They set off slowly through the woods. A half-hour later, Roo stopped. He glanced around a clearing and said, ‘I know this place.’
‘Where are we?’
Roo said, ‘Karli, this is where your father, Erik, and I camped, the second night we traveled together. We met him a half-day’s ride to the east.’ He calculated. ‘Damn. We got turned around someplace, and were moving northwest instead of north. We’re not as far east as I hoped.’
‘Where are we?’ asked Helen.
‘Still most of a day’s ride to a road that will fork down to Wilhelmsburg.’
Karli lowered her voice. ‘Luis can’t ride another day.’
‘I know,’ said Roo, ‘but we have no choice.’
He led them through the clearing, and just a short distance to the north lay the road they had been seeking. Hoof prints showed that the patrol Roo had heard had ridden this way. He motioned to them to follow him down the road.
The day passed without incident. Near sundown, they left the woodlands and found an abandoned farm, a squat stone-and-log affair with a sod roof. ‘We can stay here tonight,’ said Roo. ‘The road that leads down to Wilhelmsburg is about another hour to the east of here.’
They got Luis off the horse and into the house, laying him gently on a straw pallet. Roo took the horses into the unoccupied barn, untacked them, and found some hay there, which he let them eat. He knew from his training with Erik and the others while in the army that if the hay was bad the horses would colic and die, but from what he could tell, it still looked edible. He closed the door and went to the little house.
Helen was looking at Luis’s shoulder. ‘We need to clean this,’ she said.
Roo looked around and found nothing. ‘Let me see if there’s a well.’
He went out back and found the well, and there was still a bucket in it. He pulled up fresh water, untied the bucket, and brought the water into the house.
Karli said, ‘I found this.’ She held out a small sack. ‘Salt.’ Roo took it while Karli said, ‘It must have fallen to the floor when whoever lived here fled.’
Roo said, ‘It might help.’
‘Can we have a fire?’ asked Willem.
Roo said, ‘No. Even if we hide the flames from sight, the smell of smoke could bring raiders.’
Helen lowered her voice. ‘If I can boil some water, I can clean his wounds.’
Roo said, ‘I know.’ He held out the salt. ‘Drink from the bucket, then when it’s half full, pour the salt into the water. Bathe his wounds in that.’ He glanced at his unconscious friend. ‘It will hurt like hell, but I don’t think he’ll notice. I’m going to try to find something for a poultice.’
Roo left the hut and stayed close to the buildings, in case someone might be coming along the road. He didn’t want to take the chance of being spotted. He hurried past the barn and past the now empty fields, into the woods. He had seen several mosses on the rocks the way they had come. Nakor had shown them all how to make a poultice, and Roo wished he had paid closer attention. But he thought he knew what to look for.
After nearly an hour’s search, as night was falling, Roo found the spiderweb-like moss, hugging tree trunks and rocks near a tiny stream. He gathered as much as he could carry in two hands, then hurried back to the farmhouse.
Karli and Helen had gotten Luis’s shirt off and had bathed the wound with the salt water. Helen said, ‘He didn’t move.’
Roo said, ‘That’s probably for the best.’ He studied his friend’s face and saw it was covered with perspiration. He also saw that the wound to his shoulder had been caked over with dried blood, but now lay open. That needs to be sewn closed.’
Karli said, ‘I have needles.’
‘What?’ asked Roo.
She reached under her dress and said, ‘Needles are expensive and when we left everything, I made sure my needles were safe.’ She tore a seam in the hem of her dress and took out a tiny rolled piece of leather, which had been lying alongside the seam. She unrolled it and presented Roo with six finely tempered steel needles.
Roo blinked. ‘I’m pleased sewing meant so much to you,’ he said. ‘You wouldn’t have any thread, by chance, would you?’
Helen said, ‘Threads are easy.’ She stood and lifted the hem of her dress. She reached under and pulled down one of her own underskirts, stepping out of it. With her teeth she worried a seam, and when she was satisfied with the damage done, she began unraveling threads. ‘Now, how long do you think?’
‘A foot and a half,’ said Roo.
She took one of the needles and worked the tangle of threads, pushing the one she wanted clear, then she took it between thumb and forefinger and pulled. Roo expected it to break, but to his surprise, it unraveled and she pulled out three feet of thread. She bit at the hem, and yanked, and handed the linen thread to Roo.