Page 65 of The Knucker King

John untied the mare. “My turn!”

Like a stag bounding through a glen, he mounted Epona in one smooth motion. He found his seat right in front of the midwife. John reached behind him and tugged Avice’s hands around his waist, settling them on his solid torso.

He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Hold on tight.”

John picked up the rope bridle and clicked his tongue against his teeth. Epona started at a quick walk, and Avice clung to John for dear life. Avice felt his legs squeeze against the horse’s belly, and the mare took off at a trot out of the stone circle of her garden.

She let out a squeak and pressed her forehead into John’s back. You rode a Knucker, pull yourself together.

Her stomach somersaulted as she rested her chin on the fisherman’s shoulder, squinting against the chilled air stinging her face. She caught Bramble in her periphery, running in the shadows by their side.

“Are you alright?” John asked over his shoulder, a smirk on his face.

“Yes… I think so,” she replied, turning her face from the wind.

Why is it, every time I step outside, it feels colder?

Despite her many layers of clothes, Avice shivered against John’s back as they trotted at a steady pace towards central Lamorna.

25

Chapter 25

Trewoofe

Trewoofe awoke to the clear absence of Avice in his arms. He ran his hand over the pallet, searching for her amongst the tousled blankets. Concern gripped him as he opened his eyes and found her gone.

He licked his parched lips. “Avice?” he asked into the cottage.

The Wisp floated up from somewhere and landed besides him.

“She had to attend an emergency with a villager,” Ashling explained. “She asked me to look after you while she was gone.”

“When will she return home?” Trewoofe asked, forcing himself up into a sitting position, holding his aching middle.

“I do not know. Though, I am sure she will be back before dark.”

He patted his stomach and knitted his brow at the hardness under his many layers of bandages. “What is this?”

“Avice went into your well to find something that may help you; she brought back the water and those crystals. She put them under your bandages while you slept.”

Silver tears stung his eyes. “She did that for me?” He wiped his face. “But she fears being underground.”

“She cares for you more then she is scared of being underground.” Ashling wafted over and landed on Trewoofe’s knee.

He jolted at that. “She cares for me?”

The Wisp flared his flames, before cooling them again. “Of course she does. She said that she ‘thinks you’re lovely’.”

Trewoofe’s chest fluttered. “Really?”

“Really,” Ashling reassured. “Now, do you think you can get up?”

He leant forward, sending Ashling wafting away, and rubbed his numb legs through the blankets. “I think so.”

“Good, then I think you should—”

Trewoofe bolted to his stockinged feet and stepped down from the wooden pallet.