Julina's travels begin

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Disclaimer:

The original characters and plot of this story are the property of the author. No infringement of pre-existing copyright is intended.
This story is copyright © 2013 - 2020 Julia Phillips. All rights reserved.

It uses some of the associated characters and situations that arise from the world called ‘Anmar’ created by Penny Lane, whose stories
are also copyright © 2010 - 2020 Penny Lane. All rights reserved.

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The leaves dripped incessantly. It was not much fun now. We were all huddled 'neath the canvas roofing held up by one ridge pole running the length of the wagon's belly. A crosstrees held up the arrangement at the tailgate end, and the other end rested on an arrangement of metal attached to the back of Jafferkin's chair. There was an overhang at the front which afforded Jafferkin some protection, but not much. I found it difficult to believe that the excitement we all had had at leaving the town and actually going to the forest was very much a thing of the past, in less than (by my estimation) three bells.

We had all gathered together down at the Claw, all of us females giggling and squealing and doing silly things like that, even the mature ladies amongst us. Parry was also coming with us, to provide some company for poor Suril who would otherwise have been the only man apart from Jafferkin. It was still dark outside the Claw's courtyard so the bustle therein seemed to be a private world. The only other hub of activity in town was down at the baker's where the baking men were baking breads for breakfasts. Sethan's lamps, for there were now two of them, cast their glimmering, hissing and brittle light up and down Main Street and someone, Parry I learnt later, had propped up a general lantern on each of the four corners of the bridge balustrades.

Now I say it was dark, but that is a bit of a lie – the moonlight showed us our footing quite easily as we all converged from seemingly every direction. Kords and I looked downvalley and frowned. We could see a bank of cloud which started before the forest and which obscured the roadway. We could see the taller trees of the forest sticking out above the tops of the clouds and could also make out the towering bulk of Strettalm and the peaks above the valley shoulders. There was little wind, so the cloud bank wasn't really moving. It just sat there brooding, sitting on top of the farms and the road. We agreed, without actually saying anything, not to mention it to the others, not wishing to start out negatively. The general lanterns on the sides of the bridge were there for Jafferkin to see his way out of town, to light the direction of the road if you will, but they were superfluous really, the moonlight being so bright.

Soon the excitement caught us up in itself and our sombre mood dissipated. Jafferkin had obviously checked and he exchanged a glance with Epp as he erected the ridge pole in preparation and then hung the roof canvas over it. This created a wall down the middle of the wagon, about which several complained, but I realised that he would construct the roof when the weather demanded it and so I assured everyone that it was only temporary and would be changed when required, but meanwhile it enabled us to have a view from our side of the wagon as we ventured down places we had never been before. Epp asked Jafferkin if the ends could be folded back so that there was less of a barrier to seeing sights on the other side, and he just raised his eyebrows, nodded once, and did just that, all without a word spoken.

For those of you who may have forgotten, we were thirteen people in all, and three frayen. Jafferkin suggested that the load was at the limit of comfort, and cast a baleful look at GB when she wasn't looking. I suppressed a smile, of course.

So there were three mature women with us – Epp, Gramobona and Mousa, Molly's Mum.

Then there was myself and my sister, and my three bestest friends – Kords (sister), Molly, Gyth and Kelly.

Then there was my good friend Haka, her husband Suril and their infant Haris.

Then there was Parrier, and also Jafferkin the wagoneer.

When we boarded the wagon, the mature women all gathered together on one side, along with Haka and her family, leaving Parrier to sit with we five girls on our side, the side to the right of the roadway. We all had a whispered giggle that GB's weight was counterbalanced by Haris' lack of it. Parry was good enough not to snort and also sensible enough not to shoot a glance in GB's direction. We were seated on benches that ran the length of the belly down either side, and I realised with a shock of recognition that these were normally stored outside Epp's back door, so it suddenly became obvious to me that Jafferkin usually started his people carrier trips up here in Blackstone. I had never queried them before, just assumed they were private somehow to Epp. I hadn't even realised what they were. We piled our bags under the benches and the extras were stacked down the middle of the belly, the hanging roof canvas being draped either side of them, for now.

It was quite fun to start with, as we followed the arrow-straight road towards the trees. And the cloud bank.

From a distance, the edge of that cloud bank seemed like a solid wall, as best as we could make out in the moonlight. But as we neared it, despite the hinted-at strengthening of the light above the eastern peaks, or maybe because of it, we could see the edge was very ragged. Tendrils of mist and/or cloud stretched eerie fingers towards us, like fingers beckoning us into a clammy trap. It was still dark and got gloomier as the mist gathered around us, plunging our spirits into a descending spiral. Jafferkin pressed on under Epp's urging, both of them acknowledging that it was ambitious to try to get all the way to Brayview in one day's travel. But it was really not too long before it was almost impossible to see Josten's, the dranakh's, ears from the driver's seat. We all found it very claustrophobic.

Jafferkin reined in and Josten stopped very happily indeed, even the dranakh was concerned at continuing in such limited visibility. There then followed a conversation basically between Epp and Jafferkin, but everyone except Haris chipped in with something, about whether or not to turn back, out of the cloud until the light improved.

