The Forestwalker

by Sarah Wheeler

Table of Contents

Chapter 6

When Gareth regained consciousness, everything was dark. He looked up and saw stars shining in the night sky through the forest canopy above him. It took him a minute to remember what had happened, and, when he did, it took all of the willpower he possessed to keep from panicking. He was lying in a pile of splintered wood, buried up to his neck in the remains of the carriage. In the dim glow from the nearly-full moon overhead, he glanced around and saw nothing but destruction. The horse that had been pulling the carriage lay on the ground a few yards away, dead. The two arrows sticking out of its neck and flank were probably the reason it had panicked and bolted away from the caravan. During its unchecked flight through the woods, it had tried to run through two trees that had stood too close together for the carriage to pass through as well. The carriage had been badly battered during the uncontrolled ride through the forest, and that final impact had proved to be too much for it. And it appeared that most of it had fallen on top of Gareth.

As he struggled to free himself from the wreckage, Gareth realized to his relief that he was still holding Shanna in his arms. Glancing around again, though, he realized he couldn't see Kastor anywhere. And Shanna wasn't moving. Panic began to claw more forcefully at his insides, and he redoubled his efforts to free himself from the rubble. With Shanna lying on his chest and his wrists shackled, it was almost impossible to get the massive piece of wood that had once been the carriage door off of himself, but desperation gave him strength he hadn't realized he possessed. After a few minutes, he had finally pushed the door and most of the other debris off of himself and Shanna. He sat up as best he could and looked down at his young mistress, his heart pounding with fear at what he might see.

But Shanna was only unconscious, he realized with a sigh of relief. The cause was obvious – a large bump on her temple just over her left eye – but aside from that and a few other minor scrapes and bruises, she appeared to be unhurt. Even as he looked her over, she was already beginning to stir, and a minute later she opened her eyes and looked up into his face, her eyes wide and full of confusion that turned to fear as she looked around and remembered what had happened.

“Where are we? Where's Papa?” she asked as she struggled to sit up, worming out from between Gareth' shackled wrists as she did so.

“I don't know, miss,” Gareth replied, his voice hoarse. “And I need your help, miss. Can you stand?”

“What's wrong?” She turned around and searched his face, sounding even more afraid. Gareth cursed his carelessness; he didn't want to make her worry. “Are you hurt?”

“No, miss,” Gareth said quickly. He wasn't sure whether he was or not, but he wanted to reassure her instead of frighten her. “It's your brother, miss. I can't see him anywhere nearby, and I can't get up to go look for him.” Why couldn't the wall of the carriage that his leash was chained to have been the one that splintered and broke? The one across from him was now the majority of the rubble that he had just pushed off himself, but the wall he had been sitting against and was now lying on had remained intact, which meant he could not move or do anything to help his young master and mistress until he found Kastor and the key to his shackles that hung around Kastor's neck. Not that he wasn't worried about Kastor himself, but there were priorities in an emergency like this.

Shanna seemed to realize that he was helpless, and why. She reached out with a scowl and touched the collar around Gareth's neck, then got unsteadily to her feet. “Be careful, miss,” Gareth said as he held out a hand to steady her. “You're hurt too.”

She put a hand to her head. “Ouch.” But then she got a determined look on her face. “I'll be okay.” She carefully began to move debris out of her way as she stepped down out of the wreckage of the carriage.

“If he's hurt, miss, just bring me the key so I can help him, okay?”

She nodded, then began to search the piles of wood strewn about the forest clearing. As she looked for her brother, Gareth moved the rest of the debris covering him off his legs and examined himself for injuries. The pain in his head was coming from a large gash that ran from the center of his forehead to just behind his right ear; it appeared to have been caused by a shard of glass from the carriage door. He also had a long gash down his right leg, but neither cut was deep or serious, and they had already stopped bleeding, so he didn't have to worry too much about himself.

“Kas? Kas!”

Shanna had found her brother under a piece of the back wall of the carriage, several yards back the way they had come. She couldn't move the heavy piece of wood, though, so she came stumbling back to Gareth a moment later with a key on a thin chain clutched in her hand. “Help him, please,” she begged Gareth as she helped him remove all his chains.

“I will, miss,” he said as he got unsteadily to his feet. She supported him as he limped over to where Kastor was. With her help, he dragged the carriage wall off his young master and tossed it away. Kastor was badly hurt. There was a deep gash across his forehead that was still trickling blood, he had a piece of glass embedded all the way through his right hand, and his left arm was broken. Gareth knew he needed medical attention, and quickly.

