CHAPTER 8 : ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER

Merlin stumbled after the lad and squinted in the daylight. He realised that he had been in a root cellar attached to the back wall of an abandoned building. Raising his arms and stretching, he smiled at the lad Owen and followed him around the house.

This was one the strangest villages he'd been in. The fair-sized road had houses down each side and crooked alleyways with more houses off them. None of the houses seemed occupied; where you would have expected vegetable patches, there was nothing but weeds. The whole place looked neglected and forgotten. The doors of the houses were wide open and windows were missing or broken. There were no people around; no men, no children, no women, hanging out clothes on washing lines or chatting to neighbours, not even the usual stray dogs which would have hung around the place.

He checked on Owen who was turning into one of the alleys, "Where are we?"

"I don't know but Clive said the river over there is the Chad. He told us to stay here and he'd meet us outside the town tomorrow at noon. Seems no one lives here. Harry and the horses are down here." He limped but seemed better than after he'd first been bumped by Favoury.

Merlin was not too sure how long ago that had happened as he was still unable to figure how many days had passed since he had bound up the kid's leg. So many things seemed to have happened and been punctuated by periods of sleep. He felt as if there was time unaccounted for but he couldn't at the moment figure it out. Maybe Harry would be able to enlighten him. He was just happy to be out in the sunshine and feeling more like himself.

"Your leg seems a lot better…" he said as they continued walking.

"My mother is a healer and Harry wrapped my leg with herbs that she would have used." It made Merlin think of his mother. "Harry said that you were really kind staying behind to look after me. Was the king cross that I ran in front of his horse?"

"No! He felt bad but he was in a hurry to get home…he thought it was an accident." Suddenly Merlin began putting two and two together, "However, it wasn't was it?"

"Clive made me do it to make the king slow down. I was frightened but I knew what he was like when he gets cross so, I did what he told me. Harry then felt bad as he didn't think that I would really get hurt."

"Well, you were brave, maybe a little silly to do that but brave all the same."

"Clive said he knew my mother and he was going to kill her and my younger sisters and brothers if we didn't go along with him. I was scared."

"What happened to my friend the knight?" Merlin asked, "I saw that I was riding his horse."

"Well, Clive didn't want him so we left him there but took the horse. Clive wasn't much happy, as he wanted the chestnut but it wouldn't let him anywhere near it."

Merlin smiled for the first time in a long time. Hopefully, Iago would have gone looking for the others and Arthur would come looking for Simon and him. Owen slowed down as the homes became further apart and glancing behind him, stopped before a door. He called softly, "Harry, it's me!"

A figure stepped out of the shadows and Merlin recognised him as the other man from the cart fiasco. He nodded apologetically at Merlin then glanced at his kid brother, "Ready to go, the two of you? I'd feel safer on the road in case Clive returns earlier. Don't trust him one bit."

The horses had been saddled and were waiting quietly in the darkness of the shed behind the cottage. Merlin walked over to Gulfa and said her name quietly, putting his hands around her muzzle. She breathed in deeply, leaning her head into his chest and blew into his hands. He smiled Spenser would be glad to get her back and he knew that Simon wherever he was would be glad that she had been found.

"We'll go in single file out to the fields and then loop around to cross the river further down and then cut through the woods to the road back to Camelot. Sounds all right to you?"

Merlin nodded and led Gulfa out following Harry and Owen back into the early morning sunshine.

The three of them left the settlement going south through mostly abandoned fields until they reached the safety of the forest. The river at the ford had been swift running but only knee high but the river that faced them was another matter.

The banks down to the river were steep and the current was rough and carried debris along with it. Harry stopped his horse and looked at it. It would mean a swim if they intended to get across. He turned to Merlin, "Do you think we could get across in one piece?"

Merlin knew that Gulfa trained as she was, would be able to cross but he wondered about the other two horses and the probably inexperience of their riders. So he said, "Have you ever crossed anything this rough before?"

Harry shook his head, "Never ridden before we met up with Clive and that was a big mistake now that I think about it."