It was getting nowhere when I decided to put an end to it all. Hoping that my authority would be sufficient to carry the decision through, I went into 'irritated mother' mode. Half of me was amazed when it actually worked!

“Enough already! If it is too dangerous to go forward, how do any of you imagine that we could turn round safely. The road is straight and still our driver and our faithful beast hesitate. And you want to try to turn round? When that could mean the wagon topples into one of Papa's ditches? I know pakh with more sense! If we are delayed then so be it, we are delayed. But we will have the ability to progress once the sun comes up. Maybe even the clouds will be burnt away.

“But turning round is a ridiculous suggestion. It contains a high degree of risk for little or no reward. So the only other possibility, if we are not to just sit here, is to back out.

“Hah! That way is even less visibility. So ladies, and gentlemen, we stay where we are. HOWEVER ...”

I paused and their attention sharpened even more if that was possible.

“There may be another wagon following us, also intent on getting some marks under their wheels today. Such a driver will need to be warned of our stationary presence. We should have one or two of us stand a stride or two behind us with a lantern. They will have space to leap backwards as the other driver reins in.”

There was a silence before they all agreed, but of course no-one did anything useful. So I grabbed a general lantern from the floor near us, asked Jafferkin for a kindlestick, lit the lantern, made it into a half lantern and told Molly and Suril to take it back up the road a little, after wrapping up properly against the wet weather. Meanwhile the rest of us spread the canvas roof to either side and secured it. I didn't help with that, as I watched the two down on the road not-so-slowly disappear as they headed back towards the town. I made them turn round every stride to see if I could still see the lantern. They made six strides before it became too dim to be useful, so I got them to come back towards us by half a stride. They were still a pair of strides up the road behind the three frayen tethered to the back of our wagon - for we had Trumpa, Dralla and Nelke with us.

This all made something stir in the back of my brain. What was it now? There was the lant …

I gasped and groped frantically on the floor, finding my beam lantern in a carry bag. I know not what induced me to do it, but I had brought it with me at the last moment. I lit it and we were all amazed at the power of the beam. It was particularly impressive as the misty air gave the beam an extra definition.

Within five moments, we were once more underway.

Parry and I were mounted on our frayen. I had the beam lantern with me and swung it from one side of the road to the other, illuminating the extents of our possible travel. Our frayen could thus continue down the middle of the road, and Josten could follow the half lantern we had hung on a pole that extended from the back of Parry's saddle, over the rump of his mount. Suril and Molly had scrambled back aboard the wagon and they also held a pole out backwards, also with a half lantern pointing backwards. The third frayen was brought forward and tethered now to the side of our wagon. We doubted that anyone could come up on us from behind, but we wanted to take no chances. Our progress was slower than we would have been, had we been unhindered, but it was much more than just sitting there stationary!

Thus we continued for the best part of a bell before the unseen rising sun gathered sufficient strength to render our lanterns useless. By that time we were well into the trees, and the clouds had thinned somewhat, enabling us to speed up slightly. Apparently that often happens, clouds are usually thinned out somehow by the mass of trees, as if each tree sucked in some of the clamminess.

The increase in the light was a mixed blessing however. We could resume at full speed of course, however it just allowed us to see the depressing greyness all around us. And it highlit the strange silence of the Forest which was unrelieved by anything but the plod of Josten's powerful pads and the higher-toned clip-clip of the frayen's feet.

For we had soon stopped talking altogether.

I considered that this almost oppressive silence must be the basic reason for Jafferkin's normal taciturnity. It wasn't that difficult to understand really. Alone on a wagon day after day, trudging through the solitude of the trees.

But our silence was becoming awkward and I wondered how to break the mood. I vaguely hoped that Haris would start complaining but I had no such luck. For the first time, I found myself wishing for a child to cry.

But that thought made me giggle aloud.

And the objective was achieved.

“I'm sorry to disturb all your thoughts,” I began. “But I was just wondering what would happen if the baby began crying ...”

The women started giggling too and the men looked very confused.

Mousa said: “And I bet you two, Suril and Parrier, never imagined that nine women together could ever be so silent.”

This brought forth a full laugh from everyone, and the conversation drought was at last broken.

… … …

At one point, I asked Molly what she was thinking about since I was beginning to recognise her thoughtful moments when she was composing some of her wondrous descriptive word passages.

“Oh, I have two thoughts at the moment. You see I start with a phrase that rings in my head somehow and build up from there. One is: 'When rain has hung the leaves with tears', and another is: 'You just sit there and look from your carriage as you watch the scene go by.' I am thinking of the expansions of these. Don't worry, I shall let you all know when I have put it all together.”

The time passed a lot quicker from then on, and we took turns in helping Haka and Suril with their letters, and found that Mousa was very keen to improve too and so we passed a bell or two more – Epp, myself and the four girls, even deep-thinking Molly, all taking turns in teaching the others. This action wasn't continuous as we did have some things to do and see while the weather slowly but continually improved.

