I Don't Trust Him.

Chapter 9

Rolic proves his cleverness

"Please stop arguing." I begged for the one hundredth time that day, Lissie and Ariella glared at each other and I wondered if my Aunt Prune had really known what she was doing pairing up these two. Ariella quickened Jotsies pace so that he was trotting up close to Newinta and whispered quite loudly in my ear, "If I have to endure one more second of this repulsive girls complaints I'm going to die." Lissie started up at this and was about to say something about Ariella but I quickly stepped in, "Ariella I'm sure if you just didn't ride so close to her you wouldn't have a problem." 

Lissie nodded approvingly at me and continued to complain silently to herself. I glanced at Rolic who was riding on a dusty pack horse that he said he'd been GIVEN from his mother so he could find me.

I couldn't help my curiosity and asked him why he had followed me and how he'd found me he answered thus, "Why I told my mother and she said it was the only thing to do and it was quite easy finding you all I had to do was ask if anyone had seen a pale skinned blonde girl." I glared secretly but suspiciously at him, how come all the sudden he was speaking so well and why didn't he say "me mum" like usual? Rolic was a complete puzzle to me how could he speak so like a poorly bred country boy one minute and a gentleman's son the next I was almost certain he was secretly the son of some noble lord or something like that, but why wouldn't he want me to know? And what was with Lissie? So many puzzles and to little answers and I felt I had squeezed all I was going to get from the boy and despite my best attempts to hide it I knew Rolic knew I didn't trust him and he quite clammed up. 

I tossed a curly  bunch of hair behind my shoulder and felt Ariella leaning over to me again and before she'd even said anything I already knew what it was...

a man was in the shadows just a short distance from us his big burly body with the crest of a snake assured me he was one of that man Fredrics cronies (I forgot to mention they had snakes on there clothing didn't I? Oh well can't be helped you know now) I ordered our group to halt and slowly descended from my horse and asked her if she'd mind if I borrowed the short sword aunt Prune had given her, she shrugged and handed it to me. "It's not really my kind of weapon anyways she opened her cape a bit to reveal two shiny silver daggers with some strange green mettle forged into them. "Another gift from the wealthy Lord?" I asked, she shrugged and I gave one suspicious glance than moved over to Rolic. "Do you think you could sneak up behind that guy and give him a conk with the hilt of this?" he smiled sneakily and hopped of his horse grasping the sword with amazing quickness and expertise, this was more of a test if him than of a necessary thing for I could have conked the guy out myself only I'd wanted to see how Rolic would preform.

He'd climbed up the nearest tree almost at quickly as he'd taken the sword  and jumped quietly from it to the next and then the next after it until he was only a short distance from the unsuspecting man in the shadows,

then he slowly climbed down snuck up behind the man raised his arms and...tapped the guy lightly on the shoulder; he whirled around shaking from head to foot Cathrine could hear him spilling out something nervously but couldn't catch what it was, Rolic said something to him and the man shook his head, gave one final shiver, and then quickly trotted off into the forest. 

When Rolic was near again I asked him what it had been about, he handed me the sword and began, "Weellll I knew right away that this man wasn't really one of Fredrics I know there look and apparently I'd been right. The mans name is Wiggy funny name I know but that's not important, he was in his field this morning when he saw these nice clothes hidden in some tall grass and as no one was there who could possibly lay claim to them he collected them so that he could sell in market when he went but he grew so attracted to them that he put them on when he got home then strangely enough he felt the urge to come to this byway and see if anyone came along. He said, when he saw me it was like coming out of a trance and he hastily explained to me that he hadn't any idea what had made him go and put those clothes on and leave his field to watch the roads than he begged me to take the clothes away and I told him he should go home and burn them immediately to which he made all haste to do." 

"That's quite a strange story, and you believed it?"

"Of course, didn't I tell you that Fredric is also an inventor and he sends a sort of message command through the crests on his men's suits?"

"No you didn't."

He shrugged and then smiled mischievously at me. "Must have slipped my mind."

"Sure." I replied sarcasticallly streching the "Ure" so that he knew I didn't believe him. About the slipping his mind I mean, at this point I didn't doubt Fredics evilness er' what's the word, nevermind.

I looked at all my companions and nearly screamed, I knew hardly anything about any of them.