The Flashes. Chapter 5.

Chapter 5

A few hours after they left the inn the men reached a fork in the track. “Which way?” Morgan said.

         "The right track looks more used," Baldwin said. "The left track might lead to a dead end through some farmland." Baldwin put a hand up. “Shhh. I can hear some horses. It might be the sheriffs.”

         “If it is they will want to question us,” Morgan said. “We'd better hide in the bushes to be on the safe side.”

         The two men hid in a ditch behind the bushes. When the riders stopped at the fork they were within yards of the men. “The two fleeing rebels must have passed this fork. But which way do you think they would have gone?”

         “There’s only a beach that way and a few fishermen's dwellings. The fisherfolk will let us know if strangers turn up there. No, they must be heading for the port. The defeated foreigners will be trying to flee the country by getting on a ship.” The riders set off on the right fork.

         “We go left then,” Morgan said.

         “Yeah, but I think it would be better to rest here and only travel when it gets dark.”

         "I think we could have taken those two sheriffs."

         "Can you ride a horse, Morgan?"

         "No."

         "Not much point then is there. And if two sheriffs went missing there would be a big manhunt after us."

         They rested in an oat field and managed to get some sleep in the sunshine. When the sun was setting they set off and in the early hours they stood outside a small fishing settlement. “Have you ever sailed a boat, Morgan?”

         “No, but how hard can it be? Easier than riding a horse I'll bet."

         “One way to find out I suppose. But we must be quiet. They are probably all sleeping at this time of night and we don't want to wake them. I don't think their menfolk are back yet. The women won’t be happy with us taking one of their boats and it would be wrong to kill them.”

         "No more talking; we need to be extra quiet. They might have dogs and the slightest noise will set them off barking.

         They crept through the settlement extra vigilant. They decided if they were discovered they would flee if they got the chance. Killing unaccompanied women was to be avoided at all costs. They made it to the shoreline undetected and waded through the water to the nearest boat. The movement as they climbed aboard rocked the boat and the oars clattered together.

A dog was alerted and began to bark, quickly joined by two others. The men rowed fast and were soon clear of the sheltered cove before raising the two sails. “Which way?” Morgan said.

         “We are heading straight out to sea, so it must be the right way. Straight across."

         Morgan looked back to the shore. "It doesn't look like they are following us out. Might have been different if the men were back from the battle."

         "Then with their sea-skills, they would probably have caught us up." Baldwin said.

         "In that case, they would die. Unless one of them was a skilled archer, then we might have had a problem."

         "Well it's not a problem now. This time tomorrow we should be on the other shore."

         However, two days and two nights later, they were still at sea and they encountered a storm that ripped off their sails, almost overturned the boat, and took the oars into the sea. They had run out of food, their two pouches of water were dry and they were starting to weaken.

         "I don't understand," Morgan said. "We should be there by now. It only took a day to cross on the ship."

         Baldwin looked at the water lapping at the boat. "Can't we drink seawater?"

         "No, it'll just make your thirst worse."

         "Are you sure?" Baldwin asked.

         "It'll kill you quicker than not drinking it. We were taught that at the Militia survival training."

         The following day they could just make out the land in the distance.

         "If only we had managed to keep hold of the oars," Baldwin said. "It's much too far to swim. So we can either try to swim to land and drown, or we can die on this boat with no water, but surrounded by water. This has not been one of your better ideas, Morgan."

         No," Morgan said. "And it gets worse. There is a fog drifting over so we won't see the shore soon and by the looks of those clouds there might be another storm on the way."

         Their luck changed when the following day they were washed up to a beach, but their health had deteriorated and they were only semi-conscious. If they didn't fully regain consciousness there was a chance the tide could take the boat back out to sea again.

* * * * *

         Erica, a twenty-year-old woman walked out from the entrance of her family’s cave-dwelling to take in some of the fresh sea air. Inside her family were sitting at a table in the room-sized cave eating bread and some rabbit broth re-heated from the previous night. The fire in the hearth was burning nicely with the smoke dispersing through the roof of the cave. Further along, the sleeping area had alcoves cut into the dark red rock to accommodate bed spaces. It was a comfortable place and as good as any of the better houses in the nearby town of Mossley. Erica loved her life here and felt she could stay here forever. She looked towards the shoreline and saw a boat bobbing on the water. “Elfwine, come quickly,” she called. “There is a boat in the bay.”

         Elfwine, a family friend, ran out with his bow slung over his shoulder and a sword in his hand. “Get inside, Erica, it might be the pirates.” But Erica had no intention of getting inside and she watched as he ran across the beach towards the boat.

         Her father, Dunstan, soon followed with his sword also drawn. “Be careful, Elfwine," he shouted. "It might be a trap.”

         As Elfwine got near the boat it started to drift out and he waded into the water to pull the boat back in again. “There’s two men in here," Elfwine shouted. "And they look in a bad way." He turned and called across to Erica. "Fetch some water. Hurry."

The Flashes. Chapter 6  (18+) Settling in at The Flashes #2253060 by Bruce.