We negotiated the turn at the foot of Strettalm and descended across the face of the cliff, which is the way I describe it, to the Forest Roadhouse, where we women all made a very grateful stop. By this time, of course, there was the very occasional wagon, traffic passing us going up to town, and that helped relieve some of the monotony as greetings were exchanged.

Uncle Steef greeted us at the Roadhouse, stating that he was surprised that we had managed to reach there so quickly. He was fascinated by Epp's description of how we had found a solution to progress in the last moments of the dark, and so I had to give him and some others a demonstration of the beam lantern, which meant a short further delay as we had to find a darkened room. Almost before we had got started, Epp urged us all to remount and get underway, as we still had the same distance to travel, so my demonstration was cut somewhat short; but not before Uncle Steef and some assembled wagoneers were cast into thoughtfulness. I told them to apply to Master Pocular for details as I was sure that he had an Exclusivity Licence on it.

“Thank the Maker you didn't decide to show off your hand mirror, Julina. We would still be there if you had,” said Epp as we all regained our travelling places. Jafferkin had removed the roof, since we were now out of the clouds and there was no longer any moisture in the air.

I demanded a further delay though. I wanted the frayen to be saddled so we could do some riding at some point. This was not a popular move by our two slave-drivers, but I explained that the riders could just hop off the wagon and mount up without requiring the wagon to stop, so not delaying us later on. This was reluctantly agreed upon, and a further hand of moments were used to prepare the beasts. They looked puzzled when they were saddled but no-one climbed up on their backs. Of course, I was quick to point out that there was a further advantage here with my idea, and that was that Josten had less weight to haul.

Thus it was that we eventually got underway again, both Epp and Jafferkin still being concerned about the time, and muttering about unknowledgeable travellers and the like.

But an apt remark from GB quickly put a stop to the disapproval.

GB had got over her awe at the solitude, silence and indeed loneliness of the dense forest quite early on, and we were all at first shocked at some of her pithy statements; but we soon got used to her wit and this made the party far more agreeable. I exchanged glances with Epp to let her know that I understood her earlier remarks about GB, remarks that I believe I mentioned in Epp's tale, the long tale I have already told of her life, one of the earliest if it was not the first.

Haka then asked a question which I suppose any of us could have, maybe even should have. She asked Jafferkin directly who, as we had begun to learn, asked Epp with his eyes to answer.

“It seems to me, Goodman Jafferkin, that your wagon is differing from the others. Most have a rounded roof supported by hoops, it seems to me, whilst yours has these straight sides from a single pole. Is there a reason for this?”

“Dear Jaffy does not normally carry passengers. Indeed the benches are removed and stored at my house for it is only MY passengers that he conveys.”

A grunt and an affirming nod from Jafferkin punctuated Epp's reply.

“He specialises in the light loads that we normally see him bring, about which I am sure Josten is glad! For those, he usually just covers the belly, even if it is slightly swollen sometimes, with a tarpaulin. But for me, on my trips, he has rigged up this device to keep the passengers dry. Although I must confess I can only remember it being used twice, maybe three times before.”

Another, more complicated, grunt from J.

“Ah! Four times apparently. This is the fifth.”

And so we passed on. Soon after leaving the Roadhouse, I saw a passage through the trees leading off to the right of the road, down towards the river. The wheel marks were obvious when compared to all the other ground around and so I asked what was down there. Jafferkin said something short just to Epp who then informed us all.

“Apparently there is a ruined Chivan fortification down there on the river, near some falls. I believe that Sookie told me that was where they overnighted when the caravan bringing her and Milady up to Blackstone needed to stop for a night. The Forest Roadhouse has, of course, been built, or should I say REbuilt, since then. Milady wishes that site to be kept as natural as possible for some reason, so nowadays only workers go down there to keep the track clear. They are waiting for Milady's instructions as to what to do with it.”

A nod from Jafferkin confirmed Epp's explanation, and made me wonder what would happen if Epp had NOT given accurate information. Would Jafferkin then have spoken up? Somehow I doubt it.

Parry and I wanted to ride the frayen down there to have a look, but that was forbidden by Epp, and not just on time-wasting grounds. She would not allow me to disappear from her sight, with a young man, unchaperoned. When I suggested that Suril came too, she said simply: “One man is not enough for you then, you strumpet?”

This caused some laughter, but it was a little strained. And I was blushing hard, so my reaction was coloured by my embarrassment. But it did give me an excuse to raise a topic.

“Right then. Some of you girls need to learn this riding business as soon as possible. I do not want to miss out exploring that fort on the way back, so I need at least one of you to be ready. So who's first?”

Thus it was that Suril was mounted while I taught the girls, who were taking their turns on Nelke. Eventually, such was the demand that I dismounted and scrambled back onto the wagon, so that another girl could have a go on Dralla whilst a first was on Nelke. Suril and Parrier also swapped from time to time. We managed to persuade both Epp and Mousa to give it a try, here in the relatively deserted woods, where there was no-one to see and thus to be embarrassed by. Both Epp and Mousa had the 'delighted' face after they found out how easy it was. But then I told them how much easier it would be with proper riding clothes, and you could see them both adding to their shopping lists in their minds. They found it difficult to mount and dismount in their ordinary dresses, and the men had to look away whilst they were doing so. Then these women had to scurry a little to catch up with the wagon, and scramble back up into it – those on the wagon lending helping hands of course.

