Chapter 21: Storm Clouds To The West
The goat, Elizabeth could see, was well at home on this mountain terrain. It was eating happily the stubbly grass and heather, not caring about the wind, or that its left legs were poised so much lower than the right. The animal had a fierce tug as she had discovered all too well during their ascent, and it had not been easy to find a way of safely tethering it while she and Wickham took their rest. But Wickham had spotted a dead tree root protruding from the slope, and had carefully bound the rope to it.
The two large rocks, leaning one towards the other like an old married couple, had been visible from some way down, but Elizabeth had hoped to come across a shelter from the wind long before they reached the rocks. Yet the bare hillside had offered nothing, and they had had to persevere up the little path, the goat tugging as impulsively as the fierce gusts. How Wickham managed the horse, Elizabeth had little idea. When at last they reached the twin rocks, it was as if God had crafted for them this sanctuary, for while they could still hear the blasts around them, they felt only faint stirrings in the air.
The previous night, while restful, had been tense. Wickham and she had taken turns staying awake to keep watch, as neither truly trusted the children. In fact, Wickham was so distrustful that he refused to eat their food, hunting fish in a nearby stream and cooking it himself.
Elizabeth couldn't help think of Darcy, especially each time Wickham made his presence known. She thought of the journey to the monastery; when Darcy had been uncertain of Wickham, how he had stayed awake all night himself keeping watch, not demanding anything from anyone else. Even when he was angry with her, when Sir Bennet had abandoned them, Darcy had never once grumbled. He understood what his duty was, and upheld it uncomplainingly. Every chance he had had to gracefully make his exit, Darcy had instead chosen to stand by her, to protect Lydia, and also fulfil his mission. She also appreciated how, when Darcy had at the beginning of this journey given orders on what to do and where to go, by the end, he had the grace to share with her his reasoning, ask for her input, and take into account her feelings, even though him being the warrior and all the rest of them with nothing of value to add, they should have all just deferred to his judgment without question.
Darcy was a man, Wickham a mere boy in comparison.
"Uphill and uphill we climb," Wickham grumbled, drawing her attention. "That young girl hid from us the true hardship of this task."
"No doubt about it, she made it sound an easy stroll. But who'll blame her? Still a child and more cares than one her age should bear."
Grumbling some more, Wickham wandered from their spot. "Elizabeth, look there. Down in that valley, do you see that?"
A hand raised to the glare, Elizabeth tried to discern what Wickham was indicating, but eventually shook her head. "I see valley after valley where the mountains descend, but nothing remarkable."
"Follow my finger. Aren't those soldiers walking in a line?"
"I see them now, right enough. But surely they're not moving."
"They're moving, and might be soldiers, the way they go in a long line."
"To my eyes, they seem not to move at all. And even if they're soldiers, they're surely too far to bother us. It's those storm clouds to the west concern me more, for they'll bring mischief swifter than any soldiers in the distance."
"You may be right. I wonder how much further it is we're to go. That young girl wasn't honest, insisting it was but a simple stroll. She must have been desperate to have us do her bidding. It would be a fine thing if Querig were slain and this mist no more, it would serve the spirit of Arthur right, but when I see that ill-tempered goat chewing the earth that way, it's hard to believe a foolish creature like that could ever do away with a great she-dragon."
"Maybe the goat cannot, but at least we obtained some direction on where to head. And now that we have the goat, we may as well take it with us."
"Let us leave," Wickham suddenly said, decidedly. "Who knows what mischief Lydia has been up to, and if those are soldiers, they may be on our scent. The bigger the distance 'tween us, the better."
So they climbed, still higher, the winds growing stronger and stronger, until Wickham came to an abrupt stop.
"Why stack heavy stones to above a man's height in so high and remote a place as this?" Wickham asked.
It was a question equally to baffle Elizabeth as she came wearily up the mountain slope. When the young girl had first mentioned the giant's cairn, Elizabeth had pictured something atop a large mound. Yet this cairn had simply appeared before them on the incline, no feature around it to explain its presence.
The goat and the horse, however, seemed immediately to sense its significance, each animal struggling frantically as soon as the cairn had become visible as a dark finger against the sky.
"They know their fate," Wickham remarked grimly. "If nothing else, that goat is telling us we're in the right spot. Here there be dragons."
Wickham made Elizabeth hold both animals as he set about hammering into the ground with a stone a wooden stake around which to tie the goat. "If your god cares at all for goats, he'll bring Querig here before long, or it'll be a lonely wait for this poor animal."
"If the goat dies first, do you suppose Queirg will still sup on meat not living and fresh? And where do you suppose we should remain? Or should we leave?"
"Who knows how a she-dragon likes her meat? Do you think I am in the habit of hunting dragons?" Wickham asked. "But there's grass here to keep this goat a while, even if it's of a mean sort."
Elizabeth opened her mouth to respond, but the blink of an eye found Wickham clamping her mouth shut.
"Shhh…" he hissed. "Not a word. Someone's here." Wickham drew his sword, standing in a defensive posture, while Elizabeth let go of the horse and tried to frantically tether the goat. She couldn't believe that a soldier had somehow made it ahead of them.
"I can hear you," Wickham declared, loudly and boldly. "As I know that you can hear us too. Come out from your hiding, and let us see if we can have a discussion as men. And if not," he added, "my sword is equally ready to speak."
After a long pause, Elizabeth finally heard the dull sound of old metal. From somewhere behind the stones, a figure made its way to them.
"Elizabeth, daughter of mine! Come here and hold your father!"
Stupefied, Elizabeth stared at the emerging figure of Sir Bennet.
"What a strange place to find you in dear child, with a new Saxon friend you seem to have found. But oh! how relieved I am to see you, safe and strong!"