The Forgotten Land

Chapter Four

In the back, next to the stables that Xander also ran, they saw Clyde. The scrawny teen with big teeth and a crooked nose was the apprentice to Xander's son. He worked in the stables most of the time and was relatively reclusive, but still generally polite.

Clyde, busy shoveling away horse manure from the edge of the stables, looked up as they approached. He gave them a friendly nod. "Ya' here for hay?"

"Yes, child," Bickum nodded. "And we did not bring the wagon today, so we are going to need you to help us bring it back. We are sorry to interrupt your work."

"Curses, Bickum," Nite said. "Why didn't you remind me about the wagon? I completely forgot."

"We would have had to hitch up the horses and gotten everything ready. It would have wasted time."

"This is what happens when I sleep in. Everything gets forgotten."

"It isn't no problem, Nite, really." Clyde set down his shovel and disappeared into the stables. He emerged a few seconds later with a horse in tow. The young man then started hitching the creature up to a nearby wagon.

Many years ago, when Nite was still a young child, Xander had come up with a brilliant way to increase his store profits. He began renting and selling horses out to other people. When weary travelers came to the village, he would take their tired, worn down horses and sell them young mares to complete their journey. Whenever any of the villagers needed to move something heavy but didn't have a horse or a wagon, he would lend them some. Village kids would give him a few flintas to take out the horses for a day to ride them in the fields. It was a wonderfully ingenious and lucrative business.

When Clyde was done hitching up the horse, he stepped back and clapped the dirt and grime off of his hands. "How much y'all need?"

Bickum wiped a few beads of sweat off his forehead and said, "We are taking the river boat up to Cantan, which will take three days at most. We are bringing along three Geckens to turn the oar. We have enough hay so far for about half of the trip."

"That'll be..." Clyde's lips moved silently as he did the math in his head. "Ya' need bout seventy pounds. It ain't too much, but it might take me a while to load it all up."

Nite stepped forward, gently pulling her arm away from Bickum. "Let me help. I don't want you to have to spend all day dealing with our hay."

Nite had been acquainted with Clyde long enough for him to know how stubborn she was. This was not the first time that she had insisted that she would help load the hay up and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Arguing would not serve him well, just like insisting to her that it was 'man's work' would get him nothing more than a black eye. All that he could do was nod.

Nite, leaving Bickum behind to rest in the shade, followed him as he led the horse to the back of the barn. They were greeted by a massive stack of square hale bays. Anticipating the labor that was to come, she took off her cloak and tossed it into the passenger seat in the front of the wagon.

They began hefting the bales by the twine that held them together. By her third bale, Nite was beginning to feel a burn in her arms. The sweat trickling down her back multiplied exponentially the longer she stood out in the blazing sun. She could feel her hair sticking to the back of her neck.

They packed the bales tightly into the back of the wagon so they could fit as much as possible. The more hay that was loaded, the more Nite began to wonder just how it was possible for three horses to eat so much. Had she not grown up around the creatures, she surely would have thought that a wagon load of hay was too much.