Chapter 14: Running with the Tide

I was waiting at the Seafoam cottage when Sid and Trunk finally arrived.

"Sorry we're late. We wound up meeting with Captain Halico of the Rising Sea."

"A Norsea official." I observed.

"Yeah, that was what made the meeting essential." Trunk said.

"We needed to get some idea of what Norsea knows or suspects about the activity we're investigating." Sid said. "We know now that they suspect something, but had less of an idea even than we did of what it might be. We'll update Captain Halico in five days when they return from their trip up the southern coast of the peninsula."

"We may well need him and his crew if this comes to a confrontation." I said. "I wish we could get word back to Turtle Spur, but even if we could there would be little chance they'd act on it without confirmation from the Rising Sea."

"Captain Halico only has six marines aboard as well. The rest of his crew has probable had some sort of instruction in shipboard combat, but we can't rely on them if it comes down to any kind of land-based conflict." Trunk said.

"Lets get moving." I suggested. "we'll have trouble making it all the way out and back before dark if we go slow enough to make sense of what we see."

The smuggler's trail, for all that the description lent it weight, was just a consistent wrinkle through the rugged hills and broken ground of the peninsula. Men, horses and small carts could make it from the north shore to the south across it. There was little in the way of shelter or succor for the entire length of it, not even water. The trail in turn was not a trail in the sense one would normally mean. A person who didn't know the way could wander lost for weeks in the endless series of hills and gullies. The harsh northeasterly winds that swirled across the peninsula made it even more inhospitable, and also acted to cover the tracks of those who had used the trail. We wound our way, with me in the lead, ' for several hours. I stopped on the trail and waited for Sid and Trunk to come up alongside me.

"This is looking like a waste of time." I said. "That storm you guys rode in on looks to have washed the trail clean of any sign."

"I would have expected to see something by now as well and was wondering about the lack." Sid said. "I think you're right. What would you suggest we do instead?"

"I'd like to try and make a run to Oereia and check with the people there." And maybe check on Spray and Scatter as well, I thought. "But there's no way we could do that in a day."

"You know, even business owners take a vacation now and then." Sid said.

"Well I'm not local, so no one will be surprised if the girl who walked in out of the wilderness one day rides off to go camping for a few days with a couple complete strangers." I said with a laugh. "Poor Pleasant and Trip will have to scramble to fight the wagging tongues if I do that."

"There's nothing says we have to do anything." Trunk said. "Certainly it would look odd to some people who may have reason to be keeping tabs on us if I rode off leaving the supposed Peninsula Shipping investigation untended."

"Are you inviting yourself out of this trip?"

"I think so." Trunk said. "I've got plenty of groundwork I can do here, and that way the two of you won't have to worry about hot-footing it back here in time to meet the Rising Sea when it returns. What've we got to tell Captain Halico that I can't tell him myself anyway?"

"And it gets the two of us off by ourselves?" I asked.

"Well sure. Spirits, River! Half of Seacroft already thinks the two of you are some sort of star-crossed lovers, since the two of you fainted dead away the first time you touched. This won't be a surprise or shock to the locals, not if its just the two of you."

Things were moving in a direction I should have felt uncomfortable about, and yet I found myself looking forward to crossing the nasty shoulder of the peninsula in search of Oereia with Sid McKesson.

I had an 'official' map of the peninsula, one published by the Norsea Royal Cartographer and certified by the Arborian Cartographer's Society. It confidently and clearly indicated Oereia's location on it. I wasn't sure how confident I was that I could navigate the rugged terrain well enough to guide us there accurately, but I was willing to try if Sid was.

"What are we going to need?" Sid as asked, settling that question for me.

"Something to shelter under if the weather turns foul again." I answered. "The usual supplies for time on the trail. You and Trunk spent a lot of time on the trail recently, so you probably already have most of what you need. I usually only pack enough for an overnight stay when I'm out hunting, so I'll have to add to my pack."

Convincing the Kilbers and Flutter Bockoroy was the tricky part. Not about Sid, I think they all were assuming we'd fallen into each other's arms already. They seemed to think it would be dangerous. Wear a dress one time and all of a sudden I'm a helpless female for some reason.

"Pleasant, I wasn't a helpless woman when you met me and I haven't change into one while I've been living here. There is more to my meeting Sid McKesson — more to me, than you all yet know. I think there is more to my being here than I understand, and where it is going to lead is beyond my ability to guess."

"Fine." Pleasant said. "But the Captain's Ball is in eight days. You had better be back in time for it, with our without your Mister McKesson!"

"Yes Ma'am." I answered with a grin and a curtsy, just to annoy her.

We met at the seafoam cottage at first light the next morning. I had my saddlebags packed, and only added a few items at the last minute after comparing some of our gear. We made sure Grinder and Spark were as well prepared as we were, and then we were off.

"Unless we encounter something that forces us to backtrack, or otherwise slow down, my plan is to ride east all day today, and then ride northeast the next day."

"Will you know if we're getting close?"

"I think so. I spent quite a bit of time hunting in the area around the town, and should recognize a good number of landmarks. Especially if we run across the stream that flows out of the hills and into the village. I know every inch of that, intimately."

Of course I didn't mention why I was able to be truly intimately aware of the river, but those kinds of secrets might come out.

"How far in that direction have you gone in the course of your hunting?"

"I never tracked my course with that in mind, but I've got a couple hours worth of known territory heading dead on the course we'll want to go."

I talked about Spray and Scatter and the fishing village of Oereia as we rode. Telling Sid unabashedly that I saw in them what might have been for me, if I'd lived a more normal life. Young love and stability.

