“The plan is to kind of charge up so we don’t have to do this at all by tomorrow,” said Alora. “At least we hope that’ll work.”
He mumbled something under his breath about his being too old to deal with this kind of thing.
“But we made lunch for you, Uncle Charles. It’s on the stove. Baked beans and ham and fried potatoes with onions.” She peered with pleading eyes. She couldn’t stand having him angry with her.
His scowl fell away. “I’m sorry, Alora, but I feel like I’m out of control here. It’s my job to protect you.” He moved to wrap an arm
around her, his lanky six-feet-two frame forcing Kaevin to her other side.
“I want you to know, sir, I intend to protect her also.” Kaevin stood eye to eye with Charles, and held his gaze without flinching.
Charles pressed his lips together in a tight line. “But who will protect her from you?”
“I would never hurt her,” he retorted in an offended tone.
“Look, Kaevin.” Charles cut off his protest with a wave of his hand. “I believe you’d never intentionally hurt her, but you’re both too young to be in this kind of relationship. And if you take her to your home, it sounds pretty dangerous. So, even if you don’t mean to, you could still hurt her indirectly.”
“But Uncle Charles, it seems like it’s kind of my destiny to go there and help. You know, like it’s why I have the jewel in the first place.”
“Destiny or not, you’re too young. You’re not going off alone with anyone, much less with a seventeen-year-old boy we don’t know anything about.”
“But Uncle Charles—”
“I’m sorry, but this discussion is over.”
Alora and Kaevin escaped outside to avoid Charles’ critical gaze. “We need to tend the horses. And then afterward, I thought we might try practicing with the bearer thing. Maybe you could help me figure out how to do it.”
“I’m uncertain whether I can actually help. When I described the color of your wander-jewel, Raelene told me it would be extremely difficult to learn how to control such a powerful stone. She said it would be futile to pass advice to you through me. Originally, she was going to instruct me somewhat in case I had the opportunity to help you.”
“Well, I’m going to try it, with or without your help. What can you tell me?”
“I only know what I’ve been taught about bearers. I’ve never transported with anyone except you.”
“But you have to know more than I do. Do you at least know what I can move? I mean, you said I couldn’t move large pieces of metal. I know I can move people. Can I move objects like rocks? Or can I only move objects if people are holding them? Can I only move people to me? Or can I move them to other places?”
“Uhmm, I think... I think you can only move one person away from you or to you. And if you go somewhere, you can take one person with you if they’re touching you. So, if you wanted to take more than one person, I believe you’d need to move them one at a time. As for objects...” He paused, scratching the back of his head. “Whatever a person is wearing or holding would transport, unless it’s iron. So, if a person were wearing metal armor, you wouldn’t even be able to move them.”
“But what about moving something like this log?”
“I believe that objects are more difficult for some reason.”
“What about animals? Maybe I could practice with one of the chickens.”
He smiled. “I think animals are easier than objects, but it must be a specific animal you can identify in your mind. You couldn’t just wish for a horse and get one, but you could transport your own horse.” He stopped, frowning as he concentrated. “No. Perhaps a horse would weigh too much.”
“Uhmm, I’d be afraid to practice on Willow, anyway. I might accidentally send her somewhere and not be able to find her.”
“Then I’d appreciate it if you don’t practice on me either.” He flashed a dimple on his left cheek.
Arriving at the horse barn, she said, “Shall we try letting go while we muck the stalls?”
He agreed. “We won’t be far apart, anyway. Surely, we’ve mostly recovered by now.”
They made quick work of the stalls and gave the horses a measure of feed to supplement the hay. Kaevin spent some time with the horses, brushing each one down and talking to them.
“This is one of my gifts.”
“You can talk to horses?”