The Witch Woman's Prophecy

10 | Brandis Attacks |

The next day I woke when the sun threw its first darts of light into my eyes. I was stiff from the previous day's digging, and when I stretched my shoulders and neck to loosen the knots that had formed while I slept they crackled as the tension released. I made my way back to the camp and got ready to dig again despite the pounding that had already begun in my head. Brandis did not speak to me or offer me any food, he just pointed at the shovel which lay next to the hole I had begun yesterday. I clenched my teeth and ignored his rudeness.

My palms were blistered and the muscles in my arms and shoulders already ached from the strain of yesterday's work. The rising heat meant that sweat soon began trickling into my eyes and down my back. Digging was the last thing I wanted to do, but I climbed into the hole and set to digging. Below each shovelful of sand I moved there was more sand and more sand beneath that. An endless series of shovels of sand lay beneath me and with each one I lifted the pain in my head grew stronger. Even the scrape of the shovel as I pushed it down into the sand became intolerably loud.

At last I could bear it no longer. I had to go to the shelter and lie down where it was dark and cool.

'Are you sick?' Brandis asked. I only had the strength to nod. He shrugged and pointed back to the hole. 'Dig,' was all he said.

Anger flashed through me. Why couldn't he just let me rest in the dim shelter until I felt better? I swallowed down the curse word I wanted to shout at him. He owed me coins for my days of travelling with him and the work I had done yesterday and I wanted to get them when we finished. I dragged myself out from the shelter on unsteady legs. I trudged back to the hole and carried on digging until my shadow was almost directly under me and the sun scorched the top of my head.

I was shaking, dizzy and gasping for breath. The sunlight seemed to pulse in time with the throbbing in my head, then I dropped the spade and collapsed into the hole. I closed my eyes and panted until I heard footsteps and sand pattered down onto my face.

I looked up, Brandis was standing over me, staring at me with a frown on his face that made me feel uncomfortable. I did not like the way he looked at me so hard after barely making eye contact since we met. He spat into the sand, then turned away from me at last and walked away. He was letting me rest at last. I drew in a deep breath and let my eyes close again.

That was why the blow came as a shock.

Brandis smashed me across the forehead with a stick. My head jerked back and I screamed in pain and shock.

'Stop! Stop hitting me!' I shouted at him.

Brandis brought the stick down again and caught me on the arm I'd thrown up to protect my face. I grunted as it thudded against my flesh.

I tried to scramble to my feet but Brandis landed more blows on me and it was difficult to get my balance. I needed a weapon of my own. But the shovel I'd been using was beneath me, half buried in the sand; there was no way I could grab it. Bending over would allow Brandis to land more blows on my back and head while I was unable to defend myself.

'Why are you doing this?' I screamed, hoping that I could talk him out of hurting me.

'I don't want your disease. I'm going to haul your carcass out to the desert and leave it there,' he snarled back and swung the stick at me again.

Brandis was going to kill me. I reached for my knife, but the belt sheath was empty. He must have taken it from me before he started beating me. If I couldn't get away before he landed another blow on my head, I would die in this hole in the desert and nobody would ever know what had happened to me.

Panic helped me to find some strength that I didn't know I possessed. I protected my head with one arm and crawled out of the hole using the other arm and my knees.

'Let me go! I'm not carrying any sickness,' I pleaded with him, my voice shaking as I rose to my feet. 'I'll go and you'll never see me again, I promise.'

'I'm going to kill you!' His teeth were bared in a snarl and he raised the stick over his head to deal me another blow. He was so close that I could see the pores on his reddened nose and his discoloured teeth.

I lurched back, but found I was trapped against a sand dune. I tried to walk up it backwards, overbalanced and fell down on my side. A hard lump in the pocket of my robe dug into my hip. It was the egg-shaped stone I had picked up from the riverbed of the Nineh. I pulled it out and threw it with all my strength at Brandis.

The long hours of throwing my knife at the stump on the farm had made my right arm strong, he was close and this time my aim was true. The stone hit him on the forehead with a loud thud.

Brandis staggered backwards from the impact, then slid down the side of the dune. Relief swept over me. I grabbed my chance and crawled up the dune as fast as I could. My hands and arms were bruised from where I had fended off blows to my head and blood running down from a cut on my forehead almost blinded me, but I moved as swiftly as I was able.

I had no intention of staying at the campsite with its promises of pain and death.

***

Bad Brandis! Bet you weren't expecting that! Did you ever really trust him?

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Anni X