“Miss Shanna, can you help me find the trunks? We need to make a fire and I need to find bandages for Master Kastor's injuries.” He had only just realized how lucky they were, despite everything that had happened, because in addition to carrying a trunk each of Kastor and Shanna's things, their carriage had been loaded with more than half of the camping gear. Those trunks and their contents had to be somewhere along the swath of destruction that the carriage had left through the forest. Fortunately, he and Shanna didn't have to go too far to find what they were looking for: a firestarting kit, several blankets, half a dozen clean undershirts that could be used as bandages, a canteen full of fresh water, and Kastor's pocketknife. Shanna also found her doll and Gareth's wooden box, which she showed him and promised she'd hide from Kastor as they walked back to where they'd left him.

Gareth took everything to a clearing a little way away from the wreckage, then he and Shanna carefully carried Kastor over and laid him down in the pile of blankets. Gareth tore up one of the shirts, wet it with water from the canteen, then showed Shanna how to clean the blood and dirt out of the cut on Kastor's head. “Just do that, gently, while I make a fire, miss, then I'll look after all his injuries.” While Shanna looked after her brother, Gareth gathered up splinters and sticks of wood from the wreckage of the carriage, along with dry grass and bracken from the forest. He used a large plank to clear a space in the center of the clearing and dig a hole to put the firewood in, then ringed it with stones before using the tinderbox to light the fire. The dancing flames were quite effective at pushing back the darkness, allowing Gareth to breathe a little easier and feel a little safer and more confident in these strange surroundings as he went back to Kastor.

Kastor's head wound was not as serious as it had initially looked now that it was clean and the bleeding had stopped. Gareth tore up another one of the clean shirts and used it to bandage Kastor's head, then he rolled up another wad of cloth and forced it between Kastor's teeth. He saw Shanna looking at him curiously, so he explained as he gestured for her to hold Kastor's head still in her lap.

“The other things I have to do to help him are going to hurt. The cloth is to muffle any noise he makes so we don't attract unwanted attention, and if he wakes up, I want him to see a friendly face so he won't be afraid.”

She nodded understandingly, but she closed her eyes as he took Kastor's hand and proceeded to remove the large shard of glass from it. Fortunately for this procedure, the glass was thick and difficult to break. It came out of Kastor's hand in one piece, but as Gareth set it aside, he mused silently that his young master was lucky that the glass had only cut his hand, and that he himself was lucky that the glass that had caused the cut on his head had only grazed him. Kastor's hand needed stitches, and Gareth vowed to look for the sewing box as soon as it was light again, but for now there was little he could do except bind Kastor's hand tightly with thick wads of cloth padding to staunch the bleeding. Kastor's broken arm was more of a problem anyway. Gareth had broken his arm when he was five, and he remembered how the doctor had set his arm and how he had worn a stiff, heavy cast for almost two months until it had healed. He was confident he could set Kastor's arm, but unfortunately he had no means of casting it. He did his best to improvise by wrapping it tightly with bandages, then using more bandages to tie it across Kastor's chest, immobilizing it as best he could. Then, he made Kastor a comfortable bed close by the fire and ensured that he was warm and comfortable before slumping down himself and taking stock of everything that had happened.

He had realized something while taking care of Kastor, something that he had tried hard not to think about but now couldn't avoid any longer. The fact of the matter was that it had been midafternoon when their carriage had plunged off the road. The horse's panicked flight couldn't have lasted more than ten minutes, and it had to have left a very clear trail through the forest. They had been lying out here in the rubble, unconscious, for hours... so why hadn't anyone come to find them? What had happened to Master Teskar and the rest of the caravan?

“Is he gonna be okay?”

Pulled from his thoughts, Gareth turned to Shanna, who had been sitting quietly by the fire with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Her face was pale and frightened in the firelight. Gareth shook off his own worry and melancholy; he had more important duties to attend to. He had promised Master Teskar that he would protect Kastor and Shanna, and he would do so until they were reunited with their father again. “Yes, miss. He just needs to rest now,” he reassured Shanna as he got to his feet and moved around the fire to check on her. “Are you injured anywhere else, miss?” he asked as he went to his knees beside her to examine the lump on her forehead.

“I don't think so,” she said as she looked down at herself. “But I tore my dress.”

“Don't worry, miss. We'll find the rest of the trunks in the morning and get you a clean dress.” He wiped the dirt off her face with a wet cloth, checking her scrapes and bruises to make sure none of them were serious. Then, he stood up again to get her blankets to sleep in.

“You're hurt!” she cried suddenly, and he turned back to see her looking at the long gash down his leg.

“I'm alright, miss. It's not serious,” he rushed to assure her, but she was already on her feet and forcing him to sit down. He acquiesced with little resistance, not wanting to worry her further, and let her help him clean the bloody cuts on his leg and forehead and wrap them in clean bandages. Only when she was satisfied that he was taken care of did she let him make her a bed by the fire. But as she lay down, she glanced up at him and suddenly got a very worried look on her face.

“You... you won't run away, will you?” she asked softly. “Papa said that was why you had to be kept in chains, but... I took them off. Promise you won't leave me?”