We girls all wore our riding attire, and we just rode ahead of the wagon, handed the reins to Suril or Parry who came with us and hopped off the beast, after which the next girl hopped on. Then, once dismounted, we could just wait for the wagon to come up to us, with no need for chasing after it. The two older women were more concerned with their modesty, and so had a FAR more awkward time.

At one point I did catch GB looking a little wistful as her contemporaries rode a frayen, but she said nothing. And nor did I.

Only GB, Haka and Haris failed to have a ride of some sort – all for obvious reasons, although Haka COULD have left Haris to someone else's care just for the few moments, so I realised that she was scared of injuring herself and thus not being there for her son.

I was also aware of the muscle problem for new riders, so we kept the riding sessions fairly short. However, it helped pass the time. Before too long, the three frayen were once again trailing us, and we were back to lettering lessons in the wagon's belly.

I thought that we would also do some numbering for a little while, although I was nervous about it, not being quite so sure of my abilities – I remembered the symbols for the new Garian numbers and started by getting them all to learn these symbols thoroughly. Even Epp didn't know them yet, so I was very proud of myself. As we continued, I tried to think of examples of using the numbers, and that made the subject suddenly quite clear to me. It was a very enabling moment for me.

And so it was that we continued through the forest. The relative silence being broken soon afterwards by GB's snores. Which was a signal for some of the others to have naps.

I myself could never have napped. I needed to see with my eyes the features that I had heard about so much, and I knew Kords felt the same.

Yes, some places there were clearings, some places the trees were thick around, but it soon became all the same once again. So crossing over a large stream/small river was a bit of an event in and of itself. For example, soon after the track leading down to the Chivan fort, we had crossed one which I realised must be the watercourse that came from the back of Strettalm, as described by Papa to the Steward and the others at that meeting so seemingly long ago now. It was a noticeable difference to just tree trunk after tree trunk, and became of great interest as a result.

And so I was getting frustrated as the other features Papa had mentioned then failed to appear, despite being fairly busy with other activities!

Then we had thinner pieces of woodlands either side of the road, which was still forging forward as straight as an arrow; I understood now that the undulations, slight rises and dips, were useful for dispelling the monotony. Actually, the 'rises' weren't really rises, they were just parts of the road that weren't descending as quickly as some of the other parts.

But the thinner density of trees at this point enabled us to catch glimpses of the wall of the valley to the left of our travel, which wall suddenly seemed to launch itself at us but, at the last moment, managed to hold itself back from the road itself by some three or so casts, maybe a touch more. On the far side of this jutting-out bit of the wall, I could see a watercourse making its way down, and I was sure I glimpsed this stream a few times as it seemed to run parallel to the road for a mark or more, gradually descending down its channel, the one it had carved over centuries. It looked a little strange that a watercourse was not at the bottom of the wall, but I was far from being an expert in rocks. I tried to make a mental note to ask Master Yarling when we returned.

Not long after this, we espied a kink in the road ahead and my memory told me a lot about this kink. So I was sort of prepared for the sights as we arrived there.

No-one else was.

So it came as a shock to them to see a small village being built off to the right of the road, along the sides of what was obviously a forester's track that had been widened. There was much activity there, and I think the workers were glad of the small break that was afforded them as we passed, calling out greetings and waving.

I was able to describe the events that had led up to this hamlet being built, and to give a little more depth to the activities, and even Jafferkin thanked me afterwards for the details I had provided. At least his grunt sounded a lot like “Fank 'ee.”

Just after that kink and the new village, which I must nowadays call Bezlet, the road began to climb off the valley floor and the stream to our left became more noticeable until it swung towards us and the road passed over it, leaving it to scurry down to the main river itself. I realised that this was the northernmost one of the pair that Papa had described, so I knew we would be passing over a larger stream soon. I marvelled that Papa had kept his direction in the mass of trees that were around here, but a sudden gap enabled me to get a glimpse of the peak that he had stumbled across. A peak, incidentally, that has been named after him – Kord Peak.

… … …

These names.

I find I cannot pass on without mentioning them.

Apparently Master Bezan wished to name the new hamlet there after Milady, but she refused, saying that he had done far more than she, and that the name should be a memorial to his work. The Steward then laid down the law, so to speak, and wanted it called Bezan's Hamlet. And the peak was to be Kordulen's Peak.

Neither man wished to be singled out in this manner, and thus Bezlet and Kord Peak became the names.

… … …

We climbed up the slope of the road there, and I understood at long last the difficulty facing the laden coal wagons. This was because we could see one ahead of us, its dranakh bravely hauling the load, but we were still catching it up, even with 13 people aboard as we were. It had obviously overnighted at the Forest Roadhouse, and yet we were still creeping up on it. Maybe he had had a bit of a lie-in.

