“Good morning, Rowan, Jorah,” Bethal called out as they rode up to the house. “I didn’t expect to see you this early today!”
“Yes, ma’am. We finished up our morning work so we could come check in on Cali. And you. And make sure you hadn’t had any boar sightings,” Jorah said, blushing.
“No boar sightings. But we do have a lot of sausage and some fresh biscuits still on the table. Come on in and help yourselves!”
Cali and Chase came into the kitchen, joining the group. “Mum, you really do make the best jams, and gravy of course!” Cali laughed.
“Do you think your dad and Bodric will bring back that boar today?” Jorah asked.
“Maybe, I would love to have another boar hide to work! I’d make straps to sell to everyone!” Cali said, excited at the idea of having an even larger boar hide.
They sat and talked until Bethal ran them out of the kitchen so she could start prepping for lunch. “Why don’t you go work on your quiver. And you can keep an eye out for your dad.”
The three of them went to the barn to see if the leather had dried and was ready.
“Jorah told me how good you are at this, Cali. He was right, you really are. Do you take requests?” Rowan asked.
“For you all? Sure, of course, I do! What are you thinking?”
“I’d love to have a decent sheath for my sword. I don’t carry it often, Jorah or me either one, but with the increase in animal attacks, I think we should. And it would be nice to have a decent belt sheath for it,” Rowan said.
“Are they short swords, or long?”
“I have a longsword. Jorah now, he’s fancy,” Rowan joked, “he has a longsword and a short sword.”
“Really, Jorah? Do you use them both?” Cali asked, surprised.
Jorah turned red at the attention. “Yes, I’ve been practicing. But we don’t use them much, mostly just bows for hunting, you know.”
Rowan laughed at his brother. “Ah, he’s being modest, Cali, he’s really good. He’ll be a much better swordsman than me soon.”
“I’d love to make you new sheaths. I’ve not made those before, so no promises!” Cali laughed.
“I know they’ll be great, everything you’ve made so far has been!” Jorah said, still blushing.
Cali started cutting the remaining hide into pieces she would need for sword sheaths, while they sat around talking about the possibility of having the next big boar gathering at the lake. Or at least part of it at the lake, then the feast at the Flynn farm.
It was mid-afternoon when they heard what sounded like horses coming up the road. They walked out of the barn and toward the house as Bethal walked out from the kitchen.
“That’s old man Jossin’s wagon,” Rowan said. “You’re dad’s driving.”
They were watching, wondering if they had a big boar on the back of the wagon.
“Wait. That’s Bodric’s horse. Where’s Bodric?” Cali asked, a knot forming in her stomach.
“Oh no,” Bethal said, running out to meet the wagon. Cali, Rowan, and Jorah followed close behind.
They reached the wagon, all breathing a sigh of relief to see Bodric in the back. Injured, and in pain, but alive.
“What happened?” Bethal asked.
As Erwin came down from the wagon Bethal grabbed him looking him over to make sure he wasn’t hurt then wrapped her arms around him tightly.
Jorah and Rowan helped Bodric down from the wagon gently. He was shaky, Rowan put Bodric’s good arm over his shoulder and helped steady him.
“Come on,” Rowan said, “Let’s get you into the house.”
They all went into the house and got Bodric relaxed and comfortable on the couch as Erwin told them the story. The farmhand broke in, “I’ve never seen anyone shoot a bow that fast, or pick up a grown man so readily. Erwin was incredible, Bethal. We would’ve been wolf food if he hadn’t been there.”
Bethal shared a long look with Erwin, thankful that her husband had been there, but even more that he was safe.
“Cali girl, I made your dad bring you back the pelt. It’s a silver wolf, real large. Would make a nice cloak.” Bodric smiled at Cali.
“Yes, it’s on the back of the wagon if you want to get it to the barn, honey,” Erwin said. “Jorah, maybe you can help? I’m sure she’ll want to get it on the rack.”
