EDWINA (Sample)

Chapter Eight

The next day was thankfully sunny and there was no sign of an impending rain in the clouds which was clear and whitish blue. They had stopped to rest in the woods again and Hector was hopeful that in two days time, they would arrive at the city of thugs.

Spending three days in the woods had been dull and uninteresting and frustrating enough for not having someone he could converse with except his horse who would only snort or twitch its ears in reply and it was good enough for Hector, even though he was aware that the animal could hardly understand anything he said. He had had to keep an eye on Edwina who kept her distance away from him on every possible chance she got and also slept apart from him at night.

There were some trees and bushes bearing some ripe fruits and Hector decided that it was best to harvest as much as he wanted for their journey. He sighted a pond at the side of a hill and knew that it would be filled with trouts since there was nobody around to eat them, except travelers who infrequently traveled the path.

He broke a thin branch and carved the end into a sharp point with his dagger, making a spear and he walked down the hill to fish. Edwina who had been plotting an escape decided that she had better do so now that she had her chance but she glanced down the path she had chosen to take and realized that she definitely would be unable to make it far on foot.

She glanced at Hector's horse who was munching on some grass and decided that she would need the horse if she wanted to get as far as possible and put a great distance between herself and Hector.

As if the horse could sense her thoughts, it lifted its head and glanced at her with its big eyes and slowly moved away from her to continue chewing but Edwina wasn't going to let the stupid animal deter her from her chance at freedom.

After trying so hard and being only lucky to spear just a big trout in the pond, Hector pulled the wriggling fish from the spear whose end, which had gone through its stomach was stained with its blood. He held the fish firmly in a hand and dashed it against a rock to kill it finally and held the spear in different hand then trudged back up the hill to where he had set camp not far away from the pond.

Immediately he stepped through the trees and the canopy of branches overhead shaded him from the sun, a heavy log of wood swung out of no where and collided with the side of his head, sending him falling on a knee and his hands making him immediately lose his hold on the spear and fish.

Having succeeded in maiming the very person that stood between her and her freedom, Edwina flung the log away, hurried to the horse and mounted the saddle, set to ride. Bearing the fierce stinging pain in his head, Hector managed to get back on his feet, he raked his fingers through his hair and felt warm blood on them and winced immediately he touched the painful spot on his head and he felt blood began to slip down his face which indicated that he either had a big cut or a gash.

The blood trickled down his collarbone and dropped on his chest, staining his jacket and soon, half of his face was covered in his own blood. He fixed his gaze on Edwina who was already galloping away on his horse, slipping two fingers into his mouth, he whistled sharply. The horse suddenly came to an abrupt halt, turned and began to galloped back towards its master.

Hector knew that his horse had only let Edwina mount it because they had both rode on it almost through the journey to their present location and it had somehow grown quite accustomed to Edwina. In dismay at the sudden change of course by the horse, Edwina frantically tried to steer it the way she wanted but the horse refused to be deterred from its new course to get back to Hector.

Edwina decided to jump down from it before the horse reached Hector, hoping that she wouldn't break her neck in the process of her jump, but the smart horse suddenly bounded up on its forelegs, shot its hind legs up and hauled her forward off the saddle, sending her flying above its head.