The Forestwalker

by Sarah Wheeler

Table of Contents

Chapter 7

“Kas! Kas, wake up! He's gone!”

Gareth opened his eyes just after dawn to the sound of Shanna's voice ringing out across the clearing, and what he heard her saying made him smile. He wished he had told her to do that in order to protect herself from Kastor's suspicions, but this clever ploy was all hers. He leaned out slightly over the branch so he could watch the scene unfolding in the clearing below.

“Who? What?” Kastor sat up, bleary and disoriented. It took him a minute to get his bearings, but the first thing he noticed was the pile of chains lying in front of the tree where he had left his slave the night before. He shot to his feet and ran to the tree, the fury in his voice evident. “That's impossible! How did he get away?” he was shouting as he searched himself and the ground around the tree for the key to the chains.

“This is all your fault!” Shanna yelled at her brother as she followed him. “He could have run before, but he stayed to help us. Then you were mean to him, you hit him, you starved him, and you chained him to a tree. And now he's gone!”

“Did you do this?” Kastor asked, turning his fury on his sister.

Gareth was proud of her for standing her ground. “No! He was our only chance to survive out here and find out way home! If I'd let him go, I would have gone with him!”

Kastor seemed to be trying to decide whether he believed her or not, but the fact that she was standing up to him seemed to convince him eventually. He turned back around to examine the tree and the chains, apparently trying to discern Gareth's method of escape and possible whereabouts, but there was nothing there to tell him where Gareth had gone, and after a few minutes, he gave up. He kicked the tree, then picked up the chains and returned to the fire, where Shanna was sitting with her face buried in her hands.

“We're gonna die out here,” she sobbed. “We're never gonna see Mama or Papa again.” Gareth was amazed at what a good actor she was, and then he fervently hoped that she was just acting, because her crying was breaking his heart.

Kastor, in typical form, was unmoved by his sister's fear and grief. “Oh, stop whining,” he snarled at her as he slumped to the ground and began stuffing his face with food from the half-full cookpot. “He was a stupid, worthless slave. He didn't know anything, and we're better off without him.”

Shanna looked up at him with eyes like daggers and wiped the tears off her cheeks. She looked about to tell him off, but all she said was, “We need to save some of that.”

“We can get more. If he could do it, it can't be that hard,” Kastor scoffed through a mouthful of fruit. He grabbed a handful of food from the pot, tossed it onto a plate, and shoved it over to her. She ate slowly and sparingly as he proceeded to empty the pot, then watched in horror as he drank greedily from one of the canteens before pouring the rest of the water in it over the fire, causing it to smoke and sputter. She protested, but it was too late. Kastor tossed the empty canteen aside, then said, “Come on, we gotta get going if we're gonna catch those bandits.”

Shanna did most of the packing up, but only because Kastor only had one good arm, and he wasn't completely useless. He helped divide the load into two fairly even bundles, which Gareth thought was unusually kind of him, and he gladly took one of them and thanked Shanna when she helped him secure it over his one good shoulder. Then, after she had given him the last of the previous night's willowbark tea to help with the pain in his arm, the two of them headed out of the clearing and back to the road. Gareth was a bit surprised that Kastor had not been more vocally furious about his slave's escape; he had been expecting a truly epic tantrum. Though, he supposed that his young master had much more pressing matters on his mind right now... like survival.

Gareth waited until the sound of footsteps on the road had completely faded away, then he climbed silently out of the tree and went over to the campsite. The fire was still smoking and smoldering, so he kicked dirt over it to smother it, shaking his head at Kastor's carelessness and thoughtless waste of water. Then, he picked up the empty canteen Kastor had discarded, as well as a dirty blanket someone had left lying by the fire. He had initially thought Kastor had been forgetful again, but when he saw what was under it, he realized that this was Shanna's doing, because it had been hiding the wooden box containing all his possessions. With a fond, sad smile, he released the latch, checked to make sure everything inside it was okay, then reached into his shirt and pulled out the key to his chains. He put the key in the box and closed it again, then wrapped the box and the canteen in the blanket, tossed the bundle over his shoulder, and headed off into the trees to find the stream again.

The first thing he did upon reaching the stream was dunk his head directly into the freezing cold water to wash the blood from the cut on the back of his head out of his hair and off of his face. He knew the rest of him could use a good wash as well, but he didn't want to risk Kastor and Shanna getting too far ahead of him while there could still be bandits around, so he decided getting clean could wait until later. He drank his fill from the stream, filled his canteen, then grabbed a few handfuls of ripe berries from a nearby bush and headed back in the direction of the road, eating as he walked. He did not forget to revel in his surroundings, though, or in the lightness of his limbs, in how easily he moved silently through the forest, and in how good the sun felt and the air tasted now that he was free. It may only be temporary, but that didn't change the fact that it was the best feeling in the world.

