The Boy in the Field (2 page)
Read The Boy in the Field Online
Authors: Jo Oram
Kinel had always been a country under threat. Most of the land
to the north and east had been taken over by the Serloran Empire. To the south,
the Taatars, a desert tribe, were pushing their borders in search of fertile
soil. To the west was the Gahara, a wide ocean navigable only by experienced
sailors.
You were too young back then to care about the politics and
laws of the different countries and races. Their people existed only in stories
where the Taatars raided towns for slaves and the Serlorans forced people to
obey their laws on pain of death. You didn’t see, back then, what effect they
could have on your life.
Instruction:
1. The Boy In The Field
THE BOY IN THE FIELD
There was a boy in the field. He was a similar age to you –
about thirteen years old – but you didn't recognise him. You moved a little
closer. He had short, blond hair and wore a long, neat cloak. He was too clean
to have been working the fields; he must have been a city boy.
The therins in the field were moving towards him, one closer
than the rest. The beast nudged the boy, nuzzling at his shoulder and nibbling
the sleeve of his cloak. The boy backed away, his head down.
You took another step forward, reaching the adjacent fence. The
therin was still sniffing at the boy, using its nose to push his arm aside; the
boy had something in his pocket and the therin wanted it. Although the animal
wasn’t acting aggressively, keeping its horns back and its hooves on the floor,
the boy wasn’t reacting well to the attention. He had clearly never spent time
around therins before.
You smiled as you watched him back himself against the fence.
The city boy was cornered and the rest of the herd were moving in. If you
wanted to, you could help him.
Choice:
2.
Help Him
or
3.
Leave Him in the Field
HELP HIM
You shook your head as the therin nibbled again at the boy’s
cloak, pulling the material with its teeth. Jumping the fence, you moved
towards the boy and the therin.
“Give him the food and he might let you ride,” you called.
The boy flinched. “Do these beasts belong to you?”
“No, but they're friendly.”
“Are you sure?”
You reached out and touched the therin's side. “Sure.”
The therin took a small step away from the boy and shook its
head, enjoying the attention. A deep chirping noise rumbled in the animal’s
throat.
“You have greens or something,
hai na
?”
The boy frowned. “How did you know that?”
“The therins love them and he seems very keen on you. If you
give it to him, he might let you ride.”
“I don't want to ride it. I want it to leave me alone.”
“Then why did you come into the field?”
“The fence is broken over there.” He pointed. “I thought I
could get through here.”
You looked across the field. A quarter of a mile further down,
a whole section of fencing had been ripped free from its posts, the wooden
slats snapped in half. The therins could easily escape, if they wanted.
“That doesn’t look good.” You petted the animal’s neck, still
staring towards the fence.
“What is that? There’s some kind of… dog.”
At your side, the therin began to bray and shake. Without
thinking, you grabbed the boy's hand and tried to run.
“Come on. We need to go!”
You looked around for an escape route. The dog-like creature –
a landshark – blocked the path out of the field. If you went near it, it would
kill you in seconds. Instead, you grabbed the boy’s arm and pulled him towards
the nearest therin.
“Hey, let go of me!”
“We’ve got to run.” Across the field, the therins were
beginning to stampede. “Gimme your greens.”
“What? No!”
“Please. We need to go. That’s not a dog.”
“Then what is it?”
“A landshark.”
The boy shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out the
greens. Before he could pass them to you, the therin snatched the vegetable
from his fingers. Still chewing, the creature bent its front legs, allowing you
to climb onto its back.
“Come on.”
You pushed the boy up and sat behind him, digging your knees
into the creature’s side, calling for it to run.
“
Sath’jana
!”
The therin shook its head and began to gallop. You held tightly
to its horns, your arms keeping the boy in place.
“I thought you said he wasn’t yours,” he yelled.
“He’s not,” you replied. “Doesn’t mean I’m not going to ride
it.”
