by Diane Rapp
“Find your sisters and help them remember. We’ll free Donovan and make our family whole.”
“Yes, I’ll find them,” Lauryn said.
She woke as the sunlight filtered into the tree house. Examining her memories, she felt complete for the first time in years. Lauryn swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stretched, feeling refreshed and filled with purpose.
She heard Chella’s mental voice. I see memories in your mind.
Yes, I spoke with mother in my dream. Lauryn answered, hefting a bag over her shoulder.
Did you enter a bird’s mind to escape from Jerrod? You almost lost yourself inside the creature’s wild mind.
“Yes,” Lauryn said aloud, “I nearly forgot I was human. In my dream Jarrack tried to make me stare into his eyes. If my mother hadn’t stopped him, could he control my mind?”
Chella shrugged. “People are more vulnerable when they sleep. Jarrack enters their dreams night after night and slowly gains control. Finally he forces the waking mind to his will.”
“My sisters might be in danger from him. We must hurry and find them.”
After a full day paddling through the swamp, they reached dry land, stashed the canoe in another of Trenton’s caches, and trudged through the forest to its edge. In the light of the golden moon they saw a cottage surrounded by rich grassland.
“We’ve arrived,” Chella said. Staying in the shadows, she scrutinized the open fields before leading Lauryn across the meadow. They set their packs down on the front porch and the door swung open.
Lauryn tensed, ready to run.
Chella grinned. “I’m glad you’re here, Andrew.” She held out her hand.
A slender young man ducked under the six-foot doorframe and wrapped Chella’s outstretched hand in his long fingers. Although dressed in a rough woolen tunic over leather pants, Andrew’s stance revealed courtly manners.
Andrew seemed familiar to Lauryn. He looked lithe and agile with long legs and a friendly smile. His unruly red hair glowed in the moonlight, and stayed mussed even as he combed nervous fingers through to tame the locks. Vivid blue eyes met hers for an instant. He blushed and Lauryn’s memory clicked into place. Andrew was the shy boy who worked in the stables at Havenshire.
Andrew said, “I rode out promptly when I got your messenger bird. I arrived this morning and started to worry. Did you have trouble getting through the swamp?”
“We tended the wounded before we left the convent and slept last night at Trenton’s tree house,” Chella explained. “Have you spotted any desert riders?”
“No,” Andrew glanced nervously at the open pastureland, “but we’d better get moving. Riders on fast horses can circle the swamp if they don’t waste time sleeping.” He blushed at the sound of his scolding tone and led them to a corral behind the cottage. Two mares loaded with packs stood next to a black stallion pawing the turf. The stallion’s massive size dwarfed the perky mares, and his quivering muscles and arched neck displayed suppressed energy.
Lauryn reached out with a trembling hand. His nostrils flared as he sniffed her fingertips, and then he snorted warm barley-scented breath into her face.
Andrew said, “If he didn’t like you he’d back up and warn you off by jerking his head up high.”
“He’s magnificent, a king’s stallion,” Lauryn whispered in awe.
“Tempest,” Andrew said proudly, “is Donovan’s own mount. I’ve cared for him since Donovan…well, since your father was captured.”
Lauryn remembered a broad-shouldered man with red hair smiling at her from the saddle of an ebony stallion. Andrew gave her a leg up onto her horses with a firm confident grip.
Chella swung into her saddle with expertise and rode like she was comfortable on horseback. To Lauryn’s surprise, she remembered how to hold the reins and grip the saddle with her knees. After a few hours Lauryn wished she’d never seen a horse. Her bones and muscles throbbed, matching the ache in her head.
Andrew rode in silence, constantly eyeing shadows, and stopped often to examine the ground. The red moon joined its golden sister in the sky before they made camp. As Andrew tied the horses on long grazing lines, Lauryn and Chella prepared a cold meal.
“Who is Andrew?” Lauryn asked.
“He was raised in the mountains by a horse breeder. He helped train the stallion and stayed at the castle to tend Tempest after your father won the crown. Donovan treated him like a son. He left Tempest with Andrew and used speed time to enter the castle on the day of the battle.
