“Oh, I forgot to tell you about that,” Rodham replied. He deftly pulled a bright red cloth from his pocket and handed it to Traven. “These show that we’re part of Meritza’s elite guard. The bright red is her chosen color which shows courage and loyalty. You’ll tie it around your right arm like the new guard in the back. Only those who have fought in protecting the caravan are allowed to wear the band on their left arm. I don’t know if I agree with you wearing the armband at all, but I guess you are supposedly another guard, so Meritza ordered it.”
Rodham turned back to studying the surrounding countryside. Traven quickly tied the cloth around his right arm with a sense of pride notwithstanding Rodham’s disapproval. Rodham took one last look at the surrounding countryside and then headed down toward the caravan without a word. Traven booted Dapple and immediately followed. Rodham pulled up in front of Meritza. She was back to wearing the same clothes he had first seen her in, but as he had noticed before, they could not hide her beauty. Rodham promptly announced that the road ahead was clear.
“That’s good to hear. I expected it would be clear this close to the city and this early.” Meritza then ordered Rodham and the guard on her right to keep scouting ahead. They quickly trotted ahead of the caravan in compliance with Meritza’s orders. She then turned and looked at Traven with her mesmerizing eyes. “Traven, I’m glad you were able to make it this morning without any problems. You will be riding as my personal guard along with Drake.”
Pride and ecstasy filled Traven as he took his position on her right. It was dampened, however, by the angry look that Drake shot at him behind Meritza’s back. Traven recognized him as one of the guards whom Meritza had been talking to the night before. Glancing back at the other guards, he wasn’t surprised to find no welcoming smiles. He hoped they would give him a chance. He may not really be a guard, but he was going to try his best to act like one. The road ahead would be a lot easier if he had their friendship. Either way, as long as he was traveling with Meritza, he could handle any amount of animosity from the others.
Meritza turned back to Drake and began to discuss the items they might buy and sell along the road to Calyn to make the largest profit. Traven tried listening to what they were saying but lost the meanings of the words in the melody of Meritza’s voice. He finally quit trying to listen to what they were saying and just took joy in riding next to such a beautiful woman.
The caravan moved forward at a pace that surprised him. He had thought that the large wagons would keep the caravan moving slowly, but the magnificent horses pulling them had no problem in keeping up with Meritza’s steady pace. He rode along in silence and was content watching the countryside go by. After they had been riding for several hours, one of the flank guards began to distribute rolls and cheese among everyone. While Traven was eating, Drake leaned close to Meritza and whispered something. She thought about it for a moment and then turned to Traven. He brightened up expectantly but was sorely disappointed.
“I want you to take a turn riding at the rear of the wagon. Ride to the back and send Halbet up here.”
Traven turned dejectedly around and headed towards the back of the caravan. He turned around once to get a glimpse at Meritza but was greeted only by her back and a mocking grin on Drake’s face. When he informed Halbet that he was trading him places, Halbet excitedly galloped forward while the other guard cursed under his breath. Traven soon learned why the other guard was upset. The dust kicked up by the caravan slowly rose into the air until it reached just about face level right where the rear guards rode. He opened his mouth to try to talk with the guard riding grim-faced next to him but only managed to catch a throat full of dust that sent him hacking.
“It’s not that bad,” the guard said. “Just keep yourself erect in the saddle and most of the dust will never reach your face. What’s really bad is during the middle of the summer. There’s so much dust that you have to wear a handkerchief over your mouth to keep from choking even if you aren’t in the rear.”
Traven sat up as straight as possible in his saddle and was glad to find that he could actually breath. His clothes, however, soon had collected a large amount of dust. He talked with the man a little and learned that his name was Chance. The man had a story to go along with his name that left Traven blushing. Besides learning the origin of the man’s name, he learned that the empty wagon directly in front of them was for any goods that they might find along the way that could be sold for a large profit in Calyn. In addition to talking about the caravan, Chance had a great many stories about fighting that he readily shared with Traven, pointing out the scars to prove each was true. Traven was not sure how much in the stories was actually truth but he found the stories entertaining.
Time flew by with the stories, and then a different guard distributed some biscuits along with the same cheese that they had eaten for breakfast. Traven began to recall that the food you had to eat while traveling was definitely not the best. It was even worse when it was covered by dust from the road. After they finished eating, Halbet rode back to them, and to Traven’s great disappointment, traded places with Chance. Chance chuckled and grinned at Traven as he headed to the front of the caravan. Halbet was not the talkative type, and Traven once again rode on in silence. Time moved very slowly through the afternoon, and his backside began to get sore once again. He remembered why traveling was not as fun as he used to imagine. Those two nights in the inn had spoiled him and made him forget about the downs of journeying.
After many slow hours of moving along in silence, the sun finally began to sink below the horizon. They hadn’t seen anyone on the road since they had gotten about five miles out of Kavar, but Traven noticed that as the light lessened, the guards became more alert. They were no longer just riding nonchalantly with a caravan; they were elite guards protecting large amounts of expensive goods. The guards kept a sharp eye in all directions, looking for any sign of trouble. He didn’t understand why they were so worried. It seemed to him that nothing could get near them without them being able to see it long before it reached them. However, Halbet explained there were folds in the ground that couldn’t be seen from the road that were perfect hiding spots for bandits. Traven didn’t think that enough people could hide without being spotted to be a threat, but was reminded that one arrow could kill a man as easily as five arrows. He decided to keep a sharp watch also.