A thought suddenly hit me, and I asked Jafferkin if we could help him by mounting the frayen, thus lightening the wagon somewhat. He was startled and then turned an approving eye to me, grunting once again. He muttered something, again short, to Epp. Epp then told us that he had told her there was a flatter bit in half a mark or so, where we could stop. He didn't want to stop on the slope if possible, because restarting is then difficult for poor Josten.

I laughed.

I turned and called dear Dralla forward, pulling on the leading rein that I had untied to encourage her. She understood immediately what I wanted to do, and I just stood on the bench and scrambled into the saddle as she paralleled the wagon. I landed in the saddle with a bit of a thump, it must be admitted, but nevertheless it was an easy way of doing it.

“No need to stop!” I laughed gaily. And I urged Dralla forward so Parry could mount Nelke in like fashion. Meanwhile, on the other side of the wagon, Suril had caught on. He mounted Trumpa with far more ease than I had. And so we all three relieved Josten of some of the strain.

Josten looked round and sort of snickered, sort of whiffled, which we all took as being a thank you.

It was tempting to run on ahead but I knew that Epp would be furious if the wagoneer ahead saw me with two men and without a companion, so we satisfied ourselves with a swift trot until we were halfway between the two wagons, whereupon we circled round and went back down the slope until we were a few casts behind our wagon. At that point we turned once more and repeated the overtaking and circling exercise, giving the frayen some exercise and keeping us out the way. A descending wagon interrupted our free riding for just a moment or two, and then we were back into the pattern. There were a few remarks from that wagon, but nothing aggressive so we grinned and joked back.

After another kink, this one to the right, the road slope actually increased. We could see the wagon ahead labouring for a while before reaching a sort of crest, which coincided with the road gaining the top of the valley wall. I knew from Papa's descriptions that the road's slope lessened again at that crest, and the road basically followed the top of the valley shoulder. Ten moments later, we could see for ourselves that this was correct.

Finally there would be one other kink to the left, another increased incline and then we would be at the Chaarn road junction.

My eyes of course were everywhere, seeing these sights for the very first time with a knowing look, not just a sleepy babe's gaze passing over things. It suddenly struck me that I must have been Haris' age the last time I came down here – up here – oh you know what I mean!

The actuality was fascinating – some things admittedly I had imagined wrongly – but it was like having a black and white picture in my head being replaced with a vivid likeness, all colours and lines, like a Pomma or a Master Yarling painting.

And the smells. They were special.

You cannot imagine the smells when you see a painting.

Nor the sounds.

Or, to be more accurate, the lack of sounds. Just the hoof beats, and the occasional squeak of the wagon, and the low volume conversation from my companions. So much quieter than up in Blackstone – which seemed more than just the large part of a day away. Unseen avians occasionally made their calls, other animals would be heard, but rarely, and the tinkling of streams and so on. But it was basically a lightly filled silence, if you understand what I mean.

We could see we were approaching the junction by the sight from a distance of the semaphore station, which was clacking away as we approached. This one was a strange one and I puzzled about it until the meaning made itself known. It was in fact a triple one, and I realised that one apparatus, exactly the same as the one on top of the Cistern back in Blackstone, was pointing up the Bray Valley, whilst another, again the same, was pointing up the Chaarn road. The third was for communicating down the valley towards Tranidor. The operating crew waved at us as we passed. I'm sure that a wagon loaded with eight women, and with another riding a frayen, was not something they saw every day!

The only other Semaphore Station we had seen so closely was that one up in Blackstone itself, so this was quite a change. I tried to puzzle out how it might work and watched as the Tranidor side one, the one that was to communicate with the station down at the borders of Milady's lands, did a bit of clicking and clacking. I suddenly realised that this was some sort of code to tell the next station that they were ready to receive a message, for the operators were busy staring down valley, except for one who kept looking first up towards the Chaarn road pass, and then towards the next station towards Blackstone, the one built by the falls. His attention switched rapidly between the two directions, and I realised he was checking to see if there were any messages waiting to be passed by either of those distant Stations.

There was a longish pause and then a few more clacks and clicks, presumably to say, in effect, “Message received”, and the operators turned and went to the Blackstone direction one and waved a few of those arms.

Presumably, they got an acknowledgement from the Falls Station, because all of a sudden there was a rush of activity and a mass of waving arms and clacks and so on. I breathed out as I realised that they were now repeating the message from the Border Station to the Falls Station. I still wasn't sure if this method was used at each station, or whether this was a special way of handling messages at a junction Station like this one, but at least I knew now how the messages were passed on.

I fell to thinking about the messages themselves. I supposed a junction station would need to know the destination of a message so I guessed that the initial contact contained something to tell them where to send the message on to. Now straight line messages, what would happen if …

I was nudged out of my thoughts by a call from Kords, who knew I would not want to miss out on these views. For, from the top, from the junction itself, the views were spectacularly different.

As was a general sort of feeling.