“When Jarrack trapped your father, he ordered the horse killed as a symbol of Donovan’s defeat. Andrew eluded the desert riders, escaped with Tempest, and kept him safely hidden all these years. I bet he sleeps with the horses tonight.”
True enough, Andrew disappeared after dinner to bed down near the horses. Lauryn crawled into her sleeping bag and grumbled, “I wish we had a fire to cut the chill.”
“We can’t risk a fire. Desert riders track game over hard rock and shifting sand. They’d spot a match flame much less a campfire. We won’t be safe until we reach Trenton. He’s the best tracker ever born.”
That night Lauryn dreamed she was a bird. She flew across the kingdom to find her sisters. She saw Tessa sleeping inside a cave filled with sparkling crystals and Felesia snuggled against a black leopard in a tree near a huge bear-shaped rock.
Her bird form soared happily through the sky until a blue haze formed in the distance. Frightened, Lauryn flapped her wings in a wild effort to escape. The haze drifted closer. She joined a flock of wild birds to hide and laughter echoed through her mind. She jolted awake.
Chella sat up. What is it child?
A dream…I found Tessa and Felesia.
Chella nodded. You also touched Jarrack’s mind. We must hurry. You need the protection of your sisters’ minds to fight his influence.
Lauryn rubbed the grit of sleep from her eyes. “Tessa hides inside a crystal cave.”
Chella nodded. “I’ll get Andrew. We must head to Trenton’s cave.”
“I know how to get there.” Andrew led the saddled horses to the women. “It’s right in the midst of danger. Desert riders are swarming over those mountains.”
“They swarm everywhere. The sisters can combine their talents to protect each other and rescue their father.” Chella sounded confident.
Andrew nodded. “It’s finally time to rescue Donovan!” He sounded hopeful, his face filled with eagerness.
“Yes. The time has come.” Chella echoed his enthusiasm.
Andrew sat tall in the saddle as he led them down the trail. Lauryn remembered the stable boy who idolized Donovan, and she yearned to see her father again. When Donovan was free, she would be part of a family.
8 ~ ANDREW ~ THE HORSEMAN
After five days of mountain riding, the weary horses plodded up a steep trail snorting puffs of fog into the cold mountain air. Their packs got light as provisions dwindled. Andrew scanned the skyline and pointed at Sentinel Peak. “Trenton’s cave’s behind that ridge.”
“Let’s hurry!” Lauryn said. She spurred her horse and it trotted faster.
Andrew cast a sidelong glance at Lauryn, and his ears reddened when he saw that Chella’s gaze riveted on him. She let her horse fall back and asked, “What’s wrong, lad? You’ve been so quiet and remote, almost unsociable.”
His blush deepened and he glanced at Lauryn riding ahead. “I’m sorry. I was just afraid…well, can you tell me whether…?” He couldn’t finish the question.
“I can’t read your mind…so kindly make yourself clear.”
“You can’t?” He looked genuinely pleased. “I thought you could read anyone’s thoughts, you know using mindspeech.”
“I hear telepathic thoughts that are deliberately sent to me. You know most telepaths put up barriers to block stray thoughts from leaking in.” Chella grinned and nodded. “You’ve been worried we might listen to your private thoughts. It’s a common fear among the headblind.”
“But you feel emotions?”
“Only strong feelings, like your extreme discomfort right now. Relax and we won’t detect your feelings.”
Andrew glanced ahead at Lauryn. “She’s as beautiful as her mother.” He blushed at his own brashness.
Chella smiled. “Lauryn resembles her mother and has many of Krystal’s qualities, but she is a unique individual. All three sisters are striking beauties.”
“No one could be more beautiful than Lauryn.”
“You’ve seen a lot of attractive women at the castle.”
“Yes, but I’ve never felt like this in their presence. When I try to speak, I feel like a horse kicked me in the chest and lose my breath. It’s terrible,” Andrew said. “She’s too elegant for the likes of me.”
Chella kept herself from grinning. “Just remember the little girl who played tag with you in the stables. She’s the same person.”
Andrew nodded and smiled. “I’ll try that. Knowing that she isn’t reading my every thought takes some of the pressure off.”
Lauryn stopped ahead. “Come on! Don’t you want to see Trenton and Maggie? Please hurry.”
