Far Beyond the Thorns and Roses

Chapter 5: Woods and Axes

She got the job easily after proving her strength to the boss man. She got to work with the men who were responsible for the felling and cutting of the trees. The women handled the horses and the transport of the logs. With this work and the work, she did at the inn the weeks passed by quickly and many friends were made. The question "Are you male or female?" kept popping up and was a strongly debated topic as she never answered the question.

"Are you going to leave when the caravans do?" A woman asked her.

"Why not stay here?" A man asked.

"I would like you to stay. You don't whine and pick things up quickly." The boss added.

"I can whine if you want me to. I am good at it too." She teased the group and they all laughed. "Though I do like it here. I think I should leave. Those crazy folks might try and drag me back there."

"We can help you." Another man said before he took a bite of a slice of bread.

"I bet y'all will." She took a bite of her dried meat. "I will think about it. I won't promise anything, though." A few in the group grinned at her response as they finished up their break still trying to talk Elle into staying.

After three weeks the caravan showed and she was introduced to the head.

"Elle! Elle! Come here." Wilma was shouting from a distance.

She raised her hand. "I will be over shortly!" She spoke loudly before finishing the cut she started. Then she swings the ax leaving it on the stump of a tree. Elle looked at the man standing next to the old lady. He was built for work but was still slim. His hair was long, jet black, and braided. His clothes were for that cold mountain climate, but they had beads and other decorations tied in different places of clothing. She couldn't tell his age which reminded her of Kyle. A friend who came to her country from another. He would have been ID at anything that was remotely fun or asked where his parents were. She bit her lip as this welled up her emotions that she was trying to keep in check.

"Sweety, this is Gansukh, Qadan." She told her.

She remembered it was the last name first then the first name. "Please to meet you Gansukh." If Willma had not taught her how to speak a bit of the language and the tones. She would have surely butchered this man's name. "I am Moore, Elle." She held out her hand and he shook it.

"I will let you talk. I must get back to the inn." The old woman walked off the site.

"Man, they're already here." Her boss scoffed.

"I will take a moment," Qadan said as they both walked off. He spoke with an accent, but he could be understood. "We will be heading out in a week. Have you gotten warm shoes and clothes?"

"Yes, I got the heaviest I could get. And as you saw, I can work." Elle replied.

"It will be good to have more hands." He stated as she stopped and looked down at her. "Will you work here until it is time to go?"

"Yes, so I can be more prepared." She answered him.

"Good. I will inform you the day before we leave so you can be ready." He slightly bowed his head before heading on his way.

"Have a good day."  She said before heading back to work and for the first time since she got here the days dragged by. She thought it was the excitement of finally being able to leave this country. Then she always caught herself looking down the path she came from. Did she miss David? A little but not to such an extent. Maybe something or someone was coming as she slowly started to feel more on edge.

The caravans kept coming in one after another over the past few days. Some had family crests on the side of them as they traded. This made her nervous as she recognized a few of them. Then they could hear them chattering about the missing daughter of the Millstone family. She checked her hair to make sure her roots would not give her away and even dyed her eyebrows.

Then two days away from leaving the Millstone family appeared. She saw David step out then Matthew. She quickly moved into a shop and asked to use a back door. They gave her a quiet nod and she thanked them. Her reaction to those two quickly spread through the town. They would help her avoid them. One even put soot on her face to hide her looks.

But she couldn't hide from David, she wouldn't have hidden if Matthew had not been there. One night after working at the bar she found David waiting in her room. She stood there for a short moment before walking in and shutting the door behind her.

"Hi, Estella."  He smiled at her.