Somehow it seemed wrong to be riding on a road that wasn't dedicated exclusively to reaching Blackstone. Looking back, I can see no valid reason to have been thinking thusly, but at the time there was an unspoken agreement 'twixt us all. It felt right to dismount and regain the belly of the wagon, simply because we had passed from something that was somehow private – our private road, if you like – to something that was more public.

But we did not dismount before I had turned round and seen the view behind, seeing the far semaphore station way back beyond Bezlet and up by the very wide falls that took my breath away with their beauty, even from this distance. I knew I would one day have to visit them.

Turning forward once more, I saw that the road indeed started to descend again, to pass back over the shoulder of the valley, and then I saw the next semaphore station down valley; a valley that was noticeably less densely wooded, but nevertheless was a large sea of treetops, with a few clearings and farms and so on.

Seeing that Border Station brought home to me at last the actual physical location of that line I had only seen hastily drawn on a fragment of a map.

Which made me gasp as I realised the extent of Papa's duties, and those of the Steward, the Sheriff and all the others. Some other things that had been said made far more sense now.

We made it to Brayview just as the darkness crept up on us and it was only the lights of the buildings that enabled us to see anything as we all thankfully descended from the wagon, rubbing our backs and our bums, stretching and glad to be once more walking.

We had indeed proven the point that we could, just, make it to Brayview in a single day from Blackstone. We all knew that we couldn't do the reverse journey in a day as it was uphill for nearly all the way, so my brain filed away an inquisitive note to see how we managed it then.

But we were hesitant to enter the roadhouse, all of us except Epp and Jafferkin.

There were complete strangers in there. Up to now we knew three-quarters of everyone we ever met, and the strangers were being met on OUR land, in OUR town. So we could count on a sort of moral superiority.

Now we were all somewhere that none of us had ever visited and we were nervous, scared indeed of the unknown.

I went over to Josten, dear Josten, and I went to thank him for his efforts, and the others found it necessary to do that too. We were all putting off the moment, until I gathered myself, took a deep breath and said: “This is ridiculous. We all want to see more of the world, and we are quivering here afraid of the smallest hurdle we are likely to face. Now deep breaths, about turn and in we go. I for one need the facilities, so anyone behind me will have to wait.”

At that moment I saw Epp, and I saw she had been about to say something. Instead she kept quiet, and nodded at me in acknowledgement.

Thus it was that we began one of the funniest, laughter-filled and entertaining evenings I have ever had.

… … …

Not that it started out that way. Our fears were provoked when we went in. Parrier and Suril were busy putting the frayen to bed and Jafferkin was dealing with the wagon and Josten, so I suppose it must have been a surprise to the inhabitants of the common room, when nearly two hands of unescorted females stepped into the room. There was an instant silence, mugs of ale suspended halfway between tables and mouths, other mouths that stopped chewing, and all the rest of the indicators of surprise. Outside, we had heard some music playing, obviously several instruments and they all stopped as well, at different times of course, so we certainly didn't manage to slip in unnoticed.

The silence was broken by a squeal as a rotund female called across: “Mistress Megrozen! You made it then. I half-expected it to be too much for you to get here from Blackstone in a day!” The owner of the voice came across and hugged Epp whilst looking the rest of us over. “So which of these beauties is the birthday girl then?”

Epp indicated me and then quickly ran through all the names. She introduced this lady to us then: “Everyone, this is Basset. She and her husband Kolston have taken over the running of Brayview after the elderly couple who had it before were overwhelmed by the increased demand. She and I have been friends for quite a while now, having met down in Tranidor. Ah! Basset, these are our men co-travellers, Suril, the husband of Haka there, and Parrier. Jafferkin you know. I see a large reserved table over there, is that for us?”

“Indeed, Gro. Welcome everyone. You find us tonight with a special celebration, not wishing to take anything away from the birthday girl. But we have some entertainers with us tonight, to help celebrate the news from Palarand City.”

“News? From the capital?”

“Why yes, of course, you have been travelling. The news probably passed over your heads as the semaphore conveyed it up the valley. It seems appropriate somehow, that the first message of significance passed up the semaphore chain to Blackstone should concern Milady.”

“First message? Milady?”

“Yes, today they managed to convey a message from Haligo, yes Haligo, to Blackstone. Those men over there, at the table in the corner? They are the semaphore operators, billetted here. They tell us that the chain is functional! And we are all here glad to be in Milady's lands. Already we have seen some improvements in our lots. All around here are pleased, I can assure you. And it seems that Milady has also had a positive influence on Milord Trosanar down in Tranidor. He has relaxed some of his stricter edicts and the whole town, nay region, is far more light-hearted nowadays. Not that every care has been swept away, of course. But the load is lighter somehow.”

As the women were talking, we were being ushered to our table, but I peeled away from the line to use the privy which prompted an exclamation from Mistress Basset: “Oh, how silly of me! You will all require the facilities after such a trip. How could I be so thoughtless? Through that door ladies, second and third doors on the right. The rest is obvious.”

“But what is it about Milady? I can wait long enough to discover that?”

