“You ever seen the Scar before?” Tomm asked.
Samantha shook her head. “No, but my father used to talk about it.”
“Talk’s not the same,” he answered back.
“No,” Samantha said and then tied Bane’s reins to the hitching post with some trepidation. Deutzani soldiers were plainly visible milling about in the town as she looked down the main thoroughfare. She was relieved that she did not see Sergeant Lindsay or any of his men. As they moved to the entrance of the shop, a large sweaty man with massive forearms appeared in the doorway.
“Wake,” Tomm said with a nod. Wake nodded back, looking from Tomm to Samantha, his eyes lingering on her for a long while before returning to Tomm.
“She needs to get out west,” Tomm said, thus explaining their presence. Wake looked over at Samantha once more, eyes moving up and down before resting on her face. He stared at her for so long that she grew uncomfortable and crossed her arm over her chest. She was not at all sure she liked or trusted this dirty, gruff looking man before her.
“What she done?” Wake asked, his voice sounding as rough as his hands.
Tomm took a step closer. “She’s Sath’s niece,” he whispered and Wake’s entire demeanor changed. Everyone knew it was not wise to cross a Weapons Master.
He nodded and gave her another once over with his eyes. “Give me another hour and I’ll take her up,” he said and turned to head back inside.
“She has an Executioner on her tail,” Tomm said as he walked behind the large man. “He’s already killed her entire family…she got away.” Samantha followed along behind, thankful to be out of the exposed street.
Wake turned back quickly, as if Tomm had poked a fork in his backside. “An Executioner!” He said louder than he wished, even though they were now inside the dark interior of his shop. He frowned then looked again at Samantha.
“How’d ya get away?” he asked, sounding a little impressed.
Samantha hesitated a moment, unsure of how much to tell them. “He didn’t tie me very well, and when he went to get a drink I hit him over the head with an axe handle.”
“He’s not dead?”
Samantha shrugged. “I don’t know…maybe,” she added not wanting to mention her moment of cowardice while he was unconscious.
“Should’ve made sure,” Wake said as he took off his apron, and dropped his tongs in the fire. “Should’ve killed him.”
“I killed his horse,” she answered, suddenly mad at his presumptions.
“His horse,” Wake answered with surprisingly high-pitched laugh.
Sam nodded.
“That’ll piss him off for sure,” Wake said still laughing as he led them back out into the street and next door to the stables. “Meet me at Bert’s on the top of the Scar. I’ll be along in an hour or so,” he added before moving into the stables. “I’d rather not be seen with you…no offence.”
Samantha shrugged. “Of course not,” she answered and headed back to Bane. Tomm followed along. “Aren’t you worried about being seen with me?” Sam asked.
Tomm shook his head. “I’m not from Lynndon, and will be gone soon. It’s not likely the soldiers will remember or take any notice of me,” he said as he mounted his own horse then led her slowly through town. There were Deutzani soldiers about, but not as many as Sam feared.
“Aren’t they watching the bridge?” she whispered quietly after they had passed through town. The river was in sight, though it was dominated by the Scar that soared above them all. The Scar was a rift in the land, separating the lowland plains from the Plateau above, then finally the mountains. It was said to be over four hundred feet high in places, and ran from the Scar Mountains in the east all through Massi and finally ended at the Outer Sea somewhere in Deutzani.
Tomm shrugged. “They should be, but they don’t have much of a presence here at Lynndon. They probably don’t think the Massi could raise much of a threat, or cross the western part of the land undetected. I’ve heard they have garrison at Manse.”
Samantha nodded. Manse was home to the main crossing between the plains and the Plateau. Most of the main roads that crisscrossed the country of Massi led to the much larger town of Manse. Samantha held her breath, hoping that the Lynndon Bridge would not be closely guarded. She was not at all confident that she could pass a close inspection without giving her fear away, but she could see from a distance that the way was open, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
The bridge was made of stone with large arched piers going down into the water. It was not wide, but there was room for two horses to walk side by side. Even so, Samantha reined in Bane, who was a large horse and let Tomm proceed across in front of her. Samantha studied the bridge and the river below it as they crossed. On the right, the river was full of large rocks and flowed fast with a lot of white water, but on the left of the bridge there was a small roaring waterfall. At the bottom of the falls the river formed a deep, slow pool before finally continuing its journey to the east. The Scar dominated the view ahead and Sam had to crane her neck to see to the very top of the cliff face. It was magnificent, probably over two hundred feet high here. The rock face was filled with many shades of red and brown, and here and there was a bit of orange, yellow. She was surprised to see some green also, which came from stubborn plants clinging to the sheer cliffs like a climber suddenly afraid to move either up or down.
Once on the far side of the bridge, the Scar loomed over them and Samantha had a moment of panic, worried that the whole Earth might fall down on top of her. But as they moved to the west along side the river the worry began to fade, replaced by a new one as they began to move up a narrow path. They went higher and higher at a steep angle and were not even a quarter of the way to the top before Sam had to force herself not to look down, though she never considered herself to be afraid of heights. However, by the time they were near the summit she was beginning to reconsider her fears, but the sure-footed Bane carried her safely up to the Plateau. Once on level ground she looked out in amazement over Lynndon and the Massi plains beyond. The view was incredible. The land and the sky above seemed to open up before her.
Tomm stopped next to Sam and together they looked out across the land. “Never get tired of it,” he said.
“It’s like you can see the whole world,” she answered. They stayed silent for several minutes, just looking, and then they turned in unison and headed for a group of buildings just up the road. All along the way there were wagons in various stages of repair, some were like new, some were broken and rusted out, and strewn all about were parts of wagons lying in the tall grass as if growing, like weeds. Out back, behind the main building, Samantha could see a corral of sorts. It held numerous pack animals, which were milling about, stirring up dust. They moved toward the largest building, which had two doors in front though they were not near each other, and in the middle of the porch roof there was a faded sign that said, “Bert’s Feed and Grain.”
As Sam and Tomm approached they spotted no signs of life other than the pack animals out back, but just before they reached the front of the main building an old woman emerged. Hiding just behind her was a young boy, perhaps eight or nine years old. The woman glared at them for a moment, moving the unlit wooden pipe she had in her mouth from side to side. Finally her eyes gleamed with recognition as she looked at Tomm.