“Yes, sir, I’d be happy to help! Come on Cali, let’s check out this giant wolf hide!” Jorah said.
Erwin ran his hand over his tired face. “The boar is still out there. We’ll not go after it right now, but we will have to hunt it down soon. Until then, everyone stays in pairs, stays armed, and doesn’t stray far from the farms. Rowan, you make sure to spread that word over on your farm, okay?”
“Yes, sir. I will let Father and everyone know. I’ll go get Jorah and we’ll head back now to spread the word,” Rowan replied.
“Thanks, Rowan. And thanks to you and Jorah for coming over and checking on things.” Erwin smiled.
Bethal brought a blanket in and covered Bodric’s legs. “You are going to rest, and you’re staying here until we get you fixed up.”
“I know better than to argue with ya, Bethal.” Bodric smiled. “Now before you go getting your hackles all raised, this was animals, plain and simple. Something has them riled to be sure, but it’s likely nothing more than a new alpha in the area somewhere.”
Bethal didn’t look convinced.
“Honey, he’s right. I know you’re worried. I’d say it’s this larger boar. From what we saw it looks to be a real monster of a beast,” Erwin said. “We’ll track it down and have another gathering soon, but first we could all use some rest.”
After the initial rush of visitors checking in on Bodric, life settled down into its normal routine over the next several weeks.
Bodric healed well under Bethal’s care and her “smelly, magic” salve, as Bodric called it. Cali had been working on a pattern to make the silver wolf hide into a cloak. And there had been no more sightings of the massive boar, or any other animal attacks.
Erwin and Bodric gathered several farmhands and set off to begin tracking the boar. They started in the area where they first saw evidence of it along the road. Each time they went to scout for the boar, they took a different path from that starting point. On their third outing, they found it’s trail.
“There!” Bodric pointed.
They had gone a fair distance into the forest where the underbrush had grown dense. It was clear the large beast had been through recently. Small branches were bent and broken, the underbrush trampled down, and hoof prints were noticeable in the soft dirt.
“Okay men, here is where we start. We stick together and watch our flanks. A beast this big can’t sneak up on us, but we may stumble over him.” Erwin spoke confidently to the men. “Bodric, how’s the arm?”
“Good as new if not a little more decorated.” Bodric smiled showing off the jagged red scar above his bracer. With that, they headed deeper into the woods, following the trail left by the boar.
The path was easy to see if not quite so easy to follow, and the men had stopped to take a breather when they heard the rustling nearby. They slowly inched toward the sound, taking care not to make any sudden moves or noise. It was gloomy under the thick cover of trees, but they could see the massive shape ahead of them.
Each man took a spot behind a tree in case the boar charged, and as they were preparing to aim, the wind shifted and the beast caught their scent. Turning to face them, the men could now see the boar clearly.
Over half as tall as Erwin, it’s tusks could easily skewer a man clean through. It sniffed the air, pawing, then let out an awful bellowing screech before charging toward them.
“Now!” Shouted Erwin.
The men all shot at the creature then drew to shoot again. It still rushed forward, even with arrows sticking from its shoulders.
“Aim for the neck with me now! Shoot!” Erwin commanded.
The men all aimed for the neck as the boar screeched and lumbered closer. Erwin got off two more arrows and finally, the boar stopped and fell onto its side. They slowly approached and Erwin stabbed his dagger into the boar’s heart to finish it off.
“By the Mother, I’ve never seen a monster that size,” Tom, one of the farmhands said.
“Nor I,” Erwin replied. “In all my years, I’ve not seen one that big.”
Bodric laughed, “aye, he’ll make a fine roast! And Cali will be thrilled with this hide. Why she’ll be rich with all the straps she can make from this monster!”
Bodric prodded the beast with his boot. “Why don’t you two head back out and prep the wagon, we’ll gut this thing and start dragging it back out.”
Erwin, Bodric, and the two remaining hands cleaned the boar. It was much too large to carry on a spit between them, so they made a makeshift sled, pulling the boar behind them back out of the forest.