You looked back over your shoulder. The therins were still
running – fleeing. At the back, three of the creatures split away from the
herd, moving towards you. The landshark was right behind them, its grey-green
fur difficult to distinguish from the grass.
“Come on!” You gave the therin a nudge with your heels. “
Tei!
”
“What is it?” the boy asked, his voice rising in pitch as the
therin moved faster.
“It’s chasing us.”
“We’re going to die!”
“Not today,
balaka
.”
The therin raced for the end of the paddock. A rocky crag
beyond the fence would provide the perfect place to hide from a landshark. You
looked behind you again. The other therins were gaining on you, the landshark
coming ever closer.
They boy cried out. “We’re going to hit the fence!”
Panicked, he pulled on the animal’s horns. The therin reared
up, throwing you both from his back and crashing into the fence. The wind was
knocked from your lungs and you coughed as the boy’s elbow struck you in the
rib. You threw your hands over your head as the therin righted itself and
galloped away, faster without your weight.
“What did you do that for?” you wheezed, scrambling to crawl
beneath the fence. You reached out for his hand again, pulling him to his feet.
The boy followed you as you began to climb the rocks, squeezing
into a narrow crevasse where the landshark couldn’t follow. Even if it could
climb, you doubted it could manoeuvre in the tight space between the sides of
the fissure.
“Come on,” you said, looking back over your shoulder. “There’s
a way out up here.”
The boy paused, leaning on the rocks and panting. “I want to go
home.”
“Then follow me.” You looked back at him. “You’re a city boy,
hai
na?
”
The boy shook his head. “I come from Landia.”
You frowned at him. “I thought that
was
the city.”
“Landia is just a town.”
You raised an eyebrow. “Oh. I thought it was a city. It’s got a
lot of people.”
As you began to walk again, you heard a thud at the entrance to
the crevasse. The boy yelped and you jumped, seeing the landshark’s jaws,
snapping and snarling. It raised a paw and for a horrible moment, you feared
you were wrong about the rock face and that the awful creature might be able to
negotiate the rocky terrain after all.
“No. No, don’t do that,” you whispered to yourself, pulling the
boy closer.
The boy whimpered. “My mother is going to be so cross with me.”
His eyes watered and his voice wavered, as if he might burst
into tears. You scowled at him.
“Come on, city boy. You’re tougher than that.”
If he hadn’t been a city boy, you would have felt sorry for
him. But he
was
a city boy – rich and privileged. Instead, you pitied
him. His home life was clearly too comfortable for him to concern himself with
trivialities such as self-defence.
“If I’m late home…” He sniffed.
“So your mum will shout at you. Big deal. At least she cares.”
Behind you, the landshark was still clawing at the entrance to
the gulley. You were right. He couldn’t climb the rocks. The creature pawed at
the air, padding occasionally at the rocks, as if debating whether the work was
worth the reward.
“Come on. This path goes all the way through to the other
field. Maybe we can find another therin and get you home.” You turned away from
the landshark and pushed the boy in front of you.
“I’m not getting on another of those things with you.”
You sighed and continued to walk. Maybe you could convince him
to go with you. Or maybe it would be better just to leave him behind.
LEAVE HIM IN THE FIELD
You shrugged. If the city boy was dumb enough to jump into a
therin field, then it was his own fault if he got hurt; the fence was there for
a reason. You turned away and walked back home. You had things to do,
vegetables to chop and a dinner to make.
You took one last look at the city boy over your shoulder. One
of the creatures began to pull at his cloak with his teeth, making the boy cry
out. You almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
Turning away, you shook your head. Stupid city boy. He deserved
whatever he got.
The End
(Back to start)
CONVINCE CITY BOY
“What time does your mum want you home?” you asked, sighing.
City boy might have been a little bit useless, but it wasn’t entirely his
fault. He didn’t deserve to be left at the mercy of an emotionless landshark.
“Before sundown. She will worry if I’m not home by sundown.”
You gritted your teeth and forced a smile. “Take a look at the
sky. You’ve got about an hour before it starts to get dark. Think you can walk
back to Landia in that time?”
