Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2012 20:02:22 +1300
From: Arthur <artcart65@vodafone.co.nz>
Subject: Paulek chapter 1 sifi/fantasy

				  PAULEK


				 CHAPTER 1


				 BY ARTHUR


Authors Note:

All characters, scenes and story line are the sole possession of the Author
and can not be used or copied for any purposes unless permission in writing
is given by the Author, if you are under age for this genre of story you
must leave now or not let your mother see you reading it.



It is the year of our Lord 1465, in the Eastern European plains, there are
many small farming communities and villages, many being in the outer limits
of the country borders, all were subject to many raids by rogues and gangs
of thieves as well as outside brigands.

Life on these small farms and in the tiny villages was not easy, nearly all
the famers were only tenants and had to answer to the local Lord or Baron
for their existence, in the small farming community of Waleseci lived the
family of Valsec, the father farmed his small holding aided by his two
boys, Paulek, now just turned fourteen, and his brother Milac, a year and a
half younger, at the small wooden single room house were the mother and her
daughter, the daughter was a year older than Paulek.

Farmer Valsec had been disappointed when he saw that both his sons were a
little on the small side, he had hoped for tall, strong boys to help around
the farm, instead he had to watch his two boys struggle from day to day on
what should have been easy tasks, true they were not ones too give up on
any task and would strain themselves to the utmost to finish and help their
father.

It was Paulek that the Farmer felt the most sorry for, his future was not a
good one and having the looks and build of a young girl only made it harder
to digest even though neither boy gave him any trouble and they were always
willing to do whatever they were asked, to his eyes, Milac would be little
different from Paulek, it was a sad day but it was as God willed, he had
more important things to carry in his mind, the tax time was nearing and
the Baron Whalacek would want his dues in full by the end of the month.

Life had always been hard for the small communities in this land, their
small tenancies were just enough to keep body and soul together after they
had paid the land owner his taxes which, it seemed, got steeper and harder
to pay each year, this year was no different, Pater Valsec, turned from the
bowl of cold water outside the single room house where he had just washed
his face and hands to be ready for his lunch of rough bread and goats
cheese, as he turned too call his sons for lunch, the Framer saw a cloud of
dust approaching at a great speed, forgetting his sons, he lifted his hand
to shade his eyes from the glare of the sun, it was a large group of
riders, a black banner flying from the lead horse, Brigands, Pater Valsec
turned to the house calling out for his wife and daughter, he had
completely forgotten the boys out in the field.

Paulek strained his thin arms to lift the heavy wooden pitch fork, with a
final heave he threw the tied bundle of hay on top of the stack, it was
done at last, his bare thin chest heaved for breath as he straightened up
and looked at his younger brother, the boy was almost a younger copy of
himself, they had worked hard, as they always did, to please their hard
working father, the rough coarse cloth of their knee length breeches,
rubbed and chaffed their skin as small pieces of the hay worked their way
inside to aggravate their young skin further.

Paulek watched as Milac scratched his groin, it was a common sight for him
too see, he remembered the same problem when he was his brothers age, those
first burgeoning pubic hairs itched something terrible and his boyhood was
hard all the time, that was until he found out how to ease the strain in
the rigid muscle.

It had been one night while he was trying to sleep, his mother and father
were asleep in one corner of the single room house, divided from the boys
only by a thick curtain, his older sister had a place alone in the loft,
Paulek and Milac shared the small narrow bed in the corner near the fire
place.

Milac was asleep behind him facing the wall, Paulek had reached for his
rigid little nail and began to rub it to ease the tension, with a little
gasp as the pain of his narrow foreskin slipped over his glans for the
first time, Paulek went rigid and shook as though he had an ague, he then
felt something wet dribble onto the two fingers wrapped around his nail,
Paulek lifted his fingers to his nose to smell and, with a tentative move,
he reached out with his tongue to taste the strange white drops, it was a
little sweet and a little salty but, too his mind it was the answer to his
prayers, Paulek cleaned his fingers off with his tongue before falling into
a deep sleep, it was now a regular act for him when given the chance.

As Paulek watched his little brother work on his problem, the sound of a
large group of horses could be heard galloping towards their house, lifting
his eyes from his brother, he turned and watched in awe and fear as a large
band of brigands rushed at his home, without thought, he grabbed Milac by
his thin shoulder and pushed him towards the hay stack, with little other
thought, Paulek dived into the loose hay pulling Milac behind him.

