Muse (Tales of Silver Downs Book 1) (13 page)

The terrier hobbled back and stood in front of me, bandaged paw still held up. It was company, if nothing else, and likely wouldn't live through the night anyway. I patted the blanket.

"You may as well sit down. You won't get far with that paw."

She sniffed at me but whether it was intended as a thank you or in derision, I couldn't tell. She circled several times, awkwardly and with a whimper, before curling up with the bandaged paw still held aloft.
 

I fished within my pack for a strip of dried meat, broke it into small pieces and laid them in front of her on the blanket.
 

"Like I said, we have to conserve the rations. But there's enough for you to have a little tonight."

I lay down as near to the fire as I thought was safe. She ate the meat and then edged closer until she lay with her back curled into the curve of my legs. Her shivers vibrated through my body. I wrapped the blanket around us both. Her body was cold against me but she soon began to warm.
 

Staring into the flames as I waited for sleep to claim me, I didn't feel quite as bad as I had earlier. I had food in my belly, albeit not much, and with the terrier snuggled up to me, I was comfortably warm. Fiachra had said I would have companions on this journey. Perhaps the injured terrier was the first.
 

She was still curled up against me when I woke. I had no sense of time here in depths of the woods. Sparse sunlight filtered in through the firs but it could be dawn or midday for all I could tell. I only knew I had slept long enough for the fire to burn out. I didn't want to disturb the terrier, but as she slept on, I became increasingly aware of my bladder. Eventually I had to move. I tried to sit up silently but she stirred as soon as I shifted. The look on her face said she had no idea where she was.

"It's all right. You're safe. You can stay there but I need to get up."

She stretched and stood gingerly, whimpering as her injured paw touched the ground. Blood had soaked through the bandage during the night but not as much as I might have expected. She hobbled stiffly over to a fir and crouched by it to relieve herself.
 

I hauled myself to my feet, feeling less than limber. I could put barely any weight on my sprained ankle. I would be staying put for at least today. I managed to half-hop, half-stumble some distance from the blanket and kept my back firmly to the terrier, oddly embarrassed at the thought of her watching. The necessities done, I hobbled back to the blanket. The terrier sat there, licking her bandaged paw.

"You shouldn't lick that," I said. "It won't heal unless you leave it alone."

She looked up at me, unblinking.

"Let's have some breakfast and then I'll change the bandage on that paw. How does that sound?"

Another unblinking stare.
 

I tore my gaze away from her and rummaged in the pack. "We have bread, cheese, dried meat."

She studied the strip of dried meat in my hand. I tore it into pieces for her and then took the remains of yesterday's loaf and a small wedge of cheese for myself. The terrier gulped down the meat and then watched as I ate. I offered some of my bread but she merely sniffed it and then stared at the cheese in my hand.

"You can't have the cheese," I told her. "You already had the meat. You can have some bread but the cheese is mine."

Still she stared and eventually I gave her half, albeit reluctantly. She ate the cheese in two swallows and then seemed satisfied.

Having finished my meal, I allowed myself two mouthfuls of water and then offered the terrier some in my cupped palm. She drank thirstily and I pretended not to notice when she looked beseechingly at me for more. The flask was more than two thirds empty already.

With breakfast finished, I rummaged in the pack for a makeshift bandage. All I had were my two spare shirts. I sliced one into strips with my dagger, then reached for the terrier.

"Will you hold still for me?"

She sat stiffly as I unwound the bandage. Dried blood glued it to her paw and I hesitantly peeled it away, still expecting her to bite. The wound was crusted with blood and I was reluctant to wash it in case the bleeding started again. I couldn't spare any more water anyway. I wrapped her paw with the strips from my shirt and tossed the bloodied bandage into the fire's dead coals.
 

With the remnants of my ruined shirt, I strapped my ankle. It was swollen, tender to touch and the skin felt hot. Surely by tomorrow the swelling would be reduced. I would be able to walk then. I had to.

