19 Discovery

  The dragon’s words confused her, so Sara pushed them aside. “I guess I need to find that knife,” Sara said, looking off in the direction it had gone when her staff hit it. Then, looking in the direction, she had first seen the man, added, “and get the stuff back, he was stealing.”

  Within an hour, Sara had found the man’s knife and returned it and her supplies back to her cave. Once that was done, she moved further down the cliff wall to try to discover where the man had been staying.

  Less than five minutes later, she found a cave. It was a little bigger, looked much deeper, but there was a nasty smell coming from inside.

  As she moved further inside, Sara saw by the little bit of light from the entrance, stones set in a circle to hold a fire, a pack, and a couple of blankets laid out like a bed. Sara, as she took another step, could see there was some wood set to the side and a few live coals on the fire in the fire pit.

  “Maybe this would be a better place to stay,” but then her nose got the full whiff of what was in the cave. She waved her hand in front of her nose and took a step back.

  “Oh my, he used this place as his privy.” Sara reached down, stuffed the blankets into the bag, and moved out of the cave. Once out, she sighed, realizing she had to go back in. She couldn’t see letting the wood the man had gathered go to waste.

  Sara took several deep breaths and held them as she rushed back in to grab the firewood. Just before reaching the wood, Sara let out a “Ahh” as she almost twisted her ankle on a loose stone. The automatic reaction let the air out of her lungs, and she took a deep breath.

  “Oh my, that is horrible,” She complained as she gave up on holding her breath and carefully but quickly gathered the firewood. Sara had done some smelly thing since coming to the valley, but the longer she was in there the smell seemed to be getting worse.

  “Even cleaning the pigpen isn’t this bad,” Sara told herself as she went back in to get the last of the wood.

  It took only two trips to get all the firewood, and Sara was wondering if it was worth the effort.

  Sara looked at the stack of wood and said, “Having dry wood already broken into the right size for burning is worth it,” then Sara sniffed. The smell was on her clothes. “Maybe,” Sara said with a frown.

  Sara grabbed the bag and, leaving the firewood at the entrance, moved into the field of stone. There she found a stone, large enough to sit on and to serve as a small table.

  When Sara sat down, she looked carefully at the bag. She had seen small bugs on cloth before and didn’t want to get them on herself. The smell in the cave and the look of the man didn’t make her think the man’s hygiene was good, but she was pleased to see there wasn’t anything crawling on the bag. She pulled out the blankets that she had hastily stuffed in and that were sticking out of the top. She tossed them aside, not sure if she would wash them first or let a rainstorm rinse them out. She started to reach into the bag but decided instead to slowly dump the contents of the bag onto the stone. The first thing that came out was a small coin purse with flowers embroidered into it.

  Sara set down the bag and picked up the purse. “This definitely wasn’t his.” Opening it, Sara saw something that caused her to smile. The few silver coins weren’t a fortune, but they were coins from Rishona. Sara quickly closed the purse and just dumped the larger bag out. Out fell another purse, a piece of jewelry, a small bag, a flint and steel, a sheathed knife, and a water skin.

  “Mmm,” Sara was now sure that the man was a thief, and on looking and finding Rishona coins in the second purse, he might be from Rishona.

  Smiling widely, Sara said, “I might not be that far from home.” The excitement quickly faded as in her mind she pictured the continent of Zuri. Rishona covered eighty percent of the continent, but most everyone used the currency of Rishona, so it didn’t prove she was near her kingdom.

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  “But at least, I’m on the continent,” as she remembered thinking when Draco first kidnapped her, that he might have flown her so far away that she might be in a different part of the world. Now, Sara had proof that she was closer to home.

  Sara looked at the piece of jewelry. It was a brooch, but she didn’t recognize the carving on it; it looked like a family crest. The armorial motto underneath the crest read, Faithful and Consistent. Sara liked the words, and if they truly stood for the family who lost it, she hoped that she could return it someday.

  For now, she set it aside. She looked at things that might help her right now. She looked at the knife, waterskin, and the flint and steel.

