Origins: A Deepwoods Book - a Collection of Deepwoods Short Stories (Deepwoods Series 0) (22 page)

The ferry south of Turton had been set up with the
understanding that it had to handle large wagons and caravans. There would be
no way to use paths otherwise. The barges were wide and sturdy, good enough to
handle a fully loaded wagon and its team without too much difficulty although
it was admittedly somewhat cramped. The ferry started up just after dawn and
the caravan boss had at least three wagons ready at the docks, beating out the
competition.

Tran was absolutely positive that the guild had come this
way before, as they knew the ins and outs of the place, but it also seemed like
this was the first time they’d taken a caravan of this size through Turton.
They underestimated how long it would take to get all of the wagons across.

In the way of rivers, this one wasn’t particularly wide, but
its depth and speed made it treacherous. It wasn’t something that a wagon could
just cross on its own. The woods were thick and dominant, the size of the trees
giving credence to how old the forest was, even from this distance. But there
was a clear space kept on the shoreline and Tran assumed that was where the
paths were built.

It was mid-morning before they had the first group all the
way across. Siobhan appeared at his elbow and requested, “Can you call Grae for
me? I can’t find him and I don’t have a loud enough voice to be heard over this
crowd.”

The place was noisy, what with all of the animals and bored
drivers speaking loudly over each other. Obligingly, he raised his voice,
“GRAE-MAEE!”

Siobhan jumped and put a hand to her heart. “Heavens, man,
you’re loud when you’re of a mind to be!” She was smiling as she said this so
it was meant as more compliment than complaint. “I’m getting you to yell for me
more often.”

He grinned down at her. “Siobhan-maee, this pace doesn’t
seem like a good one.”

“I’m thinking the same,” she responded, pulling a sour face.
“We badly underestimated how much time this was going to take. Our original
plan was to get everyone across and then have Grae take each group, as we had
in Goldschmidt, but I think we’ll run out of daylight if we try to do that,
which will leave at least one group out here camping in the woods.”

And wasn’t that a pleasant thought. “I’d rather not.”

“Me neither. But I think that if we—” she cut herself off as
Grae appeared in between two wagons. “There he is.” Raising a hand, she waved
until he spotted her, then waited for him to come in closer before continuing.
“Grae. We’re not going to make it at this rate.”

Grae grimaced. “I know it. Do we have a Plan B?”

“We do. You basically have the first group over there
already, don’t you?”

“Yes, I think they’re all there.”

“Then go ahead and take them the last leg. While you’re
going and coming, we’ll work on getting the second group over. If luck’s with
us, we’ll have the second group ready by the time you’ve returned.”

It was certainly more time efficient to do it that way.
“Then, Fei and…who else should go with him?”

“Beirly, I think. The three of us can handle the second and
third groups.” Siobhan pulled at her chin, forehead drawing into a frown. “I’m
just a little worried about that division. Turton’s docks are well guarded,
more than they had been last year, but the same cannot be said of the opposite
side. And bandits are notorious for lurking in there and waiting for people’s
backs to be turned.”

Well of course they would, that stretch of woods would be
prime pickings. Rich clients coming through, the chaos of unloading and
loading, and the lack of guards would make it the perfect setup for banditry.
“Then should we go over there?”

“I’m thinking so. But let’s ask our client first.” Siobhan
moved off, Grae at her heels. Knowing that those two should not be wandering
around without an enforcer, Tran tagged along with them.

Siobhan found the caravan boss, a bear of a woman named
Monica, and explained the situation quickly, ending with, “Which do you
prefer?”

“Guard the other side,” Monica responded promptly. “You’re
right, we’ve got enough protection here, it’s the other end that’s worrying
me.”

“Then we’ll go over on the next ferry and concentrate our
efforts there.” With a respectful nod, Siobhan gathered up the two men
following her and issued orders. “Go find the rest of the guild and tell them
what we’re doing. Grae, if it’s a matter of having an enforcer along until
we’ve gotten to our destination, then take Wolf with you on the first leg and
have him stowed in an inn before coming back. He’s too sick to be working the
rest of the day.”

“Of course—if you’re the one that tells him to go. He’s not
going to listen to me.”

