Helga: Out of Hedgelands - Rick Johnson (a court of thorns and roses ebook free TXT) š
- Author: Rick Johnson
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Book online Ā«Helga: Out of Hedgelands - Rick Johnson (a court of thorns and roses ebook free TXT) šĀ». Author Rick Johnson
Helbara Freed
Katteo walked quickly to the Misātashe station house and entered, pushing open a heavy oaken door. She was surprised to find the place completely empty! She and Red Whale had understood that their comradesāslaves on their way to Tilk Duraowāwere being held at the station. By way of the ruse Katteo and Red Whale had employed, they had succeeded in negotiating the purchase of their comrades with Milky Joe, in exchange for the plundered trallĆ©s. The ruse, however, having worked beyond the wildest hopes of Katteo and Red Whale, now seemed to offer the possibility of freeing their comrades without exchange of the valuable trallĆ©s!
This happy possibility required that their comrades actually be present at Misātashe, however, and Katteoās heart fell as she surveyed the silent station-house. Had Milky Joe double-crossed them? Perhaps they had been lured into a trap and they were the ones who were victims of some grand performance? These doubts and fears rushed through Katteoās mind as she struggled to grasp what had happened to her shipmatesāessential parts of their plan!
āWhoās there?ā came a voice, causing Katteo to startle. Wheeling around rapidly to view the entire room again, Katteo still saw no other creature. āWhoās there?ā the voice asked again, coming from some unseen point nearby.
Searching more closely with her gaze, Katteo realized that the voice was coming from outside the station-house, the voice filtering in through an open window. Rushing outside, she found a female Wood Cow, with white shaggy hair falling down across her neck and shoulders, chained to the wall by a rusty chain attached to a roughly-made iron collar encircling her neck. She wore a dirty, wide-brimmed had with the brim rolled up tightly on one side.
āDear beast!ā Katteo cried, embracing the prisoner, feeling an immense bond of affection with the unknown captive. āWho are you?ā Katteo asked urgently. āAre there others with you?ā
āSlow there, friend,ā the Wood Cow replied, smiling broadly. āI was asking the question first!ā she laughed.
āIām Katteo JorāDane, and with Captain Red Whale Gumberpott, weāve come to free our comrades from the clutches of Milky Joe and his slavers! But, weād expected to find them here and Iām troubled of mind that they seem to be nowhere around.ā
āOh, theyāre here, all right,ā the Wood Cow said. āIām Helbara and I make it my business to know everything about the movement of slaves, trallĆ©s, and all that nasty business. You knew the route of the trallĆ© caravan you raided, because I passed that information on to the Borf!ā
Katteo was stunned. āYou mean youāchained to the wall in this remote placeāhelped the raid we made?ā
āAye,ā Helbara said proudly. āWhy I consider this ring around my neck a certain sort of badge of honor! The more chains they put on me and the more they send me away to distant, unheard of places, the more I know they consider me dangerous to their filthy business! But they canāt figure out what Iām doing to themāHa-Ha-Ha-Ho! They donāt see me doing anything and they wonāt let me talk to anyone, but they sense that somehow Iām the cause of a lot of their caravans being plundered! Ha-Ha-Ha-Ho!ā
āThatās pretty interesting, Helbara, but youāll have to tell me more later,ā Katteo interrupted. āWe canāt count on our success lasting foreverāweāve got to find out friends and get everyone out of here!ā
āThe key to my collar is hanging on the wall inside behind the counter,ā Helbara said. āRelease me and Iāll lead you to your friends.ā
As they were talking, Red Whale, his new friends, and their ranting prisoner arrived.
Breister rushed ahead of the others. As soon as he had seen Helbara in the distance, a delicious, electrifying bolt of recognition raced through him. In that moment, the image that had so long so haunted his dreams and lifeāthe remembered beauty and delightful brown eyes of his treasured wifeāleaped into the vivid present! The steadiness of mind and solid calmness in emergencies, so characteristic of Breister, failed him completely now. The iron ring around Helbaraās neck, the dirty, rusty chains holding her in such a dreadful placeāpowerless to veil the beautiful spirit and delightful smileāmade his eyes swim with tears. He staggered forward the last few steps and embraced his beloved wife, weeping uncontrollably.
āBreister! Breister! Breister!ā Hugging Breister close, Helbara happily called his name repeatedly, even as her eyes were fixed on a tall, young Wood Cow standing just behind Breister. The young beastās frame was strong and tall, like Breister, but her large eyes were not the pale blue of her father, but the deep dark brown of her mother.
āHelga!ā gasped Helbara, realizing the tall, mature Wood Cow was the daughter she had hidden away in the river to escape Wrackshee bondage ten years earlier!
āMama!ā Helga exclaimed.
In another moment, mother, father, and daughter were locked in each otherās arms, with joy and happiness that cannot be adequately described.
āWhat have they done to you?ā sobbed Breister. āGet her out of these chains!ā
āYou all know each other!ā Red Whale exclaimed, incredulously.
Breister, unable to reply, simply nodded his head from where it nestled over Helbaraās shoulder. The ironic contrast of his joyful, tearful face resting against the hard, rough iron collar around Helbaraās neck soon ended.
