in. She had woken up a few times during the night to empty her bladder. The one time she had to empty her bowels, she had made a mess by missing the bucket. It had been a wet splash that took time to clean up. She didn’t want the place stinking and the flies that would be attracted.

Lifting herself over the edge of the cot, she could slowly stand. During the night, this had been a painful experience. Now, it was just a dull ache. She added to the bucket, then carefully lifted it to take outside. Going down the steep steps was slow, but she made it without slopping on herself or the floor. Outside the mill, she momentarily blinked in the bright light, letting her eyes adjust. When she could see again, she walked around the building to the river. Brena noted the bodies were missing, thinking Andrew and Hara must have buried them before they left. She rinsed the bucket, then returned to the main room of the mill house. Brena took time to study the building. From the ruined mess of the wheel and the rusted state of all the metal, she guessed it had been abandoned for a few years. She could see water lines where flooding had helped wreck everything further. The big Thaw must not have done the old building any good either. She was surprised it had survived. Back at the cot, she found the food bag Andrew had left for her. Inside, she saw he had left most of the supply of dried meat and fruits.