The Fragile Fall At Tallow Bridge (The White Blood Chronicles Book 1) Read Free

the cruel hiss and sinister growls of the imps was absent. He felt something touch both his booted ankles firmly and this caused him to lift his head.
    “ Ah, so you’re awake?” commented the man who was stood at the end of the cart, his large hands gripping Thaindire’s ankles. The man was both tall and broad.
    “ I thought I might have to throw a pail of water over you,” he continued blinking his round eyes set in an open, flat face. The stranger stood regarding Thaindire for a moment, his thinning grey hair lifting in the breeze. He kept his hands cupped around Thaindire’s ankles and it was evident that the man was used to hefting matters of weight around, judging by the size of his forearms, which bore tattoos.
    “ Yes, I am awake,” managed Thaindire weakly and he tried to sit up but the shards of pain from his back wound stopped him.
    “ Steady there,” cautioned the man, “ you are in no state to go leaping around.” He turned away from Thaindire who slumped back.
    “ Ansell!” shouted the man , “Ansell. Lend a hand with this traveller.”
    There was a confirmatory shout in reply and after a moment a second man appeared.
    “ What? Another one?” he declared on arrival causing the first man to frown at this. He was similar in build to the first man but was bald and those parts of his flesh that were exposed were streaked with sweat and grime. He clambered up onto the cart and stepped over Thaindire, his leather apron wafting over Thaindire’s head as he made his way behind him.
    “ He looks like a case for Mistress Thorne,” remarked the man who stood over Thaindire.
    “ No, no, he is best off at the inn. We can involve Alyssia if necessary,” remarked his rescuer.
    “ Are you sure Ben, he doesn’t look too good to me.”
    “ Yes, let’s get him inside so Kathryn can look him over.”
    “ If you say so.”
    “ I’m afraid this will hurt,” muttered the bald man as he slipped his meaty hands under Thaindire’s armpits as the round-faced man took a firm grip about Thaindire’s ankles. Thaindire gave a cry of pain as the pair lifted him off the cart, he felt a wave of weakness crash over him and momentarily his vision swam. The two men manoeuvred him onto his feet and placed themselves either side of him. They were both strong and Thaindire did not even have to try and walk as between them they carried him from the cart, his feet dragging across cobbled ground. He was aware of a small crowd of people gathered about the cart but he was barely able to lift his head to see their faces, instead his sight falling upon an array of clothing suited to farmers and peasants. With a grunt, the men steered him through a doorway and the smell of hops became markedly stronger.
    “ Where’d you find him?” asked Ansell as Thaindire was carried past low tables and chairs towards a staircase.
    “ Two miles out of the village. Wolves look to have had him,” replied Thaindire’s rescuer.
    “ Were they there when you got to him?”
    “ No, but I reckon they must have only just gone, his wounds were right fresh. I guess my coming along must have scared them off.”
    “ Not wolves,” murmured Thaindire almost imperceptibly.
    “ What did he say?” asked Ansell.
    “ He was just groaning, he’s taken a mauling,” came the reply.
    “ Aye, that he has. That road will be getting worse with those wolves with winter ahead.”
    “ I’ll send for our Kathryn to see to him, those bites need looked at. Probably need something from the apothecary especially for the chunk they took from his back.”
    The duo grunted as they made their way up two staircases and onto a small landing from which a number of doors radiated.
    “ Stick him in here, at the front,” instructed the rescuer as he shoved the door open revealing a small room furnished with a bed, chair and a fireplace. Pale sunshine shone through the room’s one window, the yellow tinged light falling across the blanketed bed. The men carefully