Rosie’s words sang in the coldness between us.
I would try. No, I did not have magic or enchanted seeds, but I would still try. I would have to admit to the entire village that their Goddess-sent Town Gardener was simply a gardener with good planning. We’d made it this far, though, and that gave me some hope to live on. So, yes, I’d try. I’d even reach for my magic and see what might lie in wait.
Perhaps a smidge of Moss’s magic was still with me, somewhere down deep.
Nothing is lonelier than two people staring at each other after a night they shouldn’t have shared.
—opening line attempt 109
Ladies!” Three sharp knocks rang through the tight cabin, startling me out of a deep slumber. My brain was a kaleidoscope of moments from the night before—Hesper, mostly. Fractals of Hesper everywhere. “Breakfast!”
“One moment!” I called out to Ludwig. We’d made a mess of the small wagon with ouradventures.
“Of course, of course.” He whistled through his teeth.
I scrambled to gather my cloak and tidy what I could. Hesper silently wrapped herself in her leathers and donned her own hooded cloak. She didn’t look at me once, and my heart only sank a little at that, but she had her easy demeanor about her, that devilish smile not too far away.
She placed her hand on the wagon door, readying to open it, but I stopped her.
“Wait,” I said, almost placing my hand on hers before quickly taking it away. “I’m sorry, I just need a moment.” Ifelt stupid for asking, but she didn’t say a word. She just gave a nod from beneath her cloak and leaned against the doors, waiting.
Today was the day we would finally arrive in Dwindle. We had been preparing for this moment for weeks and now it was here. My body went cold, and I braced myself against the wagon’s walls.
“Eggs are getting chilly,” Ludwig shouted again, and I steeled myself. No sense in wasting any more time.
I pushed the wagon doors open without another word. Gray mist shrouded everything. The morning light was not far off, but I wondered if the sun’s rays could burn through this cloying fog.
“Hiya!” Ludwig said. He was propped against a wagon wheel, smoking a pipe and looking idly out into the nothingness. Despite his age, he hopped up on both feet, a spring in his step already.
I stepped out of the wagon and into the mist. Something tickled my ankles and I yelped, falling back into Hesper. The fog was so dense, I couldn’t see what creature must be scuttling over my legs.
“You don’t like waking up to smell the flowers?” Ludwig inquired with a bushy eyebrow raised, a look of mischief in his silver eyes. Then, he took a deep draw of pipe smoke and blew it right toward the fog clouding my feet. The delicate smoke rings burned away the gray, revealing a shock of yellow underfoot.
Hundreds of dandelions reached toward the sky.
“How in the world?” I was dumbfounded.
“Well, would you look at that?” Hesper said, releasing me. I had forgotten I’d slammed up into her.
“I thought nothing much grew on Irk Road,” I said to Ludwig, who bent over, plucked a few flowers, and tucked them behind each ear.
“It doesn’t,” he said, and his eyes shone quicksilver.
Ah,strange. But I refused to think about it any more deeply; I had enough to worry about already.
Two plates were set up on a small log, each plumb full with a delicious spread. Bacon, eggs, savory pastries, fruits.
My stomach curdled.
“Eat up, then we’ll finish the last leg of your journey.”
I nodded, taking the plate and trying to force down the food. It tasted like ash in my mouth. Even Hesper, whose appetite was almost as reliable as mine, mostly pushed the food around. Ludwig took note.
“Yes, I wouldn’t be famished either.” He gave us a solemn smile. “Let’s not draw it out more than we need to. On you go.” His bushy eyebrows wriggled like a happy caterpillar as he whistled into the fog. Two golden horses emerged from the gloom, settling into their ranks at the front of the wagon.
Without a word, Hesper and I headed back inside—where it still smelled of what we shared last night. I thanked the Goddess for the ferocious hoofbeats outside, or else Hesper might hear just how hard my heart beat as I sat across from her. And it wasn’t because we were heading into the most dreaded village in Nestryia.
“I wonder if the stories are true,” she said, messing with the leathers around her wrist.