Siobhan growled in aggravation but didn’t argue, moving off
to find the man himself.

Tran watched her go and asked in bemusement, “Does Wolf
really only listen to her?”

“No, that’s not quite right,” Grae denied although the
rueful smile on his face said otherwise. “I mean, of course he listens to the
rest of us and helps out as he can, it’s just that in the rare times like these
when he’s sick or injured, he becomes more protective of her. Of all of us,
really. He feels like the enemy might exploit his weakness if he dares to show
one.”

That made perfect sense to Tran, as that was indeed how an
evil mind would work.

Tran found Sylvie and gathered with the rest of the guild on
the next ferry that came to them. It was a tight squeeze, in between the cart
and the reinmals, and the only room left for people was right in the front.
Even that wasn’t quite free space as there were stacks of coiled rope and of
course the ferryman himself guiding them along.

Their ferryman was not a friendly sort, and he only offered
them a nod of greeting and used his chin to point them where they should go.
The flat barge had railing on all sides, of course, but it hit Tran mid-thigh,
it was that short. He maneuvered carefully into a corner and braced himself,
both hands gripping the railing.

Sylvie noted his position and gave him a bemused smile. “Are
you afraid of water?”

“Not quite,” he denied. “Just don’t have a lot of experience
with it. The lakes near my home were leech infested, so….”

“Ah, I see. But you do know how to swim?”

“I was taught, yes. I can keep my head above water and make
it to shore.” With a lot of dog paddling and splashing. He eyed the water under
them with a nervous eye. “The pace of this river is a little fast.”

“It’s not still water,” Grae agreed, joining in as he came
to stand at Tran’s other side. “These coils of rope with the heavy ball weights
on them? I’m told they’re emergency anchors because sometimes one of the lead
ropes will snap. The ferryman will throw these into the water to hold position
until another lead rope can be strung up.”

“Haven’t lost a barge yet,” their ferryman chimed in with a
proud growl. “Came close, though, ’bout twelve years ago.”

That was strangely un-reassuring.

The rest of the guild packed in, all of them huddled
together like lemmings. The ferryman started off, their pace not particularly
fast but steady. Tran had an eye on the opposite shore and was silently praying
to arrive without incident. He really didn’t want to end up in this river.

“Will you quit?” Siobhan batted at a reinmal that seemed
intent on nosing her or lipping at her neck. “I’m not edible, you know? Quit!”
Aggravated, she took a step back, leaning her torso away from the animal.

There was a rattling sound, that of metal rolling across
wood, and then the coil near Siobhan’s feet snapped taut.

Wolf let out a sound of dismay and panic, grabbed her by the
arm, and jerked her around and into Fei’s direction. The other enforcer,
startled, grabbed her and kept them from both toppling to the deck.
Unfortunately, the disaster was not averted. Tran realized in the same second
that Wolf had simply changed places with her, as his move to get Siobhan had
turned him around and put his own foot squarely in the coil of rope instead. He
had no time to react before the giant Wynngaardian was abruptly jerked over the
short railing and into the river.

  Swearing, Tran planted his butt on the railing, swung his
legs out and around, then jumped into the river after the other man. He had to
clamp his mouth shut as his skin broke through the water’s surface. It was
freezing
!
Granted, they were in the beginning of the winter months, but it was so cold he
was surprised the water wasn’t frozen. The shock of the temperature kept his
eyes wide and the water was thankfully on the clear side instead of being
murky. He saw where Wolf was going down and set off in strong strokes towards
him.

The other enforcer was fighting with the rope, trying to get
his foot clear of it, but he was upside down and weak from being sick. The
water’s strong current kept taking him out in a horizontal line, fighting his
every effort. Tran grabbed the line to keep himself from being drawn away,
unsheathed the short knife at his belt, and cut the line free just below Wolf’s
foot.

Snagging the man around the waist, he brought him close to
his chest and tried to take them both up to the surface, but couldn’t. The
other man was too heavy and Wolf didn’t have much strength or breath left in
order to help. Mentally growling a few choice words, he reached around and
unbuckled the leather straps keeping his iron hand in place. That was harder to
do than it should have been, as the wet leather didn’t want to cooperate. He
finally wrestled it free and let it drop to the river bottom. With that weight
gone, it was a far easier task to haul Wolf’s head above water.

