Jake and Verastus had been supplied with fresh horses. Ben had chosen once again to ride behind his friend, for he was still not confident in his own limited riding ability and he was only too aware that they may need to move at speed at some point to evade capture or pursuit. He didn’t want to let anyone down.
Their journey began, and a strange and unexpected sense of calm and well-being suddenly overcame Ben as they rode through the Rhuaddan countryside. He was holding on loosely to Jake’s shirt and in his contentment, he began humming some of his favourite tunes. Jake, who was normally annoyed by his friend’s insistence on humming very badly his own, unique version of modern classics, now found himself actually enjoying the familiarity that accompanied them.
They galloped hard in short bursts, slowing towalking pace occasionally to allow their steeds to recover their strength, before galloping again at speed to cover the open ground as fast as they could. The sun was shining brightly, it was a glorious day and the first leg of their journey was completed in excellent time. They reached the fast flowing Ilan River by mid afternoon and, after riding its length for some time, they found a point shallow enough to ride across.
In trying to find a suitable crossing point however, they had travelled further south than originally planned and they were now far too close to the city of Tregustliat for comfort, the walled ramparts now being clearly visible on the southern horizon.
“We have to ride back up the river, Jake. We have to find a place to cross further north. We cannot risk being seen by anyone here, the road from Vengoth to Qilinenochtrad is well travelled I am told, if we cross here, we will surely be seen!” rasped Verastus anxiously.
“Hmmm… Yes, thanks ‘V.’” answered Jake, as he thought about it for a moment. “No. I’m sorry mate, but I think it’s a risk worth taking. We have a long way to go, and any delays give Vantrax a chance to catch up. Besides, if we do go north as you say, there’s no guarantee we’ll find another crossing point within miles. We could be searching for ages. Right, here’s what we do; the enemy will expect anyone suspicious, fugitives or rebels, to run the first time they are seen. We won’t run, we’ll walk our horses slowly, as if we are locals. The distance they’re likely to see us from, they shouldn’t be able to make us out too clearly. Hopefully, they’ll take us for travellers. We’ll only run if we’re spotted, and we’ll avoid getting too close to anyone and anywhere, Okay?” he asked, really checking that Ben behind him was paying attention to what he was saying.
“What? Yeah, of course, whatever you say.” answered Ben, who was half asleep and hadn’t really heard the conversation. “What time do we eat?”
Jake chuckled at Ben’s reply, and he noted with satisfaction that Verastus was laughing too. “Ha, ha, we’ll stop tonight when it’s dark. Until then, your stomach will just have to growl, mate.” he answered, through his laughter.
“Ohhh crap!” moaned Ben, as they moved off again to cross the river.
Jake’s plan worked well. They were spotted from some distance on several occasions during the remainder of that day, the soldiers on the ramparts at Tregustliat, an enemy patrol as they entered the Tiaral grasslands, and several curious peasants and travellers at various points along their journey, but none of them passed close enough to identify them clearly, or to get a close look at the boy’s strange attire, which may well have given them away. Their apparent relaxed approach and lack of concern at being spotted, only served to confirm the assumption of the various strangers that they were not a group of any consequence, and certainly not a threat to the great Northern Army.
As the sun set and darkness came once more, they reached the foot of the Lechlivar Mountains and quickly found a suitable place to rest for the night. Ben raced immediately for the bags of food that were attached to the horse’s saddle. His mouth was watering at the prospect of the delights that lay in store for his cruelly deprived stomach, which had been moaning and groaning loudly for miles. He reached inside the bag and hastily pulled out its contents.
“Bread... Bread… And some sort of cheesy thing.” he shouted disappointingly, disgusted and moaning to no one in