Daily Challenges (Arrows of Promise Outtake)

“Sheriff.” Tant looked very relieved to see his boss. “Thanks for coming. I really don’t know how to handle this one.”

“So you said.” Ashlynn came to stand at his side and looked up. “What are we dealing with…oh dear.”

Broden craned his head back, looking up in the same direction that they were, and saw the problem almost instantly. In the upper branches of a large, spreading maple tree, clung a little boy of about six. He was hanging onto the branches for dear life, eyes too wide in his face. Near his feet, on a lower limb, was a small paper kite that looked like a hawk. It was well and thoroughly tangled in the limbs. “So. Kite gets stuck in tree and boy goes after it.”

“How he managed to get up there, I have no idea,” Tant admitted, shifting from foot to foot in open agitation. “The nearest branch up is a good fifteen feet, as you can see, and there’s no footholds that I could find. I mean, seriously, how did he even get up there?”

Broden walked off toward the side several steps, his eyes scanning the area, and slowly his eyes traced the probable route. There was a stack of barrels next to a winery, that led up to a low-curving roof, and from there, he could follow it across and toward one of the branches. It was thick enough for a child to climb on, even an adult, and from there he could make his way across and up. Until, of course, he got high enough that the branches were thinner and swayed more. At that point, fear had paralyzed him.

A thin matron was walking back and forth beneath the tree, calling up to her son to just climb down, but the boy wasn’t even responding to her. Too afraid to do so, was Broden’s bet. He walked back to Ashlynn and Tant before asking, “Boy’s mother?”

“Yes. She was the one that ran and got me, but honestly, sir…” Tant rubbed at the back of his head in a helpless gesture, “I don’t know how to get him down either. It’s why I called for the Sheriff. I thought maybe she could magic him down.”

“The only way that I know of to get him down would be to cut the tree,” Ashlynn said sourly. “Which wouldn’t aid our cause. Well, no, come to think of it, I do know of one spell that will cushion his fall. If we can persuade him to jump.”

Broden shook his head. “Boy will no’ jump. Too terrified.”

Ashlynn peered upwards and heaved out a loud breath of frustration. “I think you’re right. Curse it. Alright, options?”

“Lass,” Broden went back to looking at the route he had seen, “I think I can go up meself and fetch him down.”

“You see a way up?” She looked in the same direction as he but obviously did not see the same thing. “Will the branches support you?”

“Now that be the question,” he admitted. Frankly, he had doubts, but if nothing else he could try to snag the boy before they both fell. “If ye would lay down that cushioning spell of yers, I would take it kindly.”

“I’d rather you not break your neck, so I’ll do that.” She cast about, looking around at the ground, and measuring things out with her hands. “I think this will take me several minutes.”

“I best go talk with the mother, then.” Broden strode straight toward her, hailing her as he went. “Ma’am?”

She was so distraught, so focused on her son, the he had to call her three times before she responded. In confusion, she looked at him, eyes sweeping from head to toe and back again. “Yes?”

“Broden Ravenscroft, I be,” he introduced himself while jerking a thumb to indicate Ashlynn, “yon lass’s partner.”

Her eyes glanced in that direction and saw Ashlynn, lighting up in relief. “The sheriff. Oh, thank Regina. I’m Cindy, Cindy King. Can she get my son down?”

“No spells for flying, or so the lass tells me,” he said gently, “but she do have a cushioning spell. So if the lad falls, he will no’ be breaking his neck.”

The mother’s eyes swept closed in an expression of outright relief. “Thank you.”

“She be setting it up now. While she be doing that, I will go up and fetch him down again.”

Seeing that she did not follow this entirely, he explained, “I would no’ ask a full grown man to make a leap like that, magic or no’. How can I ask it of a boy?”

She had both arms wrapped around her chest as if she were physically holding herself together. “I think you’re right, even I wouldn’t have the nerve to jump, but I don’t understand how you think you can get up there? I can’t figure out how he got up there.”

Really, where was these people’s imaginations? Did they not climb anything as children? To Broden, it had been rather obvious how the boy had managed it. “Oh, I see the path he took up, right enough. Ye leave that part to me. Ye just stay clear of the place where the lass’s spell goes, just in case.”