They broke the surface with twin grasps and found that the
barge hadn’t moved far from them. Someone must have thrown weights off to the
side to keep them from going anywhere. Tran did a side-stroke, swimming for the
side.

“Go towards the back!” Siobhan ordered, already slipping
past the wagon sideways, heading that direction.

Tran saw sense in the order as she said it. The back had a
gate to it, so it would be easier to open the gate than to try to haul them
both over the railing. It was also closer than trying to reach the side. He
altered course slightly and tried not to gulp water as he swam.

Tran was within arm’s length of the barge when Wolf rallied
enough to grab hold of it  himself. Relieved, he took hold on his own and kept
an eye on the other man to make sure he didn’t lose his grip. He didn’t want to
have to repeat that rescue.

Fei was right at Siobhan’s side and opened the gate wide,
extending a hand to Wolf first. “Grab hold, Wolf-ren.”

Wolf tried, but of course he only had one good hand now, and
his other arm was slick with water. It took the concentrated effort of all
three of them to get him back in the barge, and once there, he just collapsed
and breathed hard. Tran levered himself up with some help from Fei, water
gushing out of his clothes as he moved.

Sylvie appeared from inside the wagon and handed down a
stack of blankets, which Tran was desperately glad to see. The breeze was mild,
but it was murder on his already chilled skin. Teeth chattering, he looked down
at Wolf.

The man was looking right at him, an odd expression on his
face. “No one else would have had the strength to pull me out of the water like
that.”

“True,” Tran agreed, grinning in spite of the fact that the
shivers were hard enough to vibrate his words. “You’re welcome.”

Beirly had to suck in his gut but he managed to squeeze past
the wagon and come around. “How are we back here? Everyone in one piece?”

Wolf waved his naked arm in the air with an apologetic
grimace. “Sorry.”

“It was weighing him down too much, I couldn’t get him up
with it on,” Tran explained when Beirly looked at the bare arm with horror.
“Sorry.”

Swearing aloud, Beirly stripped off his boots and jacket and
without a word jumped straight into the river.

Siobhan groaned aloud. “Really? Beirly, you fool, get back
up here!”

“I am
not
making him another hand this month,” Beirly
shouted back, still swimming for the area where Wolf had dropped.

“This month?” Tran repeated, looking down at Wolf.

“They’re a little fragile,” Wolf explained, perfectly
serious.

An iron hand was fragile. Riiiiight. “Do tell.”

Fei started chuckling. “We all feel the same way about it,
but he breaks a hand on average of every three months.”

The ferryman called back to them, “Is everyone on board?”

“Not yet!” Siobhan called back. Under her breath, she
grumbled, “Due to various degrees of foolishness. Tran, is he diving in the
right area?”

“Vahh.”

“Beirly’s our strongest swimmer, aside from Fei,” she said
while keeping an eagle eye on the spot where the man had disappeared. “I’m not
too worried about him coming back up.”

That expression on her face, and the way she leaned toward
the river, as if tempted to join in, said otherwise. Tran turned and kept a
better lookout himself. “If he’s not up in another minute, I’ll go back in
after him.”

Siobhan beamed at him. “You’re a true friend, Tran. Oh,
wait, no need. There he is. I swear, I don’t know who’s more attached to the
hand, him or Wolf. Tran, give him a hand up and call to me when he’s on board.
Sylvie, tell Grae that we’re switching the order around and making Tran go in
with Wolf to the city. The sooner they’re in dry clothes and seen to by an
Apothecarist, the better.”

“I’m fine,” Tran protested. “Dry clothes are all I need.”

Siobhan was shaking her head before he could get the words
out. “I need someone who can haul Wolf around and you’re one of the few that
can manage it. We can handle things on this end, but make sure he’s seen to.”
Dropping to one knee, she wrapped the blanket more snugly around Wolf. “And
next time,” she chided him gently, “remember that I’m lighter and easier to
haul out of a river than you are.”