Orthan helped Niki down out of thecarriage and she didn’t even nod to him as she swept in through thefront door of the mansion. Fredrik hurried after Niki while Orthantook care of the carriage. Niki was excited as she walked to hersuite. “Did you see how the people loved us, Fredrik? Just abouteverybody waved at me. It’s probably been a very long time since aLady resided here. One of the maids told me that the old seacaptain lived a quiet life alone. They are likely as excited aboutus as we are.”
“I am sure they are, Niki,”Fredrik sighed, “but we must remember to go slow here. If weproceed too quickly, we will lose it all.”
Fredrik left Niki to get ready fordinner and went downstairs to ask Orthan about the mercenaries andwhat type of relationship they had with the town. Orthan was justcoming in through the kitchen and when he saw Fredrik he headedtowards him.
“Lord Wason,” he started, “Ithink we may have a problem. I’m afraid your Lady Niki is causingsome grief with the maids. I just passed Alicia, and Miranda hastold me that the poor woman has been in tears ever since we leftfor the tour. She thinks your Lady has it in for her and is tryingto drive her to quit. Now, we both know that Alicia is not going toquit and there lies the problem.”
Fredrik looked wearily at Orthan andnodded. “I don’t know what to do with her, Orthan. I’ve never seenher like this. She has always been headstrong and stubborn, but shehas never been so foolish. I will try to talk some sense into her,but we should all try to make this thing work.”
“I agree, Lord Wason,” Orthanstated, “but part of our agreement was that the servants would berespected and treated fairly. I do expect you to hold your end ofthe bargain. We all agree that you are a right fine young man toserve and we have no grievance with you, but you must do somethingto nip your young Lady before things get out of hand.”
Fredrik grimaced and headed back forthe stairs. Somehow the task of dealing with Niki right now did notmake Fredrik smile.
Chapter 9
Gypsy
Arik and Tedi halted when the wagoncame into sight, not knowing who or what lay ahead. Garth caught upto them and motioned them forward. “It’s okay,” he said, “the wagonis Kalina’s. She’ll be happy to see you again.”
Arik was about to say that he had neverseen Kalina when the woman stepped into view and waved to them.“That’s the woman who wandered into our campsite,” Arik whisperedto Tedi.
Tedi nodded and whispered back, “I toldyou I didn’t believe in coincidences.” The boys kicked their horsesforward and entered the clearing, followed by Garth leading theextra horse.
“Is everything okay?” Kalinaasked. “I can tell by the horses that you ran into some DarkRiders.”
“I suppose they are busycounting their dead,” Garth stated. “They had these boys surroundedand they seemed pretty determined to get their hands on them. Can’tsay as I ever recall hearing of Dark Riders wading in the surf tocapture anyone.”
“Take care of the horses,Garth,” Kalina instructed, “I will get some food and blankets forour guests. They must be hungry with what they have been throughand I can see that they are soaked. Stoke up the fire some moreafter you’re done with the horses and we’ll see if we can dry themout.”
“Excuse me,” Tedi interrupted.“I appreciate your hospitality, but I am not a believer incoincidences. You wandered into our campsite in Lorgo and now youjust happen to send this bandit after us to protect us from DarkRiders. Who are you really and what do you want withus?”
Arik looked stunned at Tedi’simpertinence, but Kalina just smiled. “I would be sorelydisappointed if you believed that I would risk Garth’s life just toplay games with you. You boys are destined to greatness and anyperson who would stand by and allow you to fall into the hands ofthe Dark One is a person whom I would not want to associate with.Allow me to introduce myself. I am Kalina. I am a gypsy and havesome sense of foretelling. When I walked into your campsite theother day, I was struck with an aura of greatness and goodness,which emanated from you two boys. I mentioned this to Garth and hetold me that one of you had tried sneaking into our campsite beforewe reached Lorgo.”
“I wasn’t trying to sneak in,”protested Tedi. “I thought you were a gang of bandits and I wantedto know your intent with regards to Lorgo.”
Garth laughed out loud as he wassecuring the horses and Kalina smiled. “I am sure,” she continued,“but I also do not believe in coincidences. When Garth told meabout the witch who was interested in you, I vowed that I wouldlook after you until you were capable of protectingyourselves.”
“So, if we decided we werecapable of protecting ourselves, you wouldn’t stop us fromleaving?” Arik asked.
“I would never stop you fromgoing your own way,” Kalina declared adamantly. “Did Garth forceyou to come here? If he did, I will have words withhim.”
“No,” Arik admitted, “he didnot force us, although our choices were slim at thetime.”
“Well, your choices are notmuch better now,” Kalina said, “but you are free to leave at anytime. Before you decide to up and leave, though, let me give yousome advice. I doubt that you boys have ever been out of Lorgobefore, because you seem totally unaware of what is waiting for youout there. Garth can train you to take care of yourselves. He canteach you how to ride a horse, use a sword, be quieter in theforest, lay false trails, and read the trails of others. There isso much that Garth can teach you that I would think you foolish ifyou did not avail yourselves of the opportunity to learn from him,but the choice is yours. Should I bring you dinner, or will you beon your way?”
“As long as we are free toleave when we wish,” Arik said forcefully, “we will stay andappreciate your generosity.”
Garth strode over and stood before theboys. Reaching down slowly he took the sword and scabbard fromArik’s hand. “I can stitch the belt on this for you,” Garthuttered. “Unfortunately, I was in a bit of a hurry when I cut itloose.”
Arik let the sword go and Garth turnedto Tedi and took his sword, as well. Kalina emerged from the wagonwith several blankets, which she draped over the boys like a caringmother. “Slip out of your wet clothes and I will dry them over thefire,” Kalina added as she turned to prepare plates of dinner forGarth and the boys.
Tedi could smell the turkey andrealized that it had been some time since he and Arik had eaten ameal. The boys managed to wiggle out of their clothes and Kalinacollected them as she handed the boys mugs of hot coffee. Both boysshivered slightly as their skin finally realized that it was coldand wet. They pulled the blankets close around themselves as theysipped their coffee. After a short period of time, Garth came overand sat by the fire just as Kalina was bringing plates of food.Tedi tore into the turkey, turnips and some kind of green, leafyvegetable that he had never seen. The boys cleaned their platesquickly and Kalina gave them another serving ofeverything.
Arik could not believe it, but by thetime they had finished dinner, the boys' clothes were dry and warm.They wiggled into their clothes under the blankets and eventuallylet the blankets drop from their shoulders. Garth finished mendingthe scabbards and returned the swords to the boys. “Tomorrow wewill begin instruction on how to use those,” hecommented.
“What about the Dark Riders?”inquired Arik. “Won’t they track us to here? Shouldn’t we be movingon?”
“They will first assess thedamage that has been done to them,” smiled Garth as he stripped offhis scabbard straps and shirt and refastened the sword to his back.“Then they will suspect that a large group ambushed their men andthey will send for reinforcements. If we leave in the morning, wewill be well ahead of them. As for them tracking us to here, itwill not be as easy as they are used to. There are tricks tocovering your path that I can explain to you when the time isright.”