Ellibeth put her hood and coat on but came to Billi as he put his own coat on. “Since my Da can’t protect me in the lamplight, there’s no point him trying in the dark.”
Those who heard laughed, especially when Viktor shook his head sadly. “That’s true. You’ll be safer with a Hunter, a Hound and a Bear to look after ye.” That caused more laughter, followed by some scandalised tutting when Ellibeth left the dance all alone except for Billi and Rabbit.
When they reached Viktor’s house, the long way round, Ellibeth snuggled up close. She pointed out that everyone thought the bear had dragged her off to inspect her tattoos and behave badly. What a pity not to take advantage when everyone thought they might have anyway? Not only that but this blouse fastened up the back. That made it hard to get off on her own and where could she find help at this time of night? After all that bussing Billi had no intention of even trying to talk her out of that idea!
* * *
When they arrived back in his hut Billi helped a very giggly Ellibeth off with her coat, then took off his own. As he turned back to the room Ellibeth came into his arm and he tossed the crutch to the side to use both arms. This time he bussed her like he’d wanted to for a very long time, and Ellibeth didn’t struggle at all. Her eyes twinkled a little as she looked over at the door to her bedroom. “Do I have to go in there and wait for a bear to break down the door?”
“Maybe for a pillow?” They both looked at the single pillow on Billi’s bed.
“But if we squeeze up? If strong arms hold very tight?”
Billi had trouble keeping talking, and not just because of the maid in his arms. His head seemed to be alive with the song, the sheer joy and triumph made him want to dance and sing. Since Billi was short of a leg and a singing voice, not a good idea. “We could manage with one?” Billi could barely speak. Ellibeth was here and she was his and this would be her home.
Even as that worked into his mind it blazed with glory and Ellibeth’s eyes went wide. “Rabbit?” she whispered. “Just then, just for a moment?”
Billi couldn’t answer. He’d been stunned and even now had trouble thinking straight. The Hound’s song rang out cleaner, clearer and brighter than ever before, encouraging him, just a little. Rabbit really wanted Ellibeth in his pack! Billi had to get to the bed before he fell over because he felt drunk on the sheer happiness, his and Rabbit’s, and the wonder that shone from Ellibeth’s eyes. He concentrated because since he’d thrown his crutch away this would be awkward on one leg and then a shoulder slipped under his arm.
He didn’t have to manage, he wasn’t alone now and never would be, and getting to the bed turned out to be no trouble at all.
THE END
People and Places
The People of the Farm
Abbe - Syman’s carver apprentice
Adalmar - Carpenter
Aescon - Edan’s most rabid supporter
Anise - Prostitute at the Village alehouse
Arikk - An old Farmer. Has a daughter, Kelli, late in life
Autumn - Canitre’s Hound
Barimar - Hektor’s Da, a Hunter
Bettram - Stockman
Billi - Aka Stumpy - Hunter with no left leg, childhood accident
Bliss - Maid on the Wood Hunt
Canitre - Edan’s Da, a Hunter
Cynel - Hunter on Winter Hunt
Dapple - Hektor’s Hound
Devved - Elder Farmer - one of the elders
Edan - Impetuous youth hoping for a Hound
Eddmune - Experienced Hunter
Ellibeth - Oldest of Viktor’s, back home with littlun. Widowed and the landshare isn’t available yet.
Eweyna - Eddwyn’s older sis, careless button
Ewward - Youth on first winter hunt, Hunter on second
Farimer - Hunter
Fellip - The Thatcher
Fleet - Raban’s Tan Hound
Gerant - Bettram’s second born,
Gordi - Thatcher’s nephew - youth
Grantel - Youth on the Winter Hunt
Guthra - Musician who plays on six shoes from carthorse down to small pony. Also an elder
Hektor - Youth waiting and hoping for a Hound
Hurwald - Farmer. Friend of Arikk
Kina - Eldest - old woman - eldest surviving villager
Kravitt - The Blacksmith
Lilith - Gerant’s bonded, waiting for her brideshare
Kelli - Young maid - Arikk is her Da
Mandy - Mother of three who tends to take charge of firewood collections
Midnight - Farimer’s Hound named because he turned up at midnight and roused the house.