Returning with the key, Katteo handed it to Helga and she released her mother from her long bondage. As the iron ring fell free from Helbaraās neck, Red Whale pushed the still ranting Sabre Tusk forward. āThere now,ā Red Whale laughed, ādonāt let that neck iron go to wasteājust clap it around the neck of this here stark, raving mad freebooter!ā
Click-Snap! As the iron ring clapped around Sabre Tuskās neck, Helbara pulled back from her familyās embrace. āMy work is not finished here,ā she said firmly. āThere will be much to tell and much to ask later,ā she said. āBut we must free the others and depart from here before trouble comes back our wayāwhich it surely will before long!ā Lifting her long-used hat from the peg where it hung, she firmly unrolled the brim as a sign that her bondage was ended, pulled the now full-brimmed hat on her head, and said, āNow we free your mates! But even that will not be easy.ā
Leading the group to the far side of the station, Helbara pointed to a large wagon parked near the building. āPush that wagon out of the way,ā she directed. āIt is parked there to hide the entrance to the central square where the slaves are keptāyour comrades are there.ā
Toshty, Annie, and Helga fell to the task and rolled the wagon back away from the building. With the wagon removed, a large iron double-door was revealed. Helbara took the key that had opened her iron collar and fitted it to the lock on the door, smiling as the lock clicked open. āThey use a single skeleton key for all their locks,ā she laughed. āNot the best security plan, it seems!ā
Helbaraās good cheer faded, however, as she gave further instructions to the group. āHave every weapon you carry at the readyāthereās no telling what will meet us when I open the door. There is an immenseānay, giganticānay, stupendousāmonitor lizard guarding the entrance to the central square. As a bit of a joke, they call her Little Pussāthough she is large enough to eat a couple of us in a single gulp!ā
Slowly opening one of the doors a crack, Helbara peered to the inside. āYech!ā she coughed as a revolting odor exhaled from the passage below. āOh, by the Ancient Ones!ā she said, shaking her head in disbelief. āThe stink of that monitorās breath makes me woozy!ā The presence of an immense monitor just beyond the iron double-doors was unmistakable to all: vicious hissing and snorting, jaws snapping, chains grinding, claws raking across stone, and leather straining under great pressure told the story.
Stepping forward, Red Whale opened the door a crack to get his own intelligence about the beast. The monitor was chained to a stake just inside the doorway, leaving no room to pass without coming within reach of the monitorās jaws. Obviously fresh and vigorous, the giant lizard, seeing Red Whale peeking at it, moved into classic monitor attack mode. Dropping as close to the ground as possible, the monitor flattened its gigantic head and coiled into a crouching position, gathering itself to rush forward. Watching with a wary eye and flicking its tongue continuously, Little Puss clearly knew her plan better than Red Whale and his friends knew theirs.
āWait a bit,ā Red Whale cautioned, closing the door again. āI have an idea Iād like to explain.ā
āItās clear thereās no hope of moving past that dragon without a fight,ā Red Whale began. āSheās determined that we wonāt pass her, and thereās no way to our comrades without getting past her. That means, we need the best weapons we can musterāweāve got to even the terms of battle or we will lose too many of us in the attempt. I wonāt waste my crew in a futile struggle.ā
All the other beasts agreed, but Helga asked, āSo, what do you propose? All the weapons we have are either completely inadequate to defeating such a monster, or require us to go too close in our attackāwhy sheād rip off our arm before we could get in one lick with a cutlass!ā
āThatās right,ā Red Whale replied. āBut weāve got another possibility. Weāll send our own monitor down there to battle with Little Puss first, the terms will be uneven, but I think itās our best chance to at least wear Little Puss down a bit before we take her on.ā
Everyone agreed that Red Whaleās suggestion was a good one. But Helga had a question: āHow do we know that our monitor will want to attack another monitor twice its size? Seems like the bruteās instinct for self-preservation might argue against that.ā
āAye,ā Red Whale agreed, āand thatās why Iāll be ridinā our monitor steed into battle! Iāll back āer up a ways and give āer all the spurrinā I can to get āer goinā fastāthen, just before we reach the door, you throw it open, and Iāll ride her straight as an arrow right at Little Puss before she has a chance to skitter. Catch āem both by surpriseāthatās our best chance.ā
āBut what about you, Red Whale?ā all the beasts exclaimed in unison. āYouāre makinā yourself dragon bait!ā
āNow donāt you go worryinā about Captain Gumberpott,ā Red Whale replied. āIām still captain in this here crew and Iāll be makinā the decisions, and my decision is that Iām the one whoāll be takinā the chances firstāeven if this plan works, thereāll still be plenty of chances to take before weāre past that monster. So just furl your sails for a momentāyou can charge off into battle very soonābut letās see if we can soften up the enemy a bit first.ā
Walking over to where the monitor steed was tethered, Red Whale patted the faithful lizard on the head and said, āNow donāt take whatās going to happen as if I donāt care for you, olā beastāI just need you to take a bit of a chance with me.ā Mounting up, Red Whale looked around as his friends and, giving the monitor a deep dig in the flanks, shot forward to meet Little Puss.
Scuttling rapidly across the open area toward the iron doors, Red Whaleās monitor steed was reaching full speed, when Helga and Helbara threw the iron doors open. The monitor suddenly stopped dead in its tracks just at the open doorway, looking straight at Little Puss. Flicking
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