"Spray is how you saw yourself at that age?"

"As I might have been."

We ate our midday meal in the saddle, pieces of breaded and fried gully hen that Flutter had packed for me.

We rode for most of the afternoon without comment, beyond the automatic pointing out of features of the landscape. As the late afternoon light began threatening to give way to the fading light of evening, I suddenly saw Sid draw his bow and fire into the brush ahead of us and up the side of a small rise to our right. He pulled up as we drew across from where his arrow had disappeared into the scrub and was off Grinder and scrambling up the slope. He disappeared into brush for a moment only to return with a small Doe Nose over a shoulder. He made his way back down the loose debris of the hillside and began to field dress the small deer on the relatively flat ground we were riding on.

"Nice shot!"

"Thanks. I could just see his muzzle and neck through the scrub from my side of the trail and decided I had too good a shot to waste any time."

"Why do I think that, as good as I am as a tracker, you are a better hunter?"

"A better shot with the bow maybe. I've been training with the bow and staff since I could walk."

"We may have to spend some time getting those skills sharp again. I haven't had anyone to do stick work with since I left Spray and Scatter."

"Lets do that in the morning then, before we set out for the day. I haven't had much chance to get any work in either since we boarded the ship to bring us here. Trunk and I were used to getting in a little work almost every day."

Setting up camp that evening was simple. We were still riding under clear skies, and the wind had picked up for a little while as the sun was setting, but had died down again by the time we had finished eating. We packed up the rest of the Doe Nose, cut off the bone so we could pack it more easily. There was easily enough meat there for a couple more meals, but even cooked we would have trouble keeping it edible for much longer than that. I banked the fire a little, and sat sipping some Cintosa while we watched the last of the light fading in the west.

"Would you like to try a little more meditation tonight?" Sid asked as we finished putting the cooking gear away.

"Yes, I would. I was surprised at how easily I found that place Trunk mentioned."

"Were you able to move beyond it at all?"

"I don't even remember trying. I think I was still sort of soaking up the sense of being there."

"Tonight I want you to try to find the part of you that exists outside of that place. Don't try to fill it yet. Try to grow your sense of it, where it's edges are, and what it feels like."

"Okay. I'll try that."

The slowly dying breeze and the sound of the low fire made for a calming background to my efforts, and it felt like I found that place inside myself again very quickly. I still felt like it was someplace to become familiar with, but I did as Sid asked and began trying to extend my sense of the rest of my space.

"Okay, enough for now." Came Sid's voice.

I opened my eyes. Not much time had passed.

"You fell into a good place right away, so I decided we should try this again in the morning before we do our stick work. The meditation will help with your focus at first, and then maybe later with loosing focus when you need to."

"You sometimes need to loose focus?"

"Yes. More tomorrow. Now its time to get some sleep."

We hadn't put our bedrolls down yet, so I picked a spot between the fire and the hillside that we were camped against. Sid put his bedding down an extended arms reach away. He placed a flat palm on the ground between us and closed his eyes for a moment before dropping onto his bedding to pull his boots off.

"What was that?"

"What?"

"The palm on the ground with the eyes closed. It almost looked like you were listening to the ground with your hand."

"I was."

I had my boots off, and snuggled into my blanket I turned to lay facing Sid. He turned to face me, and as we lay there he saw the continued question still on my face.

"Not yet. Sleep now, questions later."

My eyes came open to see River's face, still composed in peaceful sleep, outlined in shades of gray by the pre-dawn light. She was so beautiful! It took everything I had to keep my demeanor at more or less normal when she was near me.

I slid out of my bedding and checked my boots to make sure nothing nasty had crawled into them during the night, and then slid my feet in and got the laces tied. I stretched a little while I contemplated gathering a little firewood to build the fire back up. There was a good bit of dry scrub that had been blown into a notch back the way we had come in to the little cut in the hill where we had camped. I walked that way as quietly as I could, hoping to keep the noise to a minimum so River could sleep a little longer.

The notch was only a hundred yards from our fire, and the level ground was clear, hard packed dirt, swept clean by the same prevailing wind that had created my blown pile of dead scrub wood. I collected a large armload, mostly the smaller pieces this trip, the stuff that would get the fire going again. The pieces that we would heat our morning's water on would be the second trip.

River was putting her boots on when I got back.

"Good morning Sid."

"Good morning River." I answered, dropping my load beside the fire pit. "Do you want to work on getting the fire built back up while I go get another armful of this wood?"

"Sounds good."

My second armful was definitely more of a load, probably more than we'd use before we were done here this morning, but better too much than too little. River had the fire burning nicely again by the time I got back, and had produced a small folding tripod from her saddlebags as well as a small camp pot.

"Do we have water to spare, or should I take that pot back to that wash we passed and get some?"

"No we've got plenty, I think. But we should ride back and let the horses have a good drink before we move out for the day. We may not see running water again between here and Oereia."

We built up the fire with the wood I'd brought this trip and had a good blaze going. We'd be able to hang the pot on the tripod once it had died down some. We would have to do a rough boil on our Cintosa, it just didn't make sense packing all the gear needed to do it right. I dug out a bag of oats and split it between Grinder and Spark, tossing in a sprig of gumweed for each of them while River got the water on to boil.

"We should stretch out while we're waiting for the water to boil, then we'll do a little meditation once we've got our cups filled."

"Yes, oh mighty meditation mentor, but am I allowed a sip of my Cintosara first, or is the temptation of the cup some sort of test?"

"I hadn't thought of that. Has that morning mug gotten to be such a requirement in your life then?"