Clawing and wriggling, he forced a path into the very centre of the new
stack, through the dampening of the fresh hay, Paulek could hear the loud
voices and the clash of metal weapons as the brigands closed in on the
house where his family were trying to hide, it was a wasted effort, within
minutes there were loud yells and screams, heavy swearing and hoots of
laughter, Paulek was under no illusion as to what was going on, his duty
now was to protect his brother, they had to survive so that their family
did not disappear from this earth like so many others had.

It was not long before the loud popping of burning wood reached their ears
although muffled by the thick layer of hay, soon the first hint of smoke
worked its way into the depths, this was the final signal to Paulek that
all was lost, all he could hope for now was that they were not discovered
or worse yet, that the stack was not also set afire.

Paulek heard loud talking close to the stack, there were men walking around
the stack, by the sound of the language, the brigands were the ever feared
Cossacks of the Don River, a fierce and war like people who had little
thought for any others but themselves, Paulek felt Milac shaking beside
him, with a careful movement he slipped one hand over the boys mouth to
stop any whimpers that may be let out.

Paulek listened to the men outside the hay stack, while he didn't know
their language completely, he did, like many, understand enough to get the
gist of what they were saying.

"Pavel, shall we burnt it, these peasants won't need it anymore?"

"No, leave it be, we can feed our horse, this is a good fresh stack, no
need to waste it, lets go back and get the others, we can rest here and
feed and water the horses, there are a lot more farms like this one to go
too today."

Paulek was not about to be uncovered by feeding horses, whispering in
Milac's ear, he began a slow and careful withdrawal from the stack, ever
mindful of keeping it between them and the house, it would only be a short
crawl to the nearby woods where they could both hide more effectively, for
the next few minutes, any sound at all would make both boys jump in
anticipation of having a sword swoop down and take their heads, that is if
they were lucky enough for a quick death they had no illusions as to what
could happen to two young farm boys in the hands of Cossacks filled with
the blood lust.

Finally they were in the cover of the trees, they had made the short
journey slowly and stealthily, just as they had been taught by their father
when out hunting for meat in the forest, once he had found a good sized
bush, Paulek guided Milac deep inside and they both huddled down in each
others arms, neither boy was expectant of having a family to return to,
Paulek could feel the silent tears running from Milac's eyes as the days
tragic events caught up with the younger boy, all Paulek could do was hold
him close and rub his thin back.

Slowly the sun began to sink, Paulek now had no choice, he had to find them
some shelter for the night as well as some food, they had eaten nothing
since the morning and both their thin stomachs were rumbling, Paulek took
Milac by the hand and led him back towards the house, or, as he saw, where
the house used to be, now there was nothing but the stone fire place and a
burnt pile of timber still smoking in the dusk light.

The hay stack that had saved their lives was now no more, it was just a
smattering a loose hay lying on the ground in a circle, by the look of it,
Paulek guessed that they had carried away what their horses had not eaten,
quickly he and Milac scooped up some loose hay and carried it in their
hands as they closed with the burnt out house.

A sudden cry split the dusk light, Paulek immediately straightened up ready
to run, dragging Milac behind him, then he saw what Milac had spied first,
his father was suspended by numerous arrows through his body and was
hanging dead on the apple tree beside the house, his mother and sister were
splayed out on the ground beneath him, they too were dead, their heads a
little way off to the side, it took no imagination to know how they had
been treated before they were killed, the large loss of blood from between
their sisters legs told the story.

Paulek stiffened and swallowed his anger, for now he had a brother to look
after, of their home there was little left, the four goats had been
slaughtered and carried off as had their cow, all the was left were the
five heads and skins along with the tail of the cow, the guts had cooled
and were left for the wild creatures of the forest to clean up during the
night.

Paulek looked around, he had to have a fire and find some food, then he
could think of what they would have to do next, there was nothing here for
them anymore so they would have to move on, the Baron would just shrug his
shoulders and rue the loss of his taxes, two orphan boys were of no concern
to him.

Paulek went to the fire place and cleaned a space, at the back he found his
mothers second cooking pot, it was smaller than the family one and usually
only used for water heating, Paulek pulled it out and wiped it clean with
his rough smock that he had gathered from the now broken fence where he had
left it while doing the hay.

After scrabbling around in the detritus of the house, he came up with a
small sharp knife, first Paulek lay the dry hay that he and Milac had
carried back, into the hearth, quickly searching the smouldering timbers
that remained of their house, he found one that still had live embers, with
a few puffs of breath, a small flame rose, this he placed in the pile of
hay, next he sent Milac out to find any dry wood as he scrabbled some of
what was left of their furniture and the house to begin the fire.