The thought of running away hadn't even crossed Gareth's mind until that very moment, but as soon as Shanna asked him not to, all his dreams of escape came rushing back. He could not be tempted. If the caravan was gone, if Master Teskar was gone, Kastor and Shanna would not survive out here without his help. With a sick, heavy feeling in his stomach, he gave Shanna a reassuring look, then turned and headed back to the wreckage of the carriage, where he gathered up the chains and the key that locked them. He brought them back over to the fire and, as Shanna watched, he locked the hobble chain back between the shackles on his ankles, locked the other short chain between the shackles on his wrists, then locked the chain leash back to his collar. With a great reluctance that he tried hard not to show, he handed Shanna the key with a significant look, then banked the fire and retreated a short distance away, out of its circle of light and warmth. He sat down under a sapling at the edge of the clearing, locked his leash around its trunk, then looked back at his young mistress. “Don't worry, miss. I won't leave you. Sleep now.”

She nodded, looking sad, then lay down again and closed her eyes. Gareth sat and watched until he was sure she was asleep before lying down himself and attempting sleep. The ground was as hard and cold as ever, and as he stared up at the trees and the sky above him, part of his mind was cursing him for throwing his one chance at escape away so easily and so completely. But as he looked over at the two figures lying by the fire – one young and helpless, the other badly hurt – another part of his mind told him that he had done the right thing, and that was the part he chose to listen to. He closed his eyes as other worries threatened to intrude upon his thoughts again. He would deal with the reality of their situation and the fate of the caravan tomorrow.

Unfortunately, he had forgotten one very important reality; one that chose to intrude upon him by way of a kick in the ribs early the next morning. He opened his eyes blearily as he gasped for breath, and he looked up to see Kastor standing over him, his eyes blazing with anger. “What did you do, you worthless piece of trash?” he shouted as he kicked Gareth again.

“Kas, stop it!” Shanna was awake too, and pulling on her brother's arm. “He saved you! He didn't do anything wrong! Leave him alone!”

Kastor turned to look at her, and for the first time noticed the wreckage of the carriage though the trees. Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit him, and he swayed on his feet. “What happened?” he asked.

Shanna caught his arm as he wavered and led him back to sit by the fire. “I don't really know,” she said. “We got attacked, and I think the horse got hurt and ran, and then the carriage crashed and broke apart. You got hurt bad; your arm is broken, so you should be careful. Your slave saved both of us. He pulled you out of the wreckage and took care of you, he built the fire, and he didn't run away even though he could have. You should be thanking him, not hurting him.”

Gareth had gotten to his knees, and was trying to ignore the fresh pain in his side as he put his hands on his knees and bowed his head subserviently. He could feel Kastor's eyes on him as his young master said contemptuously, “Well, I don't know if I'd go that far. He was just doing his job, after all. Though I guess Father was right when he said that slave was well-trained.” He looked around. “Where is Father? How long have we been here?”

“All night,” Shanna said softly, and Gareth knew that the same fears that haunted him had just been sparked in her mind. “I don't know where Papa is.” She sniffed and rubbed her eyes, and Gareth cursed the fact that he had chained himself up so far away from the fire. “What are we gonna do, Kas?”

“No one's found us yet? Why not?” Kastor's voice carried panic, which made Shanna start crying. Gareth almost got to his feet, but stopped when Kastor suddenly did something so out of character that it made Gareth wonder fleetingly if the blow to his young master's head had addled his brains: he put an arm around Shanna's shoulders and began to comfort her. “It's alright, Shanna,” he said. “They'll find us. I know they will.”

Shanna wiped her eyes and hugged her brother gently, though Gareth saw Kastor flinch with pain at even that light touch. Gareth couldn't help but wonder if Kastor was going to let him help, or if he would try to take charge no matter how helpless he was or how much pain he was in. Gareth supposed he would have to prove to Kastor that he could help, that he knew his way around the forest and how to survive here... if Kastor even gave him a chance.

“I'm hungry,” Kastor said suddenly. “Slave, go find us something to eat.” Gareth looked up, wondering if Kastor did stuff like that as a way of reminding him that he was a slave, or if he was just completely oblivious. He wasn't even looking at Gareth, so Gareth had no way of indicating that he couldn't obey.

Fortunately, Shanna came to his rescue before Kastor could get angry. “Kas, he can't,” she said with a touch of exasperation as she handed her brother the key to Gareth's chains.

“Oh.” Kastor looked surprised as he turned to stare at Gareth. “Did you do that?” he asked his sister. Apparently, he really had been oblivious to the fact that Gareth was chained to a tree.

“No,” Shanna admitted, “he did. I had to let him go so he could help you. When I asked him later to promise not to leave us alone here, he put the chains back on himself.”

Kastor didn't seem to know what to say to this. He stared at Gareth as if actually seeing him for the first time, then made to get up, but his legs wouldn't support him.

