The Horns of Kern
Chapter Fifteen
The following day brought forth the full impact of the devastation the guards had sowed upon Awll. Only a few buildings were left standing. The once grand market place was a large heap of smoldering ashes and embers. Stray dogs and cats prowled around the empty streets, looking for their owners.
The lone figure of a troll stood at the river’s edge, standing a short distance from the only hovel in the whole town left standing. She had surmised that it was the tall pines around it that had shielded it from the guards’ view, and had saved the structure from being raised. Tears fell freely from her eyes, for the loss of her home was overwhelming. She stooped next to the river and filled a bucket with water. Her mind wandered, wondering where all of her friends and family had fled. Were they safe? Would they return? She dropped the bucket as the thought crossed her mind that they might have all perished. She sobbed as her frame shook with despair and suddenly stiffened as she felt an arm come across her shoulders. “Oh, Grumps, you startled me! What are you doing out here in your pajamas?”
“I’m hungry, daughter. Are you going to make me some berry cakes for my breakfast?”
A darting orange ball of fur caught the corner of Dory’s eye. Agabus shot over to Grumps and jumped up on his shoulder. Agabus purred loudly, oblivious of the devastation around him. Dory picked up the bucket and refilled it and grabbed Grumps by the hand. Together the three of them entered the warmth of the hovel.
Grumps sat down at the table, an empty plate in front of him. “Those berry cakes were real good, very light on my stomach, but I’m still hungry. Maybe we could have some borage porridge. That always seems to fill me up.”
Dory poured a mug of blog for each of them, and placed a dish of fried eggs and bacon down in front of Grumps, retrieving the empty one to fill for herself. “You had better start eating the eggs that you wanted before the cat eats them. “Dory smiled at Grumps. Her mind wandered back to the ball and what a wonderful time she had been having until…. her eyes had seen too much that night. Two guards loyal to Octavius fought valiantly, but finally succumbed to the onslaught of swords. She dabbed her eyes with her apron and put a bite of food in her mouth. She could not taste it because of all the bad things going through her mind.
Dory took a sip of her blog and watched Grumps eat the eggs and bacon. Their escape from the castle had been difficult. A man had helped them, and she feared that it had cost him his life. She hoped not. He seemed concerned about their safety, saying that the princess would be pleased to know that he had aided two of her friends.
Once they were out of the castle, no one seemed to pay any attention. It had been a long cold walk, but they had made it to her place. She recalled how startled she had been when the pounding on her door woke her up. Gillion had come to warn her of the soldiers coming. He was bleeding badly from a wound on his head. She remembered the look of terror that was etched on his old face. Grumps would not cooperate with her, so they had to hide in the outside larder. She used some rope to put around some sacks of grain and tied it quickly to the handle inside. She was sure that was the only thing that had saved them.
Dory sobbed, she could not stop crying. She did not hear the door open. A hand came to rest on each of her shoulders. Without much thought, she reached up and put her hands on theirs. “Oh,Grumps, what are we going to do?” She opened her eyes and realized that it was not Grumps. Dory sprang from her chair as though struck by a bolt of lightning.
“Oh Dory, I am sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Winifred smiled broadly and opened her arms to give her friend a hug.
Dory rushed into Winifred’s arms, sobbing and shaking. “I thought you were dead!” She was crying a river of tears, some from the stress of the past couple of days, but more from the joy that was now starting to bubble up in her heart.
Gertrude came into the hovel and smiled wanly. “Not much left, is there? They did a good job. I am surprised that our hovel is left standing.”
“Is there more bacon? The cat just ate my last piece.” Grumps looked up and saw Gertrude standing behind Winifred. “Sebastian, are you just going to stand there and let them do this to us?”
Gertrude looked at his grandfather incredulously. “What do you mean, Grandfather?”
“Are you going to let them get away without cooking more bacon? I’m still hungry.” Grumps held up his plate and handed it over to Winifred.
Winifred laughed and went to the stove to retrieve bacon from the pan. “When did you make it back to the village, Dory?”
“The night of the ball. A young, handsome man saved us. Funny, after we were out of the castle, no one bothered with us. We came down to the village before they attacked. We hid in the outside larder. They tried to gain entry, but I had made the door too heavy to open. And where have you all been?”
Winifred replied, “We came down from the cliffs overlooking the village. We found a tunnel that leads upward to the cliffs. Beyond the mount, we all found safety in a hidden fortress. As far as we know, there were no deaths or injuries. Do you know what happened to Anna, Phoebe and the others at the ball?
Dory shrugged her shoulders. “I was so busy trying to get Grumps going and finding a way out of the castle that I did not notice anyone else’s escape.”
Gertrude looked at both of them. “This place is no longer safe. I am sure someone spotted us coming in to the village. We must leave as soon as possible. There is no need to bring food, only extra clothing.”
“Do you think they would mind if we brought Agabus up to the fortress? He would be good company for Grumps.” Winifred looked at her father and the live fur neckpiece that he was wearing.
“I do not think Amor and Laude would mind at all. Hurry, we must leave! We will enter the tunnel system up in the glen. I believe we will find the tunnel upward in there.”
