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Old 04-15-2006, 09:14 AM   #224
Firefoot
Illusionary Holbytla
 
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Join Date: Dec 2003
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Firefoot has been trapped in the Barrow!
Léof was glad for the chance to leave the Mead Hall for a bit and get out; for all the time he spent with the horses, he had little chance to ride, and Æthel had not been well-exercised. Remembering how Gárwine had needed to lend the healer his horse on the last occasion, Léof had saddled up Herefola as well; he did not think that Gárwine would mind. They started out at a brisk trot but were soon slowed to a walk as they became caught up in the fair traffic. For himself, Léof did not mind; this was a sight like he had never seen before. The fair was more than horse buying and games; vendors had come to sell their wares, hoping to take advantage of the crowd. Some sold food; others, jewelry; and all sorts of tings that Léof did not have the time to look at. Outside the city, a small oval had been marked out for horse racing, and this most of all caught Léof’s eye. “What do you think, girl?” he asked Æthel. “Maybe we should give it a try.” He knew full well that Æthel would not be the fastest horse, and if the track had been straight he probably would not have stood a chance. But a round track – on a couple of occasions a small round track similar to this one had been set up near his village for people to have a bit of sport out of their normal schedules, and Léof had quickly noticed how much the dynamics had changed. Rather than running in a straight line, the horses tended to bunch up on the inside because it would be shorter, and sometimes the fastest horse might be caught up in that sort of mess, and a slower horse might win. He might have a chance.

Æðel probably wouldn’t approve, said a little nagging voice in his head. Your foot still isn’t right. The voice annoyed him. Of course he would be fine; it was not as if he would be running on it. Stirrups? interrupted the voice. So what? A fierce desire came over him to just prove them all wrong. He was not a baby to be handled gently because he had been foolish enough to get his foot stepped on.

Besides – there would be some kind of reward money. And he needed money, to get his sister here. She would be able to stay at the Mead Hall, of course, but their father would come after her if he just took her away. Léof was not precisely sure how money would help, but he figured that it would, somehow. Buying his father off, perhaps, horrible as it sounded.

His mind returned to the matter at hand as he rode up at the healer’s place. Tying the horses in front, he went inside to find the healer Hrethel. “What can I do for you, lad?” he asked. Then he noticed Léof’s limp. “What did you do to your foot?”

“Oh, it’s not me,” Léof assured him. “Horse stepped on my foot a couple days ago, but I’m doing all right. I was sent from the Mead Hall – it seems we’re needing your services again.” By now Léof was leading him out to where he had tied the horses.

“What seems to be the problem this time?”

“It’s this boy that we found. He’s in pretty bad shape – has a gash on his forehead, among other things.”

“I see.” Then he noticed the two horses and gave Léof an inquiring look.

“I remembered that you didn’t have your own horse, so I brought a second,” he explained.

Hrethel chuckled as he mounted. “Are you folk all trying to tell me something?”

“Well, the horse fair is going on right now…” Léof grinned. The old healer just shook his head.

The ride back seemed quicker. Léof directed Hrethel to the hurt boy’s room and took Æthel and Herefola to the stables. He removed the tack of both, but left Æthel’s out since he would be needing it shortly. As he worked, he tried to think of any other duties he might need to do if he was to race Æthel. It occurred to him that Larswic might be intending to conduct his business here rather than taking his horses out: this would certainly be more convenient, although perhaps less conducive to business. And if so, it might be best for him to stick around for most of the day, only slipping out for a short while – especially if he was to keep an eye on him, as Eodwine had requested. Léof nodded to himself and went to find Larswic.
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