by Sandra Elsa
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This far north, frost still coated the ground every evening. The mountaintops in the distance were covered with snow glistening in the sun. They were beautiful, but Conall assured her they were also quite deadly this time of year. The melting snow would cause flooding and avalanches.
“Other than dead in the middle of winter, this is the most dangerous time of year to pass through them,” Conall said. “Winter storms around here come up quicker than thought. The first winter storm usually closes the passes and they stay that way until spring.” He returned from scouting ahead to trot alongside Angel. “We may still be early to get through some of the higher elevations. If we have to wait I know caves and a couple of abandoned cabins scattered throughout. I'll keep you safe Bella. Nobody knows these mountains better than I.”
“I trust you to do that,” she said.
She relayed to Trace what she had just been told. His right hand pushed the blond hair behind his ears as he looked at the peaks. His brow furrowed and he glanced at Conall with a frown. “Does he think we’ll be delayed?”
“He’s not sure. He claims to know places we can stay if we find an uncrossable pass.”
“We’ve already delayed too long. If Lorun is still alive, every day is that much closer to being his last. He has been in captivity a long time.”
“We can only do our best,” Bella said. “We have beautiful spring weather and a nice easy ride for the moment. Until trouble comes along I'm going to enjoy the ride.”
The foothills they were riding through were just starting to turn green with the bright new colors of spring. They could hear the chirps of new life in the trees and wild animals were plentiful. They would have to take care while hunting for their supper not to deprive a young new life of its sustenance.
Her bow was tied to her saddle and her sword, slung over her back, the pommel rising from behind her head. Her dagger was belted firmly to her left side and her throwing knives holstered under the sleeves of her tunic. Even in Telgar, women did not travel the wilds unarmed.
Perhaps it would be a more accurate assessment to say especially in Telgar women did not travel the wilds unarmed. The general economic condition of the country gave rise to excessive numbers of bandits. Only a fool traveled unarmed unless you were in one of the few areas the military patrolled regularly. Even there, the military being more of a bodyguard for the royal tax collectors than protectors of the citizens, you weren’t likely to find much help.
The sun was setting when she realized she could hear the roaring of the Timona River. The Timona was the boundary between Telgar and Ronan. They would make camp here, spending a final night in their homeland. Tomorrow was a whole new world, and not one Bella was eager to explore.
With camp set up and a fire started, Trace went hunting for supper. As long as game was plentiful they would conserve their trail rations.
“The river is high,” Trace said, while they were eating. “I hope Conall knows a ford. Details from this area are very sketchy. With the border always embattled not many people cross into the mountains here so there are no maps.”
Bella opened her mouth to say something but snapped it shut. She lost this battle with Torel, and Conall kept reassuring her they would remain far away from the Earth Shaker. Tales of monsters was the reason this land was not mapped.
Trace waited for her to speak. When she didn’t he continued. “If we have to spend time looking for a place to cross we could spend a week or a month traveling the wrong direction."
"Relax Trace, Conall’s lived in this area for over two hundred years. Even if parts of that time aren't reliable in his memory, if he claims to know the best way through the mountains, he will get us through."
“Thank you for your confidence. I'll try not to let you down," Conall thought to her.
When supper was cooked, she gave a rabbit to Conall and she and Trace split the pheasant he‘d shot. She tended to Angel while Trace groomed the sweat from his horse. They cleaned their tack and lay down to sleep. Conall stayed in close to camp. Trace lay on one side of the fire and Bella the other. When they were settled, Conall came in and lay down beside Bella, stretching out to warm her, a living, breathing, fur blanket, on the side away from the fire.
She threw the top blanket over him. She was aware from time to time that he was not sleeping and he would become intensely alert at some noise too slight for her to hear. The warmth and comfort of having him there beside her was well worth the minor disturbance to her sleep.
Early the next morning she got up and made a quick breakfast for the three of them. Trace awoke as she was returning from filling the water skins. She considered washing, but decided it would wait for that evening. She had the feeling she was going to be spending quite enough time in the frigid spring runoff overflowing the banks of the Timona.
They put out the fire and spread the ashes. Bella used a touch of magic to cover the fact that anybody had ever been there. Then they saddled the horses and Conall led the way upstream.
The banks were steep and the current swift. The landscape gentled gradually and on the far side they could see the bank had become nearly level with the surface of the river. The Timona widened out and then the bank on their side became a gentle slope down to the river.
"Here is where you must cross," Conall said.
"Here! I can't even see the other side," Bella exclaimed aloud, to alert Trace of what was being said.
