Her name was Raven

Chapter 10

In every city...

We'll be heading back to Lancastershire.

I started to remember.

The trade road to Lancastershire, the only big city in the land, was a busy one. During that month many people travelled it. One traveller was a silk merchant who had seen the horse by the road on his way back to his family. As he'd ridden closer he'd seen the mass of birds, a carpet of black, take flight. It had been spectacular. Curious, he'd slowed to see what had caused such a gathering, and found her.

***

Raven came to in a dark room on a mattress. Her throat was dry. She still felt dizzy. Her head rang like a tolling bell. In confusion she tried to sit up and stagger out of bed. She fell, knocking over a jug as she reached for anything to hold onto. It crashed to the wooden floor and Raven followed it. She rolled over and pressed a hand to her head in an attempt to stop it throbbing. The door opened and the room became marginally lighter.

"Well it's too late to tell you not to move," a kind, rich voice remarked. "Just try and be still, here, back into bed. You had a nasty fall."

The woman helped Raven back into the bed and when she was once again laid down Raven got a good look at her. She was a rounded woman with a full figure. Her skin was darkly tanned and she wore a plain dress with an apron over it, but her clothing was in good condition. Her long thick dark hair was coiled up in a large bun at her nape. Her face showed laughter lines of someone who'd had a good life.

Raven tried to speak but all that emerged was a raspy croak.

"Here, drink in sips only," the woman said, holding out a mug. As Raven attentively tried to swallow the woman told her that her name was Katherine and that her husband had found Raven at the side of the road. He'd thought at first that she was dead, that the birds had already begun to eat the corpse, but it seemed that they'd been protecting her of sorts and he'd brought her back to try and revive her.

Finally Raven felt her voice and energy trickle back enough to speak.

"Where am I?" she asked. Katherine smiled at her.

"You're in the biggest city this side of the sea to be sure, Lancastershire," she answered. "It was luck; really, you were only a few miles from the city. Robert mightn't have gotten you back in time, otherwise."

Raven sunk into the bed; Lancastershire, only miles from it. So she'd made it.

"You just rest up, and worry once you're back on your feet. I must say, we thought the worst. But now you've come to, so there's nothing to worry about," Katherine continued. Raven could think of plenty to worry about, but for now she would follow Katherine's advice. She'd been running for months in the country and now she was staying with a complete stranger, lost in a city. They couldn't find her.

***

Gilford patted the old mare. She was lonely, the poor girl. Her regular companions had left and Gilford had turned the Lass's horse out to graze, the gelding needed it. Weighing it in his mind he slipped a halter over the mare's neck and let her out of the stall. He led her into the small paddock where Robin had been grazing happily for weeks. A bit of sun wouldn't hurt her. He let her go and lent on the gate for a while, watching. The young stable lad found him there. He cleared his throat.

"I know you're there, no need to huff and cough about it. You've been missing, you're lucky the master didn't give you the boot in your absence," Gilford grumbled.

"I've been, ah, a little sick," the boy replied. Gilford turned to meet his eye squarely.

"Sick, I'll say. Sick to yer gut from drink like as not. Been passed out on some step, have you?"

"Not... exactly..."

"Well then, spit it out. What's your excuse?"

The boy stuttered, "I went to the tavern you see, on my day off. It was all right. Then I had a few and started telling stories, the blokes wanted me to, see? And they kept me going and I didn't know the time and next thing these real polished fellas show up, and one, he asks me to tell him a story like I bin tellin' the others. I said no straight off, you see? See I knew I was missing and I'd better be gettin back, but they insisted they did. Sat me down on a stool and put a drink in front of me and I said well, I might as well, seeing as they paid my drink, hadn't they? So I told them, I started with that time when we was trying to shoe that hard-head of a mare, and they weren't interested. All they wanted to hear was bout the master bringing out that girl and I said well I didn't know anything now, did I? And then they, I mean he, said that he'd come all the ways from the big smoke, the city see, and that he wanted to know. Then he put another drink in front of me and I woke up this morning and came straight here to beggin the master's forgiveness. It's not my fault at all see?"

Gilford did see; he saw all too well. It explained the sudden appearance of the well groomed men and the sudden disappearance of the lass, Raven.

"The master's out, and these are my stables. So you can take yourself straight back to that tavern and look for work because I don't want to see you here again," Gilford told the stupid, young man, and then turned on his heel and marched back to the stables. The ex-stable hand took his hits and fled to find comfort in the village.

In the stables Gilford shook his head over the foolishness of the young, the stupidity of the drunk, the fickleness of love, and the burdens that fell on the undeserving.