Ermentrude's Knot. Candi J.D. Holme
that we search elsewhere in the marketplace. I decided that it must have been broken or hidden back at the farm. I would never find it again. We left and headed over to the stables, where horses were sold or traded.
“Ermentrude, do you think we are foolish to spend this much time searching for the horses that once belonged to Gerulf and Anselm?” Saskia asked.
“Maybe we are foolish, but we did find your ax, Brunhilda, and Gerulf. Who knows . . . we might find one of the other horses. Let’s look and ask at the stables,” I said. We walked over with our horses in tow. The man at the stables looked over at our horses and asked if we were trading or selling them.
“Ne . . . we are only asking if you have seen two horses that have markings such as . . .” I glanced over at a horse that looked identical to Anselm’s horse. Saskia saw it as well. We hurried over to the horse and looked at it more closely. We noticed that it limped a bit. Its left hind leg had a bandage around it. Saskia asked the man what was wrong with its leg.
“The man who sold it to me said it was injured during a battle; he wanted very little money for it, so I bought it. I figured it could still be useful as a pet for a child. No one has wanted the poor thing. I may have to dispose of it soon, if no one buys it. I could just give it away. It eats more than it’s worth keeping around. Do you have an eye for it? Perhaps you have a son who would like it?” he offered.
Saskia looked at me with unbelieving eyes and said with joy, “I would love to have this horse! It once belonged to my friend. Now that it’s lame, I know my . . . uh . . . son would love to have it as a pet.”
“Then, it’s yours, to do with as you please,” he said, “especially since it once belonged to your friend.” He smiled and got a rope for the horse, so we could take it with us.
“Thanks!” Saskia said, as she tied Anselm’s horse to hers. I described Gerulf’s horse to the man and asked if he had seen this horse, but the man said that he had not seen it anywhere. He wished me luck in finding it and said good day.
We headed back to the men who escorted us to the village. They had gathered at the entrance to the village, where we said we’d meet at the end of the day. I asked each of them if they had heard or seen anything, but they hadn’t. Saskia showed them the horse that once belonged to Anselm. She thought she would give it to the son of Rochus, who loved horses. He was a very young boy, and couldn’t yet ride a horse by himself, but he would enjoy sitting on its back, with guidance from his father or mother. The horse would be loved for the little time it had left in its life.
I rode with Saskia and Eiriks on either side of me, smiling at the luck we had on this journey. We talked about visiting other villages throughout Middle Earth, on a quest to find Anselm. That would have to be our next inquiry. He must be close, in a nearby village. We eliminated three places where we didn’t find him—the farm belonging to the Sporoi and the two Naharvali villages. I hoped that he wasn’t sold to the Romans as a gladiator, or to fight in their army. That would make it impossible to find him.
He could be anywhere in the Roman Empire. I hadn’t seen it, but I had heard it was vast. I knew that it stretched from the western regions of Middle Earth to the far southern shores of the Black Sea. It had more riches than the Gutthiuda and the other tribes of Germania (Roman name for the area of Germanic tribes). The Roman Empire had more armies and cavalry, as well as great ships that sailed the sea—more than any other group of people in Middle Earth.
Rochus and Evorik thought we should search for Anselm on the way back to the Gepids who had accompanied us to the farm, and then, on the return trip to the mouth of the Wisla River. I thought that was a good idea, but I wanted to leave the Gepids and seek my family to the east. Perhaps I would find new villages to search in the east, where the Venethi (Sporoi) villages were established. There were many more villages than I could count. The number was daunting. We could spend many months, even years, searching for Anselm. Perhaps Eiriks would escort us again, but I knew of no one else. We would need a small band of men to help us. We decided to search for Anselm on the way to find our families and villages.
After a few days’ ride, we returned to the Gepids’ camp. We retold the events that led to our discovery of Gerulf, and Anselm’s horse, along with Anselm’s fate, and Saskia’s ax. They thought that we did well to find all these pieces of information. Anselm’s horse was handed over to Rochus’ son, and he immediately wanted to sit on its back, held by Rochus,. It was a joyous evening of firelight and music, for the Gepids loved to dance and sing.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.