“I would love that, Charles.” She pushed her hair back as two spots of color appeared on her cheeks. “But I did promise Alora we could train together today.”
“That’s okay, Grandmother,” said Alora, thinking she would enjoy spending time with Kaevin without her uncle or grandmother around. Especially since he looked so hot in his new clothes. “I’m quite tired,” she lied. “I’ll rest now, and we can train more this afternoon.”
“It’s too bad you’re so tired.” Beth waggled her eyebrows at Alora after Charles and Raelene departed. “We could all go have some fun together.”
“I’m actually feeling a lot more chipper all of a sudden,” Alora replied, grinning at her friend.
“We could go into town, maybe catch a movie,” suggested Wesley.
“I was thinking more like going for our own horseback ride,” said Beth. “We’ll go the other direction to our ranch or over to Wesley’s so we won’t run into your uncle and grandmother. This weather is perfect for bareback.”
“Awesome,” said Wesley. “Let’s go by my house and pick up two bows and some targets so Kaevin and I can practice.”
“I’ll pack a picnic lunch,” said Alora. “And we’ll leave a note for Uncle Charles so he won’t worry.”
Working together, the crew readied quickly for departure. Beth was surprised when Kaevin insisted on riding without a bridle. “I’m certain it won’t be necessary. I’ve never used one back home. And River is quite pleased about the idea. I’m sure we can understand one another well enough.”
“You’ll have to show me sometime,” said Beth. “You need to meet my horse, Petra. He’s a bit stubborn sometimes. We have a bitless bridle, but I wonder if we could go without a bridle altogether.”
“Without a bridle, your hands are free to use a bow during battle,” said Kaevin.
“Okay,” said Beth with a wry grin. “There’s an argument I never would have considered for going bridleless.”
“I’ll be plenty happy just using a bow for hunting. I don’t relish the idea of being on the receiving end of an arrow.” Wesley chuckled.
“Have you ever been hit with an arrow?” Alora asked Kaevin.
He shrugged. “I’ve only been hit once, in the shoulder. And I’ve had a few near misses.”
Alora’s stomach tightened into a distinct knot as she thought of the arrow piercing the skin and embedding in Kaevin’s shoulder.
“Hey, Alora!” Beth yelled.
“What?” she said, startled from her morbid imagining.
“You had that same weird look you got before you disappeared at the breakfast table. Just making sure you stick around so we can all go to the dance tonight.”
“Are you still harping about that dance? They probably canceled it, anyway.”
“Nope, I called Marietta, and the dance is still on for eight o’clock. Plenty of time for the snowplows to get everything cleared and no more bad weather predicted.”
“Who predicts the weather for you?” asked Kaevin
“We have meteorologists who do that, but they’re wrong half of the time,” said Wesley.
“Our weather guild is also unreliable. Perhaps they trained together.”
*****
Jireo continued to ride well after the sun had set. He slackened his pace somewhat, but the moonlit road was clearly illuminated except for the shadows of the trees. He noticed smoke from a probable campfire off the road to the east and slowed to a stop. He cocked his ear, but the only sound he heard was Surefoot’s labored breathing. Although he reason
ed the expedition would have advanced farther, he felt compelled to check the camp to ensure he didn’t pass them on the road.
He tethered Surefoot to a tree and crept quietly toward the campfire. He discovered a camp of some thirty men and women with an equal number of horses. Most of the party was asleep, but two were conversing near the fire. He didn’t see anyone he recognized, but he was curious about the group, so he stole closer, until he could eavesdrop on their conversation.
A man with curly brown hair and beard spoke with irritation. “I don’t like being giftless. The shire folk could be lying to us about Lena—we would never know.”
“But Sire,” said the other man, whose beard was long and straight. “They have no reason to lie to you. They cannot suspect your true identity or the identity of anyone else in our search party.”