[Ealasaide]

Olav walked through the smoldering ruins of the stables stamping out small fires as he came to them, or pointing out hot spots to the women and children who followed with buckets. As he went, he noticed the burnt corpses of several horses who had perished in the fire and felt a stab of pain at the sight of each one of them. Poor creatures! All they did was serve, selflessly carrying their riders until they dropped if that was what was asked of them. He wondered what could be done about burying them. They deserved better than to lie there in the ashes. He had a strong back. He could help.

Sighing, he turned to look for the little farm girl, Sigrid. He knew he probably should not have been quite so forward with her right away, but something about her wide-eyed country girl charm had filled him with the urge to tease her just a little bit. He could always make amends later. When he finally located her, though, he stopped short in his tracks. Leaning heavily on Ragnar's arm, she was heading for the front door of the inn. Olav felt a flash of fury as just at that moment Ragnar chose to throw him a grin over his shoulder and a sly wink. Olav scowled darkly in response.

It wasn't that Sigrid was the prettiest girl in town. She wasn't. A real beauty had just galloped out of the yard on the back of a bay horse. So, why was he so angry? Well, for one thing, he liked her. He liked the way the corners of her lips turned up when she smiled. He liked the way she tilted her head when she asked him a question. And, he liked the way she threw herself into the hard work of the bucket line without hesitation even though she was just a skinny little thing. She would be nothing to Ragnar, just a moment's fun before he was off to something else. Olav decided right then that he wouldn't allow it to happen this time. He was tired of Ragnar, with his striking good looks and slick charm, moving in on every girl Olav had ever taken a liking to.

As he started in the direction of Ragnar and Sigrid, he stopped short as a yellow tabby cat appeared out of nowhere and leaped up on to the shoulders of the girl, wrapping its fluffy tail around her neck. She straightened abruptly, letting go of Ragnar's arm, and reached back to touch the cat. He watched as Ragnar reached for the cat, as well, but she waved him off. It was then that Olav caught sight of the dog at Sigrid's knee. Caught up in the surprise of the cat, neither Sigrid or Ragnar noticed as the dog crouched behind them, gazing fixedly up at the cat. Then, with a single high-pitched bark, the dog launched herself at the cat.

Yowling, the cat puffed himself up to what Olav thought was roughly twice his previous size, and arched his back, digging his claws into Sigrid's shoulders. She screeched and tried to grab the cat, which only made the cat panic and try climbing from her shoulders to the top of her head. The dog jumped again and the cat, seeking higher ground, leaped from the girl's shoulders straight at Ragnar's face. He tried to block it with his arm, but the desperate cat caught hold of his sleeve with all four paws and climbed up his arm to his shoulders. Then, with a mighty spring, the cat launched himself from Ragnar's shoulders into space, landing a good eight feet away with the black and white border collie close on his heels. The two animals bolted from the yard and around the corner of the inn.

"Kajsa!" the girl shouted and took off running after the dog. Olav, then, broke out of the freeze he had been in and took off running as well. He passed Ragnar, who joined the chase after him at a jog, laughing hard.

Olav rounded the corner just in time to see the cat, followed closely by the dog, charge nearly under the feet of two men, who from all appearances looked like they were trying to kill each other. Both had bloodied faces and one doubled over slightly to one side as though his ribs had been injured. Ahead of Olav, Sigrid stopped short at the sight of them. Olav slowed his pace slightly, but jogged past her in the direction of the two combatants.

In the distance, the cat scrambled up into the branches of a tree. The dog danced and leaped around the foot of the tree, barking furiously.

"Hey!" Olav called in a friendly tone to the men who had been fighting. "What's going on? Is everything all right?" He continued moving slowly toward them. Looking at their faces, he could see that this was more than just a bar brawl carried over to the outside. Something else was happening, and judging by the burns on the face and head of the one man, he had a strong feeling that it had something to do with the fire. "Maybe I can help, eh?"

Behind him, he could sense Ragnar stepping into place behind his shoulder. If the two strangers decided to stop pounding each other and try to pound him, at least Olav knew he would not be alone in the fight. For all his faults, Ragnar was worth twice his own weight in a brawl.

[ November 25, 2003: Message edited by: Ealasaide ]