Milac returned with his small arms loaded with wood, the fire was built up
just a little higher, at least now they had warmth, next was food, Paulek
looked around, there was little of anything, his eyes settled on the tail
of the cow, with practiced ease he began to remove the skin until he had
only the meat and bones of the cow tail, it would make a good stew, now all
he needed were some vegetables.

Their small house garden had been trampled but Paulek and Milac went to
work with their hands to dig into the trampled earth, after some little
time they had two potatoes and three beets along with a single onion, the
boys returned to the fire and set about making their stew.

Two hours later and the two young orphans had a feast, once fed they could
only lay down in front of their open fire and try to sleep, there was
little they could do until the morning, Paulek lay with his back to the
fire and Milac snuggled into his belly, curling up like a small baby,
Paulek wrapped his thin arms around his sole remaining family and drifted
off into a light sleep, there was much to do in the morning.

As the chill of the morning seeped into Paulek's bones, he stirred and
opened his eyes, the sudden sight of what lay before him brought back in a
flash of clarity, what had happened the day before, the warm bundle in his
arms also stirred as the chill got to him, both boys lifted their heads and
looked at the destruction around them, in the light of dawn it looked even
worse than the night before.

Paulek rose and brushed aside the dying ashes, spying s few still live
embers, he threw a little more hay on and watched as it caught, adding some
of the wood collected by Milac, he placed the half empty pot of stew on to
warm, Paulek looked around for something to hold water so they could drink,
but there was nothing left in one piece, they would have to walk to the
stream behind the house after they had eaten.

After breaking their fast and drinking the chilled water from the small
pool, the boys turned and looked around, they would have to bury their
family first, then they would have to find a way to leave this place and
venture forth on their own to find a place to live and work, in the far
reaches of his mind, Paulek suppressed the need for revenge, two small boys
against the might of the Don Cossacks was not a good idea, not yet, maybe
not ever.

Paulek took one last look into the pool, his reflection came back at him,
what was he going to do, he looked again at the image that looked back at
him, a small teen, no more than 5'5" tall, thin but wiry, dark green eyes
below long jet black, straight hair, a thin face with a small thin nose
topped by dark eye brows, a nice looking boy although some might say a
little too girlish in appearance, a slightly taller version of the younger
boy beside him.

Paulek huffed in disgust and turned from the pool followed immediately by
his mirror image, the boys went towards where the small barn had been, the
Cossacks had also burnt that to the ground but, the walls had been partly
stone up to the height of a man, while everything inside had been burnt,
there were still some metal implements left, although without handles, as
an after thought, Paulek walked to around to the back of the barn, at first
he thought it was hopeless, he could see that their large farm cart, used
to carry produce to market, had also been taken, then, he spied the small
dog cart, one side still up on a block waiting for the new wheel, it was
untouched, the new wheel still leaning up against it waiting for the time
to work on it.

As he looked at the small cart, Paulek heard a faint whinny behind him,
much to his surprise, their small pony, an indulgence for his sons by their
father, they did not have much but their father had saved a few coins for
two years and bought the small pony from some passing Roma, it was for the
boys hard work, they had ridden it and used it too pull the cart when
collecting fire wood for the house, now all they had to do was fix the
wheel, gather what they could from the burnt remains of their home, and
start their journey, first though, they had to see their family
respectfully buried.

Paulek, after tying up the pony, returned to the barn where Milac had
already found the burnt shovel head, the two boys set too work to make a
rough handle, next they found the hoe that was used to till the ground,
this also took a while to make a handle for but, by early afternoon they
had finished, with a great effort, they managed to lower their dead father
from the tree and, by late afternoon, the three bodies were lying in
shallow graves, neither boy knew what to say, instead they let their tears
tell the story, with a heavy heart, both boys began to fill in the open
graves, for tonight, they had just a little stew left, tomorrow they would
begin their journey.

When the first rays of the morning sun hit their tired eyes, the boys rose
and looked around, they had the wheel to fit and a quick hunt for some
food, as his stomach rumbled along with Milac's, Paulek jumped, he suddenly
remembered the cellar, with Milac close behind him, he began to scrabble
through the burnt remains on the dirt floor, it was the act of nearly
falling through the destroyed door of the cellar that helped Paulek find
it, once down inside the small earthen cellar, he saw that the Cossacks had
also gotten in there and taken everything of smashed what they did not
want, there was one last place to look, partially buried in the darkest
corner, was a small wooden box, his mother had called it her "famine box"
with quick hands he tugged and pulled at the half buried box, with Milac's
help it finally came away from its earthen hole, carefully, Paulek lifted
the hinged lid, inside everything was intact, they had enough food for a
few days, with the wheel on the dog cart and some scrabbling around in the
paddock for loose hay for the pony, they would be able to make it some
distance before looking for more.

