Chapter 33: A Strange Hike

Cinnamon woke up the next morning, alone. A little alarmed, she called out, "Sharmon?" She was immediately relieved when Sharmon answered, "I'm here, Cinnamon."

She put her head inside the tent and handed Cinnamon her clothes. "Did you sleep well?"

Cinnamon nodded. "Yes, though I'm still stiff and sore."

"You'll work the kinks out when you start walking around.

Cinnamon nodded, reluctantly.

Sharmon gave her a smile. "Come get dressed, breakfast is ready." She then backed out of the tent, closing the flaps behind her, to give Cinnamon some privacy.

Cinnamon, pulling the blankets tighter around her, couldn't help wishing that Sharmon was still in bed with her. That thought made her blush — she hadn't meant it quite the way she thought it.

When Cinnamon joined the others around the fire, she said, "Good morning" to them, getting 'Good mornings' in return. Afterwards, she thanked Muriel for breakfast, which consisted of pancakes and leftovers from dinner. In between bites, she asked, "Where's Lancos?"

"He had some idea he wanted to check out," Muriel answered. "Why?"

"I just wondered, since he's not here."

"Oh, well, he should be back before we leave."

" 'K, could you pass the maple syrup, please?"

"Sure, here you go."

After breakfast, Cinnamon helped with the dishes. She was initially surprised when her hands didn't go numb from the cold water. After a moment's thought, she surmised (correctly) that it must be one of Muriel's prayers keeping her hands from freezing.

Once the dishes were washed, dried, and put back into Harnley's pack, she followed him back to camp. By that time, the others had taken the tents down and were packing them up. As she neared the fire, Sharmon came to her, holding her poncho.

"It'll be heavy and hot at first, but you'll soon get used to it. Besides, the trail is more exposed and it'll help protect you from the wind. "

Cinnamon ducked her head and said, "Thanks," as Sharmon helped her put it on. She was already feeling warmer, and was grateful. Then Sharmon lifted her pack and helped Cinnamon climb into it.

While Cinnamon was getting it to settle comfortably, Sharmon asked, "They'll be tying more to it, are you sure the weight won't be too much?

"Yeah, I think so. Harnley figured out yesterday how much I could handle."

Sharmon made a noncommittal, "Hmm," then looked over Cinnamon's shoulders at the others. Seeing that no-one was looking, she pulled a small sheathed dagger from inside her cloak. She looked at it, and then looked up into Cinnamon's wide eyes. Quietly, so the others wouldn't hear, she said, "This has been of some service, but I pray you won't have need of it."

She put it into Cinnamon's left pants pocket and tied the strap around the nearest belt loop.

Alarmed, Cinnamon said, "Uh, Sharmon?"

Sharmon looked up and said, "Don't worry, The Goddess, myself, and the others will protect you. This is more for my peace of mind than anything."

Cinnamon swallowed, and nodded.

"Can you draw it?"

"Um?" Cinnamon reached with her right hand and started to draw the blade out.

"That's good," Sharmon told her, then, when the blade was fully sheathed, she covered the hilt with Cinnamon's sweater, so no one would know she was armed, just by looking at her.

"I doubt you'll need it, but should something happen, use it only when you most need it — understand?"

Cinnamon swallowed, and nodded again.

Sharmon put a hand against Cinnamon's cheek. "Don't worry, I'll see you at lunch." With that, she leaned in to kiss Cinnamon's other cheek. She gave Cinnamon another smile, picked up her bow and quiver, and headed out, with a couple words to the others to let them know she was going. She turned once at the bend in the trail to wave, and was gone.

Vanessa came over after Cinnamon lowered her hand from waving, saying, "Don't worry, she'll be alright; here, turn around."

Cinnamon nodded, and turned. She grunted as Vanessa deposited a bundle on top of the backpack and proceeded to tie it to the pack's poles.

Several other bundles were also added. Cinnamon found out that she was carrying the pelts of the animals that had been caught, as well as some of the dried meat and the fruit she'd picked. Muriel had just finished tying a small bag of fruit to the top of her pack when Lancos came out from between the trees leading to the stream. Over his shoulder was a long pole, and hanging from it were several full game bags.