“Why the Palace has announced that she and the Prince Keren are now officially betrothed.”

The squeals of delight we all emitted were evidence aplenty of our approval, and we continued the conversations in the privacy of the women's rooms.

We all had known of course from the moment we saw the two of them, and so on and so forth.

Amazement at how long it took them to formalise it all.

They were perfect for each other.

And so it went on. I suspect that our return to the common room was delayed longer than it otherwise might have been.

… … …

Once we were all seated at table, we found out more about the semaphore chain – apparently there was still a gap between Teldor and Haligo but that was due to be filled any day. The only weakness in the chain was the stretch between Strettalm and Blackstone Town. But that still meant we could reach out through the land, even if part of the message system required half a day to be conveyed to or from Strettalm. The operators told us that they were still learning their tasks and that no doubt improvements and the like would be made once they had some experience with it. Already there were suggestions for the way to handle the Junction Station.

I think only Kords and I were aware of the true significance of these developments, since we were involved in those meetings.

No! Hold! Suril too, I suppose. I could see him absorb the information and I dare say I could feel him change his plans even there and then.

Anyway, nearly all the others in the common room also made us welcome, so we felt relieved, even though there were two men in a corner who made us feel uneasy, with their looks – it was like they were undressing us or something. I made sure that Molly was seated with her back to them. Basset soon picked up on the looks they were giving us and I saw her have a word in her husband's ear. I watched as Kolston went over to the two of them and quietly had a word. Soon after, the two of them left, glaring at us as though it was our fault they had been ejected. Very strange, some people.

The meal itself was very welcome and Kords, Molly and I asked if we could see the kitchens, which request was granted, but with a quizzical look on our hostess' face. She couldn't work out why such young girls would want to see a kitchen. We just wanted to see how they catered for many more mouths than we would ever have to, and how they handled the varied timings of the demands. I like to think that some of the recipe tips we gave them were appreciated, and we learnt things like how to keep food hot until it was required, some of which tips Molly and I took in for use at the Salon.

But all this was secondary to the evening's entertainment.

As was the whole mass of embarrassing birthday wishes which followed an announcement to everyone. Once that was over, we were treated to an entertainment that none of us had ever seen before.

I don't know how to convey our fascination with the entertainers.

No-one like that had ever bothered to make the trip up to our town, and we were taken aback at their abilities. It was strange at first to see a man pretending to be a woman, and doing it so well that only the voice gave him away. But then we realised what this … this … this actor, that's the word, this actor was trying to portray.

And the others all assumed different identities too.

They told a story by pretending to be different people, and there were sad bits and there were funny bits in this tale. We were further astounded that they could all play instruments as well. And tumble. And sing. And make jokes. Our applause was loud and heartfelt.

Then there was the dancing.

None of us could do these formal dances, but we were the greater proportion of females in the room, so Epp, Basset, and GB encouraged us to learn. A nice lady offered to lead us through the steps and I knew that we would get no respite if we didn't. So I was the first to my feet. Which encouraged the others.

Yes, we were shy at first, and very nervous, but I don't think a single one of us regrets that we got up and started by making fools of ourselves – at least that's how it felt to begin with. Everyone was very kind and patient. The whole evening ground to a halt while they spent a good few hands of moments training us and soon we had learnt no less than three dances. I found that the Tai Chi really helped here. After that we were in great demand as partners and I was told afterwards that the evening's emphasis had changed once we made ourselves available, if you see what I mean. Epp, Kolston, Basset and GB made it very clear that strangers were not to take advantage, and we all felt secure – even Mousa and Haka, who joined in enthusiastically.

That evening completely wrecked any fears we had been harbouring of meeting strangers, and I'm sure it helped us in the days that followed down in Tranidor.

But we soon realised that many of the men were far shyer than us, and it was actually a rare privilege for some of them to be able to dance with women, their chances being few and far apart. So we felt good to be able to provide such simple pleasures, particularly to those men who travelled far and would not be back home for many a week.

We danced, we went outside to cool down under a bright, indeed serious, moonlight, we watched the entertainers, we listened to music, we told stories, we danced, we went outside to cool down under a bright, indeed serious, moonlight, we watched the entertainers …

We went to bed very close to the midnight bell, albeit knowing that we could have a leisurely start the next day, with only nearly a hand of hands of marks left to travel.

The women's corridor upstairs was adequately appointed and the beds were comfortable. I for one slept extremely well. And again did not have a two sleep night.

… … …

We waved to Basset, Kolston and their permanent staff as dear Josten hauled us all back onto the road again, our frayen, unsaddled now, tethered behind us once more. It was not far off the noon bell when we started out on the main road again. I know this as the shuttles, one for Tranidor and one for the Forest Roadhouse, were both being loaded and prepared for their noon departures. Off we went once more, this day's start being in warm sunshine despite it being so close to the shortest day, which is, of course, the start of a new year.

It wasn't the excesses of the night before, nor any laziness that made us leave so apparently late. Let me hasten to add that we were still well within any limits of time, we had a mere 24 marks to travel, having done 44 or so the previous day.