Laughter broke out behind them and Owen said, "For the first few days I spent more time on the ground than on the horse. Clive would get cross and threatened to take the horse away and leave me behind but I got better and mostly managed to hang on after that." Then his tone changed and he added, "Harry, I'd be too frightened to try to ride into the river, if I fell off I'd be swept away and drowned like Berta was."

Harry immediately said, "Owen, Berta was only a toddler, it was no one's fault." Looking at Merlin, he explained that one of the village children had wandered off and was later found drowned. "I won't let that happen to you, Owen, Mam would kill me."

Owen smiled as did Merlin who knew from experience the indignant wrath of a worried mother.

He looked at Merlin and said, "I think we should try to find an easier place to cross." Merlin nodded.

Keeping his eyes open as they rode along the river bank, Merlin saw a gravel bar in the middle of the river, where it seemed to be calmer. He stopped and checked the bank. It looked solid. Across the way, he could see what looked like a pebbly shoal and an easy climb up the bank. Gauging the speed of the current, he suggested to Harry, that they enter the water further upstream and made their way back to the gravel bar, let the horses stop there before going into the river again to reach the other bank.

Harry who had little knowledge of water currents and crossing rivers on horseback trusted that Merlin probably knew what he was talking about. So, he nodded and agreed.

Merlin explained to Owen that his horse probably knew a lot about crossing rivers so he should just let it follow the horse in front of him. He offered to go first as he knew that Gulfa was level headed and the other horses would pick up on that to make the crossing safer.

He rode another fifteen feet upstream with Owen behind him and Harry last. He leaned over and took the reins from Owen's horse telling him to cling onto its mane. Then he told Gulfa, "Come on, girl, let's go home to Camelot."

Gulfa after a moment's hesitation to get her balance, slid down the bank and walked into the water. Owen's horse following without a second thought and they made their way downstream angling across the river towards the gravel bar. The water was only up to Gulfa's elbows but for the other two smaller horses it was halfway up their sides.

When all three horses were on the gravel, Merlin immediately made his way into the water heading further downstream to what looked like the pebbly spot. All three riders arrived on the opposite bank and Merlin remembered to warn Owen that his horse was likely to shake, which it promptly did.

Harry and Merlin laughed as Owen said, "That was great! Can we do it again?

They answered in unison, "No!"

-0-0-

Once it was daylight, Arthur and the two knights buckled their bedrolls behind their horses' saddles and set off. Gawaine complained that he was hungry and Arthur told him to grow up. He'd have to wait until they came to a village where they could maybe get some information as well as buy food. Arthur was banking on the men having kept the knight's horse and it being remembered by villagers who had maybe remarked on how such rough types had such a quality horse. There was certainly no market for Gulfa in this area should they wish to sell her and get for her what she was worth.

He wasn't too sure how far ahead Chadford was. He had visited it with Sir Romney as a page. Romney had then been a squire about Rhylin's age and he had been given the job of escorting Arthur and his friend Piers on any outings they made. He remembered Chadfoed as he and Piers had played on the flat stoned clapper bridge, racing back and forth across the river as Romney had led their two ponies across the ford and waited patiently for them on the other side. They'd been told that it was very old, older than many of the Roman bridges over which they often travelled.

He'd loved the bridge. It was just large slabs of rectangular shaped stones placed adjoining each other and balanced on a foundation of rocks or piles of stones which jutted out of the water. It hadn't been a perfect place for two kids to play but it was exciting and the worst thing that could have happened is that they would have been riding back to Camelot soaking wet. He smiled; he couldn't remember the town just that it was deserted.

The three of them continued riding for about an hour and then at the top of a hill caught a glimpse of a river through the trees. Gawaine was all for cutting through the wood to it but Arthur said that he preferred to stay on the road as he knew that would lead to not only the town but also the bridge and the ford for the horses.