“Don't, Kas. You're still hurt,” Shanna pleaded with him as he sat back down. “Let me do it. We'll find food, then we can go find Papa. You wait here and rest.” Kastor nodded weakly as she took the key from him, then he lay down with a muffled grunt of pain and pulled a blanket over his head as Shanna got up and approached Gareth.

“I think he's in a lot of pain,” she whispered to Gareth as she unlocked his leash from around the tree. “Can you make him better?”

“I'll try, miss, if he'll let me,” Gareth said as he got to his feet. “But I'm going to need your help, miss.”

“How can I help? And why wouldn't he let you help him?” she asked as they walked back towards the wreck of the carriage. Seeing it in the morning light was rather shocking. Gareth realized as he looked around at the destruction that all three of them were lucky to be alive. But would it be luck still if they were all alone out here, lost in the wilderness? He was sure he could survive, and he would help Kastor and Shanna to survive as well... but that was all dependent on Kastor letting him.

“Miss Shanna, I am just a slave. He has no reason to believe that I can help him; no reason to give me a chance to try. I cannot even speak to him without him giving me permission, which he has never done and probably won't do even now. So I will need you to tell him what I need him to know, miss, and set an example by trusting me even if he won't.”

“He's never let you talk to him?” Shanna asked, disbelieving. “What a brat!” That made Gareth smile, though he hid it from her. “Don't worry, I trust you. I'll make him listen to me. It's not like he'll have much choice, since he can't do anything for himself.” She slipped a hand in one of his and squeezed it tightly, making him look down at her with a smile. “Kas doesn't deserve your help, but I'm glad you stayed.”

“I promised your father I would protect you, miss. Both of you. And I will keep that promise. Even Master Kastor can't stop me from doing that.” He squeezed her hand affectionately in return, then stopped walking and studied the path the carriage had made through the forest thoughtfully for a moment.

Shanna let go of his hand and imitated his pensive look, which made him smile again, then she asked, “So where do we start?”

“I need to go into the woods to find food, miss, but someone needs to stay close by to keep an eye on Master Kastor. Could you look through this mess we made and see if you can find the sewing box, or anything I could use as a needle and thread? Those cuts on his hand need stitching up, and I can do that at least, even if I can't do anything for his broken arm. I won't go far, miss, and I will be back very soon. Is that alright?”

She nodded. “Be safe. And you should take this.” She handed him Kastor's pocketknife. He saw trust and a great deal of maturity in her eyes as she looked up at him, then she turned and ran off down the road to the nearest pile of rubble. He watched her for a moment with a fond smile, then turned and began to make his way cautiously through the forest so he wouldn't tangle his hobble chain in the undergrowth. He had heard the sound of running water last night as he was falling asleep, which meant that there was a river or stream nearby. His best bet for finding food would be near the stream, and hopefully he would be able to find something else equally important.

He had learned how to recognize every type of tree in the forest where he'd once lived, and though these trees were smaller, they were still all the exact same types – oak, pine, fir, and elm, among others. And if these trees were the same, then maybe the trees by the stream would be similar to the trees found near streams in his forest. He was looking for willows: willow bark, when boiled in water, worked passably well as a painkiller, which is what Kastor needed now more than anything. And it seemed that his luck was still good, because he found the stream after only about five minutes of walking, and there were willows lining the bank, along with plenty of fruit trees, berry bushes, and other edible plants. It wasn't going to be the most filling meal, he realized as he gathered as much food as possible in his shirt and used the pocket knife to strip a fair amount of willow bark off several of the trees, but it would do until they found out what had happened to the caravan.

As he made his way back to where he had left Kastor and Shanna, he studied the landscape around him, memorizing it so he could return for water. Even wearing chains, he felt free out here, and it felt good to get his bearings in the wilderness, to feel all the knowledge he had pushed away as useless coming back to him, to feel his survival instincts returning. Then he found himself hoping that they wouldn't find the caravan, so that he could stay out here in the woods where he belonged, and had to force those thoughts away with silent self-recriminations. He could not afford to start thinking above his station; if Kastor sensed any independence from him, it could jeopardize their chances for survival.

He completely forgot about his concern for their survival, though, when he returned to the clearing and saw what Shanna had accomplished in his absence. Not only had she found the sewing box, she had also found several tin plates and cups, a cooking pot, a second canteen full of water, a knapsack, and a change of clothes each for her and Kastor. She was beaming with pride, and Gareth complimented her on a job well done as he transferred the food he had gathered into the pot and helped her carry everything back to the fire. He also explained to her about the willow bark so she could tell Kastor what it was for.

