Wolves of the Witchwood (The Impossible Quest Book 2)

Excerpt from The Impossible Quest: Escape from Wolfhaven Castle (Book One)

First American Edition 2016
Kane Miller, A Division of EDC Publishing
Text copyright © Kate Forsyth 2014

"Tell your lord to beware," the wild man said, gripping Tom's arm with a dirty hand. "The wolves smell danger in the wind."
Tom tried to wrest his arm free. "What do you mean? What kind of danger?"
The wild man let go of Tom's arm, but fixed him with an intense stare from under shaggy eyebrows. He was a tall, lean man, with gray hair that hung in matted elflocks over his shoulders, and a long, tangled beard. He wore a wolf pelt and boots made of hide. His eyes were icy blue, and over one shoulder he carried a long bow and a quiver of arrows.
Tom's wolfhound, Fergus, was growling deep in his throat, all the hairs standing up along his spine. The wild man looked down at the huge dog and said, "Quiet now." To Tom's surprise, Fergus stopped growling, his ears pricking forward. He wagged his shaggy tail.
"Tell your lord," the wild man repeated, urgency in his voice, "danger comes." Then he turned and loped away through the forest. As he disappeared into the shadows, he flung back his head and howled like a wolf. An answering howl came from the east.
Fergus whined, straining against Tom's grip, wanting to race after the wild man. "No, Fergus, stay," Tom said. He picked up his bucket of mushrooms, dandelion leaves and nettles, which had fallen from his hand when the wild man had appeared. Tom's heart was beating hard. He had heard of the wild man of the woods, of course. People said he lived and hunted with the wolves, even in the deep snows of winter, and scorned those who huddled together behind Wolfhaven Castle's high walls. Yet Tom had never really believed the tales. He spent a lot of time in the forest, searching for rare ingredients for his mother, the castle cook. He had never seen any trace of the wild man before.
But Tom had seen him now, and felt the bruising clutch of his fingers on his arm. Rolling up his sleeve, he could see the marks where the wild man's long nails had dug in. He rubbed them, then ran down the winding path, back towards Wolfhaven Castle, his bucket swinging. Fergus bounded along beside him, ears blown back by the wind.
It took almost an hour to reach the edge of the forest. Tom paused to catch his breath. To his left, a river wound through rolling fields planted with wheat, barley, rye and old pear trees. The river led into a wide harbor protected from the wild seas by a headland and a long stone causeway. High on the cliff was a castle with six round towers, crowned with pointed roofs.
With his dog at his heels, Tom crossed the humped bridge with its five stone arches and walked along the road into the town. As always the narrow, cobbled streets were crowded with people and Tom had to push his way through. He dragged Fergus away from the enticing smells of the marketplace, where fishmongers, butchers and bakers shouted their wares. It was a steep climb up the main street, and Tom was short of breath by the time he reached the arched castle gate at the top of the road. Tall and wide enough to let through a band of giants, the iron,barred gate was secured fast. Tom had never seen the gate open, for it was only unlocked in times of war. A much smaller door had been cut into the base of the gate, to let the castle folk in and out. Two men stood guard, leaning on their spears.
"Afternoon, Tom," the guard named Morgan said, and opened the door to let him through.
"Do you know anything about the wild man of the woods?" Tom asked.
"Why?" Morgan asked. "You seen him?"
Tom nodded. "He grabbed me in the forest. Told me to tell my lord that danger comes."
Morgan frowned. "Danger?" He scanned the landscape, drowsy and serene under the hot summer sun, then shrugged. "No danger that I can see."
"He said the wolves smelled danger in the wind." "Crazy loon," the other guard, Gareth, said.
"I wouldn't worry," Morgan said. "Gareth's right, the wild man's as mad as a March hare. Must be, to live out there in the wilderness instead of staying safe inside the castle walls."
"I must tell the master,of,arms, just in case," Tom said.
Gareth sniggered. "Good luck with that, son."
"He'll laugh his socks off," added Morgan. "Then give you a clip over the ear for wasting his time." Both guards laughed. Tom felt his face grow hot.
With Fergus beside him, he went through the door and into the courtyard of the barbican, surrounded by high stone walls set with window slits. Murder holes, they were called. Anyone who managed to break through the war gate would be shot down, or have boiling oil poured on their heads, before they got any deeper into the castle.
Tom went through a long passage into the castle's inner ward. To the left was the long building that housed the kitchen and storerooms that were his mother's domain. To the right was the guardhouse, with an archway that led through to the jousting yard. Ahead was the garden, with the great bulk of the castle behind, built of honey,colored stone that glowed in the afternoon sun.
Tom stood for a moment outside the guardroom, hesitating. Remembering the urgency in the wild man's voice, Tom took a deep breath and went inside. "Can I see the master-of-arms?" Tom asked, taking
off his shabby blue hat.
"What for?" the guard said, looking up from polishing his boots.
"I need to get a message to my lord. The wild man of the woods says to beware, there's danger coming."
The guard laughed. "Scram, boy," he said. "Sir Kevyn is busy getting ready for the mob-ball match this afternoon. He has no time for stories."
"But what if the wild man knows something we don't?"
But the soldier just flapped a hand at him to go away, and went back to polishing his boots.
Tom crammed his hat back on his head and stepped outside. He could hear yells and grunts coming from the jousting yard, and headed that way.
Rows of brawny squires were charging as fast as they could towards thick leather bolsters held upright by other boys.
Thwack, went their shoulders into the bolsters.
Smack, went the boys, down into the dust.
Ooof, they gasped.
Hooray, shouted those still standing.
Tom watched enviously. He loved mob-ball, but he was kept too busy in the kitchen to ever get much of a chance to play.
Sir Kevyn, the master-of-arms, shouted, "Bring 'em down! You call that running? Come on, run! Run, I say! Knock 'em down!"
He was a burly man in polished chain metal, with a nose that looked as if it had been broken a great many times. His fists were enormous. He shook them as he shouted, "Run! If you're not prepared to hurt 'em, you shouldn't be in the game!"
At last he noticed Tom.
"What is it, boy? What do you want?" he bellowed. All the squires stopped and turned to stare at Tom. Tom stumbled through his message, which sounded more stupid with each retelling. The master-of-arms stared at him, astounded, then put his fists on his hips and roared with laughter. All the squires copied him, laughing and pointing at Tom.
"Ooooh, the wolves smell danger," mocked a tall boy with unruly red hair.
"Is this some kind of midsummer foolery?" the master-of-arms asked, when at last he caught his breath.
"No, sir. He told me I had to warn the lord …" Tom answered.
"As if a scrawny little pot boy like you would ever get to speak to Lord Wolfgang," the redhead said.
The master-of-arms scowled at him. "Did I give you permission to speak, Lord Sebastian?"
"No, sir!"
"Did I say you were allowed to stop running?"
"No, sir!"
"Then run, you thickhead!"
"Yes, sir!" Sebastian at once charged down the field, giving Tom a furious glance as he did so.
The master-of-arms looked back at Tom, arms crossed. "Go on, get out of here. You think I've time for such hogwash?"
"No, sir," Tom said, and trudged away, Fergus at his heels. As he passed the squires, he heard Sebastian call out, "Back to the kitchen where you belong, pot boy!"