Chapter Three

Black Forrest, 1512

Through the darkness rode a woman cloaked in the finest fabrics, and on a rare purebred horse saddled with an exquisite pack and bridle. She perceived the two men that were waiting up the road, but she did not change her speed. Paying close attention to what they were about, she could tell that one was in distress. She slowed to a trot as she approached close enough for them to see her. One was laying in the road, the other ran up to her and waved her down.

“My friend, he’s hurt, he can’t walk. He needs to get to a physician.” The man called as she rode up. Elanor climbed off the horse and quickly went to the man on the ground.
“I don’t think he’s badly hurt. It appears just to be a sprain.” she reassured them.
“Still, I beg you, could you please escort us to the town?”

Elanor knew that there was something dishonest about these two men. The one on the ground was in genuine pain, but the angst in the one standing didn’t seem solely due to his concern for his companion. All the same, Elanor had little to fear from humans, so she acquiesced.

“Get him up.” she sighed, and waved for the young man to help his friend. The young man was strong and able to lift the injured man with little difficulty. Elanor led the horse over to the injured man, and when the young man came near, the injured man was able to pull himself onto the horse using his arms and uninjured leg.

Just then, catching Elanor off guard, the young man wrapped his arms around Elanor. “RUN HANS!” The injured man snapped the reigns before the cry was finished and raced off.

Elanor, not suspecting the sudden treachery, lost the split second she needed to counter the initial attack, but quickly regained herself. She raised her arms against the mans grip, for as strong as he was, she was still stronger, and ran after her stolen horse. She ran for only a minute before accepting that as fast as she was, her horse was bred to be faster than her kind. The chase was futile.

She changed course, deciding to cut through the forest to the nearest town. It was twice the distance to take the road, but the woods were dangerous to those who didn’t know them. She assumed that the men who had stole her horse did know them, and the young man who had assaulted her was likely to have absconded through them as soon as he lost hold of Elanor.

The town was fairly large, and there were plenty of places to hide in. Elanor figured that they wouldn’t try to sell the horse till morning, and her best bet was to wait until she could trace the sale to retrieve her possessions.

It wasn’t too hard to follow the chatter relating to a sale that big, of a horse that rare. Not long after sundown, Elanor caught up with the antagonizing young man who had threatened her.

He didn’t perceive her as he walked into the ally outside the pub, and much like he had done to her, she grabbed him from behind. But she was much stronger than he, and she was more skilled in physical matters. She quickly spun him around and held him against the wall, placing her arm against his neck. “WHERE IS MY HORSE!” she commanded him.

“Where the hell did you come from?”

She slammed him against the wall again. “WHERE IS MY HORSE!”

The young man tried to push her off, but she beat his arms away and pressed into his chest harder. “I will not let you free until you answer me.”

“How are you so strong?” he gaped. Elanor was getting frustrated. She slammed him against the wall again in emphasis to her words.

“YOU do not ask the questions. YOU will answer me when I am speaking to you. WHERE. IS. MY. HORSE!”

“Okay, okay, I sold him to the wealthy merchant on the square. Please, I’ll show you where he lives if you let me free.”

Elanor pulled the purse strings around his waist and took it. “I know this isn’t all you have. I’ll let you keep the rest if you tell me where my packs are.”

“I don’t have them. My partner took them to sell in a neighboring city.”

“Then I demand compensation. Give me your clothes.”

“What!”

“Give me your clothes.”

“I can’t just run around naked!”

“I’ll let you keep your cloak, now give me your clothes or I’ll take them from you while you’re unconscious, and the devil decide who finds you.”

Reluctantly, but quickly the man removed his clothes, which were not of an inferior quality. He wrapped his cloak around his naked form tightly against the night chill and his own shame.

Elanor placing his hat on her own head, tipped it before disappearing swiftly enough to make him shudder.

I came out of my ‘dream’, which is quite unlike those of humans. It would be more than a century later before André and I would formally meet. Yet that serendipitous first meeting was a source of constant amusement, seeing how our relationship would later turn out.

It had been 12 hours since he had left, and about 4 hours since I had gotten over the pleasant solitude. We’ve spent so little time apart through the ages. It was never easy when we were required to endure it.

Big Girl, one of the cats we fostered, began requesting her leave for the night. “Yeah, I’m with thee.” I got up and walked to the door, which alerted Little Boy, the other cat, to what was going on. All three of us left the house, and I locked it securely behind. “Now, I’ve closed the place entirely, so you’re on your own you two. I’ll be back in a few hours, at which time I’ll let you back in. If you get in trouble and you can’t find me, go to Ross’s. Got that?”

They barely waited long enough for me to finish before running off with a quick trill in response. “Cat’s” I sighed.

I enjoyed the city at night. There were quite a few nice old houses along the way, some that still left little lights in the windows, usually electric candles. It reminded me of the old traditions. There was something special about the late hours of suburbia, the only creatures one runs into being cats and college kids.

I made my way to the city park, reminiscing the times there with André, showing off by jumping off things. Always trying to better himself physically, André learned parkour about as soon as he heard about it. I tried not to discourage him by out doing him, but sometimes I can’t help myself.

I was just about to leave when I caught a familiar scent. Sickly, like rotting flesh, but so faint that humans wouldn’t notice. He came on me so fast I didn’t have time to react.

“What do we have here?”