Kastor was still lying by the fire when they returned, but he sat up slowly and awkwardly when he saw the pot full of food that Gareth was carrying. Gareth set it down and divided everything he had found up onto the two plates. He handed one each to Kastor and Shanna, filled two of the cups with water from the canteen for them, then built up the fire again, filled the pot with water, and set it to boil. His stomach was growling as he watched his young master and mistress eat, but he doubted that Kastor would let him have anything, the way he was devouring it all. He would just have to scavenge for himself when he went back to the stream for water. When the pot of water on the fire was boiling, he added some of the strips of willow bark and let them steep until the steam rising from the pot carried a bitter, acrid smell. He took a third cup and filled it with the medicine, tasted it to make sure it was strong enough, then handed it to Kastor. Before he could look at Shanna to indicate that she should explain to Kastor what it was, though, Kastor took a drink of it without looking and was understandably shocked.

“Yuck!” He spat it at Gareth. “What is this swill? Are you trying to poison me, slave?”

“Kas, stop it!” Shanna said as she grabbed his arm to stop him from pouring the rest of the bitter medicine out. “It's medicine to make the pain go away. Stop getting angry at him for everything. He's trying to help you!”

Kastor glared at the cup, then looked suspiciously into the pot on the fire. Gareth sat very still, his head bowed, expecting at any minute to have something thrown at him, but all Kastor said was, “I've never heard of any medicine made from tree bark before. How does he know this, anyway? He's just a stupid, ignorant slave.”

Gareth wasn't sure Shanna knew how to answer her brother's question, but the answer she gave was quite clever all the same. “You can ask him if you really want to know.”

Kastor snorted derisively at this and glared suspiciously at the tea in his cup again, but then a pained look crossed his face. The pain seemed to decide for him, and he drank the tea down in one gulp. He shuddered and grimaced, then threw the empty cup at Gareth's head. “If this doesn't work, slave...” He didn't need to finish that sentence. Gareth sighed silently, wondering if anything he did would ever please his young master. At least Kastor was letting him help, though.

But the tea did work. Gareth poured Kastor a second cup, which he drank just as hastily, and after about fifteen minutes, the pinched look began to fade from his face. Gareth cleaned up the dishes and packed away the rest of the willow bark and the clean changes of clothes in the knapsack Shanna had found, then he picked up the sewing box and gave Shanna a significant look.

“Kas, before we go looking for Papa, that cut on your hand needs to be taken care of.”

“But I thought he did that last night,” Kastor said, sounding suspicious.

“He did, but it was dark, and he didn't have everything he needed. He pulled a big piece of glass out of your hand, and the cuts need stitches.”

“And why should I trust him to take care of me? He's just a slave. We'll find Father and the caravan and be in the city in a few days, where I can see a proper doctor. Why risk him crippling me? It's just a cut; it can't be that serious.”

Shanna rolled her eyes, then got up and walked over to the edge of the clearing. She was back within seconds, carrying the piece of glass Gareth had pulled out of Kastor's hand. She needed two hands to hold it, and it was still smeared with his blood; when Kastor saw it, his face went pale. “I think not letting him help you will cripple you worse,” she said with a glare as she tossed it to the ground by the fire, where it broke into four pieces. “Now stop being such a baby and let him help you.”

Kastor acquiesced with vocal bad grace, but his face turned an impressive shade of green and he stopped protesting when Gareth unwrapped the wad of bloody bandages from around his hand and he saw the reality of what that piece of glass had done to him. Kastor gritted his teeth as Gareth cleaned the cuts with hot water, and Gareth had to admit that he was impressed at the minimal number of pained grunts that Kastor let escape his lips as Gareth stitched both sides of his injured hand up with heavy black thread. Once Gareth was done, he washed the closed cuts again, then wrapped a clean bandage around Kastor's hand and gave him more willowbark tea for the pain.

“Thanks,” Kastor murmured dazedly as he took the cup. Gareth felt his world rocked to its foundations with that one simple word, and it took all his self-control not to look up at Kastor in shock. A second later, Kastor realized what he had said. His pale face turned bright red, and he kicked Gareth away from him unexpectedly. “Get back to your place, slave!”

As Kastor drank his last dose of medicine and lay down to let it take effect, Gareth picked himself up off the ground and retreated to the edge of the clearing, following his young master's instructions. He slumped to the ground, rubbing his side where Kastor had kicked him for the third time that day and wondering if every attempt to help Kastor would be this big a struggle. A minute later, Shanna came and sat down next to him with a sigh of her own. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yes, miss,” he said softly, wiping his emotions off his face. “I need to go get water if we are going to be leaving this place soon to look for the caravan. Is that alright?”

“Can I come this time?” she asked.

“I don't think it's a good idea to leave your brother alone, miss,” Gareth said simply. He was unable to refuse her if she really wanted to go, but he hoped she would see that it was better for her to stay. And though she gave him an exasperated look, she eventually nodded.

“Okay, I'll stay. But you have to promise me something,” she said as she helped him get up and they returned to the fire to pick up the canteens.

“What's that, miss?”

