The Unsuspecting Mage - Brian S. Pratt [137]
“It’s okay,” Rylin assures her. “This is James, he helped rescue you.”
Relaxing somewhat, she says, “Thank you for helping us.”
“You are welcome,” he replies. “I hope you and your daughter will be okay?”
“I think we will,” she says. “It may take some time for my daughter to get over this, but she will. She’s a strong girl.”
“Maybe we should put the tent up again,” James suggests, “so the ladies can have shelter?”
“No,” the mother says adamantly. “We will not stay in that tent. Besides, we need to see about our caravan.”
“How?” Rylin asks. “The horses are gone.”
Shaking her head, she says, “Our horses were taken by several of the bandits to the south while this group continued this way. If we can get them back, then maybe we can bring in our caravan to Trademeet and salvage something from all this.”
Seeing the doubt in Rylin’s eyes, she continues, “With my husband dead, we need the money from those goods to survive.”
“James!” Miko’s cry interrupts the conversation.
“Over here!” James hollers back. Shortly they are able to see him approaching through the rain.
“Oh, you’re hurt!” Sheila cries out when she finally becomes aware of Rylin’s blood soaked shirt, pressed to his side. “Let me help you.” Taking him by the hand she leads him over to the tent and rummages around, coming up with several strips of cloth. Removing his shirt, she inspects the cut and decides it’s not too deep. She then proceeds to wrap the cloth around his side tightly, finally securing it with a knot.
“Thanks, ma’am,” Rylin says when she’s finished.
“That should do for a while,” she says. “Just be careful from now on, okay?”
“Alright, ma’am, I will,” he assures her.
Sheila finds her clothes in the tent and with her mother’s help, gets dressed while everyone else looks the other way.
As Sheila dresses, James says to Rylin, “Miko and I can go after the bandits and see if the horses can be recovered, though I will need to rest for an hour or so before I leave. I pretty much wore myself out during the fight.”
“Perhaps I should go with you as well,” Rylin offers.
“You need to stay with the ladies and watch over them,” James replies. “You can defend them better than either Miko or myself. And we certainly don’t want to leave them alone and unprotected.”
Rylin glances over to the mother who nods her head, agreeing with the plan. “Alright, but how will we know if you are successful?”
“If we are, we’ll take them back to the road and meet you there,” explains James. “Take the horses here with you and if we don’t come back, use them as best you can to get the caravan to Trademeet.”
“Those are not draft animals,” the mother says, looking at the nearby picket of horses.
“Better than nothing wouldn’t you say?” James counters.
“I suppose so,” she agrees, though not entirely happy about the situation.
“Miko,” James says to him, “search all the bandits, especially the leader. See if there is anything that may tell us why they are here.”
“What do you mean?” Rylin asks as Miko begins to rummage through their belongings and inspecting each of the dead bodies.
“The leader seemed too professional to simply be a bandit leader,” James explains. “Also, if they were merely bandits, why did they split their forces and send the horses south? It just doesn’t feel right to me.”
“I see your point,” Rylin acknowledges.
While Miko searches the dead, Rylin and James tie the bandit’s horses in a line, bridle to saddle. Three saddlebags are found to be filled with gold and other valuables.
“This must belong to the ladies,” James guesses when he sees the fortune, “taken from their caravan.”
“Most likely,” Rylin agrees.
The rain begins to lessen though it’s still a constant nuisance. Miko returns from his search and says “Couldn’t find anything on anyone. There was some paper on the leader but it’s ash now, couldn’t make out any writing.”
“Alright,