her to carry. Without sitting, we ate the food and drank from the bottle. Once she had packed her bag, Eluned pulled it over her shoulder, with the blankets, and stepped out through the doorway.
I quickly picked up my bag from where it had lain beneath my head and followed her.
“Today we must reach the dyke, my lady. I think it is not so far.”
We headed back to the road and strode off.
Chapter 5
As on the previous day, Eluned set a demanding pace and, once again, I only kept up with her with some difficulty. As we progressed through the morning, the landscape around us began to change. From the empty moorland we began to pass through what had once been cultivated land, though now it was wild and uncared-for. After a couple of hours this became the remains of fields, the once defining hedges now equally unkempt and straggling. The pathway we were following was occasionally almost overgrown with these thick hedges and we were forced to push our way through, receiving many scratches on arms and legs as we did so.
Just about what I guessed was mid-day I was seriously thinking of asking Eluned to pause, as we had done the previous day. I knew she would not be happy to do so, but I needed to take even a five or ten minute breather. For the last half hour or so, the fields had given way to more open ground again, and there were trees becoming visible on the horizon. The road, having been winding through the fields, now straightened again and it was easy to see it as it stretched ahead, climbing a hill up to the trees.
“Eluned,” I started, but before I could complete my sentence she stopped and raised her arm. As I caught up with her I was about to continue my request to stop when she put her finger to my mouth and pointed with her free hand. She was indicating something on the road, at present far ahead, seemingly just emerging from the tree line. At such a distance it was barely visible, and I’m not sure I would have seen it myself if Eluned had not indicated it to me.
“What is it?” I whispered, wondering why I was whispering.
“Shhh,” Eluned said. “Wait.” She was looking up the road, one hand now over her brow to shield the sun.
I waited. The object, whatever it was, continued along the road in our direction. As it approached it was easier to make out its shape. It was clearly moving much faster than we were. Slowly, it dawned on me what we were seeing.
“Isn’t that a ...”
“Never mind, my lady. It must not see us. We must leave the road. Quickly.”
She took my hand and dashed off across the open ground to our right. I stumbled along behind her. Before long she threw herself down on the ground, pulling me down beside her. She pulled the grass around us as best she could before lifting her head a little to see the road, now some distance to our left. If whoever was coming towards us had already spotted us they would have no difficulty seeing us in our dull white shifts, standing out amidst the greens around us. Our one hope was that they had not seen us, in which case perhaps they would not notice us.
Soon I could hear a strange mechanical sound that grew louder as it drew nearer. I raised my head just a little to look. As I did the object disappeared as it approached a dip in the road, still some distance away.
“What is it?” I whispered.
“Crwydwyr, my lady. Bad men. You would call them ‘vagabondi’ I think.”
I had never heard the word. The roaring sound drew quickly nearer and nearer. I lowered my head as far as I could into the grass, clutching at the soil with one hand, my other clutching the waist of Eluned’s shift. She had thrown her bag and the blankets on the ground before us. Now she scrabbled for one of the blankets, unrolled it and pulled it over our heads. Muffled a little, the roaring came closer and closer. Soon it sounded as if it was on top of us and I had to bite the earth beneath me to stifle a scream. I could feel Eluned’s rapid breathing
I quickly picked up my bag from where it had lain beneath my head and followed her.
“Today we must reach the dyke, my lady. I think it is not so far.”
We headed back to the road and strode off.
Chapter 5
As on the previous day, Eluned set a demanding pace and, once again, I only kept up with her with some difficulty. As we progressed through the morning, the landscape around us began to change. From the empty moorland we began to pass through what had once been cultivated land, though now it was wild and uncared-for. After a couple of hours this became the remains of fields, the once defining hedges now equally unkempt and straggling. The pathway we were following was occasionally almost overgrown with these thick hedges and we were forced to push our way through, receiving many scratches on arms and legs as we did so.
Just about what I guessed was mid-day I was seriously thinking of asking Eluned to pause, as we had done the previous day. I knew she would not be happy to do so, but I needed to take even a five or ten minute breather. For the last half hour or so, the fields had given way to more open ground again, and there were trees becoming visible on the horizon. The road, having been winding through the fields, now straightened again and it was easy to see it as it stretched ahead, climbing a hill up to the trees.
“Eluned,” I started, but before I could complete my sentence she stopped and raised her arm. As I caught up with her I was about to continue my request to stop when she put her finger to my mouth and pointed with her free hand. She was indicating something on the road, at present far ahead, seemingly just emerging from the tree line. At such a distance it was barely visible, and I’m not sure I would have seen it myself if Eluned had not indicated it to me.
“What is it?” I whispered, wondering why I was whispering.
“Shhh,” Eluned said. “Wait.” She was looking up the road, one hand now over her brow to shield the sun.
I waited. The object, whatever it was, continued along the road in our direction. As it approached it was easier to make out its shape. It was clearly moving much faster than we were. Slowly, it dawned on me what we were seeing.
“Isn’t that a ...”
“Never mind, my lady. It must not see us. We must leave the road. Quickly.”
She took my hand and dashed off across the open ground to our right. I stumbled along behind her. Before long she threw herself down on the ground, pulling me down beside her. She pulled the grass around us as best she could before lifting her head a little to see the road, now some distance to our left. If whoever was coming towards us had already spotted us they would have no difficulty seeing us in our dull white shifts, standing out amidst the greens around us. Our one hope was that they had not seen us, in which case perhaps they would not notice us.
Soon I could hear a strange mechanical sound that grew louder as it drew nearer. I raised my head just a little to look. As I did the object disappeared as it approached a dip in the road, still some distance away.
“What is it?” I whispered.
“Crwydwyr, my lady. Bad men. You would call them ‘vagabondi’ I think.”
I had never heard the word. The roaring sound drew quickly nearer and nearer. I lowered my head as far as I could into the grass, clutching at the soil with one hand, my other clutching the waist of Eluned’s shift. She had thrown her bag and the blankets on the ground before us. Now she scrabbled for one of the blankets, unrolled it and pulled it over our heads. Muffled a little, the roaring came closer and closer. Soon it sounded as if it was on top of us and I had to bite the earth beneath me to stifle a scream. I could feel Eluned’s rapid breathing
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