Journey of the Messenger Cycle 2 Part 2e
The covered carriage would have sat four, closely, with less comfort than the coach they had been on. As it was, with the two of them and the extra luggage there was still plenty of room. They had eaten some of the meat pie and Moon looked to be on the verge of falling asleep. Berri was expecting trouble though, at any moment, now that they were no longer in sight of Alloce. If the man she had seen was truly intent at making a quick profit at her expense, she expected something to happen sooner rather than later.
She picked up her crossbow, cranked the cocking lever, pleased with its smooth action, and fitted a bolt to the crossbow. She flipped the trigger-guard down and placed the weapon under the opposite couch. She pulled her weapons belt and the satchel from the pack and put both of them on, there was no room to stand, she adjusted everything so she could sit properly. She supposed if her intuition was off she would look a bit foolish. She gave a mental shrug. She suspected that many folks found her foolish.
She glanced at Moon, who by this point was slouched into the corner of the couch, sound asleep. They rattled along at a good pace. Berri had just started to wonder if she had been wrong about the man’s intentions when there was a double thump against the back of the carriage. The footman called out loudly. Berri did not need to understand him to know what was thappening.
Moon startled awake, her eyes went wide when she noticed that Berri was armed. They heard the footman climb up onto the roof of the carriage and the teamster spoke to the horses, encouraging them to greater speed.
The two men shouted back and forth a few times. Moon looked terrified. Berri moved over to the door, she needed to know what was happening. She stayed low, peeking out the window. She saw nothing of what was happening. Carefully, she opened the door then stood, grabbing the little railing along the top of the carriage and keeping firm grip on the door.
The footman glanced at her and shouted, “Ma’am!” The rest of what he said was beyond her understanding, she guessed he was telling her to get back inside. Instead she looked around. Not far behind them three men were on horses, even as she watched they gained on the carriage. She saw no other bandits. Frontwards the stretch of road they were on ran straight for as far as she could see. The young man shouted at her again. She ducked back inside and shut the door behind her.
“What’s happening?” Moon asked in a panicked gasp.
“Three guys are trying to catch us.”
There was more shouting from outside. Berri sat on the couch opposite Moon, crossbow in hand, facing the door. She could hear the horses and their riders, the carriage had nearly been overtaken. There was some thumping from above, Berri briefly saw one of the bandit’s horses through the little window, just its head for a moment and then it dropped back out of sight. More thumps from above, followed by a loud thump against the side of the carriage which caused Moon to scream in fright. Someone was hanging from the side, trying to get on top. The same horse as before came into sight again a moment later she saw the rider, reaching for the door.
The rider managed to reach the handle of the door and it started to open. Berri scooted forward, sliding from her perch. She kicked the door, hard. Startled, the man struggled to stay in the saddle, the door swung wide, slapping against the side of the carriage hard enough to break the glass. As the horse and rider started to drop back Berri shot him. He might have been three paces away, her bolt hit him in the torso and either went right through the man or lodged somewhere inside. It was hard to tell who screamed louder, Moon or the man she had just shot.
Berri started to reload. Wood cracked as something crashed into the top of the carriage. She really wished Moon would stop screaming. There was a scuffle happening above them. She finished loading and slid back up onto the couch opposite of Moon. The fight above them lasted a moment or two, the young footman gave a startled shout, something hit the back of the carriage and then someone groaned above them. The teamster cursed, or so she assumed, and the carriage started to slow.
When they came to a full stop Berri hopped out, turned and started to back away. She recognized the man from Alloce, still on horseback, alongside the team, holding the outer trace of the horse on the right side. Another man was on the roof, threatening the teamster with a knife. Berri shot him. Her shot had been a bit low and somewhat left of where she had intended to hit, dangerously close to the teamster. The bandit collapsed with a cry of agony and shock, the teamster was quick to grab the man.
“Moon, pass me a bolt!”
The last man, the shifty guy who likely put this act of robbery together, was cursing. He let go and started to turn his horse, the team slowly moved forward.
Moon gave a startled cry, fell into the door of the carriage and dropped the quiver with the bolts. The teamster heaved the dying man off the far side. Moon caught hold of the door frame, Berri’s bolts scattered across the ground. She reset the cocking lever, picked up one of the projectiles and finished loading the weapon. She noticed the footman. Fifty paces further back, struggling to his feet, well foot actually, he seemed to be having difficulties. He cried out in pain, balanced on his right foot, pointing and shouting.
She moved in behind the carriage which continued to slowly roll forward. The other man, still on his horse, had drawn a sabre. Berri raised her weapon and pulled the trigger, the bolt hit his forearm and punched through into his guts. His horse reared as he bellowed in pain, he crashed to the ground and the horse went running off back towards Alloce.
The teamster scrambled to stop the horses, after a moment he hopped down, breathing heavily. He cautiously eyed the wounded men and asked her something. She was not sure what he had said, but the tone and situation seemed to indicate a question. Likely asking if she was alright.
She gave a nod and said, “I’m fine,” She pointed to where the footman stood in the road, “I think he needs a hand.”
He said something then headed over to his co-worker. Moon walked up to Berri, pointedly not looking at the wounded men. She was pale, shaking. Berri held out an arm and her new friend came to her, weeping. Berri embraced her, holding her tight with one arm, keeping an eye on the nearby wounded men.
It took a while to sort out their situation. While the teamster helped the footman, who seemed to have broken an ankle, she took Moon back to the carriage and made her drink some water and eat a sweet tart. She encouraged her friend to rest, then went to look after the men she had shot. The two near the carriage were still suffering, she collected their weapons and then walked back to where the body of the first man lay sprawled by the side of the road. If her shot had not killed him, then certainly landing on his head had. He had a knife and a small sword, like the duellists had used. All things considered she felt the trio of would-be highway men had been woefully under armed and overly optimistic. Prior preparation would have prevented such a piss-poor performance. Certainly a couple of projectile weapons would have given them a better chance of succeeding.
She shrugged and left the man laying where he was. She returned to the others, giving the weapons to the teamster and then went to see how Moon was doing.
“I’m sorry I didn’t help.”
“That’s okay. I’m guessing you’ve never been in a fight before.”
“No.”
“Any idea what happens next?”
“I guess we wait until someone comes by or one of us will have to go back to Alloce.”
“Well, I think I’ll finish this pie. Unless you want some?”
She went pale again, “No, no. That’s okay, you go ahead.”
Berri ate in silence for a while. She did find it odd that Moon was so delicate, she was around Berri’s age, though obviously her upbringing had been quite different. Maybe no siblings, certainly no war and no Kereshi to take her in hand to train her body and mind. Or, maybe it was a Maldorn thing?
The teamster appeared at the door, looked to Berri and spoke, she caught a thank you in what he said, that was all. Moon took a deep breath, “He wanted you to know he is very glad you were along for the ride and thanks you for taking care of the bandits. He’s going to take one of the horses and return to Alloce to get help. He’ll make sure you get full credit for the bounty.”
Berri had a mouthful of pie so she simply nodded.
She hoped the rest of the trip to West Port would be less eventful.
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