He dropped the reins, backed up five paces and ran towards the stream. Upon reaching the edge he jumped, soaring over the water until both his feet landed on the opposing shore.
Filled with pride he turned around to gloat, but the dirt crumbled under his weight and gave way. He found himself falling backwards into the water. It was fortunate that he had been right, while he momentarily found himself submerged, the water was shallow enough that all he needed to do was sit up.
All he could hear was Bertrand laughing, he would have been tempted to join in until he realised that his horse was nowhere to be found. I must have spooked it with my splash.
“She did raise a fool after all,” Bertrand said after catching his breath.
Disclaimer: This excerpt from Man of War is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth.
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