I crawled around on my hands and knees to gather more fallen branches and soon a merry blaze warmed us. With nothing else to do, the day passed with agonising slowness. I dozed from time to time but mostly I just lay staring up into the canopy and trying not to think about the mess I was in or how I would find Ida, let alone destroy her, or what it meant about my own nature that I had created such evil. The terrier was quiet and still and seemed to sleep most of the day. I hoped she was healing for there was little else I could do to help her.

As the woods around us finally grew darker again, we shared another meagre meal. Then we curled up together with the blanket wrapped around us. She went to back to sleep almost immediately and her paws twitched as she dreamed.
 

I lay there for a long time, staring into the flames. The night woods around us were still and silent. I had seen no sign of the two small creatures that led me from my path. Surely if they still watched, they could see I needed help.
We
needed help.

This was not exactly the journey I had imagined.

In the early hours of the night, the rain started. It seeped through my blanket and into my clothes. Very soon, I was soaked through, shivering even as I clutched the sopping blanket around me. The fire sputtered and died. The terrier lay motionless, curled up with her nose tucked into her tail. Water dripped from her hair and soaked the makeshift bandages.

The night was painfully long and there were times I believed we would both die of the cold long before morning ever came. My shivers became shuddering waves that crashed over my body and I could no longer feel my hands or toes. I drew the terrier to my chest and wrapped my arms around her, seeking some warmth from her cold body even as I hoped to warm her with mine.

When at last the rain eased and the light filtering in through the firs brightened, I nudged the terrier aside and sat up. I unwrapped the soaked bandage around my ankle, my fingers clumsy and unfeeling. My ankle was still swollen and tender but perhaps not quite as much.
 

Although the rain had ceased, I was no warmer and every part of my body ached. When I hauled myself to my feet and tested my ankle, pain shot up my leg. I gritted my teeth. I could bear a little weight on the ankle but not much. Perhaps with the aid of a crutch of some sort I could make my way out of the woods. I only had to get as far as the road and then I could wait for someone to pass by. What other choice did I have? Nobody would happen on me if I stayed here, and once Fiachra explained my absence, it was unlikely anyone would come looking for me. Even if they did — if perhaps Marrec and Con came — they wouldn't think to search for me in the woods. My only chance of rescue was to reach the road.
 

The terrier sat up and stretched, looking even more stiff and sorry for herself than I felt.

"I can hardly leave you here, can I?" I said.
 

She looked up at me quizzically.
 

"It's not like you can fend for yourself in that condition. Do you think you can keep up if I take you with me?"

The look she gave me was full of indignation and I hastily added, "That is, if you want to."

She sniffed and looked away.
 

"I'm in no better condition, I guess. Perhaps with the two of us together, we can make it back to the road."
 

She eyed me again, considering.

"Once we reach the road, we can decide what to do next."

She sniffed, perhaps in agreement.

The remaining rations were meagre and wet. One small loaf of bread, now soggy and beyond edible, a small piece of cheese, four strips of dried meat. I tossed the bread into the fire pit, then took half the cheese and a strip of meat for myself and gave the terrier a piece of meat. She wolfed it and then watched as I packed the rest away.

"No more," I said firmly. "We'll need it tonight."
 

I had brought provisions for but one stomach and only two days, expecting to restock my supplies in Tors. Unless we found help today, tomorrow would be hungry. We each drank a few mouthfuls of water and then there was nothing left to do but wring out the soggy blanket and stow it away in my pack.
 

I found a reasonably straight length of branch to serve as a crutch. The terrier would have to cope on her own and either keep up or… I refused to think past that.
 

"We have to stick together." I used the crutch to haul myself to my feet, then hitched the pack over my shoulders. "Nice and slow, no faster than either of us can cope with, all right?"

She gave me a look that clearly said she could keep up with anything I could manage.

