Part 19 (2/2)

Except for Walter, of course. Karl turned to give a nod to the thief, who was basking comfortably in the late-afternoon sun on the blankets he had used to pad the cart's seat, guiding the mules with only an occasional twitch of his lazy fingers. Probably some of Walter's avowed affection for the mules was honest; certainly he'd staked out the cart at least partly from concern for his own tender b.u.t.tocks, leaving his swayback gelding hitched behind with little to no regret. ”Enjoying the ride?”

Walter responded with a nod and a wink. No, no doubt about it at all.

Aristobulus' whine drifted forward. Complaining, as usual. Karl urged his mare farther forward. A good horse; she needed only a touch of his heels to break into a canter, and then a light flick on the reins to slow her back down to a walk.

He stroked her reddish-brown neck, solid and dry under his palm. ”Good girla”you don't even mind hauling my weight, do you?” She raised her head a bit higher, and snorted.

Ahead the Waste of Elrood stretched out across the horizon; a flat brown ocean of sunbaked mud, random cracks in the hard surface covering as if it were a fine netting that had been woven by a mad giant.

Ahira's voice boomed from behind him. ”Karla”wait a moment.”

Shrugging, Karl let the dwarf, bouncing on the back of his little pony, catch up. ”Problem?”

Ahira shook his head. ”No, I need some advice. The rest of these... animals seem to be kind of spooked by the terrain. Do you think we ought to walk them a while? Maybe that way they can get used to it?”

Karl turned to look behind. The others' horses were twitchy, all right; what with the snorting and skittish steps they were taking, it could easily tire the animals out much sooner than it should.

”I don't think so,” he said. ”Look at them. h.e.l.l, look at you. You're the worst.”

The dwarf scowled. ”What about me?”

”The purpose of riding isn't to keep as much air as possible between your backside and your saddle, you knowa”the reason you have to spend so much time walking your pony is that you don't have the slightest idea of how to ride him. Same for the rest, although they're not as bad.”

Aristobulus' mount stepped to one side to avoid a rut; as usual, the wizard tried to overcontrol the little mare, frustrating the horse almost as much as himself.

Ahira's right hand slipped to the hilt of his axe. That was probably unconscious; Karl resisted the urge to loosen his sword from its saddle-bound scabbard. Easy, you're among friends.

”Dammit, Karl, have a bit of sympathy. How long did it take you to learn how to ride?”

Karl shrugged. ”I just seemed to pick it up.”

”Came with the territory, right? Sort of like Hakim's ability to move silently anda”and my darksight, no?”

”So?”

The dwarf threw up his hands, startling his pony. ”Easy, you d.a.m.ned littlea”easy, I said. So, it didn't come naturally to me. Or Andrea, Hakim, Doria, or Ari. Don't put on airs because you ride better than we can; it's just a lucky break. For you. It's not a virtue.” Ahira reached behind himself, rubbing vigorously.

”Don't.”

”Don't what?”

Karl sighed. ”Don't twitch in the saddle like that. Your pony doesn't know what you're doing, and he doesn't like it.”

Ahira opened his mouth as though to say something to the effect that he really couldn't care less what his animal liked or didn't, then shrugged, ”You still didn't answer my question.”

Karl thought it over for a moment. At least Ahira's idea would give the riders some time off their mounts, give them a chance to work out some stiffness. ”Actually, I've got a better idea.”

Ahira's mouth quirked. ”Let me guess: We get the critters used to the different surface by galloping them for a few miles, right?”

”Wrong. A horse isn't an automobile; you can kill it if you push it too hard. No, how about this? We pitch camp here until dark, then travel at night. At least for tonighta”we can pitch those blankets as tarps, keep the sun off. I know you don't think that water's a problem anymore, but we might as well save all we can. And this way the horses, at least the ones who need it”a”he patted his mare's necka””can take some time to get used to this surface, just by standing around on it.”

”Done!” The dwarf jerked his pony to a halt and bounced to the ground. ”Everybody, time for a break,”

Andrea slumped in the saddle. ”Thank goodness.”

”About time.” Aristobulus slid off his horse.

”Fine with me.” Doria levered herself out of her saddle and dropped lightly to the ground.

Walter reined in the mules, shrugging. ”I don't see what the problem is. But I'm easy.” He tied the reins to the back of his seat and vaulted to the sunbaked earth. ”What's the plan? We've got another couple of hours until sundowna”shouldn't we get some traveling done?”

Now free of his pony and any necessity of following Karl's advice not to spook the animal, Ahira rubbed viciously at the base of his spine as though trying to scour the pain away. ”This surface is so flat that it won't be dangerous to travel at night. So that's what we'll do, at least for tonight. We'll pitch the tarps for shade, catch some sleep, then start up again around midnight, when the ground's cooled off enough.”

Doria nodded. ”You're still worried about the water.”

”Not worried. Just cautious.” Ahira stretched broadly. ”Once we hit the far side of the Waste, I want to have as much left as possible. We don't know how deep in Bremen the Gate is, and we may need all we can carry.”

Karl nodded. A good point, and one he hadn't thought of. Then again, knowing how to deal with tunnels probably came naturally to the dwarf in the same way that riding came easily to Karl.

Ahira pulled the thin white blankets out of the back of the wagon. ”Hakim and I can pitch these as puptents. Do we have any volunteers for first watch?”

Andrea smiled. ”You sure do.” She walked over to Karl and tapped him on the chest with an extended finger. ”I think Karl's had an easy enough time in the saddle; time to put him to work.”

The dwarf nodded. ”Fine. The two of you are on watch until it's been dark for at least a couple of hours. Walter and Ari replace you then.”

”Now wait a minutea”” she started.

”The two of you.”

Karl's forehead wrinkled, almost painfully. Now that was strange. Ahira had been keeping Andrea and him away from each other. Which made sense. Buta”never mind. If I understood people, I'd have stayed in psych.

He cast an eye at the setting sun. Well, he'd already put up with worse than a few hours of stony silence.

Andrea stared out at the Waste of Elrood. By starlight, it reminded her of the pictures the Apollo astronauts had brought back from the moon, the ones from the Mare what's-its-name, the Sea of something-or-other.

She sighed. I was supposed to have that quiz the morning after that night at the Student Union, and that probably would have been on it.

Stars twinkled over a scarred wasteland. Just flat, cracked ground, gray in the dark. The sorcerers who fought here must have been very powerful, and more than a bit mad; what sane person would want to turn greenery into this?

She turned around to look at the others. Under the bed of the wagon, Walter snored quietly. She couldn't make out his features, but she knew that his broad face would be creased with a light smile. Still maintaining the image, eh? The fight back in Lundeyll had scared him badly, but Walter Slovotsky wouldn't reveal that, not even in his sleep.

Doria curled next to him, tossing fitfully. Look, Andrea wanted to say, I don't know what's gone on with you and Karl, but...

But what? That was the problem.

Under their respective puptents, Aristobulus and Ahira slept quietly. There was something similar about the two of them. Maybe it was that they were both so one-directional. Ari just wanted to get some spell books, and this trip across the Waste seemed to him to be a way to do that. Period.

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