Boars

As they all made it across safely, Mary looked at the two riders that looked drenched.

“Will you let us help you dry off?” she asked them.

“That is unnecessary. We will dry quickly enough,” Lomi said.

“Are you sure?” Mary asked, feeling guilty.

“Quite so, my lady,” Hermen said.

“Don’t feel guilty, Mary,” Jontak told her as they started moving.

“But I do. I shouldn’t have gone along with asking them to help me over,” she sighed.

“You didn’t push them into the water,” he pointed out.

“No, but I was responsible for them being in that situation,” she said.

“True, but I’ll bet you my sword that they will continue to help you at every turn. We might have put the idea in their head that you needed help. But they should have been able to assess that you didn’t need it,” Jontak told her.

“I wish my dad wasn’t so insisting that they protect me from every little thing,” Mary confessed.

“They are still required to use their brain and evaluate the threat against you. I’m going to see this trip as an educational moment for them,” he laughed.

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully. Mary started enjoying watching the landscape change from the plain into a leaf forest. The cooling shade was welcome in the summer heat. In the afternoon, Jontak rode on ahead to find a suitable place to put up the tents. He found a glade that suited them, and they started setting up camp.

 Hermen and Loni refused to let Mary do anything straining. She sighed and took Fizz’s saddle off and groomed him.

“My lady, let me do that,” Loni said.

“I can manage. You have so much other things to do,” Mary smiled.

“No, he can step on your feet, or inadvertently do something that harms you,” Loni insisted.

“I know Fizz and he knows me. I’m perfectly safe with him,” Mary told him.

In the end, Mary groomed Fizz under the supervision of Loni. When she was done, she walked over to where Procecsa was sitting and writing in a little notebook.

“I may end up killing them,” Mary said as she sat down next to her mentor.

“I’m not sure your father would approve of that,” Procecsa smiled.

“I don’t care. This is partly his fault. They won’t let me do anything. Can you imagine how it will be when we get to the village? They will hover around me, looking intimidating and glaring at everyone,” Mary whined.

“That can be an issue,” Procecsa agreed.

“It will be. Who will want to talk to me? No one, that’s who,” Mary rambled.

“I don’t think I have seen you this upset,” her mentor smiled.

“I don’t remember when I felt this frustrated,” Mary admitted.

“What are you going to do?” Procecsa asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t know if anything I will say will get through to them,” Mary said.

“Try,” her mentor encouraged her.

A while later, they were all sitting by the fire, eating. Mary stood up to stir in the pot on the fire, not wanting the stew to burn.

“It’s hot,” Hermen said, taking the ladle from her. Mary just looked at him.

“Okay, we need to talk,” she then said.

“I know my dad has talked to you two and told you to protect me. And I know my dad can be scary, so people do what he tells them. But, please, scale it down. I am not made of glass. I can handle horses and I definitely know how to cook,” she told Hermen and Loni.

“But, my lady, sir Teeran told us you weren’t to come to any harm during this trip,” Loni said.

“I believe you, I do, and I appreciate you work so hard to protect me. Just relax a little. We will be at the village tomorrow and I need to talk to people there. Don’t lurk around me scaring them off,” Mary smiled.

“I’m sorry, my lady, but that is not up to you to decide,” Hermen said.

“No, but I think I hold the highest rank among the riders,” Sinhera smiled.

“I will therefore tell you that when we are at the village, you two will guard the waggon and the horses. Jontak and me will escort the aari and the trainee,” she continued.

“Thank you Sinhera,” Mary said.

“No problem, Mary. We don’t want this trip to be all for nothing,” Sinhera smiled.

“We certainly don’t,” Procecsa agreed.

The next day they reached the village and Hermen and Loni stayed by the waggon and the horses. Even if they looked like they hated it.

The villagers were friendly and was more than happy to answer their questions. The village invited them to a feast that evening. Procecsa explained it wasn’t unusual for villages, especially smaller or remote ones, to arrange a celebration when the aari visited.

Hermen and Loni seemed to have learned their lesson by being put on waggon duty. They were more relaxed during the feast, to Mary’s relief. Until the point when one of the young men of the village walked up to talk to Mary.

Suddenly, Hermen, Loni and Sinhera were next to her and Jontak was talking to the man, leading him away.

