We rode all day.
At one brief stop, I managed to eat part of a biscuit, but found myself growing more and more frightened by the fact that I couldn’t keep track of the path of our progress. We were in a forest, and Raven was leading. He appeared to know exactly where he was going, but the trees all looked the same to me.
I remembered that he’d mentioned heading east and tried to keep my bearings.
But by late afternoon, I was so weary from having spent nearly two days on the back of the horse that I found myself leaning forward into Caine’s back. Though I would rather not have touched him, I had little choice and kept my arms around his stomach.
At some point, my eyes closed. I didn’t exactly sleep while needing to hang on, but I began to drift.
“There it is,” Raven said.
I opened my eyes. Darkness had fallen.
Half turning his head, Caine said to me, “Hold on tight. The climb gets steep.”
What did he mean?
I couldn’t see much, but just ahead, Raven appeared to vanish into a line of tall brush, and Caine nudged our horse forward to follow. We passed through the brush as well, emerging into a natural chute with rock walls on each side of us. Suddenly, I felt myself sliding backward and gripped Caine’s waist tighter. Tannen and Badger followed us through, leading the extra horses.
Without hesitation, Caine pressed onward, leaning down slightly, as we were on a sharp incline. When we reached a curved corner of the chute, Raven stopped ahead of us and held up his right hand. Caine halted our horse. Putting two fingers in his mouth, Raven let out three long whistles.
Four whistles sounded in return, and we pressed onward—upward. The climb was so steep that our horse began to sweat in the cold night air. A flickering from above caused me to look up. Far above us, standing on the edge of the cliffs, I made out the shapes of men holding torches out over the edge.
“Don’t be afraid,” Caine said. “Those are our own people, giving us light.” After a moment, he added, “But if Raven hadn’t signaled, we’d be dead by now.”
At first, his meaning was lost on me, but then I reasoned we were exposed here in the chute. Anyone up above with a bow and arrow could have easily killed us.
Though the chute was wide enough for two horses to walk side-by-side, we continued in single file to travel up…and up. The torches grew closer, and a new fear washed through me—that I no idea of where I had arrived.
Finally, with our horses soaked in sweat and breathing hard, we emerged at the top and rode out onto a plateau. Up here, it was almost as heavily forested as down below, but a wide stretch had been cleared for a settlement—or that was the word that came to mind. I’d read of such places in books. From my vantage point, I could see about twenty wooden buildings or dwellings stretching out before me. There were also several wagons with what appeared to be small homes set on top. The place might have been much larger, but in the darkness, by a combination of the moon overhead and the torches coming toward us, this was all I could see.
As the torches—and people—drew closer, I had my arms still around Caine’s stomach and did not let go. Raven jumped to the ground, quickly surrounded by men, women, and children offering greetings and asking questions.
“Oh, Raven, such fine horses!” someone exclaimed.
“Did you take any sugar?” a woman asked. “We’re nearly out.”
“Anyone hurt?” another woman asked.
Two men came walking up from the darkness. One was aging, with long, gray hair. He walked with a slight limp. The other was about thirty and as tall as Caine.
“Where have you been?” the younger man asked Raven. “We expected you days ago.”
Raven shrugged. “Pickings were poor until last night. Then we spotted some traveling noblemen.”
“Noblemen?” the old man repeated. “Did you kill anyone?”
“No.”
Tannen and Badger were already on the ground as people hurried to them, inspecting the new horses when a stocky woman with a thick braid spotted me sitting on the horse behind Caine.
She froze.
She was silent for a moment and then looked backward.
“Logan…”
Beneath my hands, I felt Caine go stiff as the tall man who’d been speaking to Raven came striding over.
“What is it, Brida? Is Caine injured?”
At the sight of me, he stopped. “What in the…?”
Swinging his leg over the horse’s neck, Caine jumped down and reached up for me. Exhausted and sore, I said nothing as he lifted me down and held me on my feet.
“She’s with me, Logan,” he said.
Others began to notice my presence and fell silent, staring at my hair. The people here were of the same coloring as Caine and Raven, with dusky skin, dark hair, and black eyes. I stepped halfway behind Caine, pressed against the back of his right arm.
The aging man with gray hair came limping up, favoring his right leg.
“What do you mean, she’s with you?” he asked.
To my surprise, Caine bowed his head in a sign of respect. “She came with me.”
The woman called Brida stepped closer, looking curiously at my eyes. “Was she lost somewhere? Did you find her, and she asked to stay with you?”
When Caine didn’t answer, Logan turned his head and barked, “Raven!”
Raven came quickly through the crowd, but his expression showed clear discomfort.
“What is this?” Logan demanded. “You brought an outsider into the settlement? Where did you find her?”
Raven drew in a long breath. “Caine took her from the noblemen, from the House of Capello.”
“Took her?” Logan’s tone was incredulous.
Apparently, Caine was finished with this conversation. Grasping my wrist, he walked forward, through the people, but called back over his shoulder. “She was property, not family. I claimed her as property.”
Gasps and surprised voices sounded from behind us, but he kept walking, dragging me with him. On instinct, I tried to pull away, but he didn’t even slow down. We passed several dwellings, and he cut between two of them, pulling me toward the tree line. Out at the back of these dwellings, I saw a small clapboard shack with no door. He dragged me around to the back of the shack, nearer to the tree line, and there was the door. Opening it, he drew me inside.
The interior consisted of a single room with no furniture and no windows, but a stone fireplace graced a side wall to my right. The hearth was dead, and though it was difficult to see in the dark, by the moonlight coming in the door, I saw a few musty blankets piled on the floor. When Caine let go of my arm, I hurried away from him, pressing up against the faded front wall.
Why had he brought me in here?
The sound of his voice referring to me as property rang in my ears. Is that how he viewed me, as his own? Like one of the horses he’d stolen?
At my fear, his expression flickered, but then it hardened again. “I need to go speak with my grandfather. I’ll send someone with a warm meal and firewood soon.” He pointed to the door. “This locks from the outside, but you won’t be here long, just tonight.”
Although I had feared the open lands and open skies, the thought of being locked in this windowless shack brought panic. What if I was forgotten?
“Don’t,” I begged. “Please. I promise I’ll stay here if you don’t lock the door.”