Mickey Zucker Reichert - Herald's Rescue

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2024-12-22 0 0 50.32KB 7 页 5.9玖币

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A HERALD'S RESCUE

by Mickey Zucker Reichert

Mickey Zucker Reichert is a pediatrician whose science fiction and fantasy novels include The Legend

of Nightfall, The Unknown Soldier, and several books and trilogies about the Renshai. Her short fiction has

appeared in numerous anthologies, including Battle Magic, Zodiac Fantastic, and Wizard Fantastic. Her

claims to fame: she has performed brain surgery, and her parents really are rocket scientists.

Dust motes swirled through the sunbeam glaring into the barn. By its light, Santar trapped the

upturned right front hoof of the salt merchant's gelding between his muscular calves. "Hand me the pick."

Blindly, he held out his right hand.

Santar's younger brother, Hosfin, slapped the tool into the proffered palm. "Do you see

something?" He crowded in for a closer look, his tunic tickling Santar's bare arm, his shadow falling over

the hoof.

"Think so," Santar grunted. "Got to get past all the crap first." Flipping the pick in a well-practiced

motion, he gingerly hooked out chunks of road grime and straw. The sharp odor of manure rose

momentarily over the sweet musk of horse. "Here." He touched the pick to a gray cobble shard lodged in

the groove between forehoof and frog. He dug under the hard, sharp stone. The horse jerked its foot

from his grasp, just as the pick lodged into position, and the movement sent the fragment flying. It struck

the wooden wall with a ping, then tumbled to join the rest of the debris on the stable's earthen floor. Still

clutching the pick, Santar scooped the hoof back upward to examine the damage. He discovered a light

bruise but nothing that suggested serious swelling or infection. He stroked the injury with a gentle finger,

and the horse calmed.

Hosfin's head obscured the hoof. "No wonder he was hopping and snorting."

"Yeah." Santar released the hoof and patted the horse's sticky flank. "Could have been a lot worse.

Lucky beast."

"Lucky man," Hosfin corrected. He stepped back, skinny arms smeared with grime, sandy hair

swept back and tied with a scrap of leather. "Don't think he could afford another horse by the look of

him. Needs to learn to take better care of his valuables."

Santar's brown hair hung in shaggy disarray, in need of a cut. Horse work had honed his muscles:

lugging grain bags and hay bales, exercising his charges, cleaning and grooming. He also had an almost

inexplicable way with afflicted creatures that made his father's stables an exceptionally logical place for

any traveler to board. They might find stables nearer their lodgings or destination, ones larger or with

more modern construction, ones with fancier names or decor. But Santar's father prided himself on

service, mostly provided by his seven sons and one daughter. Travelers who cared as much for their

animals' comfort as their own tended to seek them out, including the occasional Herald from Valdemar.

Santar especially loved their huge white mounts with their impeccable coats and strange, soft blue eyes.

They seemed so docile and intelligent, their conformations so perfect, their intensity of attachment to their

riders so mythically intense. The Heralds tended them so vigilantly, Santar rarely had the opportunity to

do anything for them but stare.

A sharp whinny from the yard sent Santar's head jerking up so suddenly he nearly brained his

brother. "Who's that?"

Hosfin's thin shoulders lifted, and he slouched from the stall. As Santar watched him move, he

marveled at how his brother had grown just in the last few months, gaining the gawky, spindly

proportions of an adolescent. Santar wondered if their eldest brother had looked at him the same way

when he had turned fourteen three years ago.

Santar caught up to his brother at the door of the stable. The younger man stood as if frozen, the

door wedged against him. Alarmed, Santar pushed past Hosfin. "What is it?"

A handsome white stallion stood in the yard, coat shimmering silver in the late afternoon sunlight.

Against his fine, pink hooves, the grass looked like crystalline emerald; and blue sky reflected from eyes

full of wisdom. Santar shook his head to clear it, shocked to find the creature of his reverie come so

abruptly to life. "It's...it's a Companion."

Hosfin finally spoke, but only to force out a single syllable. "Yes."

The Companion let out another trumpeting cry, this one seeming ten times louder without the

sheltering walls of the stable. It cocked its head, one pale eye focusing directly on Santar.

Hosfin managed more words. "I've never seen one without a Herald on it."

Santar had, but only after the rider had negotiated its board. "Very odd." He held out a hand

toward the animal and advanced with shy caution. If it wanted, the huge stallion could stomp him to a

smear.

Head still tipped, the Companion watched Santar's approach. He had almost drawn near enough

to touch it, when the stallion raised his muzzle in a blasting whinny.

Ears ringing, Santar jerked back, watching the animal prance a wild circle, then stop to snort and

stare at him again. Cursing himself for his own sudden movement, he spoke softly and soothingly as he

would to any horse, "What's wrong, boy?"

Still at the entrance to the stables, Hosfin said, "Maybe he's lost his Herald."

It seemed unlikely. Santar believed the Companions chose the best and brightest, and the

Herald/Companion bond was unbreakable. Needing something to say to the horse, however, Santar

repeated, "Have you lost your Herald, boy?"

The horse bobbed his head savagely and pawed the ground. He whirled, stepped, then looked

back at Santar over his shoulder.

The gesture was unmistakable.

Hosfin explained the obvious. "He wants you to follow him."

"Yes." Santar studied the horse. Only one scenario made sense to him. "Is your Herald...in

need...of help?"

The Companion's head whipped up and down so hard he had to make himself dizzy. He pranced

forward and back, still staring at Santar.

Terror shocked through Santar. He wiped his grimy hands on his tunic. "All right. Let me just

gather a search party." He considered aloud. "We'll need a doctor, a few strong men, a—"

The Companion spun suddenly and charged at Santar.

"Hey!" Santar ran toward the barn. Hosfin ducked behind the door.

Santar had barely managed two steps when the stallion's head slammed his side, bowling him to the

ground. "Hey!" he shouted again, throwing up his hands to protect his head from the heavy hooves.

Huge, flat teeth closed over his tunic, hefting him into the air.

Santar bit back a scream, which would only further upset the horse. Instead, he launched into a

steady patter in a calm voice meant to compose both of them. "Easy now, boy. Nothing to get riled

about." He hid fear behind a tone deliberately pitched to rescue self and animal from panic. He felt

himself lifted, tossed. Air sang through his ears, then he landed on his belly across the horse's withers. It

did not wait for him to settle before galloping away from the village.

For an instant, horror overwhelmed logic. Stunned silent, Santar could only feel each wild hooffall

jar through his body. Instinct awakened first and he scrambled to a sitting position, grasping a hold on the

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摘要：

AHERALD'SRESCUEbyMickeyZuckerReichertMickeyZuckerReichertisapediatricianwhosesciencefictionandfantasynovelsincludeTheLegendofNightfall,TheUnknownSoldier,andseveralbooksandtrilogiesabouttheRenshai.Hershortfictionhasappearedinnumerousanthologies,includingBattleMagic,ZodiacFantastic,andWizardFantastic...

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