Page 144 of Wind Rider

“I think that’s another yes,” Danita said.

“Sadly, I think you’re right,” Nik said. He shared a glance with Laru, who laid his ears back and looked as unenthused at the prospect as his Companion.

“Oh, come on! It’ll be fun, especially on the really hot days,” Mari said.

“Moon Woman?” Dove’s sweet voice traveled across the water easily.

“Yes, Dove,” Mari answered.

“Lily and I do not know how to swim.”

“Would you like to learn?” Sora asked.

“We would!” Dove said enthusiastically. Beside her Lily nodded, though she looked a lot less excited.

“Okay, then, who’s our best swimmer?” Antreas asked.

As one, every Companion turned to look at Wilkes.

Wilkes sighed. “I can swim. Well.”

“Wilkes, would you teach Lily and me to swim?” Dove asked, turning her smiling face in the direction of his voice.

Wilkes sighed again. “Yes. I will teach you.”

So began a series of lessons that proved to be highly amusing. Mari was amazed at how brave Dove was. She could see nothing, but was utterly free in the water, swimming almost daily and always going to the end of her safety tether. Lily learned to swim, too, but it was obvious she enjoyed it about as much as Nik—who looked like he’d rather have battled a herd of Monkeys than submerge himself in the lake.

The Pack was careful. They kept ropes looped around the waists of the canines—as well as anyone swimming with them. Even Bast, looking utterly disgruntled, was coaxed to swim with Danita—who Mari thought might be half fish because of how gracefully the girl moved through the water.

Mari loved those long, hot days and the cool lake water. She decided not to dwell on the fact that beneath them a whole society had drowned.Instead she thought about the water washing away that which needed cleansing so that something new, something better, could take its place.

She wasn’t delusional. Mari didn’t believe that her little Pack would change the world, and it didn’t have to. All it had to do was changetheirworld, and that it already had done.

As they drew closer and closer to the Rock Mountains, the Pack grew stronger. Companions and Earth Walkers no longer segregated themselves from each other. They shared boats and supplies as easily as they shared fishing tips. When taking breaks from paddling, the Earth Walkers taught the Companions how to weave—and the Companions talked openly about how they created their City in the Trees, about the intricacies of pulley systems, and about how to build nests in trees so that the home grewwiththe tree, rather than strangling and killing it.

Mari thought often what a pleasure it was to watch good friends being made—and lovers being wooed. Danita slept every night in Antreas’s arms—and somewhere about midway through their crossing her night terrors completely stopped.

Davis and Claudia were as inseparable as Cammy and the very obviously pregnant Mariah. Mari and Nik often chuckled about how little Cammyman seemed to grow more and more proud as the Shepherd’s belly grew more and more round. She tried not to worry about Mariah giving birth on the lake, especially as Claudia and Davis didn’t seem overly concerned, but every Third Night when she and Sora drew down the moon to Wash their Pack, Mari added a prayer to the Great Goddess asking for a healthy delivery for the sweet Shepherd, especially as the mountains, which had once seemed impossibly far away, began showing their snowy tips against the horizon.

Mariah went into labor the day the light of the rising sun suddenly reflected off something in the distance that sparkled and shone so much that it hurt Mari’s eyes to stare at it.

“What is that?” Danita asked.

“The Golden Man Ruins!” Antreas shouted, sounding pleased. “We made it!”

“What? Are we almost off this Goddess-forsaken lake?” Nik said.

“Yes, we are,” Antreas said. “We need to paddle for that golden statue. Once we pass it we take a sharp turn to the left and in one more day we meet dry land—for good.”

“Thank the Sun!” Nik cheered.

“Oh, blessed Goddess! That is so exciting!” Dove said from the boat she shared with Davis, Claudia, Rose, Lily, and a large selection of canines.

“It is exciting,” Antreas said. “But we need to circle up so I can let you know what we’re facing.” He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “Pack! Circle up!”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Nik muttered.

“Why doesn’t he tell us about this bad stuffbeforewe’re looking right at it?” Mari said.