Gareth found Kastor and Shanna easily. They weren't moving very fast, and Gareth heard Kastor complaining long before he saw them. As he contemplated his best strategy for shadowing them, he considered following them from the trees, but unfortunately they were too small and too far apart to easily move through – just another reminder that this place was nothing like his home. Fortunately, the undergrowth lining the road was thick enough to conceal him as long as he moved cautiously, and being invisible had become second nature to him as a slave, so he was not at all concerned about being seen by his young master. His true concern was the fact that Kastor himself was doing nothing to hide his presence; he seemed to have forgotten just how devastating that bandit attack had actually been.

But the day passed by uneventfully for all of them. Kastor and Shanna stopped to rest several times during the day, and Gareth used those opportunities to retreat back to the stream to gather food and refill his canteen with fresh water. He also picked rushes from beside the stream and passed the time while he walked by weaving them into a basket to carry the food that he gathered. It kept the food from getting squished in the dirty blanket, and it made it easy to gather more than enough food for all three of them with very little effort. He ate and drank his fill during the day as he shadowed his young master and mistress, denying himself nothing, and he still had a basket full of food to give to Shanna by the time the sun began to drop below the trees and she convinced Kastor to find another clearing to sleep in for the night.

Kastor had stormed along through the forest all day, full of confidence, determination, and anger, but once Shanna had convinced him to stop and they had found a safe clearing, all of his bluster completely left him. He slumped to the ground under the trees, looked around wearily, and suddenly seemed to realize what not having his slave there really meant. “So what do we do now?” he asked in a petulant whine. “We've got no food, no water, no fire... How dare he run off and leave us out here on our own! Worthless coward! I always knew he was no good.”

Gareth, hiding in the bushes at the edge of the clearing, felt the familiar sting of those words, and was surprised that they didn't bother him. They bothered Shanna, though, and Gareth felt for her. She had silently endured Kastor's complaints and diatribes all day, and it was obvious that she was going to be forced to shoulder the responsibility for their survival, despite the fact that Kastor, as her older brother, should be taking care of her. But all she said was, “I can do it, Kas. You can stay here and rest; I'll find food and water and firewood.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Kastor said, kicking at the dirt. Gareth seethed inside as he watched Shanna wearily push herself to her feet, pick up the empty canteens and a blanket, and walk heavily towards the trees. She was still carrying her doll. It took all of Gareth's self-control to stay low and silent as he followed her away from the clearing towards the stream. As soon as he was far enough away not to be seen by Kastor, he broke into a run. He found Shanna sitting under a tree a short distance away, crying, and he caught her up in his arms before she even realized he was there.

“Shh, miss, it's alright. I'm here, like I promised.”

“Oh, Gareth,” she sobbed as she hugged him. “I was so afraid all day that you were really gone, and Kas has been so horrible and mean, and I'm so hungry and tired, and I want my Papa, and I want to go home!” She dissolved into wordless sobs, clinging to Gareth's shirt as he held her.

“It's alright, miss. I'm here, and I've been watching over you all day,” he said in an effort to calm her down. “And things aren't as bad as they seem.” She looked up curiously at that, and he picked up the basket of food he had gathered and showed it to her. She stopped crying immediately, and her eyes lit up. “And the stream is not far from here. Let's go get you cleaned up, then I'll help you get everything you need for the night.” He picked her up and carried her piggyback to the stream, since she was so tired and didn't seem to want to let go of him.

Once they reached the stream, Gareth set Shanna down next to it, then wet a corner of the blanket she was carrying and proceeded to wash the dirt and tears off of her face. “You don't hafta do that,” she said, though she didn't try to stop him.

“I know, miss,” he replied with a gentle smile, “but I wish I never had to see you cry, and since I am partly responsible for your tears, the least I can do is erase the evidence.”

That made her smile. “You're happy,” she said, but it was not an accusation.

“Yes, miss,” he replied, glad that it showed. And his good mood was quickly infectious. As he helped Shanna gather firewood and water from the stream and showed her the bushes and trees and water plants that were good to eat, he smiled and laughed and allowed the joy he felt at his newfound freedom to spread to her, hoping that she could carry some of that happiness back with her as a buffer against Kastor's bad mood.

As they were filling the empty canteens from the stream, Shanna asked him, “Did you get the things I left you?”

