Benjamin Tate - Well of Sorrows

Then he smelled blood.

Before he could react, the entire herd shifted. Near their center, where the arrows had struck, the herd shuddered as individual deer twisted and bolted every which way, trying to escape. They veered away from the scent, from the screams of their brethren dying, chaos erupting as some stumbled in their fright, falling in their haste. With an action too swift to follow, Colin saw the main group of animals split, turning at what Colin thought would be an impossible angle-impossible for a horse anyway And suddenly half the captured herd was headed directly toward him. The lead animals were beyond panic, beyond reason, their large brown eyes rimmed white, their mouths flecked with foam, their hides slicked with sweat.

Colin choked on his own spit. Reflexively, he raised the sling again, whipped it around once, twice, then let the ball of the sling free, felt the cords snap as the stone flew. Eyes widening, he saw the stone vanish into the onrushing stampede. He couldn’t tell if it struck one of the deer or not. They didn’t slow, didn’t even flinch from the motion.

He roared as they bore down on him. At the last moment, he covered his face and head with both arms and dropped down into a crouch, making himself as small a target as possible. He heard the animals thunder past, felt their bodies to either side, wind pulling at his shirt, his hair, his sling, the ground beneath him shuddering. He risked a quick glance, saw one of the animals leap over him as if he were a stone, dirt and sod raining down on his arms. Another and another leaped from the grass as the entire herd streaked past, flashes of brown and white, nothing more, their musky scent strong, almost overwhelming.

And as suddenly as they were on him, they were gone.

He shot upward, heart shuddering, and turned to see the group racing toward the wagons. Walter and Jackson saw them coming, bolted toward the nearest wagon, Jackson leaving his satchel and notebooks on the ground behind. Shouts rose, and women ducked behind wagons, some tossing children before them. Walter ducked under the bed of a wagon, Jackson on his heels, and then the hundreds of deer were on them, swirling around the wagons like water around stone, re- forming into a dense group on the far side.

Colin watched as they turned to the south once they were past the wagons. He stepped forward, intent on those around the wagon, until he saw Karen, staring off after the animals. He gave a whoop of excitement, unable to contain himself, unable to stop grinning, his arms tingling; then he turned to look into the depression behind.

Four animals were down, three dead, the fourth still moving, although its horrible screams had died down into pitiable huffing grunts. One of the men approached it carefully, wary of the strange but deadly looking horns, a wicked dagger in one hand, a look of distaste on his face. Colin watched as he seized one of the long, pointed horns in one hand, wrenched the animal’s head to the side so the horns were out of the way, and slit the deer’s throat. On the far side of the depression, the other half of the group of deer that had been caught in the wedge had angled southward as well, heading back toward the main herd, now a dark splotch on the plains, like a shadow. Arten and the workhorses were galloping toward the kills. Men on all sides were yipping and calling out in elation, everyone converging on the bodies, on the scent of blood.

Then someone roared, “Look!”

The warning in the voice sliced through the elation like a blade.

Colin spun and saw someone pointing toward the northeast. His gaze flicked in that direction, focused on the black-purple storm in the distance first. He frowned in annoyance, ready to call out in derision that it was just a storm And then his eyes settled on one of the hillocks between them and the storm, the highest hillock.

There, in full sunlight, easily visible, stood a group of men.

“Who are they?” someone asked as Colin scrambled up the slope to join his father and most of the men as they gathered on the far bank. The rest remained below, beginning the processing of the strange deer. The scent of blood became thick and cloying in the heavy air, to the point where Colin began breathing through his mouth so he wouldn’t have to smell it.

“I don’t know,” his father responded. “People from one of the previous expeditions?”

“Something’s wrong with them,” Sam said, his eyes squinted. “They’re… too big to be men, too tall.”

“How can you tell at this distance?”

Sam shrugged. “I can’t. But something about them isn’t quite right.”

“Didn’t Cutter and Beth say that the people they saw were shorter?”

“Yes.”

No one said anything to that, but Tom frowned. “How many are there?”

“I can see five… no, six. There’s someone standing mostly below the hillock they’re on.”

“It looks like one of the men in front is carrying some kind of spear,” Colin said. “He’s got it angled out away from his body. And now he’s pointing it toward us.”

The men around him shifted nervously.

Arten had pulled his group of horses up about a hundred paces away, facing the unknown figures, but now he spun his horse about and trotted up to Tom, dismounting smoothly. “Send some of the men back to get our swords and any other weapons they can carry.”

Tom’s brow creased. “They’re too far away to do anything. We don’t even know if they’re a threat.”

“The other wagon trains never returned, right?”

Tom turned to order a group back to the wagons to retrieve the swords.

“We’ve gotten rather lax with the sentries and other defenses,” Arten continued, terse and all business. “I’ll double the Armory in the guard at night. You might want to do the same with the men from Lean-to.” He considered for a moment, not taking his eyes off of the distant group. Then he swore. “I guess it was too much to assume that this land would be completely uninhabited.”

“Tom,” Sam said, his voice layered with warning. He’d shifted his gaze back to the wagons, where the men were gathering the weapons, their motions a little panicked. He motioned to where Walter and Jackson were climbing the bank. “Here comes Walter.”

Walter arrived before Tom could answer. Most of the others from the expedition drifted away, shooting Walter and Jackson dark glances.

“Who are they?” Walter demanded.

“We don’t know. They’re too distant to make out clearly.”

“Then send someone out to meet them! If they’re from another Company, if they think they’re going to lay claim to this land-”

Arten broke through the beginning tirade, his voice calm but hard. “I don’t think they’re from another Company. I don’t even think they’re men.”

That brought Walter up short. He glared at Arten uncertainly, to see whether he was serious, then snapped his fingers at Jackson. “Jackson, the spyglass.”

Jackson slid a cylindrical case from behind his back, the strap across one shoulder, and opened it, withdrawing another compact cylinder, handing it over without a word. The Company representative’s face was set, jaw slightly clenched, lips pressed together. He glanced toward Colin as Walter took the spyglass, his eyes a deep green. He held Colin’s gaze a moment, then turned away dismissively, running one hand through his dirty blond hair before shifting his attention back to Walter, who had extended the spyglass and raised it to one eye.

Walter’s body suddenly stiffened.

After a moment, he lowered the spyglass.

“May I?” Tom asked, one hand held out.

Walter considered briefly, then handed over the spyglass without a word.

Tom raised it to his eye, frowned as he peered through it, adjusting it slightly.