“Eat something while you're out there. I meant to save you some of my food, but I was too hungry. I'm sorry.”

“It's alright, miss. You needed it more than me. I'll get my own food, don't worry.” He grabbed the canteens and started back into the woods. She followed him to the edge of the clearing, and he could tell that she was watching him as he made his way back into the trees.

He made a point of eating his fill while he was out there, because there was no way of knowing how much Kastor would allow him to have in the future if they were out here on their own. He also gathered up more to bring back to the camp to take with them, and he drank his fill from the stream while he filled the canteens. When he got back, Kastor was sound asleep, and Shanna was digging through the rubble of the carriage again. Gareth filled the cookpot with the food he had brought back and set it and the canteens near the knapsack, which he had set away from the fire, then he went to help her.

They worked together sifting through the carriage for anything usable for a while, then Shanna suddenly asked, “What will we do if no one comes for us?”

“We will try to find them, miss, or find out what happened to them, and if we can't find them we will find some way to get home to your mother.”

“Can you do all that?”

“With your help, miss, and Master Kastor's.”

“I don't think he'll be much help,” she said with an audible roll of her eyes. “We wouldn't have survived the crash without you, and we're going to need you even more if we don't find Papa, but he doesn't even seem to want to see that. I hope he does eventually. I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but I'll try.”

“You've been a great help, Miss Shanna, and I will not let anything happen to you or Master Kastor if I can help it, no matter what he does.” Then, he looked around and said, “We should be prepared to be on our own for a while, though, miss. I brought back food and water, and we should find blankets, clothing, and as much camping gear as we can carry and take it all with us when we go to look for the caravan.”

“Did you learn all this survival stuff living in that big forest?” Shanna asked.

“Yes, miss.”

“How did you end up here as a slave if you lived all the way up there?”

“That's a very long story, miss,” Gareth said with a sad sigh. She seemed to recognize that it was a difficult subject and didn't press the issue, but that didn't stop her from asking other questions while they worked.

“Did you have a family? A mama and papa and brothers and sisters?”

“I have a mother and father, yes, miss, but no brothers or sisters as far as I know.”

“Do you miss them?”

“Yes, miss, very much.”

She was silent for a minute, then asked, “Then why did you stay last night? You could have run away, gone home to your family.”

There was no easy answer to that question, and Gareth didn't want to bring up the internal arguments he'd done his best to settle last night, so he simply said, “You're my family now too, miss,” which caused her to stop what she was doing and spontaneously hug him.

“Well, then I guess that means you do have a sister,” she said when she let go of him, which made him smile, “and I'm glad to have a brother who is so brave and smart and strong.” That made him blush, which made her laugh. He was glad that she was able to smile and laugh despite everything that had happened; she would be their true strength when it came to surviving this ordeal, he was sure.

They had all the useful items sorted out of the rubble and packed away in the knapsack and two blanket-rolls by the time Kastor woke. Gareth put out the fire, buried the ashes, then rolled up his young master's blankets and tied them to the top of the knapsack while Shanna discussed their plans to find the caravan with Kastor. She did a good job of making every decision seem like his idea, which made it easy to get him to agree to all the plans they had already made. When everything was cleared up and packed away, Kastor unlocked the chain from one of the shackles on Gareth's wrists, then stood and held Gareth's leash with a wary look on his face while Shanna helped him put on the heavy knapsack and one of the blanket-rolls. She carried the other, which held her doll and Gareth's box along with two dresses she had managed to salvage from one of the shattered trunks. When Kastor protested, she told him straight out that the only reason he wasn't carrying his own weight was because he had a broken arm, which shut him up pretty quickly, but Gareth could tell he was not happy about this sideways reprimand for working his slave too hard. After he had replaced the chain between Gareth's wrist shackles, Kastor insisted on leading Gareth along by the leash around his neck, making Gareth feel more like a pack animal than a human being, which seemed to be Kastor's intention. Fortunately, because of his injuries, Kastor did not move as quickly as he wanted to, which meant that Gareth at least didn't stumble or trip on his hobble chain as they made their way back down the jagged path of destruction toward the road, though he still had to deal with a continuous volley of verbal abuse from Kastor claiming that he was the one slowing them down.

Thanks to the clarity of the path they had made through the trees, it only took them about half an hour to get back to where the carriage had left the road, though this only served to cement Gareth's fears concerning the fate of the caravan, or at least that of Master Teskar. As a result, when they reached the road, Gareth saw exactly what he had expected to see. The wagons and carriages that had made up the caravan were gone. The only evidence that it had ever been there was the bodies of a few men and horses. Gareth recognized the bodies as those of two of the merchants, two guards, and a wagon driver; he wasn't sure whether to be relieved that none of the dead were his master or the other servants or slaves from the Crane's household, though, because if they had been taken by the bandits, that probably meant that they would be sold to the slave markets or, in Master Teskar's case, held for ransom.

