Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 271

Chapter 271: Resupply
On the surface, the humans began to gather their things quietly and load the horses. None of them had a particular lot of possessions with them, but Grandpa wordlessly took some of Denholm’s more useful things.

Mia glanced over her shoulder again. There was no sign of Ford. His disappearing power was quite effective, she couldn’t even see the lamp he must have been carrying in the cave…

Unless he was truly gone. Maybe he’d slipped away.

Reluctantly, she decided she couldn’t hold it against him after her father’s anger. Ford had, presumably, what he wanted, or had at least given up hope of there being treasure in the cave.

That’s what he’d come to the country for. What he’d worked for since leaving the mines. She could look for him, and find him, but if he didn’t want that, neither did she.

It’s not like she could as easily locate him now. Outside of the presence of the tree, she was relegated to a simple pull, not the complete map and picture of what she wanted.

She bit her lip slightly, trying not to allow herself to think about that. About what she’d learned during that brief moment in the cave when she’d looked for Ford. The secondary pull, the deep longing she hadn’t been admitting to herself just yet.

Clinging to her childhood, she hadn’t quite come to terms with what she really wanted in life. What her magic apparently knew better than she did: what she truly wanted.

A husband.

That underlying yearning had been made clear in the presence of the tree. That secondary pull towards Ford that she’d felt from the moment she met him was not like any other quirk of her magic.

Then again, Ford was just about the only man around her own age that she wasn’t blood related to. The town had a few, but they all had sweethearts already, and weren’t suitable for her.

So, her power must have simply found her one by default. Any single young man probably would have triggered the same response!

“Are you all right, Mia? Your face is red. Are you ill? All these nights outside can’t have been good for you.” Seth placed a hand on his daughter’s forehead and looked worriedly into her eyes. “That fiend, endangering you like this. You should never have been out this long!”

“Papa,” Mia pushed his hand away. “I’m fine. I don’t have a delicate constitution. In fact, it’s rather strong. I take after my father that way.”

Seth’s expression softened slightly until she spoke again.

“And no one endangered me, unless you’re referring to Denholm.” She concluded.

“I strongly disagree,” Seth growled, “but for now, we need to get home.”

Grandpa seemed contemplative, his lips pressing together slightly as he loaded extra items onto Trace’s riderless horse, while Seth loaded the one Mia had ridden on during the journey here.

“Don’t–” She began, not wanting the horse to be overburdened, but Seth cut her off.

“We need to move swiftly, so horses without riders should carry more,” He told her.

“But he’s not riderless,” Mia protested. “Ford–”

“Isn’t here, is he?” Seth growled. “Coward’s run off, unwilling to face me after what he’s done.”

“I’m sure that isn’t—”

“Mia,” Her father cut her off. “We’ve raised you to think the best about others. There’s a point where that ends, and it’s now. There are evil people in the world. I’m sure your invisible friend is fine, as certain things have inexplicably disappeared–”

“What?” Mia blinked at him and looked around at the camp.

The tent was gone, as well as the remaining food stores. Most notably, Denholm’s horse was missing.

Was Ford already far away, then? It hurt her heart to think so, but she put on a brave face.

“He’s gone, Mia, proving once and for all he was a bad apple.” Seth insisted, “If I see him around ever again I can’t say for sure what I’ll do.”

“Papa, it was my choice. If you disapprove, your anger should be directed at me, not the man who helped keep me alive during the ordeal.” Mia glared.

“Well, daylight’s burnin’,” Grandpa chimed in. “Let’s get on the road.”

“What road? We’re in the middle of nowhere,” Seth snapped, but Grandpa took a deep, patient breath.

“Son, I don’t want to berate you in front of your child, so I’ll keep this brief. You’re hurting. Your daughter ran off and your brother’s been taken. I get that. But you don’t hold the monopoly on deserving to be in a foul mood. Did you listen to your daughter in the cave? How deeply she’s hurting to be prompted to run off without a word?

“And me. My granddaughter, and now my youngest son. You know what it’s like for a youngest to go missing in the hands of the unknown. I’m gonna ask you to mount your horse and follow quietly as Mia leads us on the fastest way home, and not speak again until you can say something helpful or at least kind.”

Mia bit her tongue. She’d never seen her grandfather humble her father like this, ever.

Her wide eyes watched a series of emotions flicker across her father’s face. At long last, he nodded curtly and mounted his horse without a word, his jaw clenched and his eyes glossy.

“Mia?” Grandpa raised an eyebrow, and she swiftly mounted her own horse. The older man tied the reins of the two spare animals–Trace’s horse and one of the two Mia had brought–to his saddle and Seth’s.

The young woman closed her eyes and concentrated.

Home. The quickest, safest path home.

The pull on her soul began predictably, comfortably. The secondary tug was absent, and Mia was at the same time relieved and saddened by that fact. Perhaps it would stay gone forever, until she found someone more suitable.

The memory of waking up in his arms wormed its way to the forefront of her mind, and she nudged her heels into her horse’s flanks.

“Let’s… let’s go home.”