“I won’t be long,” he says as he goes over and begins to saddle one of the horses.
James finishes eating and already his body is telling him it’s time to rest. Trying to stifle another big yawn he says, “Hurry back.”
“I will,” he assures him. Leading the horse outside the cave, he mounts and glances back inside to James before he leaves. Already, he’s fallen asleep.
Jiron quickly leaves the cave behind as he makes his way through the hills, away from the beach area. The rolling hills give him some cover as he follows the coast south, hoping to come across a town where he can acquire some food.
The light begins to fade as the sun drops below the horizon. The approach of darkness makes Jiron more at ease, in the dark is when he’s most effective. Before the sun slips completely beyond the horizon, he comes across a small fishing village. A couple dozen huts and one main building is all there is to it. A small dock extends into the water and several small boats are tied to it.
Satisfied to have found a town so readily, Jiron turns around and leads his horse away from the village. He finds a place back in the hills that will keep his horse hidden while he goes in search of food. Taking the reins, he ties him to a scrub tree in a hollow between two hills. Patting him on the neck before returning to the village, he says, “I’ll be back soon, boy.”
Working his way back to the village on foot, he stops when he begins to see the light coming from the outlying buildings. He waits there, hidden in amongst some trees and bushes as he observes the inhabitants, thankful that there are no soldiers or guards patrolling the streets. This place is just not big enough to warrant any.
Once darkness has completely set in, he stealthily makes his way to the outskirts of town and over to one of the houses that remains dark. Hoping that since the house is still dark, there would be no one within, he creeps to a window and looks inside.
It’s a small home and appears that there isn’t anyone currently inside. Going to the door, he slowly opens it and slips inside, closing it behind him. Moving around in the dark, he finds the kitchen area and starts looking through the shelves and cupboards for food. Removing the sack he brought with him, he places a loaf of bread and some vegetables within it.
Moving to another shelf, he finds a few strips of dried fish and other dried meat which he takes as well. Figuring he’s taken enough to last them for a few more days, he takes out two silver pieces and lays them on the table.
Stealing from those who have plenty has never bothered him. But taking from those who obviously have nothing, that’s something he could never do, so he leaves the coins. Slipping back out the door, he quickly leaves town and heads back to where he left his horse.
As he approaches the area where he’s sure he left his horse, he begins to see a light coming from up ahead. Wary of danger, he draws one of his knives and slips closer. Passing between the hills, he sees four teens near his horse. They’re bending over where the contents of one of his bags have been emptied upon the ground.
Setting down the sack of food, he approaches them, knife still in his hand. As he enters the light, he says, “Get away from my horse and my things.”
All four of the teens stand up and look in his direction. One of them says, “Back off, this is our stuff now.” Drawing his knife, the teen threatens him with it as he says, “Go away if you don’t want to get hurt.” The others stand behind him and draw their knives as well.
Drawing his other knife, he advances upon them saying, “But I do want to get hurt.”
The first teen gets an uncertain look in his eye, as if he can’t believe Jiron isn’t going away.
When Jiron gets to within five feet of the teens he stops and says, “Just put back everything you took and I won’t have to kill any of you.” Whether it’s the look in his eye, or the sure way he’s holding himself, the teens all back up a step.
They begin to empty their pockets and coins, as well as a few other things join the rest of the items lying on the ground. He gestures to the pile on the ground with his knife and says, “Now, please put everything back into the bag.” He stands there with knives still drawn as one of the other teens complies.
Then he says, “Now everyone back up and away from the horse.” He advances on them as they back up until he’s next to the bag. Without taking his eyes off the teens, he reaches down and picks it up. After replacing the bag back on the horse behind the saddle, he takes the horse’s reins and backs toward where he left the food sack. Reaching down, he picks it up, and then secures it to the horse as well.
He sheathes his knives before mounting. Turning his horse, he gives the boys one last look before heading out into the night. As he leaves, he goes in the opposite direction of where James lies in case the boys decide to tell anyone about meeting him. He doubts they will, though, it would make them look cowardly.
He travels through the hills for a few hundred feet before turning back to the north and to James. Finding the cave in the dark proves difficult but he at last comes across it and is relieved to find James still sleeping and undisturbed.
Securing his horse with the other, he sits back down at the entrance and keeps watch while James sleeps.
When the sun hits James’ face, he wakes up and feels much improved over the day before. Lying next to him is a few strips of dried meat and vegetables. “Found some?” he asks Jiron.
“A little bit,” he replies from where he’s sitting at the cave entrance.
Tearing off a strip of meat with his teeth, he chews it for a bit then takes a bite of one of the veggies.
“Able to ride today?” Jiron asks.
“Yes,” he replies through a mouthful of food, “I think so. My head is not hurting as bad as it was yesterday and I don’t feel nearly as wobbly.”
“Good,” he says, “we need to get moving before we’re discovered here.”
“Let me see if I can find out where he is first,” James says as he gets up and goes over to his horse to retrieve the mirror from his shaving kit. Stuffing the rest of the dried meat in his mouth, he pulls the mirror out and takes it over to the cave entrance where he sits next to Jiron. Cupping the mirror between his hands, he concentrates. The image begins to waver and suddenly they see Miko sitting with other people, someplace dark. He expands the picture and after watching it for a few minutes, states, “I think he’s on a boat.”
“You sure?” Jiron asks.
“Pretty sure,” he replies. “He’s somewhere dark and if you watch, it seems like the view is slowly rocking back and forth. It reminds me of being on a ship at sea.”
“He could be going anywhere then,” Jiron says.
“Yeah, I know,” agrees James. “It’ll be harder to follow him if we’re going to need a boat.”
“Let’s worry about one thing at a time,” he tells him. “Where is he?”
James thinks for a moment and then removes a short piece of cloth from his bags. He takes it outside and walks down near the water. Jiron gets up and follows him down to where the waves are crashing upon the beach.
Standing still at the water’s edge, he holds the cloth by one end and extends his arm outward as he concentrates on Miko, willing the cloth to point the way. If it worked with a piece of wood, it should also work with the cloth. The cloth in his hand begins to move, not with the breeze coming in off the water, but on its own. Maintaining his concentration, he opens his eyes to see the cloth pointing south along the beach. He turns to Jiron as he terminates the spell and says, “He’s to the south and I get the feeling quite a ways away.”
“Then we better get going,” he says.
James nods his head as they return to the cave to get their horses and leave. Once inside, Jiron asks him to use the mirror to see if the others made it safely on board the ship.
So James takes out his mirror again and concentrates on Delia and her surroundings. The image in the mirror begins to swirl until Delia appears along with several of the others, including Jiron’s sister, Tersa. Widening the view, they’re relieved to see them on board a boat that’s at sea. From the expressions on everyone’s face, it would seem they are not in distress.