Soon they were off and, after an arduous walk through some deep snow, they found the entrance to the tunnel, but they also found something that they hadn’t planned on...guards - there were two guards standing at the entrance to the tunnel system.
Gertrude had been in the lead and came to a sudden halt. Fortunately, the pines afforded concealment. “We cannot go this way. The tunnel entrance has guards.”
Winifred smiled. Why don’t we go back down into town and go through the tunnel you escaped through?”
“There is debris from the fire covering the entrance. It would take too long to clear it and I am sure someone would see us. We will turn around and follow the river’s path to the other side of the cliffs. We have no other choice.”
“Do you think your grandfather will be able to do the hike up the trail?” Dory looked up at the cliff in front of them.
“He is in good physical health. It is his mind that goes on holidays frequently. Come! We must not tarry here any longer.” Gertrude turned toward the river and the others followed in his footsteps. Once again the walk was hard. It took them a long time to come to the path going down the side of the river. The journey got a little easier as the snow was not as deep under the pines at the river’s edge.
“Gertrude, I must stop for a moment as my feet and body are telling me a long story about the two trolls named ‘Ouch’ and ‘Ache’. I do not like the story so I must rest to make them quiet.” Dory brushed off the top of a river rock and sat down with a sigh of relief.
“I am sorry, Dory, I forget that older trolls need to rest more often.” Gertrude stood, his gaze wandering across the river. “Everyone down!” Gertrude yanked poor Dory from her place of rest. “Soldiers are across the river. We do not need them to see us. I am hoping we do not run into any on this side. I am sure Lemerich has guards out looking for the royal family.” Gertrude peeked from around the boulder to the other bank. The soldiers were still standing there, discussing something. He saw one soldier point towards their spot. Gertrude did not like what he saw. “I think they spotted us, but it will be a long time before they can get over here. All we can do is hope that they a
re the only group.”
Grumps stood up and started walking in the direction from which they had just come. “I’m tired of this walk. I’m going home.”
Winifred moved quickly and pulled him in the opposite direction. “Father, home is this way, and I will make you some berry-buggy cookies when we get there.”
“Berry-buggy cookies? Florah, you haven’t baked me those cookies in years! Are you sure you remember how to bake them?”
“Yes, Father, I remember how to bake them.” Winifred smiled and shook her head.
They walked a half hour more to where the river disappeared between steep cliffs, their journey leading them uphill, to the summit of the cliffs. Two hours later even Gertrude’s young body was telling the story about ‘Ache’ and ‘Pain’. They had reached the top of the cliffs. “The journey will be easier now. We only have a short distance to go until we reach the fortress.”
“I am so looking forward to a nice steaming mug of hot blog.” Winifred sighed. “These bones of mine are frozen through and through.”
“A mug of blog does sound good, but I think I would like a little boo-boo juice in mine to make ‘Ache’ and ‘Pain’ quiet again.”
Grumps was the first to see the opening in the pines that held the path to the fortress. He smiled, walked a little quicker and was in the lead when they heard a voice behind them. They were about a hundred feet from the path.
“Halt! In the name of King Edwin, I command you to stop!”
“Run!” Gertrude watched as the other three sped forward. He drew his sword and quickly glanced back. The soldiers were gaining on them. Gertrude ran as quickly as the deep snow would allow and caught up to Grumps. “Come on, Grumps, somebody is going to eat all of your cookies if we don’t hurry.”
Gertrude glanced out of the corner of his eye and realized that the soldiers had closed the gap between them to only twenty feet. “Hurry, Grumps, hurry!” Suddenly an orange piece of fur jumped out of Grumps’ jacket and started running towards the guards. Gertrude made a grab for Agabus, but he was too slow. He heard the guards scream and what seemed like the roar of a lion. He kept running. A cloud of mist had almost hidden the pathway from view. Just as they reached the path in the pines, the mist behind them became impenetrable to the human eye. Gertrude urged the others forward and to be quiet. He listened to the soldiers as they searched the outskirts of the forest for the path that they had undoubtedly seen.
“Did we lose them, Gertrude?” Winifred was out of breath and stopped in the pathway. She looked up the path behind them with a hopeful look then gasped as Agabus ran towards them. “Where have you been?”
Gertrude let go of Grumps’ arm. He glanced back, anticipating a soldier running at them. None came. A sigh of relief exploded from his lungs. “That mist is very heavy, but it was not heavy once we were inside the tree line. It is odd that they did not find the path and follow us.” Gertrude looked up as a motion high in the trees caught his eye. Above them, on an exposed, dead branch was a kestrel.
Dory looked up at the large bird. “Gertrude, do you remember the story of the kestrel and how he is suppose to be a guardian sent by Kern?”
“They are great fliers and they are swift. That is why Kern used them as guardians. Yes, I remember the story.” He watched as the bird spread its wings and took off in the direction of the fortress.
“I am looking forward to sitting in a nice comfortable chair when I get to the safe haven.” Winifred was still trying to catch her breath.
“Don’t’ forget the steaming hot cup of blog…” Dory added.