"This valley is wide and gentle, the horses will not have to swim until nearly the center. In summertime this is less than half the width and I can walk across it without swimming.” Conall said, “You must be sure to come out on the other side before the river turns south. Over towards the end of the valley the bank is eroded.” He led the way further upriver, “With the current as strong as it is, the horses will be carried quickly downstream when they swim. You must start as far towards the mouth of the valley as you can."
She relayed the instructions to Trace, word for word and while he looked doubtful he dismounted and began to wrap everything tightly inside waterproof packs. Bella did the same.
When all their gear was tied tightly to the saddles, Bella removed her boots, tunic, and cloak. She hiked her pants legs up over her knees and rolled the sleeves of her shirt to her shoulders. Her sword, bow, quiver, boots and tunic, she wrapped into the cloak and tied this unwieldy bundle to the pommel of the saddle. She had no delusions that anything would arrive on the other side dry, but she hoped to keep these items from the worst of it. They rode towards the mouth of the canyon and found the place where the slope first became gentle and started across. Angel went willingly and Buck, Trace’s horse, followed his lead. Buck, seemed to have reservations about this venture.
They were several hundred feet from the shore when her feet first started to get splashed. The chill sent a shiver up her spine. Angel seemed to have a good feel for where the bottom was so she let him pick his own way. That put them further east but she hoped he was traveling this way to stay with the lower water. Trace kept Buck carefully on the same path Angel took. The other shore came into view and they were still walking, but the water was over Angel’s belly. Buck, started to struggle with the current. Angel stopped, refusing to go forward and then turned back to the west, heading upstream into the current. This was almost more than Buck could handle, but he pushed on.
No longer able to avoid the need to swim, Angel turned his body northeast and plunged into water too deep to walk through. Buck fought Trace briefly and then he too was swimming. Angel swam strongly, and quickly gained purchase on the other side, where he could once again walk.
Trace struggled against Buck’s natural desire to turn back to safe ground and found himself being carried rapidly downstream.
Bella saw Buck swept off by the current and Angel turned back into the depths swimming strongly with the current to catch the floundering gelding. Angel turned back to the depths swimming behind Buck and biting his rump. Buck heaved around, obeying
Trace’s tugs on the reins, and swam forward across the current.
Angel turned again toward the northern shore and followed Buck. The bend in the river approached quickly and Bella urged Angel on. She grabbed his mane and floated off his back to remove her weight from the awkwardness of swimming, Angel surged forward, his hoofs scrambling for purchase on solid ground.
His legs shook as he stood with his nose barely above the level of the water. Bella floundered back into the saddle and Angel rested, recovering his strength.
She looked up to where Buck stood with all four hooves on solid riverbed, refusing to move, fearful of finding himself once again in need of swimming. The river flowed around him but he would not go forward.
Angel looked at Buck, and Bella could sense his anger. He turned back to the north and worked his way upstream. When he was close to Buck he bellowed an order and Buck responded with alacrity, surging forward to the other shore. Angel followed the weary gelding north.
On the other side, they rode a bit into the wood line to get out of the breeze and then setup camp. They had gone as far as they would today.
They untacked the horses and picketed Buck. Trace collected wood for a fire and Bella used magic to start it. She was happy she had finally mastered this simple craft,”and it only took me most of a year, she thought sarcastically.
They got their belongings out of the packs and were amazed to find most of them in good condition. Some moisture had seeped into the items that had been closest to the opening, but the items on the bottom were thankfully still dry. Without hesitation Bella undressed and got into dry clothing.
"Bellana!" she heard Conall's shocked thought. "The first moment I'm not there, you're undressing in front of him."
It was only then that she realized Conall had not crossed with them. She looked around and panicked when she didn't see him.
"Nice of you to worry now,” he said irately. “I'll be joining you by this evening. I can not swim that distance. As high as the water is I would have to swim nearly a mile and wolves are not designed for that. Further west the river narrows where it plunges through a gorge there is a log across the gorge.” Bella sought his mind, coming away reassured that he was not offering false hope, to calm her nerves.
She scowled at his next thoughts. “I would not lie to you, even for your own comfort. There is no point in my attempting to do so, we are too close. In the meantime, get your clothes back on or you will give Trace ideas that would only make trouble between the three of us."
"I've never thought of him as anything other than a brother," she said.
"Those are your thoughts. He tries very hard to maintain that relationship, but you cannot do things like undress in front of him and expect it not to affect him. He is not your true brother and whether you wish to believe me or not, you are extremely beautiful Bellana. Do not tempt him."
Chapter 40