Page 95 of Wind Rider

“Ooooh! Nice view from up here. How’d you find it?” Mari took a seat on their travel cloaks, which Nik had already placed over a mattress of pine needles and fern fronds.

“I didn’t—Laru and Rigel did.” Before Nik stretched out beside her,he uncovered a wooden mug that he’d carefully stowed under a flap of a travel cloak. “Would you like a little spring mead?”

“Yes!” Mari reached eagerly for the mug and took a big drink, sighing happily before she handed it back to Nik. “How’d you talk Spencer into giving you some?”

“I told her the truth—that I was going to use it to ply favors from my Moon Woman.”

“Nik! You did not say that. Did you?”

Nik laughed. “No. But I did tell her it was for you.” He took a sip and handed the mug back to Mari, moving closer to her and pulling her into his arms. “And Iamgoing to try to ply favors from you.”

Mari sipped the mead—her eyes smiling at him over the mug. “What kind of favors?”

Nik shifted so that he was behind her, and he began to massage her shoulders. “Only the kind of favors you’d like to give.”

“Oh, Nik, that feelsso good.I don’t think my shoulders have ever worked this hard, or been this sore.”

“How sore are you? Too sore for this?” Nik kissed the side of her neck, letting his lips linger on her skin.

Mari sighed in contentment. “No, definitely not too sore for that.”

“How about this?” Nik kissed the other side of her neck. This time when his lips lingered, they made a trail of heat down her neck and along her shoulder, causing her to shiver with pleasure.

“Not too sore for that either.” Mari gulped the last of the mead and put the mug down, turning to face Nik. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m not too sore foranythingyou have in mind, Nikolas.”

Mari pulled him down to her and their lips met—searching and finding the same completion that their bodies soon found together as they made love slowly, languorously, learning each other’s needs and desires, speaking softly to one another and sharing the language of love while they discovered anew how perfectly they fit.

***

Davis stood before the sturdy little pine, gazing in wonder at it. Cammy sat beside him, uncharacteristically quiet. The pine was at the far edgeof the beach, just at the point where brave little trees began to dot the steep ridge that lifted up to the plateau the Saleesh claimed. Slowly, Davis approached the pine. He unloaded the pile of rocks he’d gathered, carrying them in his tunic like they were wapato roots. Then he sat and began placing the rocks, one atop another, beginning with the largest, until he had a stack of them resting at the foot of the tree. Then, after he was sure that the rock pile was sturdy enough to last—at least until the stormy season came—he placed the final rock atop the stack. It was small and almost as flat as the rest of them, but this rock was perfectly heart shaped.

Then he and Cammy scooted back a few steps and Davis gazed up into what he believed was one of the faces of his Goddess, and prayed.

“Thank you, Great Earth Mother, for being here with us. I know you are here. You drew me to this tree. I feel you, and it fills me with wonder. I make you this offering of this cairn, topped with my heart, so that everyone who passes through here might know