Untitled by Craig

Author:Craig
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-11-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

Delno woke early the next morning, and, this time, he was eager to be up and moving. Nat’s housekeeper was just coming in as he was leaving. “Oh, Missus Gentry, I’m glad I found you now. I have some clothes that need to be cleaned; I’ve laid them out. If you could have them cleaned and have any mending they need done I would greatly appreciate it. I won’t have time to have breakfast this morning, so I will find something in town.”

Missus Gentry was in early to receive the grocery order. She assured him that she would personally take care of his laundry, and he left the house headed directly for the garrison, wanting to get there early. This day he also carried his bow and the six practice arrows he had purchased with it. The practice arrows were exactly like the other arrows, except the tip was just a rounded piece of metal that was the same weight as the deadly double-bladed arrows that could be used for hunting or war. He intended to see what his new bow could really do, and, if possible, get any needed instruction from the archery master of the garrison.

While the night watch was ending their shift, the garrison proper was just getting into full swing. The men he met insisted that he join them for breakfast. He didn’t want to use garrison supplies, but was assured by Sergeant Smith that it would put the garrison under no hardship. They were well supplied and often shared their provender with travelers, so he ate with the men.

First light found him in the practice yard with a blunted blade in each hand facing his first opponent: it was Sergeant Smith. This Sergeant Smith was quite different than the good-natured, gossiping sergeant he had met. Despite his boyish good looks, this man was all business.

The two opponents circled each other, wary of the blades that were ready to strike. The sergeant, normally smiling, showed no emotion on his face of any kind. He was nearly impossible to read. Delno also became aware that there was quite an audience gathering. As he started to identify the men he knew in the audience, the sergeant took advantage of his momentary distraction and lunged with his sword. Delno turned the blade with his short sword easily enough but that had been a feint, the real danger from the attack was the sergeant’s shield. The man had expected him to block the blade and strike, so he caught the saber, allowing it to glance off his small shield and then tried to use the edge of the shield to strike at Delno’s face. The counter attack with the shield was unexpected and nearly succeeded. Delno had seen this ploy before and was able to recover in time to prevent the blow from landing, barely.

They circled again; this time Delno didn’t let the audience distract him. He watched the sergeant closely. Again the man’s face told him nothing. Delno shifted his concentration to the man’s chest.

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.