Stormrider Read Online Free PDF Page B

boy,” he said. “First we must get you warm. Otherwise you’ll die.” Removing the boy’s topcoat and hat, he rubbed at his arms and legs. The fire grew brighter and warmer. Feargol began to tremble and shiver. His lips were blue. His eyes closed. “Stay awake!” roared Kaelin.
    “S-s-sorry,” said the boy.
    “I’m not angry,” Kaelin told him. “You can sleep in a little while. First we let the fire warm our bodies. Then we eat a little. All right?”
    “Yes, Uncle Kaelin.”
    “You are a tough boy. You’ll be fine.”
    “Who left the wood here?”
    “I did. A man should always be prepared. There are lots of places around these highlands where I have left fuel or supplies. My uncle Jaim taught me that.”
    Feargol’s color was better now, and Kaelin relaxed a little. Fetching his pack, he took more of the dried meat and cheese and shared it with the child. The cave was warmer now. Some sixteen feet deep and fourteen feet wide, it had once been considerably larger, but on the western side a rock fall had collapsed part of the roof. One wall was now merely a wedged mass of broken stones, and several boulders had tumbled into the cave.
    Kaelin glanced at the wood store. He had spent the best part of a day the previous autumn bringing wood to the cave and stacking it by the east wall. There was enough now to last through the night and the next day if necessary.
    It would still be a tough journey home, but if they traveled with care, they would make it. Feargol lay down on the floor. Kaelin folded the empty pack and made a pillow for the child.
    “I’ve never been that fast in the sled,” Feargol said sleepily. “Daddy never let us go down the long slope.”
    “A wise man, your daddy,” said Kaelin, ruffling the boy’s red hair. “Sleep now. It will be a tiring day tomorrow.”
    Feargol closed his eyes. Kaelin covered him with his own topcoat, then sat by the fire. He dozed for a while and dreamed of Finbarr Ustal. When Kaelin first had arrived at Ironlatch Farm, Finbarr had been hostile. They had since become friends, and Kaelin had come to respect the highlander. To be honest, he had never liked his wife. Strong though she was, she had a harsh tongue and was mean-spirited. Kaelin had never understood how Finbarr could have loved her. He noted that even the child had talked about his daddy but not his mother. Still, mean-spirited or not, no one deserved a death like that.
    He woke several times during the night and kept the fire going. It was good, dry wood, and there was little smoke. Even so his eyes felt gritty. In the firelight he gazed at the sleeping boy. He had his thumb in his mouth. Kaelin smiled. He would forever be Uncle Kaelin now. The thought was a sobering one. He wondered if this was how Jaim had felt about him when he was an orphan child.
    “Ah, Jaim, but I do miss you,” he said aloud.
    Then came a crunching sound, followed by a roar. Kaelin rolled to his feet and ran to the cave entrance. Ten feet below the bear was tearing at the sled, his teeth crunching down on the wood. Rearing up, he flung the ruined pieces to the snow. Kaelin drew both pistols from his belt, cocked them, and called out: “Eat this, you scum-sucking bastard!” He shot the right-hand pistol first, aiming at the bear’s throat. The ball tore into the beast’s shoulder. Hang-lip let out a fearsome roar, dropped to all fours, and ran for the trees. Kaelin sent a second shot into him.
    Little Feargol was sitting up, eyes wide and fearful. Kaelin moved back to the fire and sat down. He cleaned his pistols before reloading them. Feargol was looking at him, but Kaelin could think of nothing to say.
    “Did he break Basson’s sled?” asked Feargol.
    “Aye. With a vengeance. I put two shots into him, though. Bet he’s not happy now.”
    “What are we going to do, Uncle Kaelin?”
    “Tomorrow I’ll sit in the cave mouth, lure him out, and keep shooting him until he is dead.”
    “He wants to kill me,” said