"What do ye have there, lad?"

Ernon said, "We should have enough meat for a while Lancos; there wasn't need to get more. "

"It's not game, I went to find the fruit trees Cinnamon found."

"Those are all filled with fruit?" Vanessa asked, surprised.

"I admit it'd be nice to have some more, but why so much?" Muriel asked

Lancos shrugged. "I thought they might come in handy."

The others didn't really buy his explanation, but chose not to pursue it at the moment.

"Are you going to carry them?" Vanessa asked, wanting to know how he planned to take the fruit with them.

"Sure, though someone will have to take over for me."

Ernon said he would take over for Lancos, and they all finished packing up.

Cinnamon was again thankful for her walking stick, as the trail was steep. The grade wasn't as steep as the one they'd already come up, but it was still steep. It was also slippery where the sun had thawed the ground.

They'd traveled for a couple hours when they met Sharmon coming back toward them.

"What's wrong?" Muriel asked, worried, when she saw Sharmon coming toward them sooner than they'd expected her.

"There's a landslide up ahead."

"Is it passable?" Ernon asked.

"I'm not sure. I didn't want to try it without rope."

They all agreed it was good that Sharmon didn't try it alone. They followed her to the slide, and, using ropes, they managed to get across without too much difficulty. They passed a few more small slides that were hardly a bother to cross, and a couple more they were able to go around. The extra precautions and detours slowed them, however, and they were about an hour from where they'd planned to lunch, when they ran into a slide they couldn't cross easily.

With most of the slides the hillside above came down to cover the trail. This one, however, had broken the trail away. They could have cut a new trail, but it would have taken several days of back-breaking work to do so. The hillside above was also steep, and had few trees near the trail to allow them to go above it.

They were debating whether they should try make their way across the hillside, go back a bit and try to make their way around, or go back to camp and take the other trail the next day.

Cinnamon settled the matter by accident when she asked, "What time does the sun go down?"

"Cinnamon's right, it's already getting late. We shouldn't be wandering around in the dark — it's too dangerous," Sharmon said.

They others knew Sharmon was more worried about Cinnamon's safety than theirs. They weren't upset by that, however, as they shared Sharmon's concern. They had experience, and Cinnamon didn't.

"Are you ok with that, Cinnamon?" Muriel asked. "It'll add a couple more days to our journey."

Cinnamon shrugged, as much as she could with the pack on, and said, "It can't be helped."

"It's settled then, let's head back," Sharmon said.

It was dark before they got back to the clearing. Fortunately they had a couple of lanterns, and Muriel's prayers to light the way. That they had passed all of the landslides before they needed them was considered a blessing.

When they got back to the clearing, Cinnamon sighed and said, "Ah, home sweet home." Which made the others chuckle with amusement.

Sharmon helped Cinnamon out of her pack. Cinnamon said, "Thanks," as she stretched.

Muriel came over to them as Cinnamon was tiredly sliding down the tree trunk to sit on the ground. "I'm sorry, Cinnamon, I know you want to get home soon."

"It's ok, Muriel, it's not your fault. Besides, I like it here. It's beautiful and peaceful, and this tree is comfy."

Muriel smiled. "Are you sure, Cinnamon?"

Cinnamon nodded. "Uh huh, I could fall asleep right here."

Muriel chuckled, "Ok."

Cinnamon didn't, however, fall asleep right then. She got up when Sharmon asked, and helped set up their tent. The others, except for Harnley, were also setting up their tents. Harnley was lighting the fire. She did, however, fall asleep while waiting for dinner to be ready. Her blushing at being awakened made the others smile.

Once Harnley had the fire going, Muriel made stew with some dried meat and the remaining taters. They all ate heartily. Cinnamon even managed to drink the tea. She took it in small sips, between bites of stew and drinks of water. She still felt sick afterwards, but it wasn't as bad as previously. The others took that as a hopeful sign.