Mikkel - Young Hunter
Nortan - Hunter injured on Winter Hunt
One-shut - One-eyed cat that guards Billi’s the chickens and grain, never has two eyes open.
Patches - Hound
Patre - Farmer. Tempert’s Da
Perry - Slightly older Bro of Bliss
Raban - Hunter on winter hunt,
Rabbit - The three-legged Hound that chose Billi
Robbin - Hunter - Seifort’s Da
Rubyn - Ellibeth’s littlun of eight summers, his Da died when he was five summers
Seifort - Youth - Da is Robbin
Steban - Mandy’s bonded
Streak - Eddmune’s Hound
Syman - Stonecutter, wood carver, basic potter, widower.
Sythyl - Seamstress
Tempert - Youth - Winter Hunt
Timath - Slightly younger Bro of Bliss
Treese - Raban’s lass
Viktor - The Tanner, widower, Bliss’s Da
Werne - Fiddler with a real fiddle - an heirloom. Also an elder
Wynn - Billi’s eldest Bro
Terms Used on the Farm
Babe - Baby
Beguiler - Tinkerer maid with few clothes and many sparkuls and tattoos. Will sell kisses or perhaps more
Blackstone - Coal
Bonded - Married
Brideshare - Portion of the family business or land inherited by a daughter
Buss, Bussed - Kiss, Kissed
Elders - Group of the oldest villagers who advise the Village and enforce a few Laws
Eldest - Oldest surviving villager
Full-weight - About a hundredweight, eight stones or fifty kilos
Gobbler - Turkey
Greenstone - Copper ore
Landclaim - New land or business registered with the Eldest
Landshare - Portion of the family business or land inherited by a son
Lass - Wife
Littles - Toddlers
Littluns - Children
Maid - Unbonded Female teenager
Skull Rock - Huge boulder covered in niches containing the skulls of dead villagers and Hounds
Stones - Pebbles exceptional enough for the Traders or Tinkerers to want them
Tithe - Portion of a kill left for the Wild, usually guts and bones
Travois - Triangle of timbers that allows people or ponies to drag large weights
Village - The small settlement of Trail’s End, the only one on this area of Farm
Wake - Dance and feast to celebrate the life of a Villager who has gone on
Youth - Unbonded Teenage male
The Forest and the Farm
The Farm - Land which is cropped and kept clear of weeds. This land comes under the Law of the Farm. Every effort is taken to ensure that any land in the Farm never returns to the Forest, and every inch is claimed by someone. The Village and all the farmhouses are on the Farm, since no man can live in the Forest.
The Forest - The great woodland stretching across the world’s edge, all the land not settled and farmed by Man. It is guarded by the Wild and cannot be cut, and any farmland not maintained is taken back to the Forest. Only fields, and trees in tended orchard
s, hedgerows or occasional lone trees permitted to grow by man on farmland do not belong to the Forest.
The Wild - All who live in the Forest and they protect it fiercely. They will raid the Farm but are fair game then. In the Forest Wild hunters will take or attack anything but Hunters with bows and Hounds, and occasionally them as well. There is more sentience and purpose about the Wild than the tame beasts of the Farm and there is a recognition of a balance, a bargain.
Laws of the Wild and the Farm - The rules agreed between the Forest and the Farm. Their origin is lost in time.
Great-Beast - Animal of extraordinary size and strength, Great-Bulls, Great-Stags, Great-Boars, Great-Cats and Great-Wolves have been seen. There is on-going controversy over if they are oversized beasts or a different species. Rare but pelts are highly prized and very dangerous to get. They are never intentionally hunted because they are so dangerous, though occasionally killed while raiding farms in hard winters. Great-Hunters are the largest and nobody has seen one of their striped pelts, and only a few have even seen their paw prints.
