Aisling’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Maybe. I daren’t exhaust myself. From what Jarria said I may be needed as a healer, but I learned a few things in Escore. There was one…” She spoke to her mount, who planted his hooves and stood stolidly waiting. Aisling’s hands rose. Her fingers wove as she spoke words too softly for Kee-lan to hear although he could feel a kind of prickling in the air.
He reined his mount back to the bend, from where he could see if the wagons came in sight. Aisling was chanting softly now. He saw lights begin to dance over the drift, then with a rush they were gone, though not far. He heard the sound of brush creaking, then the snapping sounds of branches. He looked back in time to see the first wagon plodding into sight. The road ahead was clear as far as he could see.
Keelan kicked his mount forward cautiously. “What did you do?”
“I just shifted the drift a few yards. To that patch of brush.” She pointed. “The snow on the brush swapped places. With some kind of balance like that, it’s a much easier thing to do.”
“Why the snow from there?”
Aisling chuckled. “Because, dear brother, it would also look a bit suspicious for Harran to find a completely cleared path, no snow at all, and us standing here looking pleased with ourselves. With that exchange there’s some snow, enough to make everything look normal, and the shorter the distance I moved that weight, the less power I wasted. He knows both Ciara and I have some of the Gift, but he thinks it is only for healing. I would rather not burden him with the knowledge that my power is more than healcraft. Now, let’s ride on. See what other problems we’re going to face.”
Keelan followed, mentally estimating how much extra time that drift must have cost the garth-girl. Jarria would have had to circle far out. Right around the large patch of brush, which covered many acres. The road bent away after that, and she’d have had to ride over more rough country to find it again. Chilled to the bone as the child had been it was a marvel she’d made it. Old Hannion had said the two plow horses had been exhausted but would recover with a rest, hot mash, a warmed stable, and good hay.
Keelan nudged his mount to overtake his sister’s horse. He rounded the bend and halted with a groan. “Flames take the luck. That won’t be so easy to deal with.” Aisling muttered a searing agreement as she cast her gaze over the fallen tree. The look sharpened in both pairs of eyes simultaneously. Keelan dropped from his mount and walked up to touch the wood. He peered, rubbed the bark in his fingers.
“It’s dry. I think the whole thing was rotten ready, just waiting for the next high wind.”
“So it’s much lighter than green wood,” Aisling said slowly. Her head came up. “Kee, ride back to Harran. Tell him to keep the wagons moving slowly, but two men are to bring the loose teams up as quickly as is safe. We’ll try swinging this to one side, just enough to let us through. Once we get to Elmsgarth a wagon can return with ax men. We slay two birds with the same shot.”
Keelan obeyed. His mount had all the cat-footed sureness of the Torgian breed and cantered back along the slippery footing of the path with a comforting steadiness. Once back at the wagons Keelan spoke quickly to Harran. When the heir was done Harran called orders, and the loose teams trotted heavily off ahead. The wagon horses were reined in. They would keep moving but at a slow walk. They’d stay warmer than if they had to stand waiting for the tree to be swung aside.
Up at the tree Aisling and the men were fastening the chains to the roots. It would have been easier to pull at the other end. Branches were lighter, but they were also more likely to catch on rough places in the road or against other branches below the snow. To get a firm anchor it would have been necessary to affix the chains well down to-ward the trunk, which would also afford less leverage. The tree was large, but with two six-horse teams, they should be able to move it.
Aisling finished, checked her fastenings, and stepped back. A man moved to the head of each offside leader. They called, and the teams responded, huge hooves digging into the icy surface. The tree moved with reluctance. The beasts strained, snow and small gobbets of ice flying as their hooves gained traction. The tree creaked, scraped, and slid, branches grating against the roadway. Little by little it moved until just as the wagons reached them it was far enough to one side to permit them passage.
Aisling looked up. “Harran? Should we rest here?”
He looked up at the leaden sky. “Better not, lass. I think it will snow again soon. We should make time while we can. If we have to stop, then we can use that as a break, but until then we should keep moving.”
The road wound on. Jarria would have cut across some of the bends, Aisling knew. When they came to another of the longer low drifts, Harran had the men out to tramp a path at once. They were losing a little time but not a great amount thus far. Brother and sister continued on. They’d been traveling well, covering almost half of the distance already. Keelan rounded the bend ahead of her, and she heard his groan, loud in the clear still air.
“What… ? Ooh, damn!” They faced a drift. It was huge. It towered above them as they sat their horses. Here the road fell away on either side as it followed a slight ridge. For that reason it rarely flooded, but it made it dangerous to leave the track. They couldn’t go around. The country was rougher and even if they pulled back up the road and tried from there it would be impossible to take the wagons safely. Much of the lower land would be water-logged, ice over deep mud. The drift was aslant the roadway, and they could see it extended some distance. Keelan looked at his sister.
“What if you could exchange just part of it. It’d make a difference between digging that out all day and having to spend the night outside or having a chance.” He looked at the immense barrier. “Can you do that?”
Aisling sat her mount, closed her eyes, extended her hands and reached out. Her mind mapped the shape and weight of snow. Tentatively she prodded the problem. It wasn’t impossible. She could halve the drift, take away the portion closest. That would mean that Hannion had only to carve a path through one end. It would take an hour, maybe a little more with all of them digging.
But such use of power would leave her depleted. What if healing was needed for those at Elmsgarth when she arrived? Keelan was watching her closely.
“If we can’t get to them they will die,” he said quietly. “If we can but you cannot heal we may still save most. Use as little of your gift as possible, but use it.” He grinned suddenly. “The wagons won’t be up with us yet, and I have a plan.”
Aisling slipped back into her silver mists. Along the side of the road where it dropped—that would be a good place to dump the snow. She wouldn’t even have to lift the weight, just slide it over. Little snow clung to the steep slope, but the exchange would be helpful. She chanted softly, finally sitting back on her patient horse as the power flared. Snow cascaded down the slope while a dusting of snow appeared in its place.
She sagged in her saddle. After this Harran would have to do things the old-fashioned way. She watched wearily as Kirion took the short-handled wide-mouthed shovels from both horses. He scraped at the snow, then with hard twists of his wrists cascaded more snow from the drift face. He nodded at his handiwork. There, that looked as if two people had dug hard and vigorously for the hour they had been ahead.
He packed the shovels again. Reached over to take the reins of his sister’s mount and drew it to one side. The wagons creaked around the bend and halted by the drift.
Keelan looked up. “Looks as if this is the break you had in mind. We dug away some of it, but Aisling should rest. She worked too hard in this cold.” He allowed the eyelid away from the other men to drop slightly.