Chapter One - The Beach
February 13th 2007 03:01
‘C’mon Sarah’ Becky called out to her friend who was a little way
behind her on the beach.
‘Let’s go Falte’ Sarah said to her horse as they galloped to catch up.
Becky turned once more as she heard the sounds of hooves
thundering on the sand close behind, smiling as Sarah rode next to
her.
‘I have never known anyone who loves to go as fast as you do’ She
said laughing.
‘ Well you know how strong willed Falte is and if I don’t give him a
fast run, then he is quite likely to give me one instead’ Sarah replied
with a knowing grin.
As the pair rode side by side at a canter along the deserted beach,
Becky asked ‘Did you ever think you would end up living in
Tasmania?’
Sarah thought for a moment, it had been two years since she had got
divorced and at the time, taking the veterinary position in a small
township just outside Hobart had seemed a good idea, just to get
away from Robert, but most of the men here seemed to be threatened
by an intelligent woman, so her relationships seemed to never last.
A sudden cry from Becky, snapped Sarah from her thoughts.
‘What is it?’ She asked her friend with some concern.
‘Look!’ Becky replied pointing out to sea ahead of them.
Sarah’s gaze followed where her friend was pointing and she reined
Falte quickly to a halt at what she saw, for just ahead was a huge
water spout that had just appeared from nowhere and even from
where they were, the roar of water could be heard quite easily.
‘Have you ever seen anything like that before?’ Becky asked in awe.
‘Only when I went on that storm chasing holiday in Kansas a while
back but nothing this close though’ Sarah replied fascinated.
Their horse’s were starting to get a little edgy but as quickly as the
water spout had appeared, it vanished leaving behind just frothing
bubbling water as something bobbed from beneath the sea’s surface.
As they rounded some sand dunes, Sarah said ‘That looks like a horse up ahead, standing at the water’s edge?’
‘So it does, I wonder what it is doing there?’ Becky asked as they
rode nearer.
Upon drawing closer they could see that it was very large, dwarfing both of their mounts but the thing that caught their attention was how it was as if it was staring out into the breaking waves.
They both tried to see what it might have been looking at when Sarah thought she saw something hanging onto a large piece of driftwood as the sea slowly brought it closer to the shore.
As they stood there, Sarah noticed that the horse next to them, was absolutely dripping wet, with drying sea salt encrusting its coat.
It was then that more pieces of wreckage started to wash ashore.
‘Can you see what it might be?’ Becky asked curiously .
As piece’s of rope, sail, empty barrels and all manner debris was being washed up onto the sand around them, the tide brought the driftwood in close enough for them to see it clearly.
‘Oh my god!’ Sarah cried out as she saw what was clinging onto a
large piece of timber that was being washed in the surf close to them.
‘Is that what I think it is?’ Becky replied going slightly white at the
sight.
‘Here take my reins’ Sarah told her, dismounting quickly before
wading out to where the waves were washing over the figure that
still clung to the wood.
Cursing momentarily at getting her riding boots wet, she focused on
the figure ahead. The water was up to her knees but then a larger
wave washed the timber right at her and she managed to get a hold
of the figure’s shoulders before the wave drew back again.
As she struggled with the dead weight, Sarah could see that it was a
man but he was dressed in a manner that seemed unfamiliar to her.
‘I’ll worry about where he is from later’ She thought to herself,
placing a hand under each shoulder and dragging him out of the
water.
Meanwhile Becky had tied the reins of both horses to a large piece of
driftwood and was at the water’s edge to help her friend.
As they reached the waters edge, she asked ‘Is he still alive?’
‘I don’t know?’ Sarah replied fearfully as she took off her riding hat,
letting it drop to the beach before kneeling beside the man and
trying to take his pulse.
‘Well?’ Becky asked concerned.
‘I don’t know, it’s really hard to feel anything’ Sarah replied with a
sinking feeling growing in her stomach.
‘What shall we do?’ Becky asked with a touch of panic starting to
creep into her voice.
It was then that the horse still standing next to them moved forward and started to nuzzle the unconscious man’s face.
‘Well this horse seems to know something?’ Becky said with some hope.
Sarah still wasn’t sure, he looked dead but she thought she would try
just one last thing and with that she pulled out her keys which were
attached to a small shiny silver disc.
Becky knelt in silence as Sarah placed the disc just over the mans
mouth for a few moments before taking it away and looking at the
underside, suddenly exclaiming ‘He’s alive!’
‘How do you know?’ Becky asked her friend shocked.
Sarah held up the disc as the last traces of condensation upon it’s
surface disappeared in the ocean breeze.
Making a decision, Sarah turned and told Becky ‘Ride as fast as you
and fetch Earl with his truck while I stay here and do what I can for him’.
‘Here take my coat’ Becky replied before untying her mount and
galloped quickly back the way they had come earlier.
Sarah took off her own coat, even thought she was starting to shiver
slightly in the her wet clothes.
It wasn’t until she placed the jacket under the mans head and went to
pull his cloak over his body, that she noticed the sword strapped to
his side and metal wrist guards he wore. Looking over the rest of
him, Sarah noticed his tunic jerkin had an unusual symbol upon it.
Crossed swords in front of a sun image ‘I wonder what it means’ she
thought to her self.
She studied his features, guessing his age to be about mid thirties, he
had long dark hair, strong features with a nasty looking scar on the
left side of his neck. And even though he was unconscious she found her self thinking that he didn’t look too bad actually, before telling herself off and checking for a pulse again, giving a slight smile when she found one this time.
‘Hold in there, help is on its way’ she said out loud.
Just then the mans eyes flickered open ever so slightly and Sarah said
gently ‘ You are safe’ but then they closed again and she checked his
pulse once more and was relieved to find that it hadn’t changed.