City boy shook his head. “No.”
“So let me ride you home. As long as you leave me in control,
you’ll be okay. It will take us a half hour at most.”
City boy stopped walking. “But then
you’ll
be late
home.”
You shrugged. “I ain’t got a curfew. My mother ain’t gonna
worry if I’m out after dark.” You pushed his shoulders so he faced forwards
again. “Keep moving, city boy, or we’ll never make it.”
“I’ve got a name, you know.”
“So have I.”
“What is it?”
“What?”
“Your name. What’s your name?” He stopped and turned around
again to face you. “I don’t call you
country girl
just because I don’t
know your name.”
You shrugged. “Doesn’t bother me.”
“I’m Noah.” He held out his hand. “My mother said I shouldn’t
talk to strangers, but if you tell me your name, we won’t be strangers anymore
and that will be okay, right?”
You shrugged. “S’pose.” You shook his hand and told him your
name. “I guess that makes us friends now.”
The boy frowned. “I don’t know. I don’t think we’re friends
yet. But we aren’t strangers anymore and that means I can let you take me
home.”
You kept walking, focussing on reaching the end of the gulley.
“Have you got any more greens?”
The boy gasped. “The therin ate them all.” He put his hand to
his face. “Mother is going to be so very cross with me.”
“Yeah? Too bad.” You didn’t look back as you overtook him.
City boy – Noah – whatever his name was… he was a sap – a
murkha
.
If he didn’t stop worrying, neither of you would get out of the rocks before
nightfall. As for finding more greens… well, where there were therins, there
were none. The beasts ate them as fast as they grew from the ground. You shook
your head. Maybe helping him wasn’t your best idea.
Ahead, you could see the therins in the other field, unaffected
by the drama on the other side of the rocks. You looked around at the greenery
outside their paddock, hoping to see something they would like to eat in
exchange for a ride.
“Do you need a hand down?” you asked as you reached the end of
the gulley.
The boy shook his head. “I think I can do it.”
You pulled up a few rugged weeds from around the rocks, picking
the prickly leaves from the stems. The little flowers might tempt the therins
close enough for you to mount before they lost interest.
“If I go into the paddock and feed one, do you think you can
climb onto its back from the fence?”
Noah nodded. “I guess I can try.”
You walked over to the paddock and climbed over the fence. The
therins showed little interest in you, neither coming closer nor moving away.
You held out the bunch of stems, calling to the nearest animal.
“This way. There’s a good boy. Come on! Look at all this lovely
food. Yum-yum.”
“Do you have to speak to it like that?” Noah asked, balancing
on the fence behind you.
“It calms them. You don’t want to ride an angry one, do you?”
The boy shut his mouth and you called out again, smiling when
two of the beasts began to head in your direction. You reached up and held the
first one by the horn, guiding it so its side was flat against the fence.
“Oh, there’s a lovely boy. Aren’t you good? Here. Do you want
some of this?” You held your hand out flat to the animal and let him take some
of the flowers. “Oh, lovely.” You looked at Noah and nodded. “Climb on.”
The boy clambered up the fence and swung his legs over the
therin’s back. The animal brayed and jerked his head to the side, chewing at
the toe of Noah’s boot for a moment before becoming distracted by the flowers
in your hand. You patted him on the nose.
“You’ll let us ride, won’t you, lovely boy?” You moved around
and climb up, sitting in front of Noah instead of behind him like the last
time. “Hold on tight.
Sath’jana!
”
The therin began to move, slowly at first, but gaining speed as
you guided it through the enclosure. The faster it went, the tighter the boy’s
arms wrapped around your waist, his fingers gripping the leather of your belt
so firmly that his nails dug into your sides.
“Don’t worry. I’ll get you home and your mum won’t shout too
much.”
His head leaned against your back. You laughed to yourself.
City boys: privileged and useless.
“What are you doing all the way out here anyway?” you asked.
