Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 239

Chapter 239: Whoops
Mia smiled nervously as she offered her awkward apology. Ford was staring at her again, and she tried to resist the urge to say more. Ultimately, she felt the need to offer further explanation.

“Ok, so I didn’t exactly think everything through as thoroughly as I could have,” She admitted, “but we’re both safe, and both well hidden, so no harm done, right?”

Ford blinked slowly, gritted his teeth, and shook his head in exasperation.

“Do you need help getting down?” She asked, trying to distract him from being angry with her.

His expression hardened, but he leaned forward and began the maneuver that had worked before, swinging his far leg over the back of the saddle. Mia rushed forward to hold her arms up and brace his descent.

It went more smoothly than before, and she didn’t have to throw her arms around him to prevent him from falling.

That was oddly disappointing to her, and she frowned, but retrieved Ford’s crutch from the saddle and handed to him.

“I’m sorry,” She said again.

“It’s done,” He groused.

“I wish I had wood to make a fire to help dry us,” Mia frowned. Her dress was soaked, and most of their things as well. She began to unpack them and lay them out as much as she was able.

Mia wrung the water out of portions of her skirt a bit at a time, trying not to immodestly lift them. Ford pretended to be very interested in the rock wall, or very mad at her.

Either way, he wasn’t looking at her, and she was grateful.

As soon as she’d finished, Harper’s nose began to twitch.

“Oh, no!” Mia only had time to throw her arms up in front of her face before her horse began to shake out her wet coat like a dog, flinging water droplets like tiny wet projectiles in all directions.

“Gah!” Ford cried out. “What in the—”

Mia glanced out from behind her splayed hands to see his utterly flabbergasted expression as he dripped anew with water that smelled strongly of wet horse.

“Sorry,” Mia apologized again. “I told you she doesn’t really like being wet. If there were more room here, she’d probably roll in the dust to try and get all the way dry.”

“Roll in the dust?” Ford frowned. “Wouldn’t that just make her muddy?”

“I never claimed she was the most logical creature in the world,” Mia walked over to pat Harper’s nose, “but she did get you here safely, so we can’t be too mad at her, can we?”

“Maybe you can’t,” The man shook his head, but Mia ignored him.

“Thank you,” She said to Harper. “You’re a good girl. And you, too, Henry,” She added to the horse that had carried her.

“So what now?” Ford demanded. “We wait here forever, until your folks give up looking for you? If they ever stop looking for you?”

Mia knew they wouldn’t ever stop. But they would move on, hopefully. Maybe.

“I think,” She said, “We should stay here for the night. We were planning to camp out anyway, so we’ll just get some rest early. After all, it was a long night last night, I’m sure you’re tired.”

Her attempt at benevolence was met with measured indifference.

“Fine,” Ford said. “I guess it’s better than going out and risking getting caught… but we can’t stay here forever.”

“No, it won’t be forever,” Mia agreed as she began piecing through the other packs. The food had been in an oilcloth bag, so it was thankfully all safe from the water’s incursion. “The most important thing right now is to get the clothes and blankets as dry as we can before nightfall. Without a fire, we’ll need them for warmth.”

“How?”

“The easiest way would be a fire, or direct sunlight, but since we can’t do either, we’ll have to try hanging them to dry,” Mia’s brow furrowed. She’d brought some rope, as one always did for camping trips, and with some effort located two roughly opposite rock outcroppings to attach it to in their little alcove.

Once she had it secured, she began tossing the only-damp things over it; they would dry soonest and be useful. The truly soaked items that had no hope of drying before nightfall, she would save for later.

Next, she unsaddled the horses and brushed them with the curry brush she always kept in Harper’s saddlebags.

Ford had made himself as comfortable as he could sitting on a low rock awkwardly. He watched her without comment as she completed these tasks, and she began to feel self-conscious.

“Are you hungry?” She asked, perhaps a little overeager to distract him from staring at her.

“Are you?” He responded.

“A little.”

Silence fell again, and she was left to guess whether that meant he were willing to eat or not. She got out some dry food, since they would have no fire, and handed him some. He took it, and ate.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” She replied perhaps a little too warmly.

Needing something to occupy herself, she wrung out water from the more sopping wet items, and then took their canteens to refill down at the river. The current had become more swift, and the water level had risen.

The distant rumble of thunder made her shiver. A storm upstream could mean the beginning of a flash flood. Was their alcove high enough to avoid the storm surge?

Another glance at the water told her that she wouldn’t have the chance to do anything other than find out. It would be far too dangerous to navigate the water in this state. They would have to stay put and hope for the best.

Guiltily, she slunk back to where Ford waited. He looked up as she reappeared, and suspicion lit in his dark eyes.

“What is it? Have they found us?” His eyes darted to glance beyond her, then back to her face, demanding answers.

“I’m afraid it might be a bit more serious than that.”