Hound - Possibly the dog equivalent of a Great-Beast. Large, powerful and have some sort of a mental connection to ‘their’ person. Each Hound comes out of the Forest and bonds to a young man, making him a Hunter, one of the select few entitled under the Law to hunt in the Forest with bow and spear. Hounds will not outlive their Hunter but can reach ages of more than three-score summers, allegedly, if their Hunter does.
Hunter - Man who has a Hound and a bow, and is therefore allowed into the Forest to take prey according to the Law of the Wild. It can happen to any youth and most practice the bow just in case, though only about one in four is chosen. The song of ‘his’ Hound is always present in a Hunter’s mind. If the Hound dies the Hunter will grieve deeply, and usually go out into the Forest with just a spear to meet the Wild and never returns.
Landclaim - When there is a chance to take more land from the Forest it must be described and the location given. This is so that the land will not be lost to the Village if the claimant dies. All land is precious. The heir or heirs to a new landclaim must be revealed to the Elders at that time, to avoid any dispute. If they are too young to work the land when they inherit the Elders will rent it out until the heir is sixteen summers. This keeps the land clear and cropped so that the Wild does not reclaim it for the Forest.
Landshare or Brideshare - The inherited portion of a parent’s holdings. This inheritance cannot be claimed until after the last parent has gone on and their skull is on Skull Rock. Until then, a bonded couple will live with the family of the man. This can cause overcrowding and is why the family home is so large. It is impossible for the couple to move out before then as there is no unclaimed land on the Farm.
Tinkerers - Itinerants living in gaily painted and carved wooden carts who set up small fairs. Their leatherwork, metalwork and jewellery are expensive but high quality, and they love to bargain but only for the better quality products of Forest and Farm. They do not steal or cheat, but bargain very hard. Their women assist in bargaining by ‘beguiling’ the victim, flaunting sparkling stones and delicate gold jewellery as well as their tattoos. Tinkerers tell fortunes, play tunes, sing and organise dancing. Their women are exotically tattooed and dance for silver, often removing items of clothing if the bids are high enough. Reputedly loose with their favours for silver or stones, and notorious for parting a man from his goods without paying though few complain. Tinkerers will pay good prices for the right rough stones and have the secret of making them shine as the stars do.
Traders - Trader caravans with a score or more wagons bring goods that cannot be produced in Villages and take the pelts and meat of the Forest back to the great cities to sunwards, allegedly beyond the Forest edge. They sell anything and everything and will take most things in trade, but the quality they supply can vary so beware. Usual source for blackstone, iron, charcoal, salt, rough cloth and most plain goods. Reputedly steal if they can’t buy. The purple wagons carry dancing girls who do most things for silver or even for copper in hard times. Traders offer huge rewards for the secret of the glittering stones or for a Hound.
Sparkul - A found stone that has been enhanced. Only the Tinkerers have this skill and nobody else even knows the process. The Tinkerers can make a rough stone of the right type burn with an inner fire, which makes the sparkuls very expensive. Tinkers will only trade for the right type of stone, the Traders will take any pretty stone but won’t give the same value even for potential sparkuls. Pretty stones and occasional nuggets are usually found in streams by Hunters.
Vance Huxley
Vance Huxley lives out in the countryside in Lincolnshire, England. He has spent a busy life working in many different fields – including the building and rail industries, as a workshop manager, trouble-shooter for an engineering firm, accountancy, cafe proprietor, and graphic artist. He also spent time in other jobs, and is proud of never being dismissed, and only once made redundant.
Eventually he found his Noeline, but unfortunately she died much too young. To help with the aftermath, Vance tried writing though without any real structure. As an editor and beta readers explained the difference between words and books, he tried again.
Now he tries to type as often as possible in spite of the assistance of his cats, since his legs no work well enough to allow anything more strenuous. An avid reader of sci-fi, fantasy and adventure novels, so his writing tends towards those genres.
Vance is a prolific writer whose other series include Fall of the Cities and Breach of Contract.