Begin Again

Chapter 22

(TORIN)

The men walked for the majority of the day. They trusted that Rollo knew where he was taking them as they walked towards a town that none of them knew. Torin jogged to catch up with Rollo. 

"How do you know about this mysterious town?" Torin asked and Rollo didn't slow his stride as he answered. 

"As a boy I remember my father talking about his life long friend Eric Locksbrough the chief of a town called Chedix. As the story goes, the two of them grew up together and were friends until both of them fell in love with the same woman. Her name was Sarah."

Torin listened as Rollo talked about people from Benjamin's past. Torin couldn't imagine Benjamin marrying anyone other than Elda. 

"It almost broke up their friendship. Eventually Sarah's father forced her into a marriage with a man named Johnathan. When neither of them got her they were able to be friends again." Rollo laughed. "Women," He muttered under his breath. 

"So who is this Eric Locksbrough?" Torin asked.

"He fought with my father and the two of them were really close friends as they were growing up. Eric named his first born son after my father. They are still friends but as far as I know, they haven't seen each other in a few years. I spent time in Chedix when I was going to Gareth to settle with Grey's father. The arrow that you found was made by Eric's son Ben I am sure of it. I think that it means that Ryah and Anna are with Eric's people and if they are, they should be safe."

Torin nodded. He was beginning to understand what Rollo was talking about and he wondered how many friendships had been broken up over a woman. Probably too many to count.  

"We're almost there," Rollo said and he quickened his pace yet again. Torin looked back at the men behind them. They noticed the change in speed and they kept up. Torin knew that they weren't happy about it but none of them complained. Torin could hear the sound of running water up in front of them and he knew that the men would be grateful for the opportunity to get something to drink and they wouldn't complain about a second or two to rest. Rollo slowed and lifted his hand up in warning which caused Torin to listen intently. 

Up ahead of them was the sound of voices. It sounded like they were coming from the stream. Slowly the men eased forward. 

"Peter!" Torin heard a voice yell and he froze. He knew that voice. He wanted to run through the trees. He hadn't even realized that he had taken a step froward until Rollo placed a hand on his chest to stop him. They didn't know what they were about to walk into and it would be better to move slowly. Suddenly bursting through the trees could get them killed. Torin slowly pushed a branch out of his way and he saw movement. 

He watched Ryah running through the water towards a man who was laying face down. She grabbed him and tried to flip him over but she fell down in the water and her head went under the surface. She jumped back up and hooked her arms around the man and managed to get him face up. She wrapped her arms around his chest from behind him and attempted to keep his face out of the water as she hauled him to shore. Two children ran towards her to help her. 

All of a sudden the man jerked and started laughing. Ryah let him go and took a step back away from him. He said something that was too quiet for Torin to hear and Ryah replied. She then went to stomp around him and Torin watched as the man's arm shot out to grab her elbow. Torin's hand moved towards his sword and he was ready to jump out of the trees. Ryah turned around with an angry look on her face and the man held a finger up to his lips. Immediately her expression changed. The man took her and the two children behind a large boulder that was sitting next to the water.