Daughter Of The Wind --Western Wind
Page 10
The dark water rippled and covered Johann to his hips. Pink stood on the bank of the pond, not quite sure what to do when he turned around and beckoned her forward. "Don't be afraid, you won't drown. These are waysides for travelers who know what to look for."
He walked back to her, his clothes dry. Her mind couldn‘t grasp how it was possible for him to be standing in water and not get soaked.
"You must believe that you will be safe, and it will be so. No one can find us here unless they also know how to find the Lodges."
She stepped forward and water splashed against the shore line as it soaked her boot. She retreated hastily.
In a calm voice he reassured her, "Believe that it's a place of warmth and safety. Close your eyes."
She complied, and he continued on, his voice a soothing drone. "Now think of someplace warm and comfortable, where you've been happy."
Johann's house came into her mind. It was the only place she'd stayed where she hadn't been a slave, or abused by her stepfather, since her mother remarried. "Now open the door to the place you’re at," Johann instructed. She reached out with a hand and lifted the latch on Johann's door. “Now walk into your haven. Mind the steps though."
Steps did not fit with Johann's house and she almost opened her eyes. Somehow her mind merged the image she created with reality; she found herself stumbling into Johann's basement. A good trick since his home had no basement. "Now relax. Sit. Keep your haven about you and open your eyes."
The basement of Johann's house, as it had come into her mind, greeted her doubting eyes. A ball of golden brown light glowed cheerily in a corner. When Johann moved, it trailed after him. Following her glance, he looked at the light and said, “Just one more small trick. It's wizard’s light.”
“You made that?” She questioned, her ears catching the word wizard instead of magicker.
“Yes. As I said I know some small tricks.”
Pink looked at him, suspicion building. His small tricks were starting to add up to a much larger skill.
A small, well-worn table with two chairs occupied one side of the little room. A pantry filled with preserved food sat in a corner, and blankets lay over a pile of straw. They ate some preserved fruit and dried meat, then divided the pile of straw into two mounds and lay a blanket over each. Pink lay down and covered herself with a second blanket. The straw was a slight improvement over the hard ground. It scratched her through the blanket, but she had made do in much worse conditions. Tired from the day’s travel, she soon fell sound asleep.