Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 250

Chapter 250: Dig and diggity dig
Ford still didn’t trust the man, though Mia seemed to be pushing the proposal that they work together peaceably. He wished she would be more cautious.

“You’ve avoided telling me several times now. I’ve given you more information about myself than I had planned, and I would like a direct answer,” Gary looked at Mia frankly. “What is your power?”

“I find things,” Mia shrugged. “Things I’m looking for. It’s not particularly flashy, but it has its moments of usefulness.”

Gary slowly smiled. It was a smile that Mia returned easily, but that Ford didn’t trust. Why was she so friendly? He sneered, and moved a little further away from the heat of the fire.

“What sorts of things are you looking for?” Gary asked with interest. “This cave, obviously…”

Mia glanced at Ford, who tried to tell her with his eyes to stop being so blasted open. Hadn’t this man kept her prisoner? Hadn’t she railed against Ford when she thought he was a friend of Martin?

This man was not only a friend, but a co-conspirator, coworker of Martin’s! Why was she being so pleasant?

It was oddly infuriating. He couldn’t make sense of it. Were all women so ridiculous? So insensible?

“Normally it’s small things, like something I lost or an ingredient I need to cook with,” Mia looked at Gary with a smile. “Like I said, it’s useful in its ways.”

Gary assessed her with a gaze that made Ford uncomfortable again.

“I’m going to get back to work.” He said. “I will tolerate you helping, or your friend doing it first. I don’t suppose he has any magic at all that would be helpful.”

“He’s actually excellent at it,” Mia bragged, causing Gary to raise his eyebrows.

“Oh?”

Ford frowned, and began to stand. Apparently without thinking, Mia rushed over to help him to his feet. He would have shaken her hands off his arm if it wouldn’t have sent him tumbling onto his face.

“He certainly looks like he’s good at physical labor,” Gary’s mouth twitched, and Ford glared. “I do think I’ll give you this shift in the cave. You have your own equipment, I assume.”

“Yes,” Mia volunteered cheerfully despite the man’s obvious sarcasm.

“Do you really? I didn’t expect that,” Gary glanced at their horses again.

“I was a miner, in Foundrel.” Ford didn’t like being thought useless, especially given that he’d just needed help from a slip of a girl to stand up to his own two feet.

“Were you really?” Gary perked up at that. “Just a grunt, or someone that could actually support and build? I confess I myself am not a particular expert in this arena, hence my encampment out here and not inside. While my progress has been steady, I am plagued by the occasional collapse within the cave…”

“What are you using for bracing?” Ford glanced towards the entrance. “There’s not an abundance of timber in the area, which is the standard, but there are ways around needing it if you’re careful.”

Gary’s face brightened considerably as he glanced over Ford again. Despite not liking the man, his sudden show of respect did not leave Ford unaffected.

“Can you show me? I now fear you will think poorly of the work I’ve done, and that it has taken me so long,” Gary ducked his head, almost as if he were preparing to bow, but gestured lamely at the entrance instead.

“Of course,” Ford answered with courtesy now that he was being treated as an equal, an expert, instead of an intruder. He suppressed the pride that tried to bubble up in him.

“Do you want your crutch?” Mia whispered from his side, and he hesitated. He’d gotten to the fireside all right without it, but if he were going into an unknown, ill-lit cave, it was better not to rely on his legs to carry him faultlessly.

Reluctantly, he nodded, and she scurried off to retrieve it for him.

“Did she search long, to find you?” Gary asked when she stepped away.

“What?” Ford blinked.

“Did she know she’d need a miner to get into the cave? Is that why she looked for you before coming here?” Gary pressed curiously.

“She didn’t look for me,” Ford paused.

“No? Are you sure?” Gary seemed skeptical, and Ford didn’t know how to explain, so he shrugged.

“Think what you want. Won’t bother me.”

Gary frowned, and Mia returned with Ford’s crutch.

“Will you be all right in there? Should I come?”

“Let’s all stay together, shall we?” Gary raised an eyebrow.

“Fine,” Ford agreed easily, moving towards the dark hole in the canyon wall readily now that he had the support he was used to.

The entrance itself was large enough for the three of them to walk side by side if they wanted to, and Ford glanced at Gary.

“Have you just been clearing rock debris from an existing tunnel that was manually filled in, or was it fully collapsed, with you starting from scratch with your digging?”

“This wasn’t the main entrance,” Gary told him. “I came here hoping they missed it after blocking the others…”

“How many entrances were there?” Mia asked curiously.

“Two that I know of. The main one was collapsed by the king’s men. Recklessly, thoroughly. The entrance here was a more direct route, but the way it was closed off makes me think Martin did it.” Gary frowned.

Mia nodded slowly, and Ford accepted the explanation. That was why it still looked so natural: Martin wouldn’t have collapsed it entirely, just filled it to some extent with his power.

“You went through this entrance when it was still open?” He clarified, running his hand along the wall of the entrance and up to the ceiling. “Are you replicating it exactly, or changing how it was?”

“It was incredibly narrow inside, before,” Gary said. “To be more efficient, I made it wide enough for my wheelbarrow to remove the dirt and rocks.”

“And what materials do you use to form your braces?” Ford peered into the darkness. The answer he got was what he expected to hear, but it still dismayed him.

“What are braces?”