The Forgotten Land

Chapter Seven

Sebastian, a black beauty, whinied as she passed.

"You sure are looking handsome today." She patted his snout.

The horse sneezed in her face.

Nite rolled her eyes and patted him again. "Let's go, dears!" she called to all the horses. With those words, she walked out of the stables.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Killer giving her a slightly baffled look. He appeared to be wondering why she was leaving the horses in the stables. "Just watch," she said with a smile and kept walking.

Like always, the horses followed her- except Marie, of course. It was rare that Nite ever had to physically pull the horses to get them to follow her. Whether it was because the breed was so intelligent or she was good with animals, she didn't know. Whatever the reason, she was grateful for the way they listened to her.

The horses knew the path down to the dock by heart. It was one they were all used to taking. Sebastian, seemingly excited to be going on the boat, surpassed Nite and reached the dock before she did. It didn't bother any of the horses that it was pitch-black outside.

Everybody was waiting at the dock. The strangers were huddled together, speaking quietly among themselves. Next to them were two full wagons, carrying what Nite could only assume were their supplies.

They looked up as Nite approached. Endi smiled at her, her beady eyes glinting under the moonlight. "Took you long enough. I was starting to think that you'd tried to run away."

Nite spat at her feet. "Go fall in a well and die."

The bitter retort earned her a sharp slap on the head from Killer. The hit caused spots to dance across her vision and she stumbled slightly.

Bickum, who was attempting to load the horses on the ship, saw her get hit. He ran towards her, crying out, "Stump!"

Endi pulled out both guns, pointing one at Bickum and one at Killer. She looked at Bickum on her right. "Old man, don't come any closer. Go back to the boat and load the horses on quickly. Do whatever you must, but hurry." She turned to Killer on her left. "And Killer, please don't harm our guests. It's rude." When both men nodded in agreement, she put up her weapons.

Nite pressed her hand against the back of her stinging head. She didn't feel any blood. "I'm fine." Her vision was still blurry. "Let me go help Bickum with the horses."

"Forgive Killer," Craid whispered as Nite passed. "He doesn't know his own strength."

"Go rot in hell," Nite spat back. She stumbled her way towards the dock, shoving past some of the strangers. She was so angry, so pissed off, that it must have shown in her face; nobody dared to get in her way.

Once on the boat, with her vision clearing up, she began assisting Bickum with the horses.

Their riverboat was unique in the sense that it was powered by oars and horses. Whereas most riverboats were powered either by sails harnessing the wind or men rowing oars, their boat used horses to turn the center crank, which in turn rotated the oars located at the rear of the boat. The horses, one of the strongest breeds, were able to swiftly propel them upstream without having to rely on such a tempermental thing as the wind. Although they normally didn't use the horses to go downstream, it seemed like their visitors were in a rush.

The crank was a massive device in the middle of the ship that resembled a tree stump. Long, thick, horizontal pegs stuck out of it equally spaced apart intervals. The horses were attached to the pegs and then walked in a circle. That caused the crank to turn and power the massive paddles. It was a brilliant design that allowed Nite and Bickum to travel upstream to places like Cantan in one or two days time, much quicker than boat captains who used other methods.

To connect them to the crank, the horses had to be harnessed in with wooden harnesses that were lowered onto their backs and over their heads, and attached with straps under their stomachs. It didn't strike Nite as the most comfortable arrangement, but the horses appeared not mind it, or at least be used to it.

Like always, Nite did a onceover on the horses once they were strapped. She went to each one, stroking and cooing at them. All three of the horses- Sebastian, Marcel, and Xavier- liked her immensely.

Once they were done with the horses, she and Bickum got off the boat and stood at the end of the dock. They spoke in low voices so that the strangers, who were busy talking amongst themselves, wouldn't hear them.

"You need to start being more compliant," Bickum said in a warning tone. "These people are dangerous. That woman with the gun will not hesitate to shoot if you so much as look at her wrong."

Nite snorted angrily and looked up at the sky. She struggled to rein in all of her wayward emotions. Finally, she looked back at bickum and sighed. "They have done nothing to earn my compliance."

Bickum stood on the tips of his toes and brought his face close to hers. "They do not expect to have to earn anything," he hissed with urgency. He continued on, pleading now, "My dear, they will shoot you. I do not know what they are after or where they want to go, but I know that they will do anything to get there."

"I don't care what they're after. Those stupid pricks think they own just because of their stupid mission from the king and their fancy clothes. If they want to hoot me, they can. I'm asking them to."

"And what am I going to do if you are shot, Stump? Did you think about that? I'm too old to manage this boat by myself. If you die, then I will follow close behind you once they realize that I am useless without you. Do not go getting yourself killed for the sake of being rebellious. I raised you to have more common sense than that."