“Catch up with her and try starting a conversation,” Chella said.
Andrew urged Tempest to trot. Chella smiled as the two young people fell into an easy conversation. As they rode into Trenton’s valley, Andrew halted the horses and stared at the rubble blocking the tunnel entrance.
He led the horses into a thicket and said, “Keep hidden while I scout ahead.”
Lauryn and Chella watched Andrew circle the base of the mountain on foot, searching for signs of life. He found a disorganized campground that looked abandoned and followed a trail to the base of the mountain.
When he discovered a decaying body sprawled across another tunnel entrance. “What happened here?” he asked aloud.
“Take one step closer and you can ask him yourself.” Andrew glanced up and met Tessa eyes. She aimed an arrow directly at his heart. “Who are you and why are you trespassing?”
“I’m Andrew and I’d stake my life that you’re Tessa.”
“Then your life is mine, Andrew. Now give me some answers or die!”
“I brought your sister, Lauryn, and Chella to find Trenton.”
“Lauryn?” The tip of Tessa’s bow wavered and then pointed straight at his heart again. “How do I know you aren’t one of Jarrack’s men trying to trick me?”
“See for yourself. I left them hiding when I saw the rubble blocking the cave entrance.”
“Back up, slowly,” she ordered, “and don’t make any sudden movements.”
Andrew held his hands high and walked slowly in front of Tessa, who still kept the arrow at his back.
“Tessa!” Lauryn shouted.
Tessa relaxed her bow and gaped at Lauryn sitting next to a smiling black woman. Lauryn slid off her horse and wrapped her sister in an emotional hug. Andrew wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and Chella joined him.
“You’re right,” he said. “Tessa’s a beauty, once you see past the point of her arrow.”
Chella frowned at the rubble blocking Trenton’s cave entrance. “They’ve had some trouble. We’d better find Felesia before the desert riders. Lauryn dreamed about her. I’m hoping the girls can combine their mental abilities to take us to her quickly.”
“I’d rather follow a good map.” Andrew led the horses to a meadow.
Tessa said, “Follow me! Trenton and Maggie are waiting in the crystal cave.” She opened a false rock door and led Chella and Lauryn inside.
Tempest pawed the ground until Andrew slipped the saddle from his back and let him graze in the tall grass. The stallion shook his mane and raced through the meadow, kicking his heels like a foal. Andrew laughed. Tempest’s sleek coat glistened and his mane flew as his powerful muscles bunched under his haunches.
The mares tamely nibbled on tender grass while Tempest ran like a wild spirit, savoring his freedom. Andrew felt a twinge of regret. Soon he’d surrender the stallion to his rightful master. He felt eager for Donovan’s release but loved riding Tempest.
“He’s a magnificent beast.” Trenton leaned on a roughly hewn crutch.
Andrew grinned. “Yes, sire.”
“Call me Trenton. Do I look like a nobleman?” His shaggy beard and leather breeches made him look more like a wild mountain man than a courtier.
“It’s an effective disguise,” Andrew said.
“It didn’t fool those ruffians who ran me down. You plan on coming inside or will you leave me surrounded by feminine chatter?” Trenton asked.
“I’d rather stay with the horses if you don’t mind, sire…uh, Trenton.”
“I do mind. Maggie gave me orders to fetch you, and I always obey her. I’m prepared to fight if you resist.” Trenton hobbled toward the cavern. “We’ve got to make plans, boy. The horses will take care of themselves for now.”
Andrew marveled at Trenton’s agility on the crutch. He navigated around boulders and through the narrow tunnel, while Andrew nearly tripped in the dim light. Trenton told Andrew the details of their recent trouble and asked questions about Andrew’s journey.
Inside the cavern a savory aroma made Andrew’s mouth water, and his empty stomach growled. Trenton pounded his back with good humor. “I thought you’d be happy to join us for dinner, lad. Grab a plate and don’t be shy about portions.”
Glancing at the girls, Andrew felt his face heat and wished his skin didn’t betray him so easily. No one seemed to notice, and Andrew quietly filled his plate.
Tessa said, “I’ve been dreaming about the garden, but last night I saw Felesia standing on top of a large rock shaped like a bear.”
