Unspoken Words

Joseph Brannick. (307) 677-2688. [email protected]. 1895 words

UNSPOKEN WORDS

by

JOSEPH M. BRANNICK

Riding down a forest path, near the outpost he had been assigned after the collapse of society, Frontier Guard, Jaime, had ridden this trail one hundred times on one hundred days just like this. So he was particularly alarmed to see a young woman running along the path before him. She had elegant shoes, her hair was daintily held into place with pins and she wore a fine dress, but it was clear that all was not well as her dress was tattered and her hair was a mess. The contrast from what was typically worn these days made him fear she could be a diversion to an ambush. He rode up and cautiously demanded, “What seems to be the trouble, miss?”

She stopped in her tracks and whipped around to see who had stumbled upon her. She called back to him, “This is my first time being alone in the forest! I was riding home from North City, my horse has never been in this forest either.” Jamie was even more doubtful as this was not possible post decline. How on earth could she have gone her whole life without ever being in a forest?

“You have never been to a forest?” he asked.

“No! Which is why when I dismounted to pick some wild flowers down the trail, my horse spooked and ran away. And I have been looking for him ever since!” He could tell the lady was quite distraught.

“Well why would you stop for such a trivial thing as flowers? Don’t you know this is a borderland dispute zone between the governors of north and east cities?”

“Well can’t I enjoy a simple thing or did that die when the world ran out of champagne and motorized vehicles”

Jamie was becoming irritated,“I don’t think you understand, you cannot be here. You’re a liability.”

“I’m not leaving without my horse” She responded angrily. Standing taller and placing her arms stubbornly at her hips. She didn’t understand that he wasn’t asking.

“We can search briefly, but he may be gone.” Jamie was surprised at his willingness to compromise with a girl he’d only just met.

“No no! I have to find that horse!” She became even more persistent than before “I need to find him! Right away!” She looked to the distance for a second, and then back at Jamie, her voice agitated as she said “Well.. Not the horse, it's the saddle I need to find.”

This perplexed Jamie, “ Don’t you know a horse is far more valuable than a saddle? A saddle is replaceable, a good horse is hard to find!”

She shook her head as she tried to explain as vaguely as possible, “You don’t understand, it's the contents of the saddle that cannot be replaced!” she became quite frantic as she said this. Jaime knew there was something this strange girl wasn’t telling him.

“Get on.” She promptly climbed onto the back of the horse; billowing skirts and all. With a quick thought, Jamie said: “A lost horse will not stray too far from the path, he will follow it to the nearest creek, and I am guessing you were following the path of your horse?”

“Well yes” the girl responded

Jamie pointed to the trail, “ As you can see, this trail is well traveled, so if we look carefully, we may be able to see his hoof prints.”

Though there were many types of prints on the trail, they were able to pick up the fresh tracks of the horse leading towards an outcropping of trees.

The girl seemed hesitant to leave the main road. She voiced to Jamie that people would be searching for her. He assured her that this trail did lead to fresh water, so they would be best off to keep following it.

After twenty minutes or so, they came upon a stream. In the wet mud, the hoof prints were much easier to spot. He turned his horse left and traveled along the bank until, sure enough, they spotted the horse; a large, beautiful dapple grey. He closely examined this saddle that seemed to be of so much importance. Despite all its beauty and craftsmanship, it still didn’t compare to the price of a horse like this one. Before he had even stopped his horse, the girl leapt off the back and ran towards it, calling his name. It was clear the horse was hers as it looked up at the sound of the girl's voice and cantered towards her.

Once she had mounted, her entire demeanor changed. She became relaxed and happy. She went on about the beauty of the forest. She told Jamie she had no idea where she was or how to get to her destination. But none of that concerned her at this moment. The mood had shifted and Jamie quickly began to have a blissful time with her. The joy that radiated from her smile as she looked around in wonder was awe inspiring. Jamie began to wonder silently if this was a meeting of fate.

He felt a strong urge to know more about her, but knew he had to stay on guard. He wasn’t about to risk being carefree but there was something that made him comfortable, and not in a dangerous way. She also seemed so comfortable in his presence, and expressed that she felt she could be herself and let go of all her stress in this environment. Jaime smiled at this, and took it as a sign that maybe some of his questions were welcome.

“What is your name? How did you come to be in my forest?” he asked curiously. The girl stopped her horse and looked at Jamie as a sly smile crept across her face.

