The Thirsty Sword | Page 4

back!"
"Ah! a magpie, and alone!" cried Kenric, seeing the bird in his path. "That is ill luck
indeed! Give me some salt from your wallet, Lulach, for if this sign reads true then it
were unwise in me to go farther without some salt in my pocket."
"Alas!" said Lulach, "I have none. My wallet is empty!"
"Then God be my protection!" said Kenric, and with that he went on his way, feeling a
dread foreboding at his heart.
The light of day had faded from the sky as he passed by the black waters of Loch Dhu;
but there was a silvery glare above the jagged peaks of the Arran fells, and he knew that
the moon was rising, and that he would soon have her friendly light to guide him through
the dark pine forest of Barone.
All was calm and still, but through the stillness the hollow sound of a waterfall among the
far-off mountains came to him like the moaning cry of a dying man. At that sound he felt
his heart beating uneasily against his side, for that same cry, which rises from all
mountain streams towards nightfall, was beforetime held to be of ill omen when heard
from a distance, and Kenric was in a likely mood to be impressed by such a sign.
When he came to the borders of the forest he was almost afraid to venture among the
gloomy shadows of the trees. Therein, as he believed, dwelt many strange and mysterious
elves, that were wont to lead travellers astray to their destruction. But he must pass
through that forest or else go round many miles across the hills; so he braced his girdle
tighter about him and boldly plunged into the darkness. As he went forth the plaintive cry
of the curlew high up above the treetops startled him more than once, and the sudden
movement of every wild beast and bird that his own footsteps had frightened filled him
with new fears.
In the broad daylight neither man nor beast could have had power to daunt him. He was,
when put to his mettle, one of the most courageous and daring youths in the island, and,

saving only his elder brother Alpin, who was the bravest swordsman of his own age in all
the land, there was none who might attempt to draw arms against Kenric. And, in truth,
had it not been that he was sorely troubled in spirit concerning the strange words of
Elspeth Blackfell, and also that so many omens had foretold disaster, it may be that even
on that same night he would have passed through the dark avenues of the forest with
neither doubt nor tremor.
But in an age when the meaning of nature's work was little understood, when even
religion was not yet strong enough to conquer the superstition which found evil in things
which were only mysteries, it was small wonder that young Kenric of Bute should wish
himself safely at home in his father's castle, or regret that he had not gone back to the
abbey of St. Blane.
Nevertheless it was not alone the thought of trolls and elfins that disturbed him. At that
time the wild boar and the wolf were denizens of the forest wherein he walked -- animals
which would indeed be welcomed in the daylight by a band of hunters with their spears
and hounds, but which might give some trouble to a youth appearing alone in their midst
on a dark night.
At one moment when he was deep within the heart of the forest he thought he heard
hurried footsteps behind him. He felt for his dirk and turned round. The moon's beams
pierced the trees and fell upon a glistening pool of water where a wildcat was slaking its
thirst. There was naught else that might cause him alarm.
But in a little while he heard the same sound again -- this time in advance of him. He
stood still. In the shadow of a great bare rock he saw two staring eyes that shone like
gleaming fires, now green, now red, and he knew that they were the eyes of a wolf. There
was a low growl as of distant thunder. Then the moon's light shot through a rack of cloud,
and he saw the form of the wolf standing out clear and black against the grey rock. He
fixed an arrow to his bowstring; but at the sound of the creaking bow the wolf gave a
sharp yelp and disappeared into the darkness beyond.
Kenric, bolder now, unbent his bow and stepped towards the rock that he might see
whither the wolf had fled. In an open glade that was behind the rock he saw, instead of
the wolf, a