“Yes, miss, thank you,” he said, patting the blanket bundle that was hanging off his shoulder. Thinking back on that morning then prompted him to say, “I should tell you, miss, that the safest way to put out a fire is to bury it with dirt, which is why you build them in shallow holes. Just pouring water on a fire does not get it all the way out.”

Shanna nodded solemnly. “It didn't seem like it was out when we left,” she said in a worried tone. Then, exasperated, “It was so dumb of him to waste water like that too! He's been doing stuff like that all day. He ate all the food, and he poured water on his head when he was hot, and he's so loud all the time even though I told him the bandits would find us if he wasn't careful. Every time I tried to tell him something, he would just accuse me of parroting a stupid slave who didn't know anything, and he would say that you probably didn't care about me anyway, that you wanted us to die out here.” She looked about to cry again, but her threatening tears were ones of anger, not sorrow. “I told him this morning that if I had helped you escape, I would have gone with you. I wish I had.”

Never one to refuse her anything, Gareth said, “You still can, miss,” but he knew what her answer would be well before she shook her head.

“I can't. He's hurt, and he can't do anything for himself. He may be a meanie, but I can't leave him alone out here.”

“I know, miss. I can't either. And hopefully he will realize what a kind and caring sister he has in time.” He hugged her to cheer her up, and told her how very strong and brave she was for looking after Kastor, then he helped her bundle up the firewood they had collected, transferred the food he had gathered into the blanket she was carrying, and helped her carry it all back in the direction of their camp.

“Won't you get hungry?” she asked when she saw that he had given her all the food that had been in the basket.

“No, miss, I ate my fill today already. This is all for you.” He barely kept his balance as she grabbed him in another fierce hug, and though she was reluctant to leave him and return to the clearing alone, she did so with a smile and a look of fierce determination on her face.

Gareth watched her go, then he raced back to the clearing by a different route and was able to get back before she did. It was not yet fully dark, but Kastor was lying on the ground with his back to the trees, so Gareth did not consider it a risk to climb the nearest one and find himself a safe, comfortable perch on one of the low-hanging branches so that he could see everything that happened in the clearing.

Kastor had curled up in a blanket and appeared to be sleeping, but when Shanna returned, laden with supplies, and sat down near him, he sat up. “Where'd you get all that?” he asked, taking in the blanket full of food, the two canteens, and the firewood that Shanna was carefully arranging in a small hollow she had dug out in the middle of the clearing.

“From the forest, like your slave showed me how to do,” Shanna said with an accusatory edge to her voice. “I'm not as good at it as he was, but I'll try my best.”

“Shanna, I... I'm sorry,” Kastor said, which made both Shanna and Gareth stare at him in shock. “I've been a useless, whiny brat today, and there's no excuse for it. I should have listened to you, and to that slave, and I shouldn't have treated him so badly when he was only trying to help. I'll try to do better, I promise. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Shanna looked up and smiled at her brother as her eyes lingered on his broken arm and heavily bandaged hand. “You can watch and listen, like I did, so you can help me when your hand is better. And you can do as I say, and try not to waste food and water, because it's not that easy to get all of this stuff.” Kastor nodded readily, looking eager to learn. As Shanna resumed carefully building the fire, he nibbled on a piece of fruit and asked her why she was doing it the way she was.

“That makes a lot of sense,” he said when she explained how the fire worked most effectively the way she was building it, parroting everything Gareth had told her the night before. “And that slave told you all of that? Where did he learn stuff like this, anyway?”

Shanna looked conflicted, as if she wasn't sure what to tell him, finally deciding on, “You should have asked him when you had the chance,” for which Gareth was grateful.

“But he told you, right? You know everything about him; he talked to you a lot. You even seemed... friendly.”

“So?” Shanna asked defensively. “No one ever said I couldn't be his friend. He's the only friend I ever had. He would have been your friend too, if you hadn't treated him so badly.”

Kastor snorted at that. “Why would I want a slave for a friend? Friends are overrated, anyway.”

“If you say so,” Shanna said, her voice full of pity. Gareth felt sorry for his young master at that moment also. Kastor was so lonely, and so angry, but he didn't seem to know any other way to be. He needed friends, and a little perspective, and if this ordeal couldn't give him the former, it did have a chance of giving him the latter. It was unlikely, but it was still possible.

And Kastor did seem to turn over a new leaf after that day. He started doing his best to pull his own weight, and he was nicer to his sister also. Shanna showed him how to find food, water, and firewood, and though he couldn't do much with a broken arm and a bandaged hand, his eagerness to learn and his willingness to acknowledge Shanna's hard work took a lot of weight off of her shoulders and a lot of guilt off of Gareth's conscience. Even though it meant that he did not get to see or speak to Shanna as often as he had expected to, Gareth was glad that they were learning to fend for themselves.

