Chapter 39: A Strange Rescue

"Sven!" Bert yelled as he ran out of the smithy and into the stables. "Sven!"

"Over here!" Sven called from where he knelt next to a carriage, replacing its wheels with runners. As Bert ran over to him, Sven demanded, "What's all the shouting about?"

"Rose says to have the carriage and horses ready to go as soon as possible," Bert panted.

Sven gave him a blank look. "You're joking."

Bert shook his head.

"What in Goddess' name for?"

"Lancos just came back. He says there's a girl in the woods with Mother's Sorrow and needs Elaine's help."

"What about the girl's mother?"

Bert shook his head. "Lancos said they found her lost in the woods."

Sven felt a sinking feeling. "Lost? How did she get there? What about the others?"

Bert shrugged. "Rose is trying to get more information from him now, but Lancos said Muriel was performing a ritual when he left."

"Who with?" Sven asked, the sinking feeling deepening.

"Sharmon."

"Merciful Goddess," Sven whispered as he was rocked by the news. He stared blankly at Bert for a few moments before shaking himself. "How many will be going?"

"Lancos, Elaine, and a couple others."

Sven nodded. "Tell Rose all will be ready," He said with determination, and then called out for the stable hands. Bert nodded, and ran back inside as Sven said, "Torg, help me with the carriage, Alder, harness some horses, Milly, you help him. We'll be taking the carriage and the wagon. Nalen, put the cover on the wagon, and make sure there're extra blankets and supplies."

"What's going on?" Milly asked with a yawn.

"Rescue mission. Now move."

The stable hands' eyes all widened, and they jumped to follow Sven's orders. Within minutes, horses were being moved around and runners were replacing carriage wheels. As Milly led two horses past Sven, he said, "Make sure all the horses have blankets."

Milly nodded. "Yes, Sir."

A few minutes later, Sven and Torg had finished replacing the carriage's wheels with runners, and were lowering it back to the ground, when two women hurried into the stable through the smithy. One was a waitress, and carried a basket Sven knew contained hot soup and stew. The other was a maid from upstairs, and her arms were filled with blankets and furs. They stopped when they saw him standing up. "Put them in the wagon." Indicating the wagon with his head, he headed for his quarters. They nodded, scurried over to the front of the wagon, and put their cargo into the trunk.

The wagon greatly resembled a very early twentieth century truck that had been hitched to two horses so that it could be towed. It was not an early automobile though. There was a storage space where an automobile's motor would be. There was no steering wheel, and currently the wheels had been replaced by runners.

Nalen looked at the maid and gave her a smile. She smiled back shyly. Nalen jumped as Milly hit him. "Hurry up!" she snapped, trying to pull the wagon's canvas cover into the wagon bed. Nalen blushed and lifted the canvas up to her. They were just finishing when Sven came back wearing his blanket and coat.

"All ready?"

They nodded, and he want to check on the carriage. Shortly after, Rose, Lancos, and a couple of the woodsmen came out. Horses were saddled, and more provisions were brought out. Torg helped Elaine into the carriage, while Milly lit the lanterns on the carriage and wagon before climbing into the wagon next to Nalen. She gave him a look of defiance, and he shrugged.

"Lancos," Sven said with a nod of greeting to his friend. "Are you sure you can find your way back in this storm?"

"I'm sure," Lancos said, rubbing his arms. He had not fully dressed, and the cooler air of the stables was getting to him.

"Alright then, we're ready to go."

Lancos undressed and transformed while Sven leaned down and let Rose kiss him on the cheek. She took a step back out of the way. "May the Goddess protect you and speed you on your journey, and, Sven, please keep my girl safe." Sven nodded, and opened the stable doors. The woodsmen exited first, leading a couple extra horses for Lancos and the others. Once they were through the doors, they waited for the sleighs to follow them. Each of the sleighs had two pack mules behind them. Two of them carried supplies for the rescue party; the other two were to carry Lancos' parties things back.

As the wagon passed, Sven deftly plucked Milly from the seat. She protested mightily, but he cut her off. "Milly, I don't know how long I'll be, and I need you here to take care of the horses and the smithy while I'm gone."

Milly sighed. "Fine," She huffed and stomped back inside. Sven smiled a small smile after her, and then galloped off to catch up to the others.

Milly shut the door with a sigh. "I never get to go anywhere."

"How's the lass?" Harnley asked Sharmon as he poked his head into the tent.

Sharmon smiled tiredly. "She's asleep"

Harnley grinned. "Need anything?"

Sharmon shook her head.

"We've got stew," Harnley suggested hopefully.

"Ok, stew would be fine."

"Stew it is then." Harnley grinned, and backed out of the tent. He hurried over to the fire, where Vanessa and Ernon were huddled, grabbed up a bowl and started ladling stew into it.

"How is she?" Vanessa asked.

"They're fine," Harnley started to reply, when Ernon cocked his head and asked, "What's that?"

"What's what, Lad?"

"It sounds like jingling."

"Maybe some one's coming," Vanessa suggested, reaching for Ernon's crossbow and handing it to him.

"Could be," Ernon said, loading his weapon.

Harnley picked up his axe. "The lad couldn't have gotten there and back already, could he?"

Before Ernon or Vanessa could say anything else, there was a loud wolf howl.

"I guess that answers your question," Ernon said with a grin, lowering his weapon.

A minute later Lancos bounded out of the darkness knocking Vanessa over with an, "oof!"

Lancos looked down at Vanessa and whined a question to her.

Vanessa reached up and gave Lancos's fur a friendly rub. "They're ok, Lancos."

The wolf grinned and gave Vanessa a big wet lick across her face.

"Yuck, get off me you mutt!" she yelled good naturedly.

Lancos gave her an amused, "Yip!" while Ernon and Harnley laughed. Then he went over to the tents as the rest of the rescue party arrived.

Lancos whined quietly, and poked his nose into the tent.

"She's sleeping, Lancos. The ritual worked," Sharmon said, reaching up to scratch behind his ears. Lancos gave her fingers a lick and started to pull back. He paused when Sharmon called his name.

"Thank you."

He nodded, backed out and went into the other tent where Muriel was sleeping.

"Sven, we're glad to see you!" Ernon said as he greeted the arriving rescue party, nodding to the men he knew.