Kael Silvermark's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

Kael walked back up the ridge above the gate and made a camp where he could watch the trail. He pitched a small canvas shelter between two pines and built a fire ring from creek stones. The runner had left at dawn for Bram's lodge. A round trip was a day if the man rode hard. Kael sat inside the tent flap and unstrung his bow. He rubbed the string with wax and drew it through a cloth until the fibers lay flat. Then he set the double-bladed staff across his knees and worked a whetstone down each edge. The sound filled the quiet. It was the only work he had left to do. By noon he had sharpened the staff twice and re-waxed the string. He walked the ridge to keep his legs warm and stopped at a trail marker planted where two paths crossed. The paint on the board had faded to the color of wet bark. Beneath it, the ground was scattered with elk droppings gone dry and pale. The herds had already moved through. Every day he sat here, the game walked farther north. He thought of the ram the trappers spoke of, the one that took the color of whatever stood behind it. If he did not enter the woods within the week, the ram would be gone with the rest. He followed the ridge further and came on a tower set at the edge of a clearing. It was built of rough logs lashed with green branches, three stories high, and each side carried the same mark burned deep into the wood: a crossed arrow inside a ring. Bram's mark. Kael had seen it on lodge doors and on the flanks of packhorses. He had not known it reached this far. The tower said what the ledger had said. Bram hunted here. Bram was cleared here. Kael was a guest asking permission on ground another man had already claimed. He went back to the fire before dusk. He heard the horse before he saw it. The runner came up the slope alone and held out a folded square of paper sealed with wax. Kael broke the seal. The note was three lines in a heavy hand. Bram would meet him at the gate at first light. He would sign as partner. His share of any kill was half. Kael read it twice and folded the paper into his coat. He fed the fire and sat with the staff across his knees. He had his way into the woods. He had also given away half of whatever he brought out.