The mother wet her lips and glanced up before nodding in jerky understanding. “I will. I will. Just be careful.”

“Aye, that I will be.” Striding back to Tant, he took off quiver and bow and handed them over. “Hold these, lad. I have a boy to fetch down.”

Tant took them readily enough but he looked just as worried as the mother about this plan. “Sir, are you sure? I’m lighter than you are. The branches might bear my weight better.”

“Lad, ye make a point, but I have a question for ye.” Leaning in close, he clapped Tant’s shoulder with one hand before asking, “Now, of the two of us, who do ye think has the most experience in climbing trees?”

Tant’s smile was rueful. “Undoubtedly you, sir.”

“Broden, ready!” Ashlynn called to him.

Time to go up. With a last nod of reassurance for the mother, he headed for the barrels. He had plenty of footholds to climb up onto the roof with, which did not surprise him, since a six year old boy had managed this. Gaining the roof, he walked calmly across and to the nearest branch. From there, he backed up three steps, then took a bit of a running jump until he snagged the branch with a firm grip. In reality, the boy had probably used the next branch over, as it was close enough to touch the roof. But if he did that, it would badly shake the branch the boy was on, as they were connected. Better for him to use this side one instead and maneuver himself up.

Broden had been climbing trees since almost before he could walk. It did not take more than a glance for him to judge which branch connected to the one he needed and he climbed steadily, no real hesitation in him. The only time he paused was halfway up, to make sure that the branches could hold his weight, which they did.

Reaching the right area, more or less, he paused and looked around him. The boy was still clinging another branch up and two out. The branches got awful thin here and he would rather not tempt them if he did not have to. Deciding he was close enough to be heard, he took a stab at talking. “Lad. Ho, there!”

The boy craned his neck around, slowly, as if any little movement might tip his balance.
Seeing that he had his attention, he grinned in a deliberately casual way. “Now lad, I have climbed many a tree in me lifetime, but no’ one like this. Did ye come up for that toy I spy?”
The boy nodded slowly, eyes still wide.

Good, a response. “I promise to buy ye another when we get our feet properly on the ground again,” it would be much safer doing that than trying to fetch this one, “but to do that, ye need to come to me. Just inch along until I can grasp ye. Can ye do that?”

The boy gulped and did not respond.

“Now, do no’ mind the distance to the ground,” Broden continued conversationally, for all the world like they were discussing if it would be sunny tomorrow. “See yon lass there, the pretty one with the fair hair? That be Wizard Ashlynn Fallbright. She laid down a cushioning spell for us on the ground. Even if we fall, no’ a bone will break.”

“R-” the boy had to swallow and try again to get the word out, “Really?”

Finally! A response. “Truly. So, lad, will ye come a little closer to me? The branches are fine for ye but a bit slim for me.”

He moved a hand, grasping further along the branch, and inched along. Flat as he was, it was cumbersome to move, and the branch of course swayed with his movements. It scared him all over again and he froze.

Broden sighed, resigned, but not surprised. What really surprised him was how the boy got all the way up here if he were that scared. Or was he so focused on the toy that he had not realized how far up he had come until he glanced down? That was likely the case. “Alright, lad, easy. I be coming to you.”

He did not for one second consider using the same branch that the boy was on. It would shake terribly and his additional weight might send it crashing to the ground. Aye, Ashlynn had a cushion down there, but it did not do anything about all of those branches in between. They would not kill, but they would break bones, and Broden would rather avoid that. So instead he looked around, judging and weighing with his eyes, until he found a different route. There were two side branches that looked sturdy enough that went right underneath where the boy was. He could straddle and put his foot on the two of them, splitting his weight, and make it across safely enough. Game to try, he started out, ears trained and listening for creaking sounds. Nothing. Maybe he’d survive this without breaking something after all.
Keeping one hand up and on the branch the boy rested on, he kept his balance with his eyes trained on his feet to make sure they did not slip. As he walked, he spoke calmly. “Lad, when I get to ye, ye can just drop into me arms. I can sling ye on my back and get ye on the ground in a thrice. Can ye do that?”

There was a barely audible ‘yes.’