  An extra knife was good, and taking it out of its sheath, Sara could see that this was a good blade. The edge was sharp, and there wasn’t a hint of rust on the blade. The handle was made of fine wood and nicely polished. This wasn’t a decorative blade, she could tell, but a practical blade carried by someone who had some money but also would use it. She looked at its sheath and saw that it could be slid on a belt or a rope through it and worn on one's side. Sara untied her cloth belt and slid the sheath in place. She had carried a knife slide between her belt and her clothes but was always a little concerned that if she fell, she could stab herself. Now she didn’t have to worry.

  Sara opened the water skin and smelled. She found out that it didn’t hold water; it held wine. Sara didn’t drink but recapped it. This could be useful. She had read in A New Life that wine or other spirits could be added to water to make it safe to drink. The book was a fictional story, but she thought she had read it somewhere else. It didn’t matter because she had no intention of drinking it, and she knew the water she drank from in the valley was safe.

  Finally, she looked at the flint and steel. They were well used and said, “These, at least, might not have been stolen.”

  Sara looked the bag over and, seeing it was in good shape, threw everything back into it, including her knife, since she was wearing the new one.

  Sara went back to her cave, set the bag at the entrance, and went back to get the firewood. When she got that done, Sara looked up and saw that the sun was still high in the sky.

  Sara felt that it was much later. She didn’t have to think about why; she knew. She had tried to keep busy thinking about the chores she was doing, but the memories of the man and the fight were there. A man was dead, and she might not have killed him, but only because Draco did.

  Sara had read about death in history and heard some of the Lords and a judge or two speak of having to kill someone who did wrong. The concept wasn’t new, and she knew there were times a person had to kill. She just never expected that she would be in a place where she would have to do it. David had said killing changes a person, and she was feeling it.

  “Be Faithful?” Sara said. To what, and then Sara remembered today was Creator’s Day. She had been so focused on finding what she needed that she hadn’t even prayed or given thanks.

  Sara sat down on a rock and lifted her hands. As she prepared to pray, the words she normally would say didn’t come, but the image of Draco diving in and taking away the man whom she had attacked filled her mind. Sara would have been the one to kill that man if Draco hadn’t dropped in.

  A wave of gratitude filled her, and she prayed, “Creator, thank you for Draco.” She thought, I never would have prayed anything like that before. Considering again her captors she prayed, “Let whatever endeavor he and David are doing be a blessing to them and to you. Thank you for the many blessings you have given me.” Remembering the words in The Journey, Sara added a prayer she didn’t feel, “I ask you to help me forgive the man who planned to attack me today.”

  Sara couldn’t think of anything else to say. The liturgical prayer words would not come, and she knew if they did, they would not be right, at least not today. Sara let her hands down and decided that she would honor this day by resting, which on Creator’s Day was supposed to be done.

  Sara quickly organized what she had in the cave, then after eating some of the dried goat, she rested. The day passed slowly, and Sara thought again about everything that had happened. There was something in all that she had gone through since coming to this valley that made her doubt that she would spend the rest of her life here. Yet, she could see no way out, then she remembered something Mistress Carmarthen had said. She was teaching that things change. History teaches that what we don’t expect often happens. She remembered it because this was one of those times that Lady Lord Mashal was watching the lesson. Lady Lord Mashal pointed out that it was true, which is why you always had to guard against peasants wanting to revolt. Mistress Carmarthen said that things like sickness, drought, and unwanted visitors were more likely. Lady Lord Mashal stomped out after that comment, and Mistress Carmarthen's final comment on the subject was, “See, I never expected that woman would leave.”

  Sara realized that today was one of those days that she never saw coming. Before today, the thought of a man falling into the valley and wanting to attack her wouldn’t have entered her mind, but it happened.

  “There might really be a chance for me to get out of here,” Sara said aloud. “And if we are in Rishona,” Sara stopped. The memory of why she could think that she was still in Rishona came back. Yes, life was full of the unexpected.

  As the day passed, Sara rested and tried to think of her blessings. She actually had quite a few. Finally, a bit of peace settled into her. When sunset came, she moved out among the stones and knelt on the ground facing west. When the Creator’s Star appeared in the sky, she bowed forward, not worshiping the star but giving thanks to the one who made the star, which gave direction for those who needed it.