Chapter 4

The sheep had been slashed, and it looked like the claws of a wild animal. A total of 20 sheep were dead, and in every case, they had been slashed on the side so that they bled to death. At least, we were able to recover the animals for food, though they had been so recently sheared that there was not enough fleece to make recovery of that worth the effort.

The strange thing was that none of the sheep had been eaten. Had a normal wild animal done the job, at least one of the sheep would have some signs of bite marks, but there were none at all. We did find tracks, but they looked like nothing that we had ever seen before. I knew that I needed more expert help, so I blew my whistle.

I had sent all of the workers back to collect whatever was needed to salvage what we could from the slaughter, and Rolf was my only companion. He already knew about the whistle, so he was only mildly shocked when Granny Eltman showed up so quickly. "Ah, Sir Geoffrey, I see that you have more trouble with magic monsters. Please show me what evidence that you have found."

I showed her the claw marks on the dead animals and the few strange tracks that we had found. Granny Eltman said, "I cannot say exactly which magical beast did this, but it is obvious that it was not one to meet alone on a dark night. The tracks make it certain that it was not one of the tsilom-variety. This beast was solid and massive at all times. I suspect that it was some version of the cat family sent out to play where it would not be harmed. This sort of spell of transportation is child's-play for a witch or warlock, and hardly more than the flick of a thought.

"I suspect that it was not meant to do much damage, but to bring you out of the Keep where you would not be protected by so many armed men. Be very alert when you return to the Keep. I would not be surprised to see another ambush as you return to the Keep. It occurs to me that I should transport you back to the Keep immediately."

"No, kind Lady, that might mean that the workers would be attacked instead of us. Can you provide us with some sort of protection against crossbow bolts. We can handle any thing else that humans could do. I want to find out if the motive was as you suggest. If there is an ambush, I would like to trip it."

"Very well, I can do that, but the spell will last no more than two hours. You must be back at the Keep by then."

I nodded, and Granny Eltman said some words that I could not understand and flung a glittering powder over our heads. I thanked her, and she bowed before she disappeared. I felt no different, but I was sure that the protection I had asked for was really there. Rolf did not look so certain, but his courage was up to the task in any case.

There was a detachment of troops with them to guard the workers, so I had no qualms about leaving them and returning to the Keep. Rolf and I rode back toward the Keep fast enough to arrive before it was time to change the guard over Lord Bushton, but not so fast at to make it impossible to ambush us.

As predicted, we were about half way home when we were suddenly attacked by a rain of crossbow bolts. We could feel them hit us and fall to the ground. The spell also protected our horses: something that I had forgotten to ask for. Fortunately, Granny Eltman had remembered.

There were eight men in the party of ambushers. One may hide while shooting a crossbow, but one must stand in plain sight while cocking and reloading, so we had no trouble in seeing our attackers. We were riding trained warhorses, so we had no trouble riding down the crossbowmen. They could not hurt us, but we had no trouble in hurting them. It took only about eight minutes for us to eliminate all of them, though we did have to chase some of them. They would have lived longer if they had stayed among the trees, but they panicked and did not think of that.

Rolf and I were hardly breathing hard when the fight was over: our horses had done most of the work. We were in a hurry to get home, but we went easy on the horses. These were faithful and very valuable animals, and we did not want to abuse them in any way.

We rode into the courtyard in plenty of time for Rolf to visit the jakes before he relieved Elbert as the watchman over Lord Bushton. I gave Elbert a synopsis of what had happened at the slaughter site and at the ambush on the way home. I could tell by the look on his face that he was sorely missing the little adventures that Rolf and I had been having. "Elbert, I promise you that you will be back to riding with Rolf and me as soon as the wedding is over and we have settled Lord Bushton's situation. You know as well as I do that he will be lucky, if lucky is the right word, to live two more weeks. If I had a wound like that, I would be praying for somebody to cut my throat arteries."

"Yes, Geoff, I understand that somebody you trust has to be on watch throughout the day. I appreciate the trust you put in me, but it is hard to sit there and have nothing to do but watch a man suffer like Lord Bushton is doing."

"I know what you mean, but he has to live long enough for me to marry his daughter. Otherwise, all Hell would fall on those two women of his. You know that the way things are, I could not marry Gwendolyn if she were not the daughter of a living man. The moment her father dies without a male heir, her property reverts to the King. Hell, if I did not know better, I would think that all of this was his doing. You know what my father thinks of the old bastard!"

"Why could it not be the King's doing. He is certainly capable of pulling this kind of low down and sneaky stunt. Look at what he did to the Elbertsons five years ago. Faye Elbertson was a beautiful woman before she had to marry that bastard the King found for her. Now she looks like a crone, and she is only 23 years old. I wonder how many of the stories told about what she has had to do under orders from her husband are true. If she has fucked as many horses as is claimed, her cunt must be as stretched as a priest's backside. And that does not count the number of dogs that she has supposedly been mated to."

"Elbert, you give me a lot to think about. If this is the King's doing, then we will have to be very careful. He could pull us all down at any time with a wink to the right people. I think that I will have to talk to Father about your idea. God, I hope that you are wrong!"

It is certain that we could never win a war with the King. Between Blakeslee and Springfeld, we could muster approximately 250 men-at-arms, but the King could raise 25,000 men-at-arms without straining his petty cash purse. Dammit, we could be in serious trouble without even knowing it! God, I hope Father has some good ideas!

Dammit, I have to talk to somebody! I wonder if Granny Eltman would consider it an imposition if I called on her? Oh, Hell, there is only one way to know.

I took out my whistle talisman and blew in it. Granny Eltman was standing beside me before I could finish my blowing breath. "I know what you were just thinking, Sir Geoffrey, and I want you to know that I meant what I said when I told you to call on me at any time that I could be of help. You are a kind young man who does not want to worry or overtax an old woman. Would it help if I looked like this?" Suddenly, I was not looking at Granny Eltman, but at a young woman of approximately 17 who could make a man cream in his pants if she just smiled at him. The next moment, she changed back into her familiar form.

"Sir Geoffrey, you would not believe me if I told you my true age, but rest assured that I look like this because it is what people expect to see in a hedge-witch, and that keeps them from being quite as frightened of me. I generally look like this all of the time because, like my house, if I change very often, I fear that I would overlook an important detail and spoil the illusion. Therefore, I choose to look like the crone that people expect.

"Now, you had several things of import that you wanted to discuss with me. Please begin."

"My Lady, now that I have seen what I have seen, I am more frightened of magic than ever before, but I will try to keep my fright under control. The first thing I wanted to discuss with you was my friend Elbert's speculation that the King is somehow behind what has happened to us. Some things make me tend to agree with him. Do you have an opinion?"