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downstairs with Sir John andmyself ?"
"I pray your forgiveness, Sir James,"said Chandos, "but what with dinner
eaten and the fact that you and I should be ahorse at dawn, I believe I would
rather go directly to my room, if a servant can be summoned to show me the
way. You may have things to make ready also, and no doubt you yourself would
prefer to go early to rest."
"Oh, of course, Sir John," said Jim, with a sinking feeling. In spite of the
fact that Chandos had said he was expecting Jim to leave with him tomorrow, he
had not connected that with leaving so early.
"You're on the floor below," he went on. "I'll take you there myself."
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Having escorted their chief guest to the best visitors' room, Jim found Angie
already laying out travel clothes for him in the Solar. Quietly, he joined her
in the work. Sir John could hardly deny him the use of a sumpter-horse to
carry extra baggage for his own use. He had learned the hard way to carry as
much as he conveniently could, after experiencing a number of trips on his own
and with Brian and Dafydd.
His mind began to make plans. Nor could Sir John object to his taking his
squire as a personal servant no, come to think of it, that wouldn't be wise.
His squire, Theoluf, was the only real experienced fighting man in
Malencontri, and the men-at-arms would need a leader in case of real trouble.
To leave Angie and everybody else here lacking both their chief commanders at
a time when outlaws were marauding, King's men were dropping by, and something
unknown was invading the Castle perhaps would not be wise.
He could, of course, take one of the other men-at-arms, or one of the
Castle's servants. But none of them had any real experience in this sort of
traveling duty.
No. He would travel alone. One of Chandos's men-at-arms could lead his
warhorse, Gorp, and the sumpter-horse.
Working together, he and Angie did not take long to get everything packed and
ready to be taken down and loaded on the horse. Jim called the servant on duty
outside the Solar and sent her down to summon John Steward. When John arrived,
Jim pointed at his travel necessities.
"John," he said, "this is to be loaded tomorrow morn on a sumpter-horse; and
a riding-horse, plus my war-horse Gorp on a lead rope, must be ready for me so
I can travel with Sir John Chandos at dawn. If Gorp is fractious from being
stalled so long, lately, someone should exercise him before sunup."
"Yes, m'Lord."
"You will take care, of course, of providing breakfast, not only formyself
but for Sir John and the knights with him, also for his men outside the walls,
along with three more days of provision for them to carry all of this should
be in the Great Hall before we have to leave."
"It shall be done, m'Lord," said the Steward, without turning a hair. "All
shall be as you desire. M'Lord would like to be woken an hour before sunrise?"
"A little earlier than that, I think," said Jim.
"Very good, m'Lord."
The Steward went out. Jim and Angie got ready for bed.
As they crawled into it it was their latest version, very large and
comfortable, with a complete canopy and side-curtains, to keep drafts out, as
well as a sort of bubble of warmth enclosed Angie said what had been in Jim's
mind all the way along.
"I didn't think he'd take you so soon," she said, once they were settled in
bed.
"Neither didI ," said Jim. "But it's probably just as well. The sooner I
leave, the sooner I'll be back."
The words were nothing more or less than Angie had expected from him; but she
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felt a sudden strong twinge of unhappiness at the thought of his leaving.
Since young Robert Falon had come into their lives, she was not only full of
intense protective feeling toward the child, but she also found herself
wanting Jim around more preferably where she could see him.
It was not that she was afraid of being left alone in the Castle. She had
thoroughly adjusted to this rough period they now lived in; and Geronde had
given her many lessons, information about many things useful to a Chatelaine
managing a castle without her Lord. So it was nothing like that. It was just
that she wanted him Jim to be there; and now that he had to leave, she wanted
him back safely, and as soon as possible.
"You'll use your magic, now, won't you if you really need it?" she said.
"Won't you?"
"Oh, of course," said Jim.
But Angie knew that lately he had come to regard the magic energy he
possessed as too precious to be used, except in the case of an absolute need
such as the ward in Robert's room.
She closed her arms around her husband and snuggled up against him; but a
small cold feeling remained inside her. She was afraid that in spite of his
saying so, he might well be saving of his magic when he really needed it, and
possibly fall into danger because of it.
Chapter Seven
True to Sir John's words, they were, indeed, off with the dawn. They rode
west by north toBath , and then to theBristol Channel , where they took ship
to Caerwent. From there they took the old Roman road over to Caerleon, and
northward from there, through Kenchester, Leintwardine, Roxter, and on
toWarrington , Wigan, Ribchester, andLancaster . After that, it was almost
straight ahead, due north.
The scent was cold.
Aargh, the English wolf, moved upwind toward its source, silent as his own
shadow, flickering on the sun-dappled forest floor and against the green small
bushes, where the majestic oaks and ashes let light enough through for such
smaller leaved things to grow. His nose was to the ground, his ears were
upright and pricked, for the scent was not "cold" in the sense of having been
laid down sometime ago, rather, it had a special element of taste that came to
him asa coldness .
Aargh's nose was what mouth-taste and color-sight were to human beings: it
gave him access to a whole rich spectrum of information that humans passed by
without ever having sensed, or to which they paid scant attention if they had.
So that when he read this scent as "cold," it was only because no word existed
for it in spoken language. It was as a human might describe a flavor tasted or
a color seen for the first time. It was a scent that spoke to him of darkness
and deep chill.
In the many years that he had held this territory against incursions by other
wolves, he had never encountered this scent before; and from nose-tip to
tail-end he was alert.
It was not a ground-trail of someone or something that had passed this way
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earlier. It was an odor riding the faint breeze that stirred the hairs of his
face as he moved toward it from downwind. It grew stronger as he came closer
to its source, which might be anything. Only one thing was certain. It
belonged to some unknown; and he went with all a wolf's natural caution.
Caution it was, not fear. Aargh had not known fear since he was a wolf-pup;
but caution he knew, and wariness. If there was something dangerous up ahead,
then it was well to know what it was before it knew him.
The forest was thinning. There were more of the sunlit open patches between
the great trees; and without needing to check, he knew he was drawing closer
toMalencontriCastle , the home of his friends Jim and Angie Eckert, the
unlikely Baron and Lady of the Castle. The scent was stronger now, and he
followed it more slowly, picking his cover as he went. Abruptly, he stopped,
lifting his nose to get its full quality, and peering through the branches of
a small bush, his ears cocked forward.
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