With the setting of the sun, Meritza ordered a halt. Rodham said that just up the road there was a slight rise next to the river that they had used before as a camping spot. Meritza agreed it would do nicely, and the caravan pushed on for another couple of minutes before turning off to the left and heading up the small rise. At the top, the drivers of the wagons set their wagons to form a semi-circle about the perimeter of the camp facing the road. There was a sheer drop of about ten feet to the river below at their backs. Traven had to help water the horses and then hobble them along with several of the other guards. He was then sent to find fodder for the fire along with the guard who he had seen on the last wagon. The guard grumbled to himself as they set about finding fodder. Traven trudged along behind him. He had not thought that guards had to do these kinds of things. He had always thought their only job was to fight and protect. Boy was he ever wrong.
When they returned back to the camp, a large pot had been pulled out of one of the wagons, and one of the drivers was beginning to make a stew. Traven was not sure what kinds of vegetables the man was slicing into the water, but he did recognize the slab of beef that the man was about to cut up and put in. Traven and the guard he had gone with quickly got a large fire built and going in the center of the camp. Shortly thereafter the stew was on the fire and producing a delicious aroma. Traven retrieved his bowl and spoon and waited impatiently for the stew to be ready. When the driver who had cooked it announced that it was ready, Traven was one of the first to dish up behind Meritza. He then went to a large rock that was at the very back of the camp where he had set his saddlebags. He moved them down behind the rock and sat down on it to eat in silence.
He had thought that this trip was going to be nothing but excitement and fun. It had started off the night before so promising, but Meritza had not even talked to him since the morning. Most of the guards wouldn’t talk to him, and he was sore and covered with dust despite his efforts to brush all of it off. Why did it really matter anyway? As soon as he got to the merchant school in Calyn he would never see Meritza again. It had been fun dancing with her the night before, but now he realized that it had been the beginning and end of their relationship. He would just have to make the journey like any other merchant guard. Heck, it was better than just saying he had traveled all the way from Oak Tree. He could boast that he had been a merchant guard. That should definitely impress his classmates when he got to school. All the same, it was too bad that Meritza did not feel about him the way he felt about her. All that he asked was for another smile and kiss on the cheek from her, and he could die happy. Too bad that was never going to happen. Oh well. All good things had to come to an end sometime. Besides if he ever . . .
“Traven,” Meritza chimed from over by the fire. “Don’t eat over there all alone. Come over and sit with me and we’ll talk.” At first Traven was not sure if he was hearing correctly but decided that he must be and rushed over to the fire to sit down beside her. “That’s better. What were you doing over there?”
“Uh, I was just thinking,” Traven replied.
“I like a man who thinks,” Meritza teased ruffling his hair. Traven hoped the firelight did not show the deepening color on his face. “What were you thinking about?”
“Not much.” He couldn’t tell her that he had been thinking of her. “I was just thinking that being a merchant guard wasn’t as fun as I thought it might be,” he said quickly.
“It gets better. Don’t worry about it. I just put you in the back today so that everything else will seem easy. You’ll be riding up with me all day tomorrow so that we can talk. I figured I’d tell you a little about being a merchant since you are going to a merchant school. I usually don’t share any of my secrets with potential competitors, but I like you.”
“That would be great. Thanks.” Traven had heard it. She said she liked him. He did not care what anyone else said. He had personally heard her say she liked him! This trip was not going to be bad at all.
“Look at Traven fellas. If his smile was any bigger, his face might split in two.” All of the other guards sitting around the fire began laughing, and Traven once again felt his face match the burning of the fire. “Now he looks like a cherry. Maybe he’s sick or something. I hope he doesn’t explode.”
All of the guards began to laugh even harder, with many hooting and hollering. Meritza had also joined in the laughter. Traven wanted to go back to his rock at the back of the camp until Meritza put her arm around him comfortingly.
“Don’t take everything so seriously Traven,” she whispered into his ear. “They’re just joking around.”
Meritza threw a jab back at the man who had been taunting Traven and there was once again a large outburst of laughing by the guards. Then one of the guards got up and began to sing a lively tune. To Traven’s great disappointment, Meritza took her arm from around him and began to clap and sing along with the guard. The other guards joined in and soon everyone was singing or clapping. Even Traven joined in, quickly forgetting about his earlier embarrassment. Meritza was right. He just needed to lighten up and have a good time. After about an hour of laughing and singing around the fire, Meritza announced that she was going to get some sleep even if nobody else did.
“Don’t let them keep you up too late Traven,” Meritza said with a hint of a tinkling laugh in her voice. “They have a tendency to stay awake talking around the fire for hours before they realize that they have to get up the next morning and travel all day.”
“Don’t listen to her,” chimed in Chance. “She just doesn’t like anyone having any fun after she heads for bed. It’s not our fault she turns into an ugly hag without her beauty sleep.”
More roars erupted from the guards. Traven could not believe Chance would say something like that to Meritza but then noticed that she was laughing also. Meritza yelled something back at Chance that had everyone rolling on the ground with laughter except Chance who had a stunned look on his face. Traven did not really understand what she had said, but it must have been really funny because half of the guards were laughing so hard that they were crying.
“Remember what I said Traven. If you stay around this fire too late, they’ll corrupt you.”
Meritza winked at Traven and gave his shoulder a squeeze as she left to go and sleep. He could still feel the soft touch of her hand against his shoulder long after she had gone. If he had that to look forward to every night, he didn’t even care if he had to ride in the rear all the way to Calyn. He decided to wait around and listen to some of the guard’s stories, but after the first one left his ears burning, he decided he better go to bed right away. He stood up to leave, but Drake stopped him.