Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 244

Chapter 244: Where has all the water gone?
“What? What do you mean the river’s gone?”

Mia grimaced slightly as Ford raised his voice. She’d been shocked to wake up so comfortably in Ford’s arms, further shocked when he’d opened his eyes to stare into her face and catch her stroking his cheek, and then as she’d fled, she discovered that the river itself had left!

“The storm surge must have moved it. The river carves new paths through the canyon often when there are big downpours,” Mia explained. “At least we’re not trapped here, and you won’t have to swim out?”

Her attempt to lift the mood landed poorly, and Ford pursed his lips.

“Where is it?” He asked.

Mia sighed heavily and closed her eyes, deciding to look for the river. She ignored the ever-present pull towards Ford, and pointed–directly at the stone wall they’d slept against.

“It’s that way. I guess that means we’re on the Foundrel side now,” Mia frowned. She’d never left her country before, and though the territory along the river was historically disputed, generally the river was treated as the de facto border by the nearby inhabitants.

“Is the cave on this side or the other side?” Ford looked worried.

“I suppose we’ll figure that out when we find it,” Mia shrugged. “Do you want to get up, or rest a while longer? There are some river grasses in the muddy bed for the horses to graze their fill.”

“I’ll come along, no sense in getting separated if they come looking for you again,” Ford told her, and she grimaced. He’d begun to rise to his feet, but stopped when he saw her face. “What is it?”

“They’re close,” Mia confessed. “Close enough for Uncle Trace to reach my dreams last night. He insisted they’re not going to give up looking for us. I asked him to leave me alone, told him I would keep running away…”

Ford looked like he was about to curse, and Mia bit her tongue.

“How close?”

“I don’t know,” Mia said, “Uncle Trace’s powers don’t go all that far. They are probably somewhere above us, I would think.”

She wondered if she should look for them and talk them into leaving her alone in person while Ford stayed here. She didn’t think they would hurt him… until Uncle Trace appeared in her dream last night. He seemed very much afraid that Mia’s father was capable of resorting to violence.

The pull changed directions only slightly, and she frowned. Could they have been so lucky?

“I think they might be on the other side of the river,” She couldn’t say for sure without finding its new course.

“How much of an obstacle will that be to them?” Ford’s expression was unreadable.

“I’m not sure. Maybe almost nothing, maybe quite a lot. Regardless, we might want to get moving after all,” Mia decided, “The horses can grab food as we go.”

Ford nodded uncertainly, and Mia began packing in earnest. Most of their things had dried out at least mostly in the course of the night, though there were still damp things amongst them that would have to be fully dried out later.

A rock in their little alcove proved tall enough to help Ford mount, for which she was very grateful. The urgency to get away was pressing on her now that she really thought about the risks involved.

Running away over and over like she’d threatened would wear on her family in ways she couldn’t fully grasp. It would be so much better to get this done in one trip, then go home and apologize for the consternation she caused.

As she mounted Henry and turned the horse out of the narrow canyon she took a deep breath and focused. The quickest traversable path to the best cave entrance was what she decided she was looking for.

Her head was unaccountably fatigued. She wondered if she was overusing her power by being incredibly specific while also not knowing if what she sought truly existed. This hadn’t ever been a problem previously, but she also hadn’t attempted anything like this before.

Mia hoped it would work.

The recent riverbed was muddy, but quickly drying in the arid atmosphere of the morning. It was decidedly cooler than the day before, with a kind of crispness to it that Mia normally would have enjoyed, had she not been so anxious.

The pull took her along through the mud–she despised leaving such obvious tracks, but there was nothing to be done for it—and she stopped only briefly to refill their canteens and water the horses at a leftover part of the river that had been left behind in a large, clear puddle when the river departed.

The horses also took the opportunity to snatch mouthfuls of green river grass to nourish themselves after the long journey. Mia made a mental note to give them both extra oats when she got them home.

“Your grandfather can’t spy on us using bugs, can he?”

Mia turned around to look at Ford, who was swatting a fly away from his face.

“No, he can control them, but can’t really communicate with them or see through their eyes or anything,” Mia explained with a reluctant smile. She already missed the old man and his little pranks. He would leave moths spelling out words or short messages, or even funny pictures sometimes.

She hoped he was all right after a night out in the storm…

Ford was staring, so she remounted her horse and spurred him on his way. The pull was taking her up a slope to the top of a ridge, and she pushed the horse to make the climb quickly.

“Let’s go, Henry.” She encouraged when they were nearly to the top.

“Sometimes I think you talk to the horses more than you speak to me,” Ford complained.

“What do you want to talk about?” She asked cautiously. They’d discussed everything really necessary, hadn’t they?

“I want to know anything else your uncle told you in your dream,” He replied, surprising her. “All he gave me were nightmares.”

“I told him not to invade your dreams!” Mia cried in dismay. “I’m sorry.”

“You’ve apologized plenty already today, haven’t you—” Ford’s sentence ended abruptly as Mia drew her horse to a sudden stop at the top of the canyon’s edge.

They had found the river’s new path.