“Good, good. Ye know, it was me da that taught me how to climb like this. When I was about yer age, actually. I never did once fall although I had a close call a time or two while I was growing. Me daughter, though, she be better at it than me.” He certainly wished it was Riana doing this right now. She was lighter and would be able to charm the boy down easier.

He felt a hand grasp his, the touch light and uncertain, and he stopped. He nearly had to bend his back to be able to look directly above him. Finding a pair of feet, he reached up with his other hand and guided them both over to the side. “Just ease yerself over there, nice and slow. I got ye fine, lad, ye will no’ fall. What be yer name?” He had not thought to ask while on the ground.

“Weston.”

“Weston, ye be doing fine. Both legs over, now, that be the way.” The boy was willing but not at all certain of how to arrange himself. Broden was patient, not pushing him faster than he was willing to go. “Now. I got yer legs. Let go of the branch.”

It was a finger by finger exercise as Weston did not want to let go of it. Only after he let go completely, trusting his weight to Broden, did he realize the older man had a firm grip on him. Then he exchanged the branch for Broden’s neck, getting him in a near stranglehold.

Broden carried him like that, one arm still using the branch overhead as a guide, to get back to the main trunk, where the branches were thicker. Was it his imagination, or did he hear a collective sigh of relief come from the audience on the ground? Once there, he had Weston shift around until he was on Broden’s back, freeing up both hands. Only then did he start climbing his way back down.

In spite of Ashlynn’s efforts, Broden was not entirely sure he wanted to just leap fifteen feet with a nervous burden on his back. So he retraced his steps across the roof and down the barrels, where his mother was waiting with open arms. Broden handed him over and smiled as she first grabbed him up with a strong hug and then set him on the ground so she could shake him by the shoulders. Ah, parental love.

Ashlynn was waiting there as well, smiling. “That was quite a sight. I’d heard from Riana and Ash both that you two practically lived in trees, but this is the first time I’ve seen you climb anything before.”

Broden shrugged. It was as normal to him as breathing.

Leaning in, she lifted a hand to her mouth and whispered, “Also, all of the women here? Are half in love with you for the way you climbed up after him. It thoroughly impressed them.”

He thought she was teasing but there actually were pockets of women watching this scene play out and gossiping behind their hands. A few of them blushed and giggled when they saw that he was watching. Was there something wrong with the men in Estole, that they would find this impressive?

Shaking the thought off, he turned to Weston. “Lad, where can we buy yer toy?”

Cindy turned to him with a frown. “Buy him a toy? Master Broden, you went through incredible effort to get him down, I can’t thank you enough for that. Buying him another toy on top of that is too much.”

He chided her with a wagging finger and a smile. “Now, Mistress Cindy, this be a promise from one man to another. I said if he would help me get him down again, I would buy him another. The toy will serve as a reminder, too,” here he sank to one knee so he could look Weston in the eye, “that if ever a toy of his goes astray, and he can no’ reach it, that he can call on me. Together, we can fetch it back again.”

Weston, now that he had his feet firmly back on the ground, had regained enough spunk to give Broden a gap-toothed grin. “Yes, sir.”

“Ah, now that be the spirit.” Seeing that Cindy was actually grateful for this promise, he took it as tacit permission to continue. “Now, Weston, where can we buy that toy?”

Weston turned and pointed further up the street. “Over there.”

“There we will go, then.” He got back up to his feet and looked to Ashlynn.

“While you shop,” his wizard drawled, a distinct twinkle in her eye, “I’ll have a word with this winery and see about these barrels being moved somewhere else. I don’t want anyone else duplicating what you did and getting stuck in the tree.”

Amen to that. He would rather not repeat the experience either, even if it had been nice to be up high for a while. “Ye do that.”

“After that, we need to go to the settlement for a while. There’s something going on over there that they need help with. Magical help with,” she clarified. “I just got word.”

Broden groaned although it wasn’t the first time that they had gotten this summons. It was, in fact, the fifth time. Mayhap the sixth. Ash’s absence was felt like a sore tooth. “I can no’ wait for those two to be back.”

“You and me both,” Ashlynn growled, heading for the inside of the wine shop.

Resigned to another boat ride, Broden held out a hand, which Weston readily took. “Alright, lad, where be that toy shop, again?”