To be continued.................... ....
behind her on the beach.
‘Let’s go Falte’ Sarah said to her horse as they galloped to catch up.
Becky turned once more as she heard the sounds of hooves
thundering on the sand close behind, smiling as Sarah rode next to
her.
‘I have never known anyone who loves to go as fast as you do’ She
said laughing.
‘ Well you know how strong willed Falte is and if I don’t give him a
fast run, then he is quite likely to give me one instead’ Sarah replied
with a knowing grin.
As the pair rode side by side at a canter along the deserted beach,
Becky asked ‘Did you ever think you would end up living in
Tasmania?’
Sarah thought for a moment, it had been two years since she had got
divorced and at the time, taking the veterinary position in a small
township just outside Hobart had seemed a good idea, just to get
away from Robert, but most of the men here seemed to be threatened
by an intelligent woman, so her relationships seemed to never last.
A sudden cry from Becky, snapped Sarah from her thoughts.
‘What is it?’ She asked her friend with some concern.
‘Look!’ Becky replied pointing out to sea ahead of them.
Sarah’s gaze followed where her friend was pointing and she reined
Falte quickly to a halt at what she saw, for just ahead was a huge
where they were, the roar of water could be heard quite easily.
‘Have you ever seen anything like that before?’ Becky asked in awe.
‘Only when I went on that storm chasing holiday in Kansas a while
back but nothing this close though’ Sarah replied fascinated.
Their horse’s were starting to get a little edgy but as quickly as the
water spout had appeared, it vanished leaving behind just frothing
bubbling water as something bobbed from beneath the sea’s surface.
As they rounded some sand dunes, Sarah said ‘That looks like a horse up ahead, standing at the water’s edge?’
‘So it does, I wonder what it is doing there?’ Becky asked as they
rode nearer.
Upon drawing closer they could see that it was very large, dwarfing both of their mounts but the thing that caught their attention was how it was as if it was staring out into the breaking waves.
They both tried to see what it might have been looking at when Sarah thought she saw something hanging onto a large piece of driftwood as the sea slowly brought it closer to the shore.
As they stood there, Sarah noticed that the horse next to them, was absolutely dripping wet, with drying sea salt encrusting its coat.
It was then that more pieces of wreckage started to wash ashore.
‘Can you see what it might be?’ Becky asked curiously .
As piece’s of rope, sail, empty barrels and all manner debris was being washed up onto the sand around them, the tide brought the driftwood in close enough for them to see it clearly.
‘Oh my god!’ Sarah cried out as she saw what was clinging onto a
large piece of timber that was being washed in the surf close to them.
‘Is that what I think it is?’ Becky replied going slightly white at the
sight.
‘Here take my reins’ Sarah told her, dismounting quickly before
wading out to where the waves were washing over the figure that
still clung to the wood.
Cursing momentarily at getting her riding boots wet, she focused on
the figure ahead. The water was up to her knees but then a larger
wave washed the timber right at her and she managed to get a hold
of the figure’s shoulders before the wave drew back again.
As she struggled with the dead weight, Sarah could see that it was a
man but he was dressed in a manner that seemed unfamiliar to her.
‘I’ll worry about where he is from later’ She thought to herself,
placing a hand under each shoulder and dragging him out of the
water.
Meanwhile Becky had tied the reins of both horses to a large piece of
driftwood and was at the water’s edge to help her friend.
As they reached the waters edge, she asked ‘Is he still alive?’
‘I don’t know?’ Sarah replied fearfully as she took off her riding hat,
letting it drop to the beach before kneeling beside the man and
trying to take his pulse.
‘Well?’ Becky asked concerned.
‘I don’t know, it’s really hard to feel anything’ Sarah replied with a
sinking feeling growing in her stomach.
‘What shall we do?’ Becky asked with a touch of panic starting to
creep into her voice.
It was then that the horse still standing next to them moved forward and started to nuzzle the unconscious man’s face.
‘Well this horse seems to know something?’ Becky said with some hope.
Sarah still wasn’t sure, he looked dead but she thought she would try
just one last thing and with that she pulled out her keys which were
attached to a small shiny silver disc.
Becky knelt in silence as Sarah placed the disc just over the mans
mouth for a few moments before taking it away and looking at the
underside, suddenly exclaiming ‘He’s alive!’
‘How do you know?’ Becky asked her friend shocked.
Sarah held up the disc as the last traces of condensation upon it’s
surface disappeared in the ocean breeze.
Making a decision, Sarah turned and told Becky ‘Ride as fast as you
and fetch Earl with his truck while I stay here and do what I can for him’.
‘Here take my coat’ Becky replied before untying her mount and
galloped quickly back the way they had come earlier.
Sarah took off her own coat, even thought she was starting to shiver
slightly in the her wet clothes.
It wasn’t until she placed the jacket under the mans head and went to
pull his cloak over his body, that she noticed the sword strapped to
his side and metal wrist guards he wore. Looking over the rest of
him, Sarah noticed his tunic jerkin had an unusual symbol upon it.
Crossed swords in front of a sun image ‘I wonder what it means’ she
thought to her self.
She studied his features, guessing his age to be about mid thirties, he
had long dark hair, strong features with a nasty looking scar on the
left side of his neck. And even though he was unconscious she found her self thinking that he didn’t look too bad actually, before telling herself off and checking for a pulse again, giving a slight smile when she found one this time.
‘Hold in there, help is on its way’ she said out loud.
Just then the mans eyes flickered open ever so slightly and Sarah said
gently ‘ You are safe’ but then they closed again and she checked his
pulse once more and was relieved to find that it hadn’t changed.
To be continued.................... ....
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