Page 60 of Wind Rider

“The Tribe calls those sweepers,” Nik said, disgust clear in his voice. “They’re dangerous. There’s usually a lot more debris and roots invisible under the water. I’ve seen a man get tangled up in one and drown. We should paddle out of its way.”

“Sweepers are tough. I agree with Nik,” Sheena said. “Let’s avoid it.”

“It’s following in our wake. Just watch and wait,” Antreas said.

Mari watched with the Pack, and it didn’t take long for Antreas to be proven right. As soon as the sweeper came to the ruins it began spinning erratically as the strange current quickly took hold of it, pulling it off course until it suddenly was sucked beneath the swirling water, disappearing completely.

“Where is it?” Jenna asked, scanning the river with the rest of the Pack.

“Stuck,” Antreas said. “The current took it, pulling it underwater. It’s being held there—either because it got caught on a piece of wreckage, or because it is being held under by one of the unpredictable currents that haunt every ruin on the river.”

“That’s terrifying,” Danita said. “It could’ve happened to any of us.”

“Do you understand now why I don’t want any of us to get overconfident?” Antreas took Danita’s hand again and squeezed it affectionately.

“I do. I’ll be more careful.”

“Be careful and watchful, but that doesn’t mean I want us to lose the joy of traveling up this magnificent river on a beautiful day,” Antreas said, meeting and holding Danita’s gaze. “Don’t lose your joy—but also don’t lose your balance.”

Danita grinned at him, her embarrassment completely gone. “I won’t!”

Mari loved watching Antreas’s exchange with Danita. She felt so proud of the Lynx Companion. Just weeks ago he had been aloof and closed off—and now here he was, being unashamedly compassionate with Danita in front of the entire Pack.

“Maybe he is worthy of her,” Mari said softly, more to herself than to Nik.

“That’s almost exactly what I was thinking,” Nik said, sotto voce. “And I don’t need to be a Clansman to see that he is definitely courting Danita.”

“And she’s definitely accepted his courtship,” Mari whispered back. “I think it’s wonderful.”

Nik leaned toward her, and she met him halfway so they could share a long kiss that had Rigel’s and Laru’s tails thumping in unison against their ballasts.

“Hey, you two, be careful!” O’Bryan called. “Those ballasts won’t save you from tipping.”

“But a dip in the river will cool you two off!” said Jenna, giggling.

The Pack chuckled and Mari used her paddle to throw water at Jenna, which only made her giggle harder.

Smiling, Antreas held up his hand, and the Pack quieted. “We have five more hours of travel to go, which will take us to a place where we can safely beach for the night. It will only be mid-afternoon when we get there, so we’ll be able to rest, pitch camp, and maybe even do a little fishing before moonrise. Mari, Sora, you did say it is a Third Night, did you not?”

“We did!” Sora called, and Mari nodded in agreement.

“Good! Then it should be a magickal night,” said Antreas. “Ready to paddle on, Pack?”

With an enthusiastic cheer and quite a bit of barking, the Pack continued upriver.

***

Though they beached early, the Pack was dragging after seven concentrated hours of steady river travel. They’d gone from singing and laughing to silently bending their backs to the task of propelling the boats ever forward when Antreas finally shouted,“Follow me to beach the boats straight ahead!”

The relief that ran through the Pack was almost palpable. One boat at a time, they wearily grounded on a tongue of flat, silty beach at the base of a huge gray monolith of a rock that jutted into the sky. They quickly made camp, creating a fire as their central point, and then spreading out around it. O’Bryan and Mason baited hooks and waded into the river, trying for fish to add to Sora’s stew. Several of the Earth Walkers began digging for fresh wapato, and Sora promised to part with some of her precious salt stash to add savory flavor to the fibrous roots.

The rest of the Pack were resting and chatting easily. A few of the Earth Walkers were giving weaving lessons to Lydia, Sarah, and—surprisingly—Dove and Lily as they finished the travel cloaks they would gift the Saleesh people with the next day when they entered theirterritory. Mari had been shocked by Dove’s interest in weaving, but she had explained that she could feel the patterns with her hands, and she seemed content to sit with the other weaving women and work. Mari thought that she almost appeared to be part of the Pack. Almost.

Done checking on the wounded members of the Pack, Mari sat beside Sora. Little Chloe was lying between Sora’s feet gnawing on a waterlogged stick. Mari ruffled the fur on the top of the puppy’s head and the little girl wagged her small tail and greeted Mari with a quick lick before going back to chew on her stick.

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand why canines like chewing so much,” Mari said.

Sora smiled down at her pup. “It is strange, but O’Bryan told me that it feels good to young canines to chew because it helps their teeth to come in.”