The Tale Teller

Ch 10

If Celise was here, he wondered what she would have said about this. She probably would have laughed, trying to keep things light-hearted and be strong. Perhaps her soft little hand would have slid into Vaun's though, her way of asking him to give her what little strength she felt she was lacking. She was stronger than she realised, and she always had been.

"Fawn! Get over 'ere and stop kissing that tree!" When Branoff yelled it was like the mountains themselves were rising on two legs to wreak havoc across the lands. It was a yell that had all men jumping to attention, and Vaun was no exception.

He squeezed his way past the tree, and rushed up the horse's side to where Branoff stood at his head.

"What's wrong wi' ye, eh? Starin' into the forest like ye've nothing better to be doing." Reaching out, Branoff gave Vaun a quick slap to the back of the head. He knew he deserved it too. He hoped it might shake the recurring thoughts away.

"Hold the horse." Reins were thrust into his hand, and Vaun was left with the still-snorting animal, whilst Branoff disappeared past him, towards the horse's tail.

He took the opportunity to look around, at how the wagon was practically wedged in the road, trapped. Few ideas sprung to mind on how to get it free. They couldn't reverse back to the main road, but it was beginning to look rather unlikely that they would get around this corner either.

The horse reached out, grabbing a snack for himself from the hedge, just as some of the straps running along his stomach loosened and fell free. Vaun didn't wait for Branoff to scold him again; he grabbed the leather before it hit the muddy ground, reaching under the horse's neck for the other strap to hold in the safety of his hands.

He had just neatly coiled it up when a bony hand reached out to take both them, and the horse, from him. Lissy.

She looked just how she did when Vaun had last seen her, and he had lost count of how many years had passed since then. To some, her lack of change would be no surprise, but when she was now old enough for marriage, it came as a shock to Vaun.

Unlike Celise's growth over the years, Lissy hadn't grown taller, nor had she developed the curves, or the angles of a grown woman. She barely came up to Vaun's chest, and like a girl, she still wore her straggly black hair loose. Vaun couldn't help but notice how some strands stopped much shorter than others, almost as though they had been crudely chewed off.

She had the face of a child, rounded, with full reddened cheeks, and she wore a shapeless sack of a dress much like how a child would too. As rude as he knew it to be, Vaun couldn't avoid taking a second to stop and stare.

"He wants ye." With downcast eyes that refused to meet his, she nodded back over her shoulder to her brother.

Vaun gave her a slight nod, before leaving her to lead the horse around the corner. When the horse was so large, and Lissy so small, Vaun feared for her safety when left alone with the thing, no matter how much of a gentle giant the horse seemed to be. He knew he was needed elsewhere though, and glancing back to watch her walk away, he could see that she seemed to handle the animal well.

As soon as he reached the wagon, Branoff ordered him to stand here, then there, and to put his full weight behind whatever section needed pushed this way and that. It was an unconventional way of travel, to say the least, to have to push your mode of transport where you wished it to go. Vaun prayed this would be the last time he'd ever have to do it.

He was too weak for this, and he knew that Branoff could see that through the amused upturn of his lips. He had been teased by the man for years, but now Branoff's nickname for Vaun was well-earned.