By midday they had the wheel on the dog cart and had gathered enough hay to
make three bundles for their pony, water was going to be a problem but they
would have to just stop at streams and pools as they went, for their midday
meal they opened one of the small earthen bottles of preserved fruit while
Paulek worked half the flour into a dough for flat bread, a flat stone sat
on the small flames heating as he worked, there was enough dough so they
would have bread for two days, he could then make the last of the flour
into one more loaf.

The years of being too small to help their father and had to spend time at
their mothers side in the house, was now paying off, while they could not
cook like her, they had picked up enough that they would not starve as long
as they had something to put on a fire.

Although tempted to leave that day, Paulek changed his mind and decided on
an early start in the morning, it had been a busy day and they would need
the extra rest and then get a fresh start, for the rest of the day they
collected what they could and set it in the cart ready, the pony was well
fed and watered and was tied to what was left of the door post, of the
farms possessions, there was the old hoe and spade now with new rough
handles, an old blanket found in the cellar and their mothers small pot, as
an after thought, Paulek added the thin slate they had used to cook the
bread on, of their clothes, they had only what they stood in, their rough
breeches and thin cotton smocks, their feet were bare and had never seen
sandals let alone boots of any kind, Paulek looked at the pitifully small
pile, that was all they had in the world, it was not much to start a new
life but it was all they had, they would survive, Paulek would see to that.

At sunrise they left the only place they called home, there had not been
one single person come to see what had happened, perhaps their one time
neighbours were also now dead, they did not have the time to find out,
there future now lay to the west and south, well away from this land
blighted by greedy Lords and Barons and raided by any gang of brigands that
felt the desire, Paulek was sure that too the south or west, where the big
towns were, they would find a place of their own.

As though needing the exercise, the pony set of with light steps, the small
dog cart barely registering as weight even though the two boys sat on it,
one on each side with their feet dangling over the track, Paulek held the
thin rope reins loosely and let the pony have its head to a certain extent,
as long as it headed west or south he was happy, the quickly disappearing
familiarity of their home fading behind them, there was now nothing there
to pull them back, Paulek heard the small sniffle from his brother but did
not turn or mention it, he felt the boy would not want to be seen as a
baby, not now they were all alone.

When they stopped at midday for a little bread and water by a stream, they
had travelled further than they had ever been, the land ahead was rolling
and grassed, in the distance they could see the outline of small farm
holdings, much like they had once had, Paulek had no intention of stopping
at any of them, they had enough to keep going for a number of days yet and
he had no need to have to be asked questions by strangers.

For the next six days they avoided all other contact, even hiding in the
forest at times to avoid people, on the evening of the sixth day, Paulek
tied the pony and set the cart while Milac gathered fire wood, Paulek had
been making snares while they had been travelling, while not of the quality
they had been used to, he hoped that at least one of them would work, they
had eaten the last of the smoked and dried meat for breakfast, they now had
only a quarter of the last flat loaf of bread and a half a jar of preserved
fruit left, it was now time to start to hunt for food, the two boys worked
well together neither one trying to lord it over the other, even as young
as Milac was, he knew that they had to be together on everything for them
to survive in future.

It was a thin meal for them but, in the morning, everything looked better,
much to Paulek's surprise, a number of the snares he had laid were full,
his bag for the night was two plump hares, three pigeons, a water fowl and,
even better, a very small piglet, it took him no time at all to dress down
the new meat, they were in a dense thicket and he saw no reason to move on
today and so, he set about preserving the new meat as best he could, some
he cooked and then pressed into gathered leaves and grasses, the rest he
left over the fire which he had added green braches to make dense smoke, by
morning the smoked meat would be well dried and preserved, it would last
for many days, all they had to do now was find some form of vegetable, the
hunt began for fungi and other wild berries or roots, by nightfall they had
quite a large larder to keep them going.

The next morning they were ready too move on, their little dog cart had
been checked and was tied to the well rested pony, both boys took their
places on the side of the cart and the pony began a new day, they were now
well south of their home land, the surrounding land had changed and was now
filled with large forests with small open glades interspersed along the
way, finding water was easy, it seemed that every corner opened onto
another small pool or stream, they followed no track but kept to the open
spaces where possible.

On the fifteenth day of leaving their destroyed home, they saw in the
distance a large town, heavy smoke hung over the many houses and tall
buildings, some even as high as three houses, around the town was a tall
wall of wooden stakes and, at the gate was an armed guard, slowly they made
their way towards the town, it was time to find some work, their clothes
would not last much longer and they needed a few things to continue their
travels.