It took a much longer time getting back to the road with their haul, but they had enough daylight left to wrestle it onto the wagon and start making their way back home.
As the sound of horses approached, Bethal stepped out of the kitchen. “Hi, boys!” she waved at Rowan and Jorah. “Good to see you!”
“Hi, ma’am. Any word on the boar hunt?” Rowan asked as they dismounted.
“No, nothing yet. But I don’t think they’ll come back empty handed!” Bethal replied. “Cali is out in the barn, and if you get hungry, there’s plenty of food.”
“Thanks! Cali told us to come over today, so we’ll go say hi.” Jorah smiled. Rowan smiled, rolling his eyes and followed his brother toward the barn.
Cali was just walking out from the barn when she saw them walk up. “Jorah! Rowan! Glad you stopped by. Come on in the barn, I have something to show you!”
They walked into the barn, and she handed each of them a box. “Go on then, take a look!” she said.
Opening the boxes, they saw the gleaming leather sheafs. A longsword sheaf for Rowan, and one long and one short sword sheaf for Jorah. In addition, she had made each of them a belt that matched.
“This is amazing, Cali,” Rowan exclaimed. “You really are incredible at this!”
“Cali, thank you! These are, I don’t know, they are beautiful!” Jorah smiled as he ran his hand across the oiled leather.
“Aww, come on guys, these are just my first try, I’m sure I could do better once I have more practice,” Cali said. She was trying not to blush but was secretly thrilled that they seemed to love them.
“So when Da and everyone gets back with this big boar, we will need to plan the party. I still think we should get everyone together and go to the lake first. What do you think?”
“Rowan and I were talking about that too, we could get everyone, make a whole day of it, it would be a lot of fun. Have you talked to your mom about it, Cali?” Jorah asked.
“No, but I’m getting hungry, so let’s go talk to her about it now,” She said as they started walking from the barn.
“Well, sweetie, I think that is a great idea,” Bethal said after hearing Cali’s plan for having a big get-together at the lake for the next gathering. “But we should probably see if your dad and Bodric bring back a boar first.” She laughed.
They sat around the kitchen table eating and making plans for having a huge get together at the lake before the actual gathering and feast.
Cali wondered if she would be able to get more orders for plow straps, or maybe some other items. If the boar really was as big as they said, she would have a lot of hide to work with.
As the sun started sinking lower and the evening light came in through the kitchen windows, they heard the horses and wagon coming up the road. Excited to have her husband back, Bethal tossed down the potatoes she was peeling and headed out the door, the others close behind her.
Bethal gasped. “Well, I’ve never…” she trailed off.
Even with a bit of distance, they could see the hulking shape of the boar in the back of the wagon. Cali grabbed Jorah’s arm in excitement, jumping up and down, then took off running to meet them.
“Da, Bodric, how did you ever get that thing on the wagon?” Cali asked.
“Cali girl!” Bodric smiled. “Oh, this beastie, he put up a good fight, but we wrestled him up on there. You ready to get rich making straps for people?” Bodric winked as he hopped down.
Erwin pulled the wagon closer to the barn so they could unload the boar. Jorah and Rowan pitched in and helped, but even with all of them, it was still not easy. Cali was so excited she was beside herself, she ran into the barn to grab her skinning knife.
“Okay, guys. Let’s start spreading the word tomorrow that we’re having another gathering!” Erwin exclaimed, clapping his hand on Bodric’s shoulder in celebration.
“Beth, honey, are you ready for another feast?” Erwin winked at his wife.
“Absolutely! I’ll have some of the ladies come over and help too, we’ll make this one even bigger than last time. And Cali and the boys had a great idea to have a party at the lake before the feast.” Bethal smiled at them.
© 2017–2026. Morigan Shaw. All rights reserved.
This episode and its accompanying text are part of The Idoramin Chronicles and may not be reproduced or distributed without permission, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
