An Ill Wind?

The bosk and kaiila seemed uneasy, which is the first sign that something is amiss. The bosk were being difficult to get into the traces, and the kailla danced around, snorting, nostrils flaring. As she was cooking, Ciegue came up behind her, nudged her in the back trying to move her back towards her wagon. She pushed at him, and told him to go away, she did not have time to play. Skies, that animal suddenly had taken the notion that she was his mare or something. He was becoming very protective, which in a way was not only odd, but endearing.


As the first rays of the Central Fire began to lighten the sky,she began to hear people, shouting and saw OutRiders running. Rook came to her, grasped her arm, and shouted for her to get in the wagon. Looking up at him oddly, she pulled her arm away, and he grasped it again and pointed towards the horizon. Looking, her mouth dropped open. You could see the storm forming. At first, she thought it was a spring thunderstorm, but looking longer she realized it was something much worse. It was a wind strom, one that was picking up the dirt, tossing it in swirls and eddies. Memories of the storm at the end of the last journey came back, and she did not have to be told to get in the wagon again.


Moving as quickly as she could, she started to mount the steps and slipped. From what seemed like no where, Sinjin was there to catch her and help her into the wagon. He was very firm when he told her to stay, and not to come out. Had he known her better, he would have known that she really was not one to be foolhardy or to ignore the commands off a warrior, whether he was Tuchuk or a guest. The only thing that she asked, was that he make sure that Tug was safe. She knew that Leonette would do what was best, but she was still a mother, with a mother's worry.


She could hear Rook and Sinjin yelling back an forth above the din, trying to get the bosk out of the harnesses as quickly as they could. They took the team off of her wagon, then both of them moved to the other wagons, drawing one up on either side of the one she was in. She realized, they were protecting her, trying to make wind breaks to either side of the wagon she was in, to protect her. Tying the flaps as securely as she could, she moved around and tried to make sure there was nothing that would go flying around if the wind were to get to her. At that particular moment, she was almost glad that she had her fit of temper a few nights earlier, for there was not much to batten down.


After things were secured, her thoughts went to the men, and that worry kicked in again, as she became concerned for them still being outside. She would have looked out, but she knew what Rook would do if she did so she just paced grumbling to herself, rubbing her belly. Even with the extra protection the other wagons, when the first gusts hit, her wagon shook and she stumbled, almost going to her knees. Catching herself, she managed to get to the platform of furs and lie down. Pulling the furs around her, she tried to put the bulk of them around her body. In her mind, she was giving extra protection to the child she carried.


The winds blew and groaned around the wagon, and the wagon shook, creaked and sounded like it was going to come apart. One particularly viscous gust caught the covering and ripped it from the frame on one side. Her first thought was to try and grasp it, hold it so that it would not blow completely off, but she could not even get up, the wind was so hard. She had to eventually put the furs up over her head in order to breath, to not do so, the wind took her breath away. She could hear the canvas flapping around, then the sound of debris pelting the inside of her wagon. At one point, she could feel it striking her body, and was doubly grateful for the protection of the furs.


It seemed like ahns that she lay there, terrified of what was going on around her. She heard a final rip of the wagon canvas and realized it was gone, and the wind began to rip the furs from her grasp. She fought to hold on to them, but realized it was folly, that she would not be able to keep them.


Suddenly, she heard the voices, but was unable to understand what was being said. The next thing she knew, strong arms were surrounding her from both sides, and she felt the bodies lay down next to her. And this was how she rode out the remainder of the storm, protected on both sides by the bodies and arms of warriors that had her safety at heart.


When the winds abated, they both sat up, then Sinjin helped her up. There was true concern from both of them about her condition. But other than being scared, and now very dirty, she was fine. Or she would be fine once her heart calmed down. She then began to fuss that there was much to do, and she must get busy. Wrong. It took only one of those heartbeats for both of the warriors to tell her she was not doing anything. When she protested that she was pregnant, and not an invalid, it fell on deaf ears.


A bit defeated, she began to look around, to see the damage that was done. It was like nothing she had ever seen before, and she had been through many storms, but never one like this one had been. It was chaos, but she could see people starting to climb out of wagons, and from underneath wagons to look around. The strength of the Tuchuk began to show through. Everyone began to work, trying to clean up the mess.


She could hear conversations around her, and people speaking of seeing the wind twist and turn like no other time. Finally she was allowed to crawl out of her wagon so that they could begin to repair the canvass, but was cautioned to find a place to sit, and to not wander off. Just like a child, but she did as she was told. One elder came to sit on the steps of the wagon with her, and began to regale her with stories of times well past, when the winds had done this before, destroying everything in their path, even the earth where they touched. According to him it was an evil omen. She did not want to hear of such things, and was very grateful when Rook approached and told her that there were some of her wagons that sustained lesser damage,and Sinjin was making her a bed in one of them. She gracefully excused herself from the elder and followed him.


Sinjin had tidied up the wagon, made her a bed and had the salve and poultices for her legs. He more or less took over, and told her what she could and couldn't do. At one point she had opened her mouth to speak, but he had held his hand up, as a sign he would brook no argument from her, so she quieted. Rook came to sit with her, just to assuage his own worries, and they talked of those that had stayed behind, and she had said that at this point she wished she had stayed with the. That was when he told her of his visit from Ulrich, and of him being charged to get her on the trail at the orders of the spex Tarra. The woman felt that she would be safer with the tribe, than she would be staying behind. She was left with this nugget to ponder on as he went to help with the clean up and repairs.


In spite of what was going on around her, and her worries, she found that she spent most of the day dozing off and on. Late in the afternoon, kasra came in with a light meal for her, and some tea that Sinjin had her make. But most importantly,she came with news and gossip. There had been deaths from the storm, and injuries, which saddened her immensely.


The decision had been made to camp here to do the repairs and to hold pyres for those that had been lost, and it was going to be necessary for the out riders to gather the bosk who had stampeded into all four directions. And kasra had assured her that Tug was fine, and he and Wily were finding this all a great adventure. It would be so nice to be young.


So, they would be camping for a few days. Suddenly, the trail was getting longer, and she was getting more pregnant. It was with a sinking heart that she realized that this child would probably be born on the trail, and that silent fear crept into her again.