And discuss Tatius’ future, as well.
Or the lack thereof.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Uttoxeter
The morning ofleaving Uttoxeter, the weather turned horrible.
A storm blew in from the west, bringing fierce winds and heavy rain that started before dawn. By the time the escort pulled out of Uttoxeter, the elements had turned vicious and the escort was battered by high winds and rain.
The roads, which had been relatively good up until that point, deteriorated quickly. With the stormy weather, by mid-morning, the road they were traveling on, which would ultimately lead them to Chester, had turned into an uneven series of small chasms and holes, so much so that the carriage was beginning to get stuck regularly. Twice, the soldiers had to roll it out of a hole, or out of a fissure when the wheels got stuck, but it was only a temporary fix.
The conditions were growing worse.
The provisions wagons were beginning to stick, too, as the road quickly turned into a quagmire of mud and madness. The column would travel for a mile or so before the wagons would get stuck again, and then it would take them a half-hour to pushthem out. Men were weary and soaked, and the day wasn’t even halfway over with.
It only grew worse.
Inside the carriage, Cadelyn and Yerik and the dog were having quite a time of it. The road was horribly rough and every time it would get stuck, the two of them would go flying to whatever side of the carriage was in distress. Cadelyn had a nasty bruise on her elbow as a result and Yerik had hurt his wrist trying to stop himself from colliding with the wall of the carriage.
After at least six or seven hours of such horrible conditions, the wagon fell into a rut for the last time and couldn’t be moved. Twenty soldiers and a team of horses trying to pull it out didn’t work, and when it finally lurched forward, the rear axle broke, ending the life of the carriage at that point. There was nothing more they could do, at least not in this weather.
Kress, who had been one of the ones trying to shove the wagon out of the hole, was the one who finally opened the rear door. He found Cadelyn and Yerik sitting down on the cushioned benches, but nearly everything else in the carriage was scattered on the floor, including the dog. Goliath’s head popped up when he saw Kress and he wandered his way over to the open door, trying to lick Kress’ face as the man propped his helm up on his head, wiping the water from his eyes.
“The carriage is broken,” he told Cadelyn, pushing the dog aside. “I am going to move you to the provisions wagon, which is still operational. Bric and Achilles are rigging up a tarpaulin for you to sit under.”
Cadelyn came to the door, standing next to the dog as she peered outside, seeing the wind and the rain.
“A tarpaulin will not do any good in this weather,” she said. “If I wrap myself in it, that will be better than trying to keep it up under all of this wind.”
Kress nodded reluctantly as he, too, glanced up at the sky. “As much as I hate to agree with you about that, you are probably right,” he said. “But let them rig it up, anyway, and see if it will work. I will cover you with an oilcloth for extra protection, but that is the best we can do right now.”
Yerik walked up beside Cadelyn, also peering out of the doorway to see the nasty weather. “I can ride my palfrey, my lord,” he said to Kress. “You do not have to put me in the wagon.”
Kress eyed the flabby cleric. “We left your palfrey back in Uttoxeter,” he said. “We traded it for two sides of pork. That horse would not have done you any good, anyway. He was too weak. You can ride beside the quartermaster.”
Yerik nodded and grabbed his meager satchel, writing implements included. Cadelyn was already wearing her cloak against the cool temperatures, but she put the hood over her head in preparation for heading out into the storm. But just as Kress reached in to take her, Bric came running up behind them.
“The wagon has broken another axle,” he said, sputtering water out of his mouth. “The second wagon is buried up to the top of the wheels in mud and we shall never get it out. Sherry wants to transfer anything of value into the carriage and lock it up for when we can return for it.”
That meant Cadelyn had nowhere to ride except with one of the knights. There was no question in Kress’ mind that it would be with him.
“Very well,” he said. “I will take the lady with me. Someone needs to take the cleric. And tell Sherry to start moving everything into the carriage.”
After that, the group of them worked like a well-oiled operation. Bric retrieved the tarpaulin they were rigging up and Kress wrapped Cadelyn up in it, carrying her to his horse while Bric took the cleric with him. The wagons were stripped of everything of value and everything was loaded up into thecarriage, which was then locked up with a big iron lock. It secured everything until they could return for it. They removed part of the rigging at the front that the horse teams were lashed to so that someone couldn’t come along, repair the axle, and hitch it up to their own team. It would take some doing.
Once everyone was settled, the party moved out with the big, wet dog in tow, making headway through the storm towards the nearest town.
*
Near Longton
The travel forthe day had been limited to about fifteen miles before the escort finally stopped for shelter, and those fifteen miles had been hard-fought.
They had been positively miserable.
Covered in her cloak, and with an oilcloth to keep the rain off, Cadelyn had huddled up against Kress’ back as they rode together in the driving rain, but the winds had whipped around from the east as they headed west, so everything was hitting her from behind. As it turned out, she became the windbreak for Kress, protecting his back from the elements that were whistling up behind them.