Kastor and Shanna had no idea what to make of the scene in front of them, though. Kastor dropped Gareth's leash and began running around to all the bodies, searching for a familiar face. Shanna stared at the empty road, then turned and buried her head in Gareth's shirt, crying, “Where's Papa?”

“He's not here, miss,” Gareth said as he comforted her.

“Where's he gone? Do you think he's out there looking for us?”

“I don't know, miss, but I don't think so. He would have found us by now. I think the bandits took him and the rest of the caravan prisoner, miss.”

“Will they k... kill him?”

“No, miss, but they will probably hold him for ransom, and his company will have to pay a lot of money to get him back.” He wasn't going to voice the possibility that the bandits might sell all their captives to the slave markets, no matter how wealthy they were. That was the last image Shanna needed in her mind.

“Couldn't we go find them and ask them to let him go? Or rescue him?”

“I'm afraid that would not be safe, miss. If you went to them, they would just take you prisoner too, and a bandit party big enough to take on an entire merchant caravan is probably too big to try and steal from.”

Just then, Kastor came rushing back. “He's not here,” he said breathlessly to Shanna in a voice simultaneously full of relief and panic. “The bandits must have taken him prisoner. We have to go find them! They can't have gone far, not with a whole caravan.”

“Kas, we can't,” Shanna said, breaking away from Gareth and turning to cling to her brother instead. “If the bandits find us, they'll just take us prisoner too. We have to find our way home to Mama, where we'll be safe, and she can send people out to look for Papa and the others. If we get caught, there won't be anyone to tell her what happened, and we'll never get rescued.”

Kastor stared down at her in amazement for a few seconds, but then his eyes narrowed and he looked up to glare at Gareth. “Has he been telling you all that?” he asked suspiciously. Shanna gulped, then she glanced back and forth between him and Gareth before nodding reluctantly. Kastor's anger flared; he brushed her off his arm as he took two steps forward and slapped Gareth across the face as hard as he could. It wasn't as bad as usual because his hand was in bandages, but it still stung. “Stop trying to tell me what to do!” he shouted. “What do you know, anyway? You're just a slave! And you're my slave, so you do as I say, got it?” Gareth nodded, and Kastor slapped him again. “And you can start by not talking to my sister any more. I'm the leader here, I decide what we do, and I say we're following the bandits! Now get moving!” He kicked Gareth in the leg as he grabbed the leash again, then he began a furious march up the road, Shanna pale and sobbing beside him and Gareth stumbling over his chains as he tried to keep up.

Fortunately, Kastor couldn't keep up that pace for very long, and they soon slowed to a pace that Gareth's hobbled legs could handle. Kastor was still angry, though, and fear and uncertainty fueled his fury with every passing minute. They marched down that road all day without stopping, and by the time night started to fall, they had still seen no sign of the bandits or the caravan, and it was only Shanna's pleading and near-collapse from exhaustion that got Kastor to stop before he himself collapsed. As Gareth built a fire in a clearing just off the road, made up beds for Kastor and Shanna, and divided up a reasonable amount of food for both of them, Kastor watched him like a hawk, his eyes smoldering with repressed rage. When Gareth made him more willowbark tea to drink, he took it eagerly, but there was no gratitude in his expression, and Gareth was absolutely certain that he was going to suffer his young master's wrath before this night was through, no matter how hurt or tired Kastor was.

Shanna sat by the fire, silent and shaking and unsure of what to do about her brother's anger. The looks she kept giving Gareth said she also knew that he was going to feel the brunt of Kastor's fury soon, and she was desperate to find a way to stop it, so he gave her barely perceptible shakes of his head every time he caught her eye. That didn't stop her from trying to help him, though. She barely touched her food, and her plate was still half-full when she tried to pass it to Gareth. Unfortunately, Kastor stopped her and told her in such a nasty growl to clean her plate that she did as she was told, though she cried for the rest of the night because of it.

As soon as he was done with his dinner, Kastor grabbed Gareth's leash and dragged him away from the fire to a tree at the edge of the clearing. He shoved Gareth to a sitting position in front of the tree, then pulled the chain leash around its trunk and locked it back to itself, leaving no slack. Gareth's back was forced painfully rigid against the tree's trunk, and as added 'insurance' against his slave's comfort that night, Kastor released the chain between Gareth's wrists and ordered him to place his hands behind him, along the sides of the tree trunk. Once Gareth had done so, Kastor replaced the chain, locking Gareth's arms around the tree.

