along the Scar.”
“No Sir,” Blear answered his nervousness returning.
“Well, I am following a young girl,” Navarra said stressing the word ‘young’ for the Sergeant and his men. “The tracks of her horse are plain in the sand and mud along the Scar. She passed this way, and is perhaps a half-day ahead of me, perhaps not. She fled from Lynndon and is heading for Manse. How is it that you, whose job it is to watch the Scar for fleeing locals, did not spot her?”
Now more of the soldiers were fidgeting along with their Sergeant. “We…we saw no one,” he repeated. “Mayhap she passed us in the storm,” he added and Navarra too thought that this was likely, but he didn’t say as much.
“Perhaps,” he replied then decided he had wasted enough time terrorizing these soldiers.
“Will you ride all the way to Lynndon?”
“Yes, Sir,” Blear answered. “We stay for three days then travel back to Manse,” he added though the information was not sought after. Navarra waved him away.
“I killed four men on top of the Scar about half a league down from the bridge, Massi spies most likely,” he said not even bothering to try to impress them. “There is a way to them about a league past the supply store up top. Find them, and look for any sign of exactly who they were and then report it to your Captain. Tell him Tar Navarra wishes it brought to the General’s attention.”
“Yes…yes M’lord,” Blear said relief flowing over him as he realized he was not to be killed or even disciplined. Navarra began to move off, but called out behind him.
“And Sergeant, keep a keen eye on the Scar. If you pass another I am hunting I will have your head…and all those responsible.” He glared at all the soldiers in turn before finally swinging around in his saddle and continuing on with his pursuit of the Fultan girl.
?
Samantha swung around, and there behind her, camped beyond a large boulder and beneath a solid slab of granite was a large man, dressed in a pair of long underwear. He was round in the middle, completely bald on top and he sported an enormous bushy mustache, which was just beginning to go gray. He was looking at her, his right eyebrow twitching as his gaze moved up and down her body, which was outlined nicely by her wet clothes. Behind him was a fire built in a small depression well back beneath an overhand, and placed on the surrounding rocks, as close to the fire as possible, lay his outer clothes. On the fire sat a pan of what looked to be black beans, mixed with, by the smell filling the air, bacon. Samantha’s stomach rumbled angrily and clenched so hard she nearly doubled over. Her eyes lingered on the food for a long time before moving to the bow leaning against the back wall of the shelter.
“I’m Cobb,” the man said, his eyes still moving about her body. He had not moved any closer. Sam was sure she would have fled if he had done so. Instead he smiled at her.
“You look hungry,” he added.
Samantha glanced back at his face for a brief moment before returning to the pan of beans. All of her thoughts were now completely on food as her stomach rumbled again.
“I am,” she finally answered, forcing herself to pull her eyes from the pan, and look back at the man confronting her.
“My name’s Cobb. I’m a trader,” he said with obvious pride, and he pointed past her down to the river. Sam turned and looked. There on the bank, she saw a large wooden boat, probably big enough that two men should be working it, but she saw only Cobb.
“I’m Sam,” she answered back, and he smiled at her again. She tried to smile back, but hunger was cruelly gripping her mid-section.
“You’re pretty,” Cobb said, “even a might more than Emm.”
Samantha frowned, and the sudden realization that Cobb was a bit simple finally came to her.
“You look hungry,” he stated once more.
“I am,” Samantha repeated, wishing he would just invite her to have some, but he just stood there looking at her. Finally he looked down at his feet.
“I’d like to have a go at you,” he said in a low voice.
“Wha…what?” Sam asked, though she was sure she had heard him correctly.
Cobb looked up and beamed at her. “I’m a trader. I want to have a go at you. You can have my food. We trade,” he added motioning back and forth between them, obviously very proud of himself for thinking of such a thing.
“A go at me?”
Cobb nodded. “I don’t get a go at anyone but whores,” he stated, just a little angry. “And they won’t let me have a go at Emm. Emm’s not for me. That’s what they say.”
Sam shivered, mostly because the wind on her wet clothes was making her cold, but also from the idea of letting Cobb have a go at her. She even pulled Bull’s head around to leave, but did not spur him on. She glanced back at the food, then again at the bow.
Cobb’s face brightened. “You want to have a go with me?” Cobb asked.
She shook her head. “No,” she answered and he looked crestfallen. “Could I have your bow? I’ll trade you a blanket for it,” she said hopefully.
Cobb frowned. “My bow…. for a blanket. No… no trade. You think Cobb is stupid. Cobb has lots of blankets, not worth a bow any day,” he added, clearly put off.
“I don’t think you’re stupid,” Sam answered hastily, her eyes moving back to the food as if they had a will of their own. She’d not eaten for two days now and had been on the move almost constantly. Hunger was quite literally eating at her brain, making it hard to think of anything else.
“A blanket for some food?” She put forth, though now without much hope. She knew she should leave, but still she sat there, and most shocking to her was the fact that in her hunger, she was actually considering ‘having a go with him.’
“No…no,” Cobb said clearly relishing his part as trader, and though at first she believed others may have taken advantage of Cobb because of his simple nature, now she was not so sure.
“Food…and the bow, for a go,” Cobb finally said, sweetening the deal. “You look nicer than Emm,” he added as if this might help woo her.
Sam thought for a moment…debating, then the reality of the situation thrust itself into the forefront of her thoughts. Was she actually considering letting this man…a stranger no less, be intimate with her? She could not believe it was true, but then her stomach clenched painfully again, obviously casting its vote. She was just as shocked when all at once; she slid from the saddle of her horse.
“Just one go,” she said even now not truly believing what she was doing, but going two days without food, and the prospect of going a third had a way of changing your mindset. She suddenly wished she’d eaten more in the briar but at the time she’d been too sick with worry. Thinking back she realized she’d only eaten two decent meals in the past week. She was not accustomed to going without and she was quickly losing weight and strength.
Cobb nodded vigorously. “One go,” he agreed and put out his hand to shake. She didn’t take it at first.
“And arrows,” she added making sure she was not going to get taken. Cobb frowned again.
“Cobb is no cheat,” he said indignantly. “What good is a bow without arrows?”
“Arrows then…and only one go,” she said and to her complete disbelief she saw herself reach out and shake Cobb’s hand, and it was then that a possible way out of this came to her. She allowed Cobb to pull her closer.
“May I see the bow first,” she began with a sweet smile. “It looks so big I may not be strong enough to pull it back.”
Cobb thought about it for a moment and then smiled back at her. “Yes…yes, Cobb is strong, but you look strong too,” he said and slapped her hard on the back before leading her around the fire and food, to the bow. Her thoughts were momentarily distracted by the sweet smell of bacon until he held out the bow for her to try. Sam forced herself to ignore the food, which was so very close, and collected the bow, then with an easy motion bent