“What just happened?” Mary asked.

“You don’t want to talk to him,” Sinhera said, and Hermen and Loni nodded. Procecsa that sat next to Mary, giggled.

“Why not?” Mary asked.

“He was interested in you. There is no reason for that when we are only staying a week,” Sinhera smiled.

“Not you too. I can deal with these things on my own,” Mary pointed out.

“Sure, but the boys and I will make sure that you don’t have to,” Sinhera told her.

“I’m going to agree to it just because I’m not interested in talking to men like that,” Mary said.

“Good, now let’s get more food,” Sinhera said.

“Yes, I like that plan,” Jontak said as he came walking back.

“What did you do with him?” Mary asked.

“I just informed him that there were easier women to flirt with, that didn’t have four riders guarding them. Although not as beautiful,” he smiled.

“You did not,” Mary gasped.

“I did,” Jontak said, sounding proud.

“Good work,” Loni nodded.

“I give up,” Mary sighed as Procecsa burst out laughing.

The week in the village turned out to be a success. Not only did Procecsa and Mary collect information from the villagers that would help them. They also found evidence in the wood surrounding the village that would help their work of altered migration patterns.

Loni and Hermen had relaxed after the first day, and now that the week was almost to an end, they had almost become friends. The last day before heading home, Mary and Procecsa were going to spend in the forest.

The villagers had herds of sheep wandering in the woods, guarded by shepherds. The shepherds had told them that lately the amount of wild boars had increased. Mary and her mentor would go along with three herders that would take them to see the damaged caused by the animals.

“I don’t like this. You can happen on a boar,” Loni said as they were getting ready to head out.

It had been decided that Jontak and Hermen would go along with them into the woods, and Loni and Sinhera would stay in the village and get things ready so they could leave first thing in the morning.

“Wild boars aren’t aggressive by nature,” Mary said.

“But they are when provoked and this time of year, they are likely to have piglets,” Loni reminded her for the fifth time.

“Would it be better if I didn’t go and just sat here in the chair?” Mary asked.

“Yes, please. Could you do that?” he asked. Mary laughed with Jontak.

“Sorry, Loni. There is no chance of that happening,” Mary told him.

Just outside the village, the three shepherds that were to take them into the woods waited. Mary learned the boys were brothers, the two elders were teaching their youngest brother, Kefli, how to protect and herd the sheep.

Kefli was a sweet boy and took a liking to Mary. He ran around and showed her all his favourite things about the forest, where the birds had nested, where he had found the squirrel’s stash of nuts, where there were bushes full of blueberries. Mary smiled and took the time to look at all his favourite places as she listened to Procecsa talking to his big brothers.

“Do the boars come back to the same place repeatedly?” Procecsa asked.

“They will return to a place as long as they still find food there, then they move on to the next patch. It usually takes them about a week,” the oldest brother said.

“I’m guessing you have tried to stop them?” Procecsa asked.

“Yes. We have set different traps. We started with pit traps, but we found it was far more likely that our sheep or other forest animals would walk into them. So now we only use noose traps. The other animals still walk into them, but at least they don’t die,” he told her.

“What do you do with the boars that you catch in the traps?” Mary asked.

“We kill them if we can. Killing a full-grown boar isn’t easy, even when they are trapped. But they provide a fair amount of meat,” the middle brother said.

They walked around in the forest, surrounded by sheep as the shepherds showed Mary and her mentor the damages and the two riders kept an eye out. They had been out most of the day and Mary was happy with what they had gotten to see and, as Procecsa suggested, it was time to head back. Mary agreed.

Then there was a rustle in some bushes ahead. They all stopped and watched, hoping it was some sheep or maybe a rabbit. When the first piglet came trotting out, Jontak took a hold of Mary’s arm and dragged her backward.

“Back. Let’s put some distance between us and them. No need to aggravate the mother,” the oldest brother said.

They all started walking away, watching the place where three piglets now were rooting around. There was another noise to the left of them and they watched as a big sow emerged from the bushes. Hermen swore and positioned himself between Mary and the animal.

The sow looked at them and at her piglets. Their party wasn’t entirely blocking the path between her and her offspring, but it was close enough for her to take offence.

“We need to get up in the trees,” the oldest brother said.