“Your forest? Does this forest not belong to the governor?” She seemed oddly offended, as if his question had somehow been a personal attack. She continued, as her smile grew, “I’m someone you’ve only ever heard of!” And with this she took off ahead of him at a full gallop.

“Great.” Jamie thought as he kicked his horse forward, “how many secrets does this girl have?” This mild disappointment suddenly brought him back to reality as he remembered all of his obligations, and was briefly worried about spending a whole day returning a lost girl home. He dismissed it though, as he decided abandoning her would be the greater crime. Riding side by side he guided them back to the guard station where his relief would arrive that night. Upon arriving Jamie began making preparations for his night watch, fed the tracking dogs, built a fire and remarked that he had never had such a fine companion to eat dinner with.

“When will we head back to town?” She asked casually

“Tomorrow morning”

“What?!” she asked in disbelief “ why can’t we leave until tomorrow??”

“Well you see”, Jamie said “it’s about five in the afternoon, one cannot traverse the forest by night and not expect to encounter marauders.”

“Five o'clock at night? Where did the day go?” She looked to the sky, shocked at how quickly the time had gone.”

It occurred to Jamie that this girl seemed to have no concept of time, or at least how to use it wisely. Her whole demeanor was an anomaly to him. But once she resigned herself to the fact that it was not up for discussion, she once again relaxed and resumed her bubbly, inquisitive attitude. She followed Jamie as he led the horses to the stable, where together they unsaddled and fed them. He noticed again how carefully she examined her saddle before stowing it away for the night. His curiosity got the best of him again as they ate, he repeated his question from earlier, “So, what is your name? What is with this saddle?” She stopped talking and looked at him long and hard, but she didn’t seem angry. Slowly her face drew a mischievous smile,

“So many questions! Can’t we just enjoy this beautiful evening away from our problems?” Her ability to evade his questions with such entertaining answers intrigued him all the more. But he thought it best not to encroach as she had made it clear she did not wish to divulge. So instead, they spent the night laughing, talking and eating the crude dinner Jamie had thrown together, and at last, fell asleep under the stars. But not before she quietly confided in him that she had never experienced such a beautiful day. And how excited she was to do this as often as they wanted. Jamie didn’t understand this, but knew that asking for clarification would be pointless.

The next morning Jamie awoke from his sleep by the fire. He bolted up looking around, “Where are you?” He called. He searched the area. His horse was grazing nearby but there was no sign of the dapple gray. His relief sentry was due to arrive soon, so he set the guard station in order; pausing periodically to call out to her, even though he knew he’d get no reply.

About 9AM his relief showed up with his supply pack horses and the guide who was responsible for supply deliveries. Having heard Jamie calling out, they asked him who he was looking for.

“Someone I helped yesterday” His voice was filled with sadness and a little despair, “She was trying to get home from North City.” At this his relief sentry, Donnie, began to tell him of all the latest gossip from North City where he had just come from. Apparently the city was buzzing about the fact that the mayor's son, Charles had returned from a trip to South City where he had gone to be wedded to the Governor's daughter, Carmen. She had been to North City two days ago to meet him and it was presumed they would be married. But upon arriving at the Governor's mansion with his entourage, he had been turned away. For the Governor would not have his daughter married to a man she didn’t love no matter his status. As a token of her love, she was to give a golden heart shaped locket to the man she wished to marry. This pact between them was only known by the Governor, Carmen, and her fathers closest administrators. Since Charles did not have this golden heart shaped locket when he arrived, she clearly didn’t love him, without having had to tell him so.

“Who does that saddle in the stable belong to?” Ron, the Outfitter, broke Donnie's blabbing after stabling the horses.

Jamie turned instantly and demanded, “She left her saddle?!”

“She?” asked the outfitter.

“Yeah” Donnie broke in, “Jamie says there was a young woman here..”

“It doesn’t make sense, that saddle was so important to her! She would never have forgotten it!” Jamie exerted, a hint of desperation in his voice.

“Well it needs a little repair,” Ron stated, “But I agree it has great personal value to whoever it belongs to. There is a large C embedded in the leather among other carvings.” Ron, still perplexed, then held up an object, “It contained this in a pocket.” Both Jamie and Donnie stared in disbelief as he held up a beautiful, golden, heart shaped locket!