he hollered. A moment later, the serving girl appeared from the kitchen carrying a pitcher of ale. She crossed over to his table and refilled his mug. He then grunted, gave her a couple coppers and resumed eating.
Riyan caught her eye and raised his mug as well. When she arrived to fill it, he asked, “Who is that man?”
“Name’s Burdy,” she replied. “He’s a local pelt hunter who came down from the mountains yesterday. He does that every once in a while, though it’s unusual for him to do so in the winter.”
“Why in the winter?” Bart asked.
“Because the trader to whom he sells his pelts doesn’t travel in the winter,” she explained. “Also, he only had his horse with him, not his mules.”
“Thank you,” Riyan said.
She flashed him a grin. “Anytime,” she said. Turning about, she returned to the kitchen.
“Guess it got too cold for him up in the mountains,” suggested Chyfe.
“Or lonely,” added Soth.
Bart shook his head. “I don’t think so.” Lowering his voice, he added, “Remember, that man we passed earlier was looking for someone named Burdy.”
Riyan nodded. “That’s right.”
“But he was almost an hour north of here,” stated Chad. “Why didn’t he meet him here?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care,” Bart said. “We have our own concerns.”
Riyan kept an eye on the hunter until Burdy finished his meal and went upstairs to his room. Shortly afterward he and the others finished and adjourned upstairs to their room for the rest of the night.
The following morning they woke to a western sky full of clouds. “Looks like Old Elma was right,” commented Chad.
Riyan stared out the window at the cloud cover without comment. Still miles away, there was a chance it wouldn’t come their way. “Might be okay,” he said.
“I hope so,” replied Riyan.
Just then the door to their room opened and Bart walked in. Seeing Riyan at the window he said, “Kevik is eating crow right now.”
Riyan turned to see him sporting an amused grin.
“What with all he said last night about how unreliable such ‘lore’ was,” Bart said with a chuckle. “Now he’s faced with Old Elma’s prediction coming true.”
“Still might pass us by,” Riyan said hopefully, though his tone said he didn’t believe it.
“If we’re caught out in the open,” Seth said as he entered behind Bart, “it could get bad.”
Riyan nodded. Turning back to the window, he looked out to where the Tinderlock Mountains began their rise a few miles away. Trees covered the mountain’s slopes which would afford them some protection should the worst happen.
“Maybe we should wait until the storm passes,” suggested Chad.
Riyan continued staring out the window and all he could think of was how time was running out. If they were continuously being delayed, he’ll never be back in time to prevent Freya’s marriage to Rupert. Coming to his decision, he turned back to the others. “I say let’s go.”
Chad’s face fell as Bart said, “I was hoping you’d say that.” Turning to Chyfe he said, “Tell the others we’ll be leaving shortly.”
“Alright,” Chyfe said then turned and left the room.
“But…” began Chad then stopped. “Oh, very well.” He wasn’t looking forward to being out in the snow again, and definitely didn’t want to contemplate spending time in a blizzard.
“If the storm hits us,” Riyan said to his friend, “we’ll take shelter in the trees until it’s over.”
Not looking too thrilled with Riyan’s plan, Chad nodded. “Maybe we can buy a couple more blankets before we go?” He glanced from Riyan to Bart then added, “I’ll go check on it.” Picking up his pack he left the room and headed downstairs.
Out in the hallway Chyfe passed by with the twins on their way down to the common room. Then came a tap, tap, tap just before Kevik appeared in the doorway with his staff. A final tap sounded as he set the bottom of his staff against the floor and came to a stop. “Meet you downstairs,” he said.
“Just a second and we’ll accompany you,” Riyan said. Then grabbing his pack, he and Bart joined Kevik in the hallway and proceeded down to the where the others had already taken seats at the same table they had used last night.
They were alone in the common room while they ate their meal before heading out. Of the hunter Burdy, there was no sign. Halfway through the meal, Chad returned with a bundle of a dozen woolen blankets he had purchased from the chandler’s shop. Though it hadn’t had near the selection one would expect of such a place, it did have the basic necessities.
Afterward, Riyan purchased more food to replace their dwindling supplies while the others saddled the horses and made ready for travel. Then once the bags containing the newly bought food were secured on the pack mules, they left the inn and took the road east.
Shortly after leaving the crossroad behind, the road entered the foothills of the Tinderlock Mountains. There the road meandered over and around the hills as it made its way slowly eastward. Snow continued to cover everything and if it weren’t for the tracks made by carts and horses that had passed before them, they would have had a hard time keeping to the road.
A few travelers were upon the road, from the looks of them were just locals. One man drove a team of four horses as he forged his wagon through the snow. When he drew abreast of Riyan, he saw that the wagon was loaded with goods. What they were was unclear as a tarp had been laid over the wagon bed.
Throughout the day, the storm continued drawing closer. Not very fast, but by late afternoon it was clear that it planned to settle over them. During the last hours of sunlight they hunted for a suitable place among the hills to spend the night. They finally spied a copse of trees off the road a ways that had a solid canopy of branches overhead.
“It won’t do much for the wind,” commented Bart. “But it should keep the snow off should it fall tonight.” Moving from the road, he led the others toward the shelter of the trees. There they found the interior of the copse to be free of snow, testament to the effectiveness of the canopy above.
“Better lay in a good supply of wood,” Soth said. “If the snow starts to fall, no telling how long we’ll be stuck here.”
“Good idea,” replied Bart.
They moved as close to the center of the copse as they could before dismounting. Seth and Soth each took a hatchet from off the pack mules. While the twins began hacking and chopping to clear an area in which they could camp, the others combed the copse and surrounding area for firewood.
“This is all soaked,” complained Chyfe. Picking up a fallen branch from off the ground, he could see the impression wherein it had lain partially filled with water. “If we can get a fire going, we might be able to dry some of this out.”
“The canopy might keep the snow away, but it does nothing to prevent water from dripping down the trunks,” Riyan stated. As if to accentuate his point, a large drop of water fell from an overhanging branch and landed at the base of his neck.
Before the day had completely given in to night, they had accumulated a decent pile of firewood. Seth and Soth had managed to clear a ten foot area that was just large enough to accommodate a fire pit and still leave enough room for each of them to lay down their bedroll.
Once stones were set for the fire pit, Chyfe stacked some of the smaller, drier pieces together and worked to start a fire. Shtick. Shtick. Over and over he struck his flint to produce sparks, but each time, the sparks would land on the wet wood and fizzle out.
“This is useless,” he said. He was about ready to rip off a section of his shirt for tinder when Kevik came to stand beside the fire pit.
“Move back,” he said to Chyfe. Lowering the tip of his staff, Kevik pointed it toward the bits of twigs and moss stack in the fire pit.
Realizing what he was about to do, Chyfe scrambled back. A moment later, there was a sizzling in the air as sparks flew from the end of Kevik’s staff. These sparks, larger and hotter than what a flint could produce, began to
