Brian Pratt - The unsuspecting mage

Corbin informs Mary about his plans to take James into town to see about the reward money. He tells her not to wait lunch for them as they will eat at the Squawking Goose.

At the barn, Corbin grabs a saddle and tosses it upon his horse’s back. As he cinches the underbelly straps, he happens to glance toward James who was looking very confused at a Gordian knot of straps held in his hand. Turning it every which way, he seemed at a loss as what to do next.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, I’m sort of embarrassed to admit it but…,” Then his face turned a shade red “I’ve never saddled a horse before. In fact, I’ve never even been on one. They kind of scare me.”

Laughing, Corbin says “That’s hard to believe.” Seeing the redness of James’ embarrassment, he sobers and comes over, taking the tangled mass of straps and buckles. “Here, let me show you what to do. If you’re going to own one, you’d better learn what to do and how to care for it.”

Embarrassment turned to relief. “Thank you.”

Corbin starts by having James become acquainted with his horse. First, he has James gently stroke the face and the neck, letting the horse know that he’s a friend. Corbin then retrieves a carrot from a nearby bin and hands it to James.

Taking the carrot, James offers it to the horse that readily eats it out of his hand. Smiling, he continues petting the horse on the side of the face as it eats and soon isn’t quite as nervous around the beast as he had been.

Corbin then proceeds to instruct James in the proper placement of saddle and tack. He allows James to do the work so he will better learn what to do. When James finishes, Corbin rechecks the tightness and placement of every piece until he’s satisfied that it was done properly and will not loosen.

Once James’ horse is ready, he has him do it all over again with his. This time, James manages to do it a little faster with fewer mistakes. Once Corbin is again satisfied that everything was either done right or had been corrected, he instructs James on the proper mounting technique. Despite his stiff and sore leg, James manages to mount his horse in only two attempts. When he is up and not in immediate danger of falling off, Corbin mounts his horse and starts showing James the various nuances necessary in guiding a horse. He shows him how to use the reins and his knees to move in the desired direction. James is a quick study and soon has a basic understanding of controlling his horse. Corbin has him take the lead as they exit the barn.

In front of the house stand Corbin’s wife and Cyanna who are there to see them off. Corbin waves goodbye and begins making his way down the lane. After several feet, he realizes that James hasn’t followed. He glances back and finds him trying to get the horse to move.

James flicks the reins but the horse merely stands there. “C’mon, boy.”

The horse merely snorts and turns its head to look back at James.

Feeling slightly embarrassed with everyone watching his ineptitude, he continues his efforts, but with little success.

“Kick him gently in the sides.”

He glances to where Corbin has stopped.

“You have to show him that you are in charge.”

James nods, then gives a gentle kick. The horse snorts, but otherwise remains still. He looks to Corbin.

“Harder.”

“All right.” Then to his horse, he says, “Sorry to have to do this, but you’ve left me no choice.”

Bringing his feet outward from the horse, he jerks them back into its sides. The horse lurches forward.

“There you go,” Corbin praises as James flies by.

Barking erupts behind him as the dogs give chase; which only makes the horse go faster. Terrified and holding on for dear life, James feels himself slipping to the side. His scream of terror echoes across the fields.

“Tor! Cyne!” Corbin yells as his horse bolts forward to catch up with James. “Back home! NOW!”

The dogs break off their chase and glance toward their master with tails between their legs.

“Home!”

Ahead, he sees James tip even more precariously to the side. At the speed James is going, it’s likely he will suffer serious injury if he should fall. Kicking his horse in the sides, he races forward.

“James!” he hollers as the distance narrows. “Hang on!”

Just as James begins losing his balance altogether, a hand reaches out to snag his backpack. Giving out with an incoherent scream, he falls. But instead of slamming to the ground, he’s pulled to the side of Corbin’s horse. Corbin brings them to a halt and lowers a shaky and trembling James to the ground. The aftereffects of terror turn his knees to jelly and he drops in a most undignified manner to the ground.

Corbin pulls up next to him. “Are you okay?”

He looks up, face filled with embarrassment. “Yes.”

“You really weren’t lying about never having been on a horse before.”

James shakes his head. “No, I wasn’t.”

Looking back toward the house, Corbin sees Mary and Cyanna running down the lane toward them. Waving that everything is okay, he hollers, “He’s fine. Get on back.”

James’ horse had continued quite a ways before coming to a stop. Corbin leaves James on the ground to get his nerves under control while he goes to fetch the errant steed. Returning, he dismounts and extends a hand to help James to his feet.

“Now, let’s get you back on and we’ll work on those commands again,”

James takes the hand and comes to his feet. His legs have stopped their trembling and he manages to return to the saddle. Corbin remains next to him while he practices the commands for getting the horse to move without bolting into a run.

Again, James has a hard time getting his horse to go, but after a little coaching from Corbin, manages to get it moving without breaking into a mad, terrifying gallop.

Once he feels confident James will not face another wild ride, Corbin mounts and they head into town. Throughout the ride, he continues instructing James in the finer nuances of controlling his horse and also the proper care and feeding of it.

Hoping to retain at least most of the wisdom Corbin imparts, James pays close attention while at the same time concentrating on keeping his balance so he won’t fall off. He rides as close to Corbin as he can, scared to death that the horse will take off for some unknown reason leaving James in the dirt.

After what seems a very long time, though in fact wasn’t long at all, they arrive at the outskirts of town. Townsfolk out in the early morning offer greetings to Corbin or wave as they pass by.

They follow the road through the center of town until reaching a two-story building bearing a sign by the door depicting three stacks of coins sitting upon a table. Corbin rides to the front where he brings his horse to a halt and dismounts.

He glances to James. “This is Alexander’s place. He’s the local money lender and the one to see about your reward.” He moves to James’ side and offers a hand with dismounting.

James nods then swings down from the saddle. Dismounting, as James learns, is far easier than mounting. They secure their steeds to the hitching post and head for the door.

Alexander’s place is a single, modest-sized room with three armed guards. Two stand on either side of the entrance while the third is positioned next to a door at the opposite end of the room. Along the same wall as the door is an opening with a counter.

Upon seeing them enter, the guard positioned next to the door across the room says, “Good day, sirs. If you will wait just a moment, I shall let him know that you are here.” With that, he opens the door and disappears into the back. A short time later, a man dressed in fine clothes appears followed closely by the guard who closes the door behind them.