Chapter Four
Off and on for a week the snow fell. Then just when blue sky peeked through and they thought the weather was about to improve, it disappeared and the snow fell once more. On the eighth day since their arrival in Hunter’s Reach, they finally awoke to sky devoid of snow. Clouds still held a presence, but the storm was over.
Snow covered everything. From Riyan’s window, the world looked to be covered in a blanket of white. A few people were out and about, struggling through snow that came to their hips. “Man,” he breathed. Glancing over to Bart who stood next to him, he asked, “Can we make it?”
“Possibly,” replied Bart. “One trader I talked with yesterday said there was a roadside inn several miles to the south. If we can make it before nightfall we should be alright.”
“But if we don’t,” added Chyfe, “we’ll freeze.” When Riyan glanced at him, he gave him a concerned look.
Bart nodded in agreement. “Most likely.” Glancing to the sky, he again took in the way the clouds were continuing to disperse. Off to the west it looked like another system may be coming their way. If it was, it wouldn’t arrive for a day or so.
“How about after the roadside inn?” Riyan asked. “Is there anything further south?”
“Not until the crossroads in the hills north of the Tinderlock Mountains,” he explained. “The trader said there were a couple inns and a smithy there.” He turned to Riyan and said, “It’s only half a day past the roadside inn.”
Riyan nodded. “What do you think?” he asked.
Bart glanced again to the sky. “I think we should try it,” he replied. “The weather looks as if it’s going to hold.” Turning back to Riyan, he added, “We won’t be assured of good weather for another month or two at least.”
“I don’t fancy remaining here in Hunter’s Reach until spring,” Chyfe stated. “Let’s go.”
“Alright,” agreed Riyan. “Let’s get the others and be on our way.” As Bart and Chyfe went to gather their equipment and head down to the stables, Riyan again looked to the sky. “Just hold,” he said under his breath. Then he turned and made ready to leave.
When Bart informed Soth they were heading out, he said, “Thank goodness. If I had to stay around here and look at Seth’s ugly face another day, I think I would have lost it.”
“But,” Bart said, “you’re twins.” Then he saw Soth break into a grin at his expense.
Seth chuckled as he slapped Bart on the back. “I’m the handsome one don’t you know,” he asserted.
Bart glanced from one to the other, unable to tell them apart other than Soth tended to cut his hair shorter. “We’ve been cooped up here too long,” he mumbled as he slung his pack across his shoulders. Heading out down to the stables, he left the twins arguing about who was better looking. “Like it mattered,” he said out loud to himself, shaking his head.
“Like what mattered?” asked Chyfe. He and Chad joined Bart in the hallway outside their rooms. Bart nodded his head back to the room containing the twins.
Chad grinned. “Oh,” he said. Most of the time they had been cooped up during the last week, Seth and Soth had been bickering about one thing or another almost without stop. Fortunately, it had all been good natured sibling rivalry.
Outside, they found the courtyard buried in drifts of snow, some almost as deep as they were tall. Several trails were already cut through the snow from where others had already been out and about this morning. One such path led to the stable and they were soon inside saddling their horses.
Riyan and Kevik joined them a few minutes later followed by the twins. In short order, they were mounted and making their way out into the snow covered courtyard. The horses had some difficulty negotiating their way through the accumulated drifts, it was clear they didn’t care for the icy coldness of the snow. The streets through town were a bit better as others had already broken paths along which they could follow.
“You’ve got to be kidding!” Riyan suddenly exclaimed.
“What?” asked Bart as he turned to his friend.
“Look over there,” Riyan said, pointing down a side street.
Bart and the others turned to find a ten wagon caravan slowly making its way along through the snow. “What idiot would take wagons out in weather like this?” Chyfe asked.
“I suppose there’s a profit to be made,” commented Chad, “especially when most of the other caravans are waiting for the spring thaw to resume trading.”
Riyan just shook his head. If it wasn’t for the fact that time was running out to win Freya, he wouldn’t have braved such weather himself. But come summer, her wedding with Rupert will take place unless they find the King’s Horde and he can change her father’s mind.
Bart and Chyfe took the lead as they left the outskirts of Hunter’s Reach. A mile out of town, they came to where a wagon’s width of snow had been removed from the center of the road and placed to the right.
“How did this come about?” Chyfe asked. He could see where a lane of cleared snow came from their right, turned onto the road, then continued ahead of them into the distance. It was of uniform width throughout its entire length.
“I don’t know,” replied Bart. “But it will make for faster going.”
They moved into the cleared swath and continued down the road. A few miles further ahead, the mystery as to how the cleared swath had come to be was solved. Coming their way was a man riding a sled being pulled by a four horse team. The sled wasn’t a normal, run of the mill sled. Instead, it had a slanted front that angled to the right with iron reinforcing the leading edge. As the sled moved along, it scraped snow from the road and pushed it to the side.
Bart was greatly impressed by the ingenuity that had gone into the sled. When he came closer, he saw that the back of the sled held four large logs. Coming to a stop, he greeted the driver of the sled.
“Good day to you,” he said as the driver came abreast of him.
“Whoa there,” the driver said to his team as he pulled back gently on the reins. Coming to a stop, he glanced to Bart and then the others. “Good day to you as well,” he replied.
Bart gazed at the sled and said, “That’s an odd sled you have there.”
The driver grinned. “There isn’t another like it in the world,” he said. “Made it myself.”
“Why?” asked Chad. “I’ll agree that it clears the snow away well enough, but why go to the bother? Won’t it melt soon enough?”
“Sometimes it does,” answered the driver. “Sometimes it doesn’t.” He gestured behind him then continued speaking. “I have pastures down there where I raise cattle. At times I need to bring them closer to home, especially in weather like this. I found that if I make a path with my sled, the cattle follow it without hesitation.”
Bart nodded. “That makes sense,” he said.
“I’m surprised the town doesn’t hire you to clear their streets for them,” Soth said. “From the amount of cursing we heard from those out in it, they’d probably pay you pretty good to get rid of it for them.” Seth nodded agreement.
The driver’s eyes lit up as if he hadn’t even considered the possibility. “I might just do that good sir,” he said.
Bart gestured to the logs sitting in the back of the sled. “What are those for?” he asked.
Glancing back to the logs, the driver grinned. “When I first constructed my sled, it didn’t work all that great. Instead of pushing the snow to the side, my sled would be the one being pushed. After I added the logs to give it more weight, the snow no longer pushed my sled aside. Four logs are the best number. Any less and my sled begins skewing to the side, and any more will quickly tire my horses.”
“You are truly an ingenious man,” Riyan said. Then he gave the driver a nod. “Good luck with your cattle.”
“Thank you sir,” the driver replied. “You have a good day too.” With a flick of the reins and a ‘yah!’, the sled began moving out once again.
“Never seen anything like it,” Chyfe said as the sled pulled away. They watched the sled as it scraped the