“This should keep you from dozing off, slave,” he hissed. “Your duty tonight is to keep watch, since you're useless for anything else. And don't think that just because I can't give you a good beating right now means that you don't have to obey me. I'm keeping track, and you'll get what's coming to you as soon as my hand is better. And I still haven't forgotten what you did in the carriage. You'll pay for that, especially.” He suddenly slapped Gareth again, hard enough that Gareth's head snapped back and hit the tree. He felt the bark scrape his scalp, and blood began to trickle down his neck and soak the back of his shirt. As he slumped in his chains, Kastor spat on him, then stalked back to the fire and lay down in his blankets. Gareth could see Shanna looking at him from across the fire. She was about to get up and come to him, but he gave her a warning shake of his head. She could not risk becoming the focus of Kastor's anger while Gareth was unable to protect her, though it broke his heart to watch her cry herself to sleep.

A few hours later, as he was staring up at the star-filled sky, trying to ignore the pain in his head and the gnawing hunger in his stomach and considering that he might be the one in danger of not surviving this ordeal, he saw something move in the dying glow of the fire. Before he could find the source, Shanna was beside him. Her face was streaked with dirt and tears, and she was holding a plate of food, a cup full of water, and the key to his shackles in her hands.

“I could let you go,” she whispered in his ear as she set everything down beside the tree. “You could run away. Kas is just gonna hurt you, he's never gonna listen, and he won't let you help. You could go home to your family and be free, or... or you could go find Mama and tell her what happened so she can send people to find us.” She moved to release his arms from around the tree, but he shook his head. “Why not?” she asked desperately. He looked up at her, trying to project all his emotions through his eyes, trying to tell her how much he cared about her and what his promises to her meant to him without saying a word, then looked away again.

“So you're just going to let him do this to you? And you're not even going to talk to me, just because he tells you not to? What if the bandits capture us? How will you keep your promise to Papa then?”

Gareth shrugged slightly and hung his head. He didn't know how to answer that. She was right, of course: letting Kastor continue to pursue the bandits that had taken the caravan was directly at odds with Gareth's promise to Master Teskar. But he would not be able to protect them if he ran away, either, which left him between a rock and a hard place. Unless... maybe staying under Kastor's thumb wasn't the only way to make sure he and Shanna stayed safe.

As Shanna slowly fed him his dinner, he thought long and hard about how he would do what he was considering, or if it was even possible. He was five years out of practice at going undetected in the forest, and this forest was not exactly like the one he had learned to survive in, but he knew the assumptions that Kastor would make, as well as the fact that his young master's single-mindedness would give him very narrow vision. It would be dangerous, and it may not last forever, but at the moment he had nothing to lose by trying.

“Miss Shanna, do you trust me?” he whispered just as she was about to get up and return to her bed.

“Yes,” she said softly, turning back to him with a hopeful, curious look in her eyes.

“If you let me go, miss, I can disappear, but still stay nearby to watch over you. I know how to survive in the forest, and hide in it too. Master Kastor can do as he wishes, and I will still be able to protect you both the way your father asked me to.”

He could tell she liked the idea... for about two seconds. But then reality intruded on her thoughts. “But... how will we survive without you?” That was something she obviously hadn't considered earlier when she was offering to help him run away. “How will we find food or water or build a fire?”

“I can show you how to do all those things, miss, if you make an excuse to go out into the woods whenever you stop at night. You've seen me build the fire twice already; you dig a shallow hole and prop big sticks up in a circle inside it like a tent, stick dried leaves and twigs in the middle of the tent, then set them on fire. It can be hard to do at first, but if you're patient, you'll learn quickly. You just have to be careful not to let it get too big or throw sparks that will set anything else on fire.” She had released his arms while he was talking, and he stretched and rubbed his aching shoulders as he continued. “There is a stream that runs parallel to the road just east of here: that way.” She looked where he pointed, and nodded. “That's where I found the food and water and willow bark that I use to make the medicine, and that is where you can find me every night when you stop to rest.” She had finished removing all his chains; he sat forward and stretched, then stood up quietly. Shanna stood up too, looking apprehensive. “Leave the chains lying here; I'll take the key so it will look like I managed to let myself go.” She nodded and handed him the key, then grabbed him in a desperate hug, which he returned with equal affection. “Don't let him blame you, Miss Shanna, or bully you, okay? And above all, never forget that I will always be nearby, watching over you and keeping you safe.”

“I won't,” she whispered back as she let him go and looked up into his face. “You stay safe too, okay?”

“I will, miss,” he promised sincerely. Then, before he could change his mind about leaving her alone to face her brother's wrath, he turned and slipped into the trees, as silent as a shadow.

It was harder than he had expected, leaving them behind, but the sense of freedom that came over him as soon as he was out of the clearing was unbelievably exhilarating. He circled the camp twice, watching as Shanna returned to her blankets and fell asleep, then climbed silently into a large tree at the edge of the clearing and concealed himself in the branches. He was a bit out of practice, but it was wonderful simply to be able to climb again, and he had no trouble finding a comfortable, secluded spot on a wide, low branch with a good view of the clearing. Making himself comfortable, as only a forest-dweller could on such a seemingly precarious perch, he quickly drifted off to sleep.