Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 299

Chapter 299: My hands are tied
Mia watched Grandpa walk away with a sigh. Her father seemed to be trying, removing himself from the conversation instead of blowing up at Ford or continuing to glare, and now her grandfather was leaving them to themselves.

She didn’t really relish the idea of spending a lot of unsupervised alone time with Ford… but she’d spent a lot of unsupervised alone time with him before. This shouldn’t be that much different.

They were still being followed by her family, just trying to lead them instead of avoiding them this time.

Except, Mia and Ford wouldn’t be able to see each other, so, there was that.

“How will we keep from getting separated? Are you able to see me when we’re invisible?” Mia frowned.

“Ah, no.” Ford sighed. “I can’t. I can’t even see my own self when I’m invisible. It’s inconvenient. I suppose we could scout without me cloaking, and I could turn us invisible if and when it’s needed?”

“But what if we don’t see the danger until it’s charging at us? We’ll have to move quickly, and we might not go in the same direction,” Mia nudged her horse closer to Ford’s and reached forward. “Hand me your reins.”

He did so without hesitation, which surprised her a little. She looped his reins to the back of her saddle so that his horse would follow hers even without seeing where it was going.

“What if I need your attention?” He asked. “There’s no sound when I’m invisible, so far as I can tell.”

Mia hesitated a moment, and a crease formed between Ford’s eyebrows. He reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a length of very coarse rope.

“Your father was teaching me to braid the grass into rope. It’s not really strong enough for most tasks, but I think if we tie one end to our wrists, we can work out a system of tugs?”

Mia frowned, the thought passing through her mind that she felt a constant tug towards him unless he was invisible, and now it seemed she would feel it even in that state.

“Two tugs to confirm you’re still attached to your end, and two to answer. Three tugs means I need to stop to carve our signal into a tree. Four frantic tugs means danger? Only one is probably an accident or sudden movement… what do you think?”

Mia nodded slowly, committing the system to memory and repeating it out loud back to Ford for confirmation. His answering smile was bright, and it dazzled her for a moment. When had he learned to smile so genuinely?

Momentarily stunned, she slowly smiled back at him and took one end of the hand-braided rope. She couldn’t manage to knot it around her own wrist with one hand, and noticed Ford was having a similar issue with his side.

Tugging on her reins, she had Harper sidestep a little closer so that she could reach Ford more easily. Taking her end and tying it gently around his wrist, she belatedly realized she could have just tied it into a loop and slipped her hand into it.

As soon as she finished tying the knot around his sleeve, he took the other end and reached out.

She extended her arm and tried not to visibly shiver as his fingers softly brushed against the skin on the inside of her wrist. After the knot was done, did she imagine that his hands lingered for a moment?

Seth cleared his throat and Ford flinched away from Mia.

“Ready?” He asked with a flickering glance at her father.

“Ready.” She affirmed, turning her horse and nudging her heels into Harper’s sides. The horse set off in the direction Mia guided, and Ford’s mount followed.

After a few steps, the horse disappeared from underneath her. She gasped, but it made no sound.

Shaking her head, Mia grimaced at the feeling of being silent and invisible. It wasn’t terribly pleasant. She fancied herself that this is what a ghost would feel like; sort of floating above the ground without being able to see itself or be seen by others. Unable to be heard at all.

Before, in the cave, the wights had seemed almost ghostly to her, but her current state changed her perspective somewhat.

At least she didn’t have to talk to Ford. Couldn’t see him. Couldn’t hear him.

Although with her senses she paid attention to the terrain and any dangers, and with her magic she reached out for the pull to the safest yet quickest path to her uncle, the lack of conversation and the silence left her some room to think.

She wondered if Ford could feel her at all. Could see her, or at least sense her, since she was under the power of his protective cloak?

Mia had been, technically, under his protection before, though they were a team when they headed for the cave. Really, she’d been the more capable back then of being the protector.

Her knowledge of camping, of the terrain, of the destination, of swimming, even, had given her a distinct advantage over Ford, especially with his injuries. She’d helped him almost every step of the way back then.

Now, however, he’d really begun taking to heart the lessons Grandpa taught him. He had magic of his own with which to hide her from harm. He was no longer starving, but well fed and capable of many of the tasks involved in wilderness survival.

Objectively speaking, his value as a traveling partner had skyrocketed. His demeanor, too, had changed. Instead of the surly, barely-polite and even manipulative person he was when he’d first arrived, he was… different.

What had it been? A week he was at their house, and another week and some change getting into the cave… had she known him a month, total then? A little longer? Could a person change so much in so short a time?

She tugged twice on the slender rope encircling her wrist, and felt two answering pulls. He was still there, still beside her.