Our progress was painfully slow and after barely two dozen paces, both the terrier and I were panting. We had only passed maybe five firs in that distance. Each jarring step sent pain stabbing through my ankle. My wet clothes clung to my body uncomfortably.
 

I paused to rest briefly, leaning on the makeshift crutch. The terrier sat, head drooping. Her breathing was unsteady. I counted to twenty and we set once more.

"You need a name," I said when we stopped to rest yet again. Count to twenty. Move on.

Her ears twitched but she didn't look at me. Her head hung even lower now and she barely seemed to have the strength to hold herself up.
 

 
Beneath the blood, her coat was perhaps white.

"Snowball?" I suggested.
 

A slight flick of an ear was her only reaction.

"Not Snowball. What else is white?" Another few steps before I could speak again. "Clouds. Ribbons. Owls. Owl?"

She deigned to sniff at me.

"Rabbit? Bunny?"

Not even a sniff this time. I halted and the terrier immediately sat in the leaf litter. Her head drooped and white foam dripped from her mouth. Was this where she would refuse to walk any further? I counted to twenty and then heaved off again. With a grunt, she followed.

"What about white flowers? Foxglove, Snowdrop, Bluebell. Bramble."

Her ears twitched and she finally looked up at me, big eyes even wider with pain and heavy with exhaustion.

"Bramble? You like that?"

She sniffed, a different sound from the one she used for derision.
 

"Bramble it is."

I had no more breath left to talk and I needed all of my strength to keep moving anyway. We only had to get to the road. We couldn't possibly continue past that, even though the road would be far easier than the woods where every step involved lifting the foot over branch or mossy stone, often to land in a slippery patch of leaves and slide before I could catch my balance again. But we would be all right if we could get to the road. Someone would come along sooner or later. Bramble and I would wait.
 

If we could make it to the road, there was hope. Here, in the woods, there was none.

Again and again, I walked until I go could no further. I stopped to rest for a count of twenty. Each time, Bramble and I both somehow found the strength to move on again. The woods around us were full of the rustling of animals snuffling around in the fallen leaves and the calls of woodlarks. A raven swooped past my head, too intent on whatever business it followed to even notice me. I tried to watch for the strange creatures that had led me here but it was all I could do to stay standing.

Step by step, panting and exhausted. My thoughts started to wander. I was confused. Again and again, I suddenly realised I was staggering through the woods and, for a few moments, I wondered why I hurt so much. Several times I stopped and threw down the branch serving as my crutch, preparing to lie down and rest before I remembered. I had to get to the road. If I lay down, I might never get up again. Somehow, I awkwardly retrieved the crutch from the ground and we moved on.

The light filtering in through the firs was softer now. The day was slipping away and my spirits sank even lower. It was likely that neither Bramble nor I would survive another night in the woods. Right when I began to lose all hope, the light ahead brightened.

"I think we're almost at the road."
 

I would have run that last hundred paces but it was all I could do to limp along, leaning heavily on the crutch with each step. My fingers were blistered from the rough wood but I could barely stand without the crutch, let along walk.

Twice more I forgot what I was doing but each time I saw the light ahead and remembered. Bramble could barely lift her paws but somehow she too kept going.
 

Then, abruptly, we were out of the woods. One moment it seemed the firs extended forever, and then suddenly sunlight burnt my eyes, even though the sun sat a mere finger's width above the horizon. There was little time left until sunset.

As we stood at the edge of the woods, blinking in the sudden brightness, a voice boomed.

"Hello there, friend. Lucky you came out when you did. If you were a few moments later, I would have gone and missed you."

My eyes adjusted and I could finally focus on the speaker. He sat atop a wooden cart hooked up to a pair of large, black oxen. When he stood, I realised he was possibly the biggest man I had ever seen. Tall and wide-shouldered, he looked like he could easily drag the cart himself if the oxen tired. He climbed down, moving more gracefully than I would have expected for one his size.

"Oh my," he said as he drew closer to us. "You look right dreadful." His gaze drifted down to Bramble. "Both of you."