“I was shopping for my mother and some boys chased me.”
“Why?”
“They tried to make me give them money, but I ran. They chased
me and I ended up lost out here.”
“Good job I found you then or you’d have never got home.”
“Thank you.”
“Never thought I’d hear that from a city boy.” You laughed
again. “Never thought I’d be allies with a city boy either.”
“Allies?”
“You said we ain’t friends yet, but we ain’t enemies either, so
that makes us allies,
hai na?
”
“Allies. Someone to help me chase away the thieves?”
You shrugged. “If you like.”
You rode on, chasing the sun until you reached the suburbs of
Landia. To you, Landia seemed like a swarming metropolis, rows of houses all
crammed together in the narrow streets of town centre, the market square
crawling with traders and shoppers and so much noise. By contrast, your house
was in the middle of nowhere, built on a patch of land between the woods and
the farm.
Noah directed you through the streets to his house. You were
surprised when he asked you to stop, having expected something nicer than the
terraced house with the flaky windows. You brought the therin to a halt beside
a neat hedge that bordered a tidy front garden. Noah jumped over it from the
back of the animal, landing with a thud on the grass. He smiled at you as he
turned.
“Thank you,” he said. “I hope you get home before dark.”
You looked up at the dim sky. “Maybe. See you around, city
boy.”
“Goodbye, country girl.”
You waved as you set off again, weaving through the narrow
streets of Landia. The sky darkened as you got closer to home. The therin would
have to go back to his field in the morning; if the landshark was still lurking
in the shadows, there was no way you’d be able to outrun it.
The windows of your house were black when you reached it. No
one home. Nobody to shout at you. For a moment, you wondered if Noah’s mother
had shouted or if she’d been pleased to have him home. You tied the therin to
the post by your front door and went inside.
* * *
The house was still empty the next morning. You crept
downstairs to make sure, but no sound came from the kitchen or the living room.
Still home alone.
Outside, the therin was gone from the post, but you could see
the farmer, repairing the broken fence. You wandered out to meet him, hoping
that he might have some food on offer. He smiled at you as you approached.
“I found one of my therins by your house this morning,” he
said. “I wonder how it got there.”
You grinned. “There was a landshark. I needed to escape.”
He nodded. “That explains the fence and why I found all of my
therins scattered across the farm.”
“I took one from the other field when I came home. Shall I take
him back for you?”
The farmer rolled his eyes and pointed towards his toolbox. “Go
on then. You’ll find some greens in there.”
“
Sath’jana
!” you shouted, spurring the animal on,
picking up speed as you had done when you had rode with Noah, galloping towards
the fence. The wind blew your hair back from your face, the cold air making
your ears tingle. Unlike him, you held your nerve as the fence came closer and
closer and—
“Come on!”
The animal leapt into the air, soaring over the fence. You dug
your knees into its ribs, clinging to its horns and plastering yourself flat
against its back. You heard the hollow knock of its rear hooves clipping the
top of the fence. For a moment, your heart seemed to stop beating and you
feared the animal would fall, all hooves in the air, off balance and hurtling
towards the earth. With a thud, it struck the ground and continued to gallop,
bypassing the rock face you’d scrambled through the day before and heading for
the wooded track on the other side.
You didn’t often go near Landia. It was noisy and full of
people you didn’t know. The only reason you could think of for visiting the
city was to buy new clothes when yours became too small or irreparable. The
farmer sold vegetables, meats and milk. You could collect fruits from wild
trees. The other wares sold by the market traders were for posh, rich people,
like city boy.
And there he was, city boy Noah, sitting on a wall at the edge
of the fountain in the town square. People tutted at you as you passed,
murmuring under their breath about how therins shouldn’t be allowed in the
market square.
You opened your mouth to call out to him, taking a deep breath
then pausing. What if he wasn’t Noah after all? You thought about it for a
second, edging closer until you were almost sure it was him.
Choice:
6. Leave Him Alone
or
7.Speak to the Boy
