Copyright: Jim Webster

CATTLE by Tallis Steelyard

Wylar Drig was a carter. He never pretended to be anything else, never claimed to be anything grander or more refined. He drove a cart. To be fair it was his own cart, pulled by his own horrocks bullocks, and it was, as carts go, a big one.

But with Wylar, if you had something to cart, he’d cart it for you. I’ve known him shift night soil, furniture, firewood, fireworks (which even he admitted was a little unnerving) and in one case a bride on her way to be married. He handled any job in the same methodical manner, although in the case of the bride he did wash the cart out first, and the bullocks were scrubbed and had their horns polished.

He had a bit of land north of Port Naain. It was enough to keep his bullocks on and…