“The water’s too rough to cross.”
“Can you see the road across the river? I can’t.” Sage’s uncertainty bubbled up again. Raven’s words were like daggers, piercing her mind. Why had they come to England? This was a perilous endeavor for all of them. Would Sage risk her family to find the answers?
Marcus dismounted. He took a rope from his saddle and wrapped it around his waist.
Anxiety churned inside Sage. “What are you doing?”
“We have to get across,” Marcus said, tying the rope tightly. “I’m going in.”
“No!” Sage exploded. “You can’t.”
Marcus gazed up at her confidently, blinking away the raindrops. “I’m a strong swimmer. I can make it to the other side.”
“In this water? It’s not worth it. Even if the road is there, we can’t cross. We’ll find another way.”
He looked at the bank on the other side. “I want to know if the road continues. I know you do, too.”
“It’s not worth it,” Sage pleaded, a strange hitch in her voice.
He turned to her, and his stare softened. He nodded reluctantly and began to loosen the piece of rope around his waist. “We’ll look for another way to cross.”
Relief washed through Sage. She had been filled with terror at the thought of even contemplating his suggestion. Nothing would be worth losing him. Not the book, not the mystery. Nothing. As he mounted his steed, the fear in her heart diminished, yet despite her attempts to free herself, she felt it lurking within her like a persistent shadow. “Don’t do that,” she said stiffly.
He stared at her in confusion.
“Don’t ever risk your life like that,” she ordered, and her voice faltered.
“Sage,” Marcus said with sympathy.
“Don’t. I mean it.” She clenched her jaw and turned her horse farther down the bank, searching for a crossing.
Marcus trailed her.
She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Her heart began to slow, and the panic subsided. She had a job to do. Her gaze shifted to the opposite bank, and she saw the rushing, foamy brown water cascading down the sloping hill. She followed its descent down to where it pooled in the valley, noting that its angry ripples had been replaced with a gentler flow. When Marcus came up beside her, she asked, “How deep do you think it is?”
“There’s one way to find out,” he answered, urging his steed to the bottom of the hill. He dismounted and approached the pool.
Her shoulders tensed, and the fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she watched him take the first cautious step into the murky water.
He paused to look back at her, assuring her, “It’s well.” He took measured strides, the water creeping higher with each one until it covered his ankles, then crept up to his shins and calves.
Sage grasped the reins of his horse and urged her steed forward into the water, never removing her eyes from Marcus.
The water rose to the tops of his boots, inching farther with every pace he took. When the water touched his thighs, he was more than halfway through the crossing and paused until she caught up with him. He swung himself up into the saddle of his horse. “It’s safe enough to cross.”
Sage spurred her horse after Marcus’s steed to the other side. She twisted in her saddle and saw Raven watching them from the hilltop with a tense expression. She recognized the fear and anxiety Raven felt—it mirrored what she had felt for Marcus when he foolishly wanted to cross the rushing waters.
Their horses heaved out of the water with a splash, sending droplets spraying. They carefully picked their way through the thick, glossy mud, their steed’s hooves sinking and suctioning with each step. When they reached the spot where the road was directly across the flood waters, Sage looked down to search for the path.
“Here,” Marcus called. He sat atop his horse, slightly uphill from where Sage was, staring at the ground.
Sage urged Achilles, her steed, up beside him, her heart pounding with anticipation. She could barely believe her eyes, for at the river’s edge lay a muddy road leading away from the roaring waters. The road didn’t stop! As the rain persisted around them, Sage wiped droplets from her eyes while she steered her horse along the road. The steed’s hooves sloshed in the puddle-filled road.
Marcus trailed her, glancing back across the flood to the other side.
Sage followed the road until a large boulder blocked it, its pitted surface weathered from years of exposure. She examined the ground on the left and then the right, searching for the continuation of the road. Was this the end?
Marcus rode around the boulder and then came to Sage’s side. “It stops here. There’s no other sign of the road on the other side.”
