Prey: The Drovers: Book 1 by John D. Brown

Author:John D. Brown [Brown, John D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781940427188
Publisher: Blacksword Publishing
Published: 2019-11-21T16:00:00+00:00

18

The Lilly of Wellsdrop

The meal was the same as it had been the evening before with one exception. They had the same barley, peas, and herbs, but Lagash had also included the hares they’d caught. The porridge was a delight despite the hard stare Caswal gave him, and Ferran and Itch both licked their bowls clean.

There was another lidded black, iron pot with legs sitting next to the fire. Lagash heaped some coals onto the top.

“What’s in there?” Ferran asked.

“Crickets,” said Lagash.

“Crickets?” asked Ranoc.

“They’re delicious.”

The boys looked at each other dubiously.

Lagash kept his face straight, and Ferran couldn’t tell if he was pulling their legs or not.

Borros said, “Well, there won’t be any cricket pie until you finish your spears. You need to get a good hard point on them. So when you finish your porridge, I want you to remove the bark on the last foot of your shaft. Then you’re going to cut it to a point, but don’t start that until I show you how.”

Ferran took out his knife and began to shave off the bark. The others soon joined him. When they had exposed the wood, Borros took a little stick from the fire that had char on the end, then grabbed Krov’s staff. “We’re going to create a seven-inch spike. So start seven inches back from the end like this. Then draw a triangle to the tip. You’ll cut the wood away. Then we’ll turn it, draw another triangle, and cut that away.”

The boys all grabbed a stick from the fire and drew their lines, then Ferran and Winwalom worked together to cut theirs, one boy holding the shaft firmly against the wagon while the other set his knife on the wood and used a stick as a mallet. The other boys saw how quickly they were making their cuts and soon followed their lead.

“When you finish your first cuts,” Borros instructed, “it will look like a tall pyramid. Then you’ll whittle the edges of the pyramid off until you have your spike.”

The boys finished their cuts and began whittling. And Ferran began imagining having to use his spear. Could he stick a man with this? He supposed he could if it was stick the man, or die.

When they finished, Borros held up a stone and said, “I want you to find a rough stone like this one. You’re going to rub the cut wood until it’s fairly smooth.”

They found their stones and began. As they worked, Borros made sure each was doing it right. As they were finishing up, he said, “This is looking good. You’ll thank me for this. Every man needs to know how to make a spear. And with the maggot king of Osson making threats, your lord may very well muster you to use it.”

Winwalom asked, “Do you think raiders will spot you on the sea road?”

Lagash said, “There’s no doubt they’ll spot us. The question is whether they will risk a landing.”

“And Pencoy is going to escort you?”

“That’s what he promised.

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