Sword and Urn (Edited & Revised)

Chapter 15

I needed to get a head start on the soldiers. They would be furious when they woke up. I walked until the road turned. Then I looked back, keeping my eyes on the soldiers, making sure they did not wake and pursue my new friends. When I saw William atop Speckles riding behind his father out of site I continued.
I walked for a good half hour before going deep into the forest and finding some good cover. I didn't want to go to the river because it was more open and I figured the men might look for me there. They would not be finding me, I made sure of it.
I found a spot where a large rock arced out over the ground, almost like a shallow cave. I bent down and felt the leaf strewn forest bed. It was dry to the touch. I got out my bedroll and laid it out. Then I pulled out Father's sword and cut down several branches with a hearty supply of leaves on them. I pulled them over to my bed and draped them down over where my bedroll lay. Once it was thick enough I settled in for the night. I used to always think it was fun sleeping outside. Now I was ready for: a real bed, a hot bath, and no strange sounds waking me in the night as I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning I headed back to the road. My thought was that the men would now be far ahead of me. Yet just as I could start to see the edge of the forest I heard their horses and the wagon. I stopped and sat with my back to a wide tree that hid me well. They stopped, hopping down and moving into the forest. There was no way they had seen me.
What are they doing? I thought.
Somehow I just knew they were going to walk right up to the tree I was hiding behind. One of them did. I heard some rustling, and then the constant flow of his urine hitting the tree. I could see small drops flying to my side into the lush forest. They had stopped to pee.
"You're worrying too much. You always worry too much."
"Worry too much? You're the one who still has two working hands, so it's easy for you to say."
"Look, we saw many young men at that huge farm far from here. Why don't we just take our time making our way up there and relax for a while? Then we'll try and get some weapons and then just load up a bunch of them on our wagon and we'll be on our way to great riches. It will be fine. I'm sure there won't be any former soldiers at that farm. They have probably lived there for generations."
"Which farm is it?"
"Remember when we were going down the river in that little boat, before we got the wagon and came up with all this? The one with the lantern burning bright in the barn window?"
"Oh yeah, I remember now. We went to ask them for food the next morning and there were plenty of young men. They were a hard working lot, they were. They would make great slaves."
"That's right. See? So we'll get them in our wagon and sell them off. With all their muscles they'll make us a fortune."
I could not believe what I heard. Could it really be that the place I was going was what they were describing? Those young men they spoke of must have been my cousins. It was just as my father had told me, a lantern hung every night in the barn window, guiding family home from the river.
"I can't believe all those boys escaped from us."
"It was that stupid kid who set them free back in that wretched marketplace. Curse that swordsman!"
I wanted to jump out from behind the tree and rush out to them with my sword drawn, but I knew they would defeat me. I may have had a sword, but I didn't know how to use it. I knew how to use my knife, but only for cutting and cleaning animals, not for combat. I might have been able to hurt them pretty bad but I knew in the end they would win. So I stayed sitting behind the tree and waited for them to go. I did make a resolution in my mind that day, though. I had to get a horse. I had to get north before them so that I could warn my family about these soldiers. We would be ready for them. With my strong cousins, grandfather, and my uncle we would be able to defeat them and get them locked away.
They mounted their horses and rode off.