(Directly continued from part four)
Horfryth woke with a start, the sound of his niece screaming enough to rouse him from his pleasant slumber instantaneously. He snapped his eyes open, panic on his features as he took in the situation. Blood. Gore. Where was Sefa? What had happened? He leapt to his feet and ran to reclaim his hunting knife from his belt, only to find it missing. Damnit! What was going on? Then the sound of a childish laugh, with a faint cackle behind it roused him from his panic. Sefa had just resurfaced from the water, a dying deer thrashing around in her arms, supported up by the water rather than the weak girl, his red stained knife clenched between her teeth giving her a vampiric appearance of blood and gore dripping down her chin. She laughed loudly and merrily despite the knife between her teeth, delighted with her catch.
Standing there in apparent shock for a few moments, Horfryth blinked a few times before wading through the water to hurry to her aid. Together they dragged the deer to the bank before Horfryth finished it off with a cleaner cut to the neck. He turned to his niece, pride and concern in his voice as he scolded and praised her simultaneously; “Sefa my lass, don’t ever do that again without me! Bringing down a whole deer yourself at your age; you’re mad! Mind, we’ll eat well tonight and sell that hide for a fortune.” He shook his head in a despairing manner, although his eyes were sparkling; “Ah, but you’re a lass after my own heart. You’ll make a fine woman for sure!” He ruffled her hair affectionately, “Go and get dressed lass, we’ve got work to do.”
And so they had! Once back in their normal, dry clothes and having warmed up a little once more after their encounter with the ice cold water, they set to the difficult task of getting the deer back to Lake-Town along with their small bags of possessions. Horfryth placed his cloak upon the ground and rolled the deer on top of it, tying the cloak around the bloody deer and then using this makeshift stretcher-substitute to drag the deer across the forest floor. Sefa meanwhile was left with the task of carrying their possessions and following him to make sure that the deer was safe throughout.
As the pair tramped along, Sefa peered down at the deer, her bright, blue eyes gazing at her kill and observing some of the finer features of it. Soft of fur, it was a gentle shade of brown, with a white underbelly and a few white flecks across its back, although this was marred with blood. Unlike in future years where the sight of blood would perhaps make Sefa a little grossed out, she was at that point in time at an age where anything gross and gory was good and therefore didn’t blanch at the sight in the slightest. Its forehead was smooth, and this lack of horn indicated that it was a doe rather than a male. Sefa almost thought that this was a shame, for big horns in-tact would sell for a good price, although on the other hand, she may have been impaled upon them or got into danger. She was adventurous, but not quite that adventurous.
Night started to fall. The days were short and twilight was an eerie time in the forest. The last rays of the weak, winter sun caught the tops of the trees and bathed the coniferous leaves in gold fire, although on the forest floor, even at the eaves where they were; there was only the ever increasing gloom of the night and a deep chill upon the air. The sounds of the forest changed from the cries of daytime animals to those of the nocturnal creatures, the haunting cry of a Little Owl made Sefa jump a little. She kept close behind her uncle, the darkening forest a little unnerving for her and the increasing cold making her shiver – the girl still having damp hair which made her struggle to keep warm.
Before long however, the Lake-Town started too hove into view from the gloomy horizon. Wooden buildings stood out as monolithic shadows against the evening grey, the last rays of the sun reflecting upon the still waters of the lake as the moon started to rise on the horizon. Soon they were safely within the confines of the town, the carcass they dragged causing some curious glances from the merchants who lined the streets, packing up their wares for the day. A few waved to the travellers, greeting them by name or politely tugging their forelocks.
It was not until they arrived at the tavern that the logistics of the situation threatened. After all, they were but guests at a drinking den and had no right to bring the bloody corpse of a dead animal inside without permission. So permission they sought! Horfryth waited outside with the animal, while Sefa went through the brown, wooden door and up to the counter. With a chirpy grin plastered on her childish features, she stood up on her tiptoes and addressed the large man behind the counter, “’’scuse me sir! Any chance you can come outside, only me uncle wants to talk to you about summat and it’s important that he can’t come in yet!”
The man gave her a quizzical look. Perhaps the best way to describe this man is that he could nest a bunch of badgers in his beard and facial hair – if badgers were not too fussy about the blinding ginger quality that comprised of his frizzy mane, thick hair and big bushy eyebrows that seemed to wriggle spontaneously of their own accord. When she first had met the man, Sefa had wondered if he had taken a sheep, dipped it in red dye and then plonked it on his head, although the lack of “baaing” indicated that he was perhaps not this cruel. With eyebrows wriggling and a tankard and cleaning cloth in hand, he strode out after the girl, his curiosity having got the better of him.
