Richard Tuttle - Web of Deceit

“There are a lot of good people too,” countered Rejji. “Those villagers this morning didn’t have to give us anything, but they did, and they don’t even know us.”

“True,” admitted Mistake, “but that has not been my experience in the past.”

“Of course not,” chuckled Rejji as he started walking again. “You never bothered to ask.”

“All right, Rejji,” she smiled, “I am willing to try it your way, but I am still hungry.”

As they rounded the next bend in the trail, four men stood blocking their path. Rejji and Mistake halted and gazed at the men who were brandishing swords. They wore no markings of any tribe, but they did not look friendly.

“You are trespassing,” declared a tall lean man. “Do you have gold to pay the fee?”

Mistake’s hand hovered near the dagger on her belt as she asked, “Do you have any food to spare, good sirs?”

The men laughed and Mistake heard laughter coming from behind her as well. She stole a glance behind her and saw two more men on the path they had just walked down.

“We have no gold,” Rejji stated. “We didn’t know we were trespassing and we offer our apologies. If you will point out the shortest path off your land, we will be gone swiftly.”

“Your hand goes any nearer to that dagger girl and you will have one less arm,” sneered the tall lean man. “Why don’t you remove it and drop it on the trail before one of boys thinks you plan on using it.”

Mistake looked at Rejji and when he nodded she dropped her dagger to the ground.

“That’s a good girl,” grinned the tall lean man, which Mistake now assumed to be the leader. “It’s a long ways off our land and would take you days on foot, so we will give you a ride so you aren’t tempted to stray further into it.”

Mistake sensed the men behind her coming closer and started to turn when she felt the blow to her head.

When Mistake came to, she was in a wagon made into a cage and Rejji was holding her. There were other people in the cage as well and Mistake could see three more such wagons behind them. There were at least twenty riders accompanying the wagons from what she could see.

“What happened?” Mistake asked.

“They don’t like us talking,” Rejji whispered. “I assume the men behind us hit us over the head. I woke up just a few minutes ago. I guess they found a lot of trespassers.”

“They are slavers,” whispered an old woman next to them. “You give them any trouble and they’ll cut you just as soon as look at you. They been working these trails for over a year, but I never expected they would come into the village.”

“How do you know they are slavers?” Rejji asked.

“My husband was killed by them,” the woman cried. “They said nobody would buy him cause he lost a leg a while back and they didn’t want no cripples.”

“Quiet in there,” shouted one of the riders. “Keep your traps shut or I’ll shut them for you.”

Rejji looked at the people in the cage with him. Most of them were old and over half of them were women. There was one small boy around ten years old and another that Rejji figured was a year or two younger than himself. The older boy had a wild, ragged look about him and he stared constantly out the back of the wagon. The boy intrigued Rejji because his clothes appeared to be all animal skins like Mistake’s. Everyone else was dressed like normal villagers with mostly clova wool garments. Many of the people appeared to be sleeping and nobody spoke.

Mistake caught Rejji’s attention and showed him that she still had the daggers in her arm and leg sheaths. Rejji looked around the wagon again to see if there was anyone else who might still possess a weapon, but he didn’t see anyone who was likely to.

The trail they followed was well used and they headed mostly westward. Several stops were made to add more people, but none of them were put in Rejji’s wagon. The caravan rode mostly in silence, but the driver of the wagon behind them cursed loudly at times and used his whip on the horses when they didn’t follow at the desired distance. He didn’t appear to know much about handling horses, Rejji judged. Rejji’s wagon always slowed smoothly for stops, but the wagon behind them often jolted with the horses continuing along until they almost bumped into Rejji’s wagon. The driver would then apply his whip and try to pull the horses back.

When they stopped at night, the slavers would take the prisoners out one at a time to relieve themselves and then pass out pieces of stale bread, a bucket of water, and a cup. It was the only time anyone was allowed out of the cages. Even if Rejji could get away, there was no way that he could do so with Mistake and he was not going to leave her behind. It was doubtful that he could even succeed at it in any event. What Rejji did discover was that there were only a couple of guards at night and they were usually too far away to hear people talking.

Mistake tried picking the lock on the cage door at night with one of her daggers but was unsuccessful. After a few days, the prisoners tended to stay awake and talk at night, while trying to sleep during the day. Sleeping during the day was difficult, as the trail grew rougher the closer they got to the Fortung Mountains.

One day they stopped to add more prisoners to the cages. As usual, the wagon behind Rejji’s had come too close while stopping. When the slavers brought an old man to Rejji’s wagon, the horses spooked and rose up. It appeared the horses would come down and crush the old man and the slavers dove out of the way. The old man stood there, frightened for his life. The older boy in animal skins, who had been silent the entire journey, started making strange noises. To Rejji’s amazement, the horses remained on their rear legs and actually backed up before coming down, sparing the old man’s life.

Nobody seemed to have tied the horses’ actions to the sounds the boy made, but Rejji knew there was a connection. That night he moved next to the boy and started to engage him in conversation.

“What was that you did today to save the man’s life?” Rejji asked.

The boy glanced at Rejji and then returned to gazing out the back of the wagon.

“I guess either you can’t talk or don’t wish to,” surmised Rejji. “I will respect your wishes, but I wanted you to know that I appreciate what you did for the man. You truly saved his life.”

Rejji patted the boy on the shoulder and was going to return to his spot next to Mistake when the boy spoke.

“Why do you care what happens to him?” the boy asked. “You do not appear to know him.”

Rejji stared at the boy and immediately sat down next to him.

“No, I have never seen him before,” admitted Rejji. “That does not mean I should not try to save his life as you did. Why wouldn’t I save a stranger if I could? We all need looking after at one time or another in our lives. I am just glad you had the ability to make a difference. I would not know how to do whatever it is you did.”

“It is bad enough the horses have to suffer the driver they have,” stated the boy. “He is a man that should not be allowed near animals. If the old man had died, they would have taken it out on the horses.”

Rejji’s jaw dropped as he realized the boy had acted to save the animals from harm and not the old man.

“You like animals very much I guess,” offered Rejji. “I guess I should be doubly thankful to you. For you not only saved the old man’s life, but you saved the horses too.”

“Animals are pure,” the boy declared. “They do not know greed and hatred as man does. When they must kill, they do so swiftly and efficiently and do so only for food or to protect their young. Man kills because he likes to.”