The Merchant and the Menace by Daniel F McHugh

Author:Daniel F McHugh [Daniel F McHugh]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: cookie429, Kat, Extratorrents
ISBN: 9781478238782
Amazon: 147823878X
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2012-06-25T14:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17: THE BLACKSMITH’S APPRENTICE

In the morning, Kael was once again the last to wake. The clearing was filled with the hazy gray of predawn. A mist hung in the air. Flair had saddled their horses and given each the remainder of the rubdown he was forced to forgo the night before. One thing was for sure about Flair. He was a hard worker. Kael knew Hamly’s ranch produced quality horses, and now he knew why. Flair worked himself to the bone to make sure these horses were properly cared for.

Flair led the chestnut over and helped Kael into the saddle. Eidyn tossed an apple to Kael and the young man deftly snatched it out of the air.

“Cold rations this morning, my friend,” said Eidyn.

“Anything will do,” smiled Kael.

Manfir put his heels into the flanks of the black stallion and the group moved forward. They wound their way around the brambles and thickets that populated this area of Zodra. It was tricky riding in the semidarkness before sunrise. The group climbed a small embankment and stood on the Great Northern Trade Route. Manfir surveyed the road in either direction. Kael saw no one on it. The big man turned to the group.

“We will arrive in Quay within the hour. I suggest Granu ...” began Manfir.

Kael turned to survey the group as well. Granu was not amongst them.

“It’s disconcerting when the lone Keltar in our collection slips away like that,” grumbled Manfir to Ader.

“Disconcerting? I call it self-preservation,” returned Ader.

Manfir led them down the road toward Quay. It seemed a short span indeed before they came upon the outlying structures of the town. A large dog howled at them from a nearby farm. The smell reminded Kael why hog farmers always built furthest from the town center. Recent events were so foreign that the familiar smell of hogs comforted him.

They passed a few more small farms and an old mill set against a creek that wound into the countryside. Kael noted how early it was. None of the farmers were working outdoors yet. The sun left the eastern horizon and a sliver of sky shown underneath it.

Finally, several hundred yards ahead, Kael saw a cluster of buildings and a few people moving amongst them. The group slowly made its way into town. They passed the local tannery and waved a swarm of flies from in front of their faces. The blacksmiths shop stood across the road and his apprentice, outfitted in a heavy leather smock stood at the bellows stoking the fire blazing hot for the day’s work.

The boy looked up as the group passed. Kael noticed how the young man appraised them and their mounts. A satisfied look passed over his face and then he looked to the horse’s hooves. The boy stepped from the blacksmith’s shed.

“Master Elf! Are your horses in need of any shoeing? Your young master’s mount carries his front left awkwardly,” said the boy pointing to Eidyn’s stallion.

Teeg reined in and the group followed suit.

“Perhaps you should take a look, my good man.

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