At the gate, the guard barely glanced in their direction, two small boys on
a cart was of no surprise to him, there were far more dangerous beings than
small boys, if they caused any trouble then the town marshals would tend to
them, the guard yawned and shuffled his feet as the two boys disappeared
into the depths of the town.

Paulek steered the small cart through the narrow cobbled streets until he
came to what appeared to be the central square, its throng of people going
about their daily business was completely new to the two boys, they had
never in all their short lives, seen so many people in one place, shop
keepers mixed with tradesmen and shoppers, among them all were children of
all ages, some playing, others were going about their own business and
some, only a few, looked to be of the streets.

The sun was sinking rapidly towards dusk as Paulek steered the cart towards
the central park with its few trees and small circle of brown grass, to one
side sat the well for the town's water, rough seats had been set under the
few trees where people of the town could rest from their labours.

Paulek stopped the cart under the biggest of the trees; at least here they
would have some cover in the darkness of their first night in this bustling
town, as Paulek and Milac jumped from the cart to tend to the pony, a young
boy no older than Paulek, appeared from the shadow of the tree, Paulek had
not seen him sitting there when they had arrived.

The boys dress was not much better condition than their own worn farm
cloths although he was a little dirtier than they were as they had taken
every opportunity to wash in the many streams and pools they came across in
their journey, the boy slowly walked over to them, there was a hunger in
his young eyes as he looked at the two new comers.

"Hi, my names Wolenski, my friends call me Wol or Hawk, what you doing
here, don't you know the nights coming?"

Paulek looked at the boy, he was taller than either of them but also less
well fed.

"Uh, hi, I'm Paulek and this is my brother Milac, we just got here, our
farm was destroyed by Cossacks some time ago, why can't we stay here the
night, we will probably move on in the morning?"

"Aha, country bumpkin's; that explains it, well my country cousins, there's
a curfew in effect after dark, once the sun goes down, this is not a safe
place to be, lots of animals with long teeth out there at night."

"But what about the town Marshals, don't they look out for the town at
night?" Paulek asked.

"No way, they're the first one inside at dusk; they don't want to get their
nice fat asses bit by some dog or something."

"Well we have no where to stay and no coins to buy anywhere, we have been
camping out on the road for a long time now, we will be fine right here
under the tree, besides, I have some tools to fight with if I need them."

"Well, country boy, I hope you know how to fight, don't say I didn't warn
you, not all the bad things in this dukedom are animals."

The boy slowly walked away but only after giving Paulek and Milac one last
look of pity, he slowly disappeared into the lowering gloom of dusk, Paulek
and Milac went into a familiar pattern they had taught themselves for
setting up camp, in the morning they would have to decide whether to stay
and find work, or move on and live off the land until they found a better
town, for now they had enough for one meal and both boys were tired.

Later in the darkness, having finished their meagre meal, Milac, as usual,
cuddled his slightly smaller frame back into Paulek's so he could be held
by his brothers arms as he slept, for this night, instead of sleeping on
the ground, Paulek had insisted they sleep in the small wagon and at least
be a little above the ground, the boys drifted off to sleep as the last
lights went out in the many houses and businesses of the strange town.

During the night, something disturbed Paulek but not enough to fully wake
him, he drifted back to sleep, his last though was of fire burning through
a small house on the edge of rolling farm land.

Paulek awoke into the first light of morning to the feeling of something
wrong, his body was hot and felt fevered but, worst of all, his arms were
empty, of his brother Milac there was no sign, instead there was just a
large pool of drying blood on the bottom of the cart, Paulek tried to sit
up and look around but he was suddenly hit by a dizziness that made his
eyes unfocused, the hot fevered sensation increased as he tried to scream
out Milac's name, somewhere in the back of his swirling mind he heard a
boys voice.

"Oh fuck, now what, I can't leave him here for the Marshals or that fat
assed Mayor, think Hawk, think, what would Pavlik have done."

Somewhere, in his haze of fever, Paulek felt thin arms wrap around him and
try to drag him from the cart, it was easier than it should have been, but
it was made easier by the slick blood that covered the floor boards and had
soaked into the thread bare clothes of Paulek, as the sun rose higher in
the sky, Paulek felt weaker and his fever increased, it was only a few
minutes when he felt the coolness of shade but in that short time he felt
as though he was dying, how he got the fever so quick he had no idea but,
for now all he wanted to do was rest, even the loss of his brother could
not overrule his need to close his eyes and recover from his illness.


TBC.


Artcart65@vodafone.co.nz