The Witch of Glenaster by Mills Jonathan

Author:Mills, Jonathan [Mills, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3, epub
Published: 2014-01-03T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Thomas flung the heavy scarf across his shoulder, and tucked it into his coat. Then, looking briefly around the room, he gathered up the canvas bag from where it lay on the sofa, and looped it over his arm. Then he fastened and refastened his sword-belt, and several times checked that all he needed was within easy reach. Finally, he took the long dagger, the seax, from its place on the mantelpiece, and quickly ran his eyes along the blade, before returning it to its scabbard, beside his sword. Then he turned to face us.

“Ready?” he asked, and his voice was hardly more than a whisper. We nodded. “Good. Then let’s go.”

It was clear that we could not now remain behind while Thomas disappeared for weeks, or even months, on his journey to the north – though his first instinct, he confessed, was that we should do precisely that. But he said he feared for our safety if we did so, and besides, he did not trust me not to follow him (in this, he was correct). Also, Stefano was sick from the fire-slave’s bite, and may or may not recover; either way, the house would be no place for children during the coming days. Thomas had offered to take Stefano to the Guards’ Hospital, in the west of the city, but the old man had refused, saying there was nothing the physicians could do for him, and, if he must die, he would rather do so in his own bed. And so Thomas had agreed, though with reluctance, to this request, making sure there was enough food in the house to last the next week at least, and, with our help, cleaning the rooms of the remains of the gross, blood-fat insects lying there, and ensuring that any gaps or holes where they might again gain entry were plugged or covered up.

Then, having made his decision, he told us we were to leave with him before dawn, and accompany him to the Dragon’s Head, where he had friends waiting; and, having said this, he insisted we get as much sleep as time allowed, while he prepared for our journey.

And so, at just before three o’clock, he had roused us and told us to wash and dress as quickly as possible, and then to meet him downstairs, where he had travelling clothes and supplies ready. We did so, my brother rubbing the sleep wearily from his eyes, and I tired and dazed.

He explained that he had been out, briefly, during the night, to find some things we needed that he could not obtain from Stefano’s stores (though he did not say where he had got them from). There were scarves and thick coats for us, and packs of clean clothes; bundles of cheese and apples; a cake of soap each; and sticks of herbs, to keep our teeth clean. For Magnus there was a great fur hat, too big for him, so that when he was fully dressed he looked rather like a stuffed toy, and Thomas and I laughed at this, which made him sulk.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.