No, there were various and many serious conversations to be had during the morning. Chief amongst them being Suril meeting with the roadhouse managers of this stretch of road. I was later told that the Sheriff up in Blackstone wanted to get an idea of how things were handled down here, and also wanted Suril to assure these people that they wouldn't be forgotten. Ideas were to be bandied about for improvements and so on. This had been arranged by messenger in advance, and the men were all serious about getting things done, and done properly.

And there were nine of us women to use the bathing facilities, so we had to have a sort of makeshift rota. Kords, Molly and I had a vague agreement to discuss culinary matters in more detail than we had last night, so we had the first shift. Epp, Mousa and GB would then have the next shift, leaving Gyth, Kelly and Haka to have the last, and laziest session.

So, as mentioned, Kords, Molly and I met with Basset and the chief cook, who were both amazed at our knowledge. But we were trying to get tips, which they gave somewhat begrudgingly. However, they were taken aback when I mentioned the Salon. Apparently Master Horran had overnighted here and mentioned his meal at the Salon, and the delight with which he had dined. We tried not to swell with pride, but I feel we failed at that. With that introduction, the conversations became suddenly easier and I quickly gave a demonstration of my ganifil recipe, which was received gratefully amidst many compliments. That this was possible to do was because we had started our chatting quite early in the day.

Something came up in the chats though that cast a shadow in my head. I didn't want to say anything at that time, but I needed to discuss it with Epp. I THINK I managed to hide my little problem from showing on my face.

I also had a quick word with one of the entertainers, the leader of their 'troupe' as they called it. It was necessarily short as I needed to keep this chat very private, but I did come away with the name of a contact I might need down in Tranidor.

So we pulled out, back onto the road, waving good-bye to our new friends.

The road was a degree busier than that that lead to Blackstone, with some extra traffic coming from locals taking produce to market in Tranidor and other local activities. Up in our little town, there was nowhere else to go. It was immediately noticeable to me that the 'absolute' silence of the road through the forest was never going to be achieved here, but the general background noise was no more than we were used to up at home.

As we got nearer to the town, there was more traffic of course and I was intrigued to see that the coal wagons carried on down the road rather than turn and go over the huge bridge into the town as we did. The setting sun was in our eyes as we crossed the bridge but the evening colours were quite fantastic. They had yet to fade into the silver of the crepuscular period, and the roof tops glowed warmly in the orange reflections.

We pulled up gently at a guard post, where the guards saluted both Epp and Jafferkin, counted our heads and then waved us through.

Our eyes were everywhere. This town was ENORMOUS!

Even as we crossed the bridge, a seeming horde of urchins surrounded us, crying out the various wares they were being paid to advertise. One began to shout something, but then recognised Epp and saluted her, eyes already looking for the next wagon to accost.

Epp was taken by one nearly at the end of the bridge; this urchin was standing there with a sort of tray held up by a broad band of cloth around the neck. On the tray were a hand or two of gently steaming things, which turned out to be individual-sized pies as we determined when we got nearer. The wagon in front of us tossed a few coins onto the tray, and then a pair of hands reached down and took two of them, juggling them slightly as the warmth hit the fingers. This was the first time I had seen or heard of such a thing, and I could see Epp's eyes narrow as she thought about it. I made a note of the name on the tray's edge, Seemot and Deebla, as it seemed to be of importance somehow.

But our hands were held firmly over our ears. The noise levels were so high, they were uncomfortable. And Haris, of course, didn't like it so he decided to add to it.

I speak for all the others, except Epp, when I say we were shocked to the core by the noise. It was awful. We felt as though we could not even think. I had never experienced such ... such … such … pollution. That's what it was. Pollution. How humans could even tolerate it was beyond me.

Jafferkin and Epp were used to it I suppose, but I'm sure I caught a wince or two from even them. There were screams, there were laughs, there were squeaks, there were scrapes, there were loud voices, there were shouting children. There were animal noises, from both ends of the beasts, there was hammering, there was sawing. There were street vendors calling, and street musicians playing.

It was pandemonium. It was painful.

Not one of us didn't want to turn round and leave immediately.

However, we wound through various streets, crossed a large open place that Epp explained was the main market place, moved there after the one nearer the castle had been overrun by numbers, and a few more twists and turns brought us to a halt in front of what must surely be a palace.

We all temporarily forgot the pain in our ears from the noise as we stared open-mouthed at the house.

We had arrived.

I for one felt all nervous again. And a shocking wave of shame almost spread across my entire body.

THIS was EPP's house? It was HUGE. Three stories no less, and many large windows opening out onto the small square in which we had halted, a square shared by only three other buildings. I had the impression that the house was deeper than it was wide, and it was already enormously wide. I noticed that this part of town was a lot quieter than the middle we had suffered through, but this house overwhelmed me – and all of my travelling companions.

My goodness – what sort of a noble was she really?

I felt dowdy in my dress, today I had not worn my riding clothes, and upset that I might ever have considered myself as somehow equal to her.

My heart sank into my boots.

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