“Who told you that?”
“Got you wondering, huh?”
There are a lot of things I’m wondering about. First on my list is wondering if staying with you will cost me my freedom. Should I take off on my own? “I’d like to know if those troops are after you. Or me. Or both of us.”
“Maybe they’re trying to rescue Ander. He’s the son of a nobleman.”
Raymer had been lying on his stomach in the sand while watching the river for signs of the king’s men, but now he rolled and faced Quint. “Am I safer going alone?”
Quint’s normal give-a-care smile faltered. “Do what you think is best.”
“You carried a treaty to the King. You’re also the son of a nobleman. That’s your story, so far. I am just a member of the Dragon Clan and cannot see why they would chase me. I’m nothing.”
Quint remained silent, his expression hardening.
“Come on, give me something,” Raymer demanded. “They would have killed a simple messenger to prevent word reaching your people, but they kept you alive. You let small things slip, especially when you’re mad. I think you’re much more than a high-born messenger-boy. That makes you important to the king.”
Quint stood, brushed himself off and started to turn, but held off speaking. He looked down at Raymer as if offended, then relented. “You’re too smart for your own good.”
Raymer watched him stalk away. After one last wary look across the river, he followed. Ander was now awake and had spread all three blankets in the sun to dry. He chewed an apple and watched them approach. Looking at Quint, he said, “Do you know where we go from here?”
“Follow this river and later today we’ll find a small cave with supplies. Then we head west, away from the river to Northwood.”
“That’s all you’re going to tell us?” Ander asked.
“The cave will have the supplies we need,” Quint snapped.
Ander smiled, “I understand that. I just wanted to make sure you two have a plan.”
Quint cast a questioning glance at Raymer.
Raymer avoided it. He said, “We all have our reasons for being here. Any of us is free to leave the others at any time. Our basic plan was to escape together, and we’ve done that. Nothing more.”
Ander picked up sandals that were so wet they were limp and soggy. “I think we need to dry these in the sun, or they’ll fall apart. How are your feet?”
“Not too bad,” Raymer said. “But it’s a good idea. We can carry them on a string around our necks so they’ll dry faster.”
“Travel up this river should be easy. The ground is softer and more underbrush. There are animal trails. Just step easy, but be quick about it,” Quint said.
As they gathered their meager belongings, Ander asked them both, “Will we get away?”
“Barring bad luck, I think so,” Raymer answered when Quint didn’t say anything. “My guess is that there are troops waiting for us to emerge from the top of the canyon. More followed us down the ledge, but they will try to hike the canyon instead of swimming, and that will take them, at least, two or three days. The others will arrive at the bottom of the canyon where we left, either later today or tomorrow, and set up camp to wait for us.”
Quint said, “That gives us two, maybe three days’ head start. Once they figure out, we managed to escape their trap it won’t take them long to find this place.”
“How?” Ander asked.
Quint waved an arm that encompassed the surrounding area. “There are not a lot of options. They know where we are not so that only leaves a few places where we can be. Their scouts will find our sign quickly.”
Ander settled the blanket and contents on his back and shifted it to a comfortable position. He carried his staff awkwardly as if he had never used the weapon, which was probably true. He said, “Then they’ll be after us again. Want me to take the lead?”
Maybe we should have found one of the men who fell off the ledge and retrieved his sword for Ander.
“Why not?” Quint chuckled.
They followed the river for a hundred steps and when a larger path appeared they took it. It paralleled the river, but further from the rocky, rough shore. Later it veered off slightly, and they continued, walking at a fast pace that was near jogging. On downward slopes, they often did run.
Raymer expected his feet to be more of a problem, but they were partially healed from being in the water, and he hadn’t worn shoes for a year. The bottoms of his feet were tough, but he was cautious. Sore feet would slow them. He had no illusions that the army would quit chasing them.
Ander set a pace that the other two barely managed to keep. He didn’t speak. His straight back and the firm set of his mouth suggested he too was escaping, and Raymer wondered at what Ander withheld. Raymer walked behind Ander, and Quint followed up, often glancing behind.
The small river, they followed, flowed through a shallow valley covered in trees and dense brush. As their path took them away from the river they crossed several smaller streams that flowed into the river, and twice they paused long enough to slurp water by lying face down and placing their lips on the surface. It seemed the quickest way to drink the most.
As they found other animal paths or trails, Quint sometimes ordered the direction he wanted them to take. As they climbed a small hill, Quint paused to look behind to the end of the cliffs of the canyon they had floated down and then he turned and lined up their destination with a snowcapped mountain.
Bear Mountain. The top was flat instead of pointed, and snow clung to the slopes year around. It was unmistakable. It was also the destination Raymer had intended to reach when he left his home in the Raging Mountains. Bear Mountain stood at the end of the range he’d called home his whole life, and there was a clan of his people, another family. A man named Myron was their leader.
If they traveled north of Bear Mountain, they’d have easy passage to Quint’s home and family. But if they traveled to the southernmost slope instead, and knew where to search, they might find a great split in the granite that would lead to a high meadow. In that meadow lived the family of the Dragon Clan.
At least, that was the rumor he’d been sent to confirm when he’d been captured by the king’s men. Raymer kept quiet. He’d wait and see where Quint took them. If he tried to cross the northern route, as most did, Raymer would remain quiet.
As they continued, he allowed his mind to wander. What would be worse than allowing them to stumble onto the relatives he was seeking? However, he now knew the general direction they’d take and how Quint knew where to go and where to locate supplies. But not who placed them there.
Ander paused and pulled a handful of nuts from the blanket he carried on his back. He held them out to the others.
Quint accepted some and said, “We’re making good time, but we’re getting a little off course. We need to go more north, but not too much. Next time you can, turn us to the right.”
“You want to lead?” Ander asked with no trace of anger or lack of respect.
“You’re doing fine. Besides, at the top of the next hill I may hang back for a while to watch our back trail,” Quint said.
Raymer asked, “Seen anything back there to concern us?”
“Nothing. But I just want to make sure.” Quint ate his nuts and pulled a piece of waterlogged, dried meat from his blanket. It looked unappetizing, but he bit a piece off and chewed.
Ander said, “We’ve been going as fast as I can walk. The royal troops wouldn't move that fast even if they managed to find our trail.”