Arthur didn't know what he was expecting in Chadford. It could be still abandoned or newly occupied not that he remembered hearing anything about it recently. If it had become a nest of bandits, it might end up being quite nasty if they caught up to the two men and boy who had Merlin.

Aislin and Gawaine felt sure that they would be far gone by now. They had no reason to hang around and unless Merlin was able to escape it looked like being a future job for all the knights to find him.

Gawaine knew that Arthur would never settle until Merlin was back in Camelot and he would be a real bastard to deal with until then. He said, "Arthur, what's the next nearest town or village to Chadford?" If it were abandoned as Arthur seemed to think it was, how far would they have to go until he could get something to eat.

Arthur shrugged his shoulders and they continued riding.

-0-0-

Merlin had decided that it made more sense to cut across country to join up with the road than to backtrack along the river bank to the ford. He worried that Clive might have returned early and was already looking for him. He had no real memory of riding on it but knew that it was faster to return to Camelot that way than by trying to make their way across country.

They came upon a little group of cottages and Merlin traded Simon's sleeping roll for some bread, cheese, pork pie and ale. None of them had any money and Merlin saw himself arriving back home riding bareback as if necessary he'd trade all Gulfa's tack to get what they needed.

Talking to Harry, he'd found out that he was married and living in Shepton about an hour's ride northeast of Camelot. Merlin told them they could stay overnight with him in Camelot and then set out the following day. He felt responsible for seeing that Owen got back safely to his mother as he and Harry had really saved his life.

As they rode along, Harry explained that he had been approached by another man to join up with one of his friends to make some easy money. The man had fallen ill and Harry had gone off with Owen to make what he believed would be his fortune. No so, now he was racing to get home before they were found by Clive. He never really knew what it was all about but he did know that Clive had in a little green bottle containing what he said was a potion. He used to dip the blade of a knife in it and then if he scratched someone with it, they would fall asleep.

He explained to Merlin that that was what had happened to his horse. Clive had soaked the tip of a small arrow into it which Harry now believed had been intended for the king and Iago had thrown his head up and got it in the neck.

Merlin felt sick as if that arrow had hit Arthur he would have died. If it could have knocked out a horse, it would have killed a man.

Harry said that whenever Merlin had started to wake up, Clive would dip the blade of his knife into the potion, shake most of it off and then scratch the back of Merlin's leg. He said," And then you'd fall asleep almost immediately."

Neither man noticed Owen looking uncomfortable, and Merlin said, "For how many days?"

"Well, counting the day that you helped Owen, it was one more day. We left you in a broken down cottage while we returned the horse and cart and then went back for you and by that night we put you in the root cellar. Are you a friend of the king?"

He smiled and said, "I am King Arthur's manservant and sometimes, he worries about me. I don't think he wants to have to find another manservant should something happen to me!"

"That was why Clive took you as he thought he might come looking for you and he would be able to use the other arrow on him."

Back to the time elapsed, Merlin could not believe that it had been such a short time. His head had been so muddled that he felt sure that a couple of days had passed, maybe Arthur had already set out to look for him.

Merlin wondered if Iago had reached Camelot safely. The thought of a saddled horse getting his tack caught up on some tree, kept going through his mind but he tried to convince himself that Iago who really didn't like bushwhacking would have used the road. If he went straight home he might have got there the same evening. He was also worried about Simon this was another reason for staying on the road. If it had only been yesterday, he might be hurt and still wandering around somewhere.

Harry and Owen were jumpy about meeting up again with Clive, so when they heard travellers, they pulled off the road into the forest and stood waiting for them to pass. Travellers remembered whom they had passed on the trails and were a good source of information to people enquiring about who was on the road that morning.

The sun was overhead when they pulled off the road again this time to water the horses.

-0-0-

Gawaine had been leading, staring at nothing in particular when he had seen a flash of metal in the woods. He pulled Hazlit to a stop holding up his hand for the others. He pointed to the area of interest and noticed that Hazlit's ears went forward as he'd also picked up something. Figuring it might even have been a deer, he was going to move on when he again caught sight of the sunlight reflecting off something.