“Night is coming and surely the cold will find us even if the soldiers didn’t.” Gertrude still could not believe that they had lost the soldiers. Was that really a lion he had heard? He led the others onward until they reached the doorway of the fortress.
As soon as they were in the house, Amor and Laude greeted them at the door and took their coats and hats. They were both smiling. “Please follow us.” When they entered the hall where they had their meal the night before, there were mugs of blog already poured for each of them. In the center of the table upon an ornate silver tray was a fresh batch of berry-buggy cookies. Everyone was amazed...and glad to sit down and rest.
Dory was the first to sit down and have a drink of blog. She had a surprised expression on her face as she sipped the blog once more. “Mine has boo-boo juice in it.” She looked over towards Amor and Laude. “How did you know that I had requested such a drink?”
Amor smiled. “A big bird brought us word. If you will please excuse us, we still have some work to do. Please sit down and relax. Tomorrow is going to be a very difficult day. If you should need anything, please do not hesitate to ask for it.”
“Thank you for your most generous hospitality. We are very grateful for it.” Winifred looked at Amor and Laude. “You are very special trolls and wonderful, gracious hosts.”
“You are most welcome.” Laude said. They both turned and walked toward the other room, talking with each other.
Gertrude had just put a cookie in his mouth when Aaron and his three sons appeared in the doorway. “We have good news, Gertrude. All of the villages have agreed to fight along with us, even the humans of the other kingdoms. They asked me how we were going to identify the good from the bad. I told them to wear a red scarf visible to all. That will be our color of honor. We told them to be at the back side of the hills by dawn and then we would sound the Horns of Kern when to advance to the summits. All of the Grand Trolls have given their allegiance to you. “
“Why was it so easy in the human villages to get them to join in on the attack?” Gertrude looked over at Aaron.
“The humans I talked to said that soldiers had come down from the castles and looted the villages. They acted without honor and defiled their women. There is much anger in their hearts. They were angry with their kings for letting this happen. I explained to them that it was not their kings who had approved of this but some human named ‘Lemerich’.”
Winifred covered her mouth. “Oh, my! I am sorry, Gertrude. I forgot to tell you…”
“Tell me what, Mother?” Gertrude furrowed his brows.
“Lemerich and Lord Mellem are one and the same. When Toddy and I were hiding under the platform, we heard Lord Mellem talking to Toggart.”
Octavius had just come to the table with Emmaline and Norman and caught a bit of what Winifred had said. “My dear lady, would you please repeat what you just said, for I fear my ears are playing tricks on me.”
“I am sorry, Octavius, but it is true. Lemerich and Lord Mellem are the same.” Winifred’s eyes fixed on the king’s reaction.
Octavius looked as if he had been stabbed in the heart. In a low voice, he uttered, “I have lost part of myself on this day, for I have lost a friend.” He looked over and saw Aaron and his sons. “Do we have good news?”
Gertrude replied, “Yes, we have good news. Aaron and his sons have enlisted the help of all the other troll villages and the humans of the other kingdoms as well. Tomorrow, at dawn, they shall be waiting for our signal to advance.”
“Gertrude, it will be impossible to get into the castle! All of the doors to the outside shall have the metal gates in place. The castle of Glennmorley was designed to be impregnable. I cannot see how we could get men close enough without being assaulted by a hail of arrows.”
Gertrude peered at Octavius with a mischievous look in his eye. “My friend, do you not remember how we escaped Glennmorley just the other night? I will lead all of the trolls of Awll through the tunnel to the secret passageway. Even if it is well-guarded, we will be able to overwhelm them.”
“I shall go, too, Gertrude. I want to take care of some unfinished business.” A stern look of deliberateness was etched in the set of Octavius’ jaw. “What preparations must we make before the ‘morrow?”
“There is no need for preparation for tomorrow.” a voice from behind Octavius remarked. The old wrinkled figure of Laude stood a few feet back. ??
?When the bucks leave to do battle tomorrow, everything that they need materially shll be waiting out in the courtyard between the house and the palisade. Tonight we must rejoice in the things that we cherish in the spirit. Have the knowledge that without honor there can never be glory. In war, death always lurks in the shadows. My Master has sent word that he will fight on the side of good. So, may goodness be in your hearts and may your sword reap what the bad hearts have sowed.”
The quiet in the room was deafening. Laude’s words were ringing in everyone’s ears. A baby shattered the quiet with its crying, and the silence was broken.
To Gertrude’s surprise, his mother stood up on her chair and looked out over the multitude of friends, neighbors and fellow villagers. “Tonight, let this be a joyous family night. Love, laugh and live. Do not hesitate to tell your loved ones what is in your heart. It has been a long time since we have had to endure war. War is ugly, and it does not recognize right from wrong. All of you be safe tomorrow. May Ker…”Winifred started weeping, for she still felt her loss from the last war. She had fear in her heart that she might have more... That is something that no troll or human heart should have to endure.
Amor and Laude appeared at the far end of the hall with a huge cart laden with food. There were some foods no one recognized, but they disappeared quickly as everyone was hungry. There was little merriment during the evening gathering. There were tears of fear and wishes of the heart. Families spent time with each other. Some of the bucks sat and talked strategies. The elders told the stories of the last war.