“I saw her there in my dream.” Lauryn nodded.
“I know the location of that bear,” Trenton said. “I can lead us straight to it.”
“I thought it was just a dream, didn’t realize it might be a real place. Tell us where to find Felesia.” Tessa grabbed Trenton’s arm, upsetting his balance. He tumbled to the floor, his crutch flying out from under him.
“Don’t kill me, girl, and I’ll show you exactly where to find the bear rock.” He laughed and propped the errant crutch under his arm. Tessa’s eyes filled with tears. “Now, now little one, I’m fine. I regularly polish my breeches on the floor.”
Tessa grinned. “You said only clumsy little girls needed their breeches polished.” She kissed his cheek.
Andrew admired Trenton’s easy manner, never showing embarrassment. He stretched his long legs near the fire and listened to Trenton, trying to memorize glib phrases and absorb the man’s confidence. He doubted he’d ever speak like Trenton, who always had the right words at hand.
Trenton’s eyes twinkled as he narrated the legend of Bear Rock. “One day a woodsman cut down the favorite tree of a witch. When she found the felled tree, she got furious and turned the woodsman into a giant bear. The woodsman ran home and clawed at the door to get inside and hide.
“His wife screamed in fright when he tried to explain about the witch. His words came out as a fierce growl and his neighbors rushed to defend the poor woman with pitchforks and shovels.
“Chased from his home, he climbed to the top of a cliff and begged the witch to reverse her spell. She told him he’d remain a cumbersome bear until her tree grew to its full height once more. Having lost his wife and home, he felt heartbroken and threw his massive body from the cliff with a mighty roar. The valley shook with a terrible rumble as he turned to stone.
“When the witch flew over Bear Rock, she laughed and bragged about cursing the woodsman to her friends. A farmer carried the tale to the woodsman’s widow, who vowed to kill the witch. She transformed into a screeching hawk and flew into the sky to find the witch. Stories say she flies over the valley or walks the forest in the form of a woman or a giant black cat searching for the witch.”
“Nice story, Trenton.” Maggie patted his shoulder. “Now tell us how we’re going to get to the Bear Rock.”
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��An artist is never appreciated at home,” Trenton complained. Tessa giggled and tugged his beard. “All right, I’ll draw a map but don’t blame me if the shape-shifter catches you.”
“The shape-shifter?” Lauryn asked.
“Yes! It’s what locals call the woman. Travelers claim a woman changes into a hawk or a black panther and runs through the valley.”
“Don’t encourage him or he’ll never get down to business,” Maggie chided. “Draw the map, Trenton. You can tell us more stories on the trail.”
Trenton sketched on the dirt floor.
Andrew heard Lauryn say, “In my dream Felesia disappeared and a golden hawk flew over Bear Rock.”
Tessa nodded. “I saw a black cat in my dream. Could the shape-shifter stories be about Felesia? You know how animals loved to follow her.”
Lauryn said, “I sent my mind into a bird to escape Jerrod and almost forgot I was human. Do you think Felesia can change into an animal?”
Andrew shuddered. Mind speech was a talent he’d grown to accept, but shape-shifting was another matter. Could off-world talents include shape-shifting?
The next morning Andrew rode at the back while Trenton led the group. Tempest disliked following other horses, but Andrew used a firm hand to control the equine’s desire to push ahead. Andrew enjoyed watching Lauryn riding ahead of him.
Tessa looked as beautiful as her sister, but she lacked Lauryn’s gentleness and sympathetic nature. They were very different girls. Sensing Andrew distraction, Tempest stretched his neck forward to ease the tautness of the reins and charged forward. He nearly bumped into Lauryn’s horse.
“Oh no you don’t, you devil!” Andrew reined in the horse and dropped back into position.
“He’s not an easy one to tame.” Lauryn fell back and rode next to Andrew.
“No. He’s too much of a stallion.”
“What do you mean?”
Andrew fought to keep himself from blushing. “He feels compelled to dominate mares, can’t stand to walk meekly behind them. A stallion leads the herd.”
“Would he let anyone else ride him?”
Andrew felt a knot in his stomach. “Why?”