Arthur was all for charging into the woods but saner heads prevailed and Gawaine motioned that he would go further along the road and then backtrack. He walked along the verge of the road on the weeds so that his horse's hoofbeats on the hard track wouldn't be heard. Aislin turned round and went back ten feet, Arthur was now nearest to whatever was in the woods.

Hazlit suddenly whinnied and Gawaine was surprised to hear another horse whinny back.

Arthur's heart leapt, it had to be a horse which the others knew as even Favoury nickered. Worried that the bandits might be there, Arthur whistled the code which he and Merlin used to communicate. He was relieved to hear the responding whistle. He still didn't know if Merlin was alone. He waited on the road and nodded at Aislin who came back to stand near him, sword drawn.

He whispered, "It's Merlin and probably Gulfa. I'll wait until he signals to me again and then…" Again he heard Merlin whistle and the sound of horses approaching. He was later to say that he had never been so pleased to see Gulfa in his life.

The three of them stood on the road as Merlin called, "It's us, we're all right, but will have to join the road a little way further along. Did anyone find Simon?"

"Yes, we did and Iago!" They could hear the sounds of riders in the woods and finally Merlin came out onto the road followed by two other riders.

Within what seemed like a second, Gawaine had a sword pointed at Harry's chest while Aislin had reached over to grab the kid off his horse. He landed hard and cried out.

Yelling at Gawaine that the man was not an enemy, Merlin dismounted heavily, walking over to Owen. "It's all right," he said to the boy, "I won't let him hurt you as I'm here. You're safe." He pulled the lad to his feet and helped him over to his brother. He turned to Arthur saying bluntly, "They saved me!" all the while glaring at the other two knights.

Arthur looked at him; he looked awful. His colour wasn't right and his eyes seemed slightly unfocused. He was uncoordinated; he just wanted to take him in his arms and make everything better but he couldn't in front of strangers.

While the other two were occupied staring at Gawaine and Aislin, not sure how much they trusted the knights. Merlin walked over to Arthur and said, "You don't know how much I've been wanting to see you. I kept thinking that it was days that we were apart but Owen said that it was only one day."

"Are you all right?"

"Not really! I feel better than I did but my head still seems slightly woolly and I would love to lie down and have a good sleep!"

Arthur not understanding said, "What did they do to you and why didn't you just let Gawaine finish him off?"

"He's just a poor man trying to make some money, the leader is the trouble maker, it's complicated and I'm really not up to explaining all the ins and outs. Suffice to say that I was drugged."

Nonetheless, Arthur gave a challenging glance towards Harry, who was still regarding Gawaine with horror. Merlin interrupted him by calling, "Harry, come over and meet King Arthur." He then added in quieter voice just for Arthur, "My boss and my love."

Arthur put his arm across Merlin's shoulders saying to him, "The latter I understand but what's a boss?"

"I'll show you when we get home!" Merlin said with a grin, then as Harry approached he explained, "Harry here got caught up with an unsavoury character called Clive. He's a dangerous man and was out to get you but he was thwarted by my horse on the first occasion and then his attempt at the fallen tree didn't work out as planned either. Harry and Owen live northeast of Camelot so they are coming along with us so they can spend a night there before returning home."

Arthur loved it when Merlin took control of the situation and he nodded thanking Harry and especially Owen, "I'm sorry my mare bowled you over but she just couldn't avoid you."

Owen too shy to speak to the king nodded and turned smiling at Merlin who said, "See, I told you, Owen, he felt bad about it."

Everyone remounted their horses and turned back in the direction of Camelot. Gawaine said, "I think that we should head for the village from which the cart was stolen, we have no chance of arriving back home tonight."

"And might the fact that you found the ale to your liking have anything to do with that?" asked Aislin with a laugh.

"No," said Gawaine quite innocently, "I just thought that Merlin and the lad would probably like to have a break and we have no food."

Arthur grinned, with Merlin at his side he was quite happy to stop there…