Every day, Kastor continued to search for the bandits that had attacked the caravan, even though Shanna and Gareth were both convinced that they were long gone. And since Kastor had learned to be careful while traveling through the forest, Gareth had begun to take full advantage of his newfound freedom. They didn't need him to look after them every minute of the day, and the more time he spent in the forest alone, the easier it was becoming for him to imagine that he was actually free and on his way home to his own family.

One especially warm afternoon, Gareth wandered off in the direction of the stream when Kastor and Shanna stopped to rest, intending to return as soon as he had filled his canteen. But when he got there, he found that the stream had widened into a deep pool being fed by a waterfall, and he could not resist the urge to finally clean himself up. After a week of traveling through the woods, his clothes were pretty filthy, as was the blanket he was carrying his things in. So he stripped off all his clothes and washed them and the blanket, then decided to go swimming while waiting for them to dry. He took the bandages off his leg and from around his forehead to find that the injuries he had sustained in the crash were almost completely healed, then he waded into the cold water and hesitantly swam out into the middle of the pool.

To his surprise and relief, he hadn't forgotten how to swim. He flipped over on his back and stared up at the blue sky above the tops of the trees, thinking about the last time he had gone swimming and feeling more homesick than ever. If it weren't for the collar and shackles that he still wore, he would have run off right then and there to find his way home. Over the past week, he had almost forgotten they were there, but though he was able to compensate for their weight while swimming without even thinking about it, he couldn't forget they were there now. That thought depressed him, so he swam back to the bank, climbed out, and took a nap on the grass in the warm sun instead.

An hour or so later, he woke with a start, realized how long he'd been there, and raced to dress and gather his things so that Kastor and Shanna wouldn't get too far ahead of him. He still remembered to move slowly and quietly through the trees as he headed back towards the road, though. As a result, he had plenty of warning when he neared the road and heard voices. Dropping his bundles behind the nearest tree, Gareth crouched in the bushes and crept as close to the road as he dared. When he heard what the voices were saying, his blood turned to ice water. He climbed up the nearest tree as silently as it was possible for him to be and crept out onto a leafy branch that extended out over the road so he could see what was going on.

A group of three men and two women, all dressed in mottled brown and green camouflage and carrying nasty-looking weapons, had surrounded Kastor and Shanna. They had ripped off the children's packs and two of them were rifling through the meager belongings, one of the women was holding Shanna tightly as she struggled to get away, and one of the man was holding Kastor by the shoulders while he shouted at the tallest of the men, who appeared to be the leader.

“I am Kastor Crane, son of Teskar Crane! I know you know him; you guys attacked our caravan a week ago and took him prisoner. Where is he? I demand you release him and us at once!”

Looking at these five rag-tag bandits, Gareth doubted that they were the same ones who had ambushed the caravan, and the bandit leader admitted as much when he just laughed in Kastor's face. “Sorry, Mister High-and-Mighty, but we haven't taken out a caravan in over six months, and I've never heard of anyone named Teskar Crane. Musta been some other band a mercs what got 'em. These brats got anything worthwhile, Jez?”

“No, sir,” said the woman who'd been searching their belongings. “Just rags, old blankets, camping gear, and a set of chains with no key. They certainly don't look like anyone special to me.”

“See, we don't have anything, so let us go!” Kastor demanded.

That made the leader laugh again. “Oh, no, boy, that's not how this works. See, you don't got nothin' worth our time except yourselves, which means you're coming with us. The slave markets in Devrost pay good money for kids as young and pretty as you two, long as we fix you up and teach you some manners and obedience first.”

Shanna began to cry and struggle harder at that, and Kastor's face went ghostly white. “You... you can't!” he stammered, panicked. “We're important, and our family is very rich! When my father finds out that you've taken us, he'll pay lots of money to get us back!”

“But you just told me that your father has been kidnapped by another group of bandits, so he's in no position to do anything. Besides, bargaining with the wealthy for ransom is risky because they usually involve the police, but it's perfectly legal to sell two ragamuffin orphans to the slave markets, even if the money's not quite as good.” He turned to his people. “Tie them up and toss that junk of theirs into the woods. I don't want to linger too long in the open here.”

Shanna's hands were tied behind her back and Kastor's free hand was forced behind him and tied to his waist. Ropes were tied around their necks as two of the bandits tossed all their belongings into the bushes, and then they were dragged into the trees on the far side of the road. Gareth was frozen in shock, Kastor and Shanna's screams and pleading cries ringing in his ears as he watched them disappear into unknown and dangerous territory in the company of slavers.