Adventure of Dagg Nabbitt

The overturned cart lies crooked beside the north pasture, its grain sacks split across the mud. Your border collie keeps close as a mud-covered young man stumbles from behind it, both hands raised.

He is a slight young man, with a narrow face and a chipped front tooth with brown skin, tangled black hair, and a torn ochre tunic beneath a patched leather vest. Mud streaks his face, but his empty hands remain steady.

Merrin points past the cart toward the pasture fence. Beyond the hedgerow, a dark-coated figure, a hooded adult in a dark wool cloak with one gloved hand on the crossbow has begun watching, motionless except for the slow turn of a crossbow.

Your border collie gives a low growl, planting his paws in the mud. The watcher shifts behind the hedge, and the cart's broken wheel creaks in the wind.

Dagg gives the dog’s neck a brief rub, then looks back toward the watcher. The warm thought of unfinished horse feeding tugs at him, but the paid work wins.

Dagg walks across the churned mud toward the hedgerow, keeping his hands visible. Your border collie follows close, growling softly, while Merrin stays beside the broken cart.

At speaking distance, the hooded figure lowers the crossbow toward the mud but does not unstring it. His gloved hand remains near the stock, and his attention shifts between Dagg and Merrin.

Dagg watches Rusk’s shoulders, hands, and crossbow with patient attention. The thought of unfinished horse feeding dulls his focus, but his sword’s faint ghastly purple smoke sharpens every small movement.

Rusk does not raise the crossbow. He keeps its stock angled toward the mud, while his uncovered eye studies Dagg’s sword and then returns to Dagg’s face.

The crossbow remains lowered, and Dagg’s careful scrutiny finds no sudden threat in Rusk’s stance. Beyond the hedge, fresh boot marks lead north along the fence.

Rusk taps the crossbow stock against his boot, then points north along the fresh tracks. The practical answer settles the question, though the distant barn and unfed horses remain an irritating pull behind Dagg.

Rusk lowers his voice and offers the useful bargain plainly: Merrin keeps the sealed letter safe, while Rusk guides Dagg to the camp and helps confront Pike’s collectors.

Dagg laughs and turns toward the south road. Your border collie bounds ahead, while Rusk and Merrin follow him away from the overturned cart and the fresh tracks.

At Nabbitt Farms, Merrin carries hay and grain into the warm stable while Rusk fills the troughs. Dagg retrieves the ranch wagon from its shed, losing several minutes checking a route he cannot confirm.

The horses settle to eating. Dagg loads the wagon, and Rusk and Merrin climb beneath the canvas among empty sacks, hidden from anyone who stops to inspect the road.

The wagon rolls north from the ranch with Dagg holding the reins. The plan is ready, but the unanswered question remains whether Pike’s collectors will accept a lone farmer as their next customer.