A dull thump followed by a deep groan.
“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be Arthur, travellers, strangers, anyone new?” Becker whispers aggressively.
“Course we have,” Arthur croaks, “merchants, people from the other villages, we- we get them all the time,” he stammers.
“Anyone new?!” asks Becker.
“No. Nobody.”
I exhale slowly, suddenly aware that I had stopped breathing for the last couple of minutes. Arthur wouldn’t have forgotten about Guy; he’d been checking in on him several times a day. Of course, it is an unspoken rule that you never helped the colony but still, this was a big lie to tell, and the colony are not known to be forgiving. This is more than not helping the colony, this is outright going against them, if he’s caught lying then he would be made a very public example of.
Is he protecting Guy? Of course he is, those taken to the colony were seldom seen again. But why did they want him? Whilst I admire his loyalty, I am also surprised that he thinks Guy worthy of such a risk, we still know nothing about him.
“You’re certain? Nobody?” Becker persists, “Fine, we’re staying the night and I want everyone gathered for me at dawn.” Without another word he storms out of the room, presumably to uproot some poor families for the night and take their homes for himself and his men. A couple of them stay behind to invade Arthur’s quarters and keep him under close supervision.
I am probably the closest thing to a friend that Guy has and even I don’t know where he comes from. In fact, he is still keeping with his vow of silence. How can we trust him? Then again, maybe he could be useful? I follow this line of thought for another couple of seconds, wondering if the mystery boy could be some threat or criminal in the eyes of the colony, maybe we could help each other. Obviously, Arthur thinks the boy is worth protecting, and likewise the colony believe him worth pursuing. Guy’s story intrigues me now more than ever.
The boy came from the forest, that was all we knew. He came from the forest, and either he had been there for a long time, or something serious had happened to reduce him to the state the hunters had found him in. Surely Becker and his men will be checking around other villages for Guy, I suppose we’ll know soon if he’s from any of them.
Perhaps…everyone knew you didn’t go too far into the forest, people went in and never came out, and of course there were the attacks. The spear that had killed my father, someone must have thrown it. There were rumours, wood nymphs and similar. Myths and legends of tree men and forest gods and sprites were often the only words spoken as we huddle together in numbers trying to pull through the long winters.
Then again, he could be something more sinister, with him sleeping next to my bed that concern is always present. Perhaps a murderer, some traitor to the colony who had fled their community leaving bodies behind him. Surely not? He hasn’t shown any inclination to hurt any of us yet. Granted, we rescued and fed him, but there hasn’t even been a hint of violence from him since he got here. Certainly, despite the fact that he is still recovering, he could have taken the axe earlier and attacked myself and Robyn without too much difficulty. I doubt the pair of us would have been able to stop him if he had chosen to wrestle the weapon off me.
No. Instinct urges me to trust him, and my trust in Arthur is without question.
Forcing my imagination to reign itself back in, I slowly untangle myself and set off at a run back to the dying embers of the farmhouse. If Arthur’s claimed that the boy has never arrived at Avlym, I need to get him out of here for both of their sakes. There will undoubtedly be a thorough search of the homes in the morning and the people will be interrogated. Most of the people should support Arthur’s lie if they know of it, but as he’ll remain under surveillance until that time, I’ll have to try and spread the word.
I run as fast as I dare in the dark, clearing a path straight through the field back towards where my mother still huddles beside Bruce, embracing him as he kneels defeated next to his beloved. A large crowd has gathered now, the whole village attempting to help in any way that they can. They are either trying to comfort Bruce, rescue possessions from the wreckage, or by waging war against the fire itself. They are organised, banding together, and unified once more in their hatred for the colony.
CHAPTER FOUR
A few meters away, most of the village battles the flames, desperate to salvage as much of the wreckage as possible. Robyn and Randall stand at the fire’s edge, dragging what they can to safety and dousing the rest with the water which is ran to them by Guy and some of the hunters.
“They want Guy,” I pant to my mother as she relinquishes her embrace of the farmer, not that he seems to notice, grief and hurt owns his expression as he stares into some unseen abyss.
I hurriedly catch her up on Arthur’s interrogation from Becker. I can only watch as pain, confusion, and worry fight
