The Lampwatcher: Chapter 5
By Aersnow96
Author's Note: Before this project, I have not been able to put out a finished work for more than a year. I started more than a dozen projects but each one I haven't been able to finish. I would get into the smaller details, adding and adding but never being satisfied with it.
Until I get too frustrated and tired and move on to another project.
I have folders just lying in my desktop untouched and unfinished.
So I tried something different with the Lampwatcher.
After I put out all of the chapters here, I'll do a revision and editing to smooth out the entire story.
I have to admit, I got nitpicky with this chapter which is longer than the previous chapters. There were times, where I feel overwhelmed with how big this chapter was.
No sex scenes just yet but there is action.
Thank you for your understanding and take care.
She was in the backwaters of the country now. These lands were supposedly tamed. Mapped even. But she couldn't help but feel a certain wildness in these parts.
She had never realized how big the country was. It's almost like uncharted segments of a map. From the western border to the southern whole were covered with the greatest mountain range of the known world. It was so impassable and dangerous and there really was nothing of value here, save for the expansive pasture lands perfect for a great variety of livestock.
The village of Swindlecotte was nothing of note as Nicolette reined her wagon in.
Which might explain as to why she was not able to find its name or location in her maps, which were the most updated among her family's possession when she made her "early departure". She was certain it would not be missed. She left a trail that suggested she might have headed east. That would have been a logical choice for her, in their perspective. They really have no idea how expansive their own countryside can be. As evidenced by Swindlecotte and half dozen villages she passed through to get here.
The village was a quaint little collection of houses. Habitations of dirt and stone so small, she was surprised at the number of people that lived within. Won't they be cramped? She had it heard but never once got to see the looks of the inside. It was all so not quite private. She had thought that such habitations were from a bygone era, almost a hundred years ago but no, these structures were still quite of use to this day. The things one learns every day. She passed by an archway that had been dilapidated by the weathers and time, almost a mere memory from olden times.
Being in the hilly rural parts, the houses and roads were uneven. As in swooped to and fro and sudden extreme curves. It was quiet here too. Niocolette had been used the constant rousing of several thousand people, animals and what not. She was unnerved by the underlying silence of it all. Still the people seemed busy in their own little lives that they were unperturbed by a new arrival.
One would've thought that being in the farthest reaches of the map, they would get sparse visitors, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.
Wagons of various shapes and make have stopped here.
She made her way looking for the most westward path out of the village. And true enough she did find what she was looking for. Though she noticed some folk eyeing her as she did. Odd, they barely cast a glance when she passed through the center of the village but here in the outer rim of the village, they seem to cast a wary eye on her.
Nicolette passed a rather imposing man who towered over her despite being seated atop the wagon. It was in the way he carried himself, that confident stride in his step, the kind one would see in a leader. The village headman, she deduced. He seemed to about to speak up to her but cast a glance behind him and gave a small, somewhat tired, sigh.
Her wagon bounced with every little rock they passed on, which was plentiful. The path was rough. a great pastureland lies out west of the village, along with other scant domestic holdings who preferred these parts of the village.
She raised an eyebrow as a young man approached. He was young but her attention was focused to the fusil he carried. She had thought that this was just another quaint mountain village but from the looks of that fusil he carried, it seemed to be of custom-make. Looks well maintained too.
He was rather quite convinced of monsters that lived into the ravine and out of the mountains. Another local superstition, she helped herself from crossing her arms and rolling her eyes at the poor young man.
He seemed the gullible, earnest sort. The kind where you had to put far away from others and kept busy with some menial task. She felt sorry for the boy.
When she reined her wagon to keep onward, the boy stepped out on the path.
A vein popped on her forehead and her eye twitched at the pluck of this buffoon. She gripped her hand tightly on the reins, lest she smack the idiot for barring her way. She reminded herself that she was not Lady Nicolette La-Minnings. She was just another settler among thousands vacating the troubled east duchies.
A brief meeting with her beloved carabine sent the fool skittering to the side, allowing her to proceed unhindered. Nicolette couldn't help herself. She must applaud the young man's audacity, these county folk sure are a superstitious lot.
She passed by the tower. It was an ancient structure. Sturdy but old. Her path took her to a steep downward slope, leading all the way towards the ravine. As everything west of the village, the land itself slowly grew steeper and steeper until the very mountain range itself barred no further travel.
It had been way past noon when she arrived at the mouth of the ravine. The sun had been casted behind the peaks.
The mouth of the ravine was like a small gnash, an open wound on the side of the mountain.
It took a bit of coaxing to get her ox to pass through. With further encouragement that was borderline threats, the old beast had no choice but to shamble on through.
She decided against lighting a lantern. The steep walls were liveried with roots and a small stream of water ran through the ravine.
She passed by thirteen lampposts of great antiquity.
The path was uneven that every few feet she jumped on her rump.
She breathed a sigh of relief she had not realized she was holding.
It was much wider. But much of it of the distant was covered in small hills and thick groves of trees.
The faint silhouette of the looming mountains at its side were visible through the cloudy haze.
There was a muffled silence here and only the mere clashing of water against rocks in the stream was the sound here.
She gulped.
Who knows what lies here? How come no one had ever thought to explore these area of the country? Right in their own backyard nonetheless.
She could not see how far this place reaches. Thick groves blotted out what lies further beyond. But there were sparse field of grass. A prairie. Ideal for setting up a home or a field for crops.
The possibilities were endless.
She guided her wagon to a clear plot of land. She passed by another small house and cottage.
It was built inside a mound and was so primitive, she had to look longer to discern that it was the home of a man. She saw an old man peek out.
Go back! He screamed.
She merely shook her head and went to find a place she could settle.
The land was almost clear. Green grass good for grazing.
