for lessons for me. I can handle myself with sword, knife and bow, although I do not own a bow.”
Garth reached into the wagon and grabbed three bows and handed them to her. “Take these and choose one when you have time to test them out. The large one will probably not be suitable, but we will take it anyway.” He also handed her a quiver of arrows before she left.
Garth shook his head in amazement at how things had developed and bent to complete his task. Within two minutes of his warning the group was ready to go. Garth smiled broadly as he called for the assemblage to mount up and ride northward. Kalina took the lead on her beautiful white mare that looked suited to leading a grand parade down the street of a great city during festival time. Niki and Tanya rode behind Kalina, with Fredrik and Tedi behind them. Arik pulled in alongside Garth at the rear, as Garth looked back over the campsite and the wagon that had been his home for so long.
Kalina kept to a strong pace as she kept her eyes on the path for a good spot to stage an ambush, something that Garth had instilled in her repeatedly over the years. Garth was busy playing with the leads on the two spare horses.
“What are you up to?” Arik inquired.
Garth separated the two leads and handed one over to Arik. “There is a small canyon coming up in a half hour at this speed, and we are going to surprise our followers. Tie this to your saddle. You and I are going to be diversions, but not just yet. Keep an eye behind us and if you see anything, shout.”
Garth moved his stallion up between Fredrik and Tedi. “Do you and Niki know how to shield against magic spells?”
Fredrik looked at him and nodded. “Somewhat,” he explained. “I am better at it than Niki, but she knows the concept. We have had precious little chance to practice and I’m not sure how effective they will be.” Fredrik laughed. “A couple of days ago, I would have boasted that I could stop any spell. After the little display with Kalina, I realize that I know very little of my craft.”
“We are going to plan a little reception for our friends,” Garth explained. “I will need you to create a shield around you and Tedi. Can you handle it?”
“I will try my best,” Fredrik stated.
“I can ask no more of any man,” Garth smiled. “If you feel the shield coming down, you and Tedi will run away from the fight. Is that clear?”
“Yes,” declared Fredrik. “I will do nothing stupid.”
“Good,” replied Garth. “In a half hour we will be coming to a canyon, Tedi. Just before the walls start to rise, you and Fredrik will bear to the right and find a way up to the rim of the canyon within eyesight of a small cave where the path below turns. I want you to keep hidden until the Dark Riders attack, and then you will shoot at the Dark Riders in the valley. If you get the chance, without moving your position, to shoot the witch, take her first. Fredrik, keep the shield on the two of you as long as you can and then both of you flee.”
The boys nodded and Garth started to move ahead, but dropped back quickly. “Tedi, I don’t want you to veer off the path where your tracks will show. Wait until the ground is rocky, even if you have to backtrack a way. I don’t want them to know that you have split off.”
Garth rode up between Niki and Tanya and repeated the instructions, but sending them to the left. He had to grill Tanya about her understanding of tracking and leaving tracks before he was satisfied that she understood. Niki’s attitude bothered him a bit. She seemed eager to use offensive magic against the Dark Riders and he had to keep stressing that the only magic she was to use was shielding.
Garth rode up to Kalina and explained his plan before dropping back to Arik. After telling Arik what he told the others, he launched into the diversion plan for himself and Arik. “As soon as we can see the canyon rising in the distance, you and I will head off at angles from our current track. We will lead our pursuers into believing that the group has split into three groups. They will be forced to divide their men. After you have gone out about ten minutes, turn enough so you are headed directly at the canyon mouth. At this point, cut the spare horse loose. Try to chase him to continue the way you had been heading, but don’t waste any time if he chooses a different way. Then gallop as fast as you can to the cave in the canyon. You will have to hurry because your false trail will have shortened the distance between you and your pursuers.”
Arik nodded solemnly. “I understand, Garth. I will make tracks that are easy to follow right up to the point where I turn. I will make it to the cave. Do not worry.”
Garth placed a firm hand on Arik’s shoulder and smiled. As soon as he caught sight of the canyon rising in the distance between the trees, he indicated for Arik to move out. Garth veered sharply to the left with his horse kicking up large clumps of grass while Arik veered to the right. When Garth had ridden out for ten minutes, he cut the spare horse loose and chased him off. The free horse went more westward that Garth would have liked, but it didn’t really matter much. Garth dismounted and chose the best tree for this part of his plan.
Klarg and Wolinda halted their column by the two trackers who had stopped on the path. “What is it?” Klarg demanded.
“The group split up here,” one of the trackers supplied. “Two to the right and two to the left. The rest continued straight.”
“What does it mean?” Wolinda asked. “Why would they split up?”
“I would suspect,” Klarg mused, “that they plan to siphon off the children a little at a time with instructions for them to meet in some town, like Lorgo. I would expect to see another split-off about ten minutes down the path. If we follow only the main trail, we will end up behind only the gypsies and they will plan to disappear on us.”
“I don’t care about the gypsies,” Wolinda snapped. “I want the children.”
“We will have them all,” declared Klarg. “Five men to the right and five to the left. The rest will continue on. Trackers, continue down the main path.” Klarg laughed. With thirty men at his disposal, they could split up as much as they wanted and he would still get them all.
The five men detailed to take the left track took off at a gallop. With any luck at all, they could capture their two runaways and still make it back for the battle with that gypsy devil with the wicked sword on his back. Once it had been determined that the gypsies had been hiding the children, Klarg placed a high bounty on the gypsy warrior. Klarg was convinced that the gypsy was part of the group of armed men who had helped the boys escape the trap by the seaside cliff. That made Klarg want him more than the children.
Garth heard the thundering of the Dark Riders’ hooves a full two minutes before he got first sight of them. Perched on a sturdy branch with an excellent view of the track, Garth had one arrow already nocked and three more stuck in the tree within easy reach. He quickly pulled another arrow from his quiver and slammed it into the tree. There was not much chance that he would be able to down them all from here before they got wise, but he would be prepared if they gave him the chance.
The first shot would be the trickiest, as Garth planned to take out the last rider first. If it worked, it would confuse them as to where the attack was coming from. One or two of the other riders might notice that the arrow had come from in front of them, but there would be no time for them to tell the others. When the front two riders went down, the confusion just might give him a chance for the remaining two.
Garth pulled back and let the first arrow fly. He immediately nocked the next arrow and sighted on one of the leaders. Garth heard the piercing cry of pain as he let go the second arrow and nocked the third. Garth knew that the Dark Riders had not bought the deception and they started to split up as the third arrow found its mark. The last two men were going to eat up valuable time now and Garth grabbed the two remaining arrows and returned them to his quiver. Quickly, he climbed down out of the tree and crept off at an angle to the track the Dark Riders had been following.
Garth nocked an arrow as one of the Dark Rider’s mounts passed in front of him. He wasn’t sure where the remaining two men were, but they had each chosen a different side of the track. They had dismounted by now or he would have heard them high-tailing it back down the trail. Getting closer to the area of the attack, Garth discarded his bow and took two Lanoirian Stars out of a pocket as he dropped to his belly. Lying quietly, he listened for sounds. One of the men on the trail was not dead. Garth could hear him moaning and realized that it must have been his third shot and the man had turned to flee into the woods while the arrow was traveling.
The noise of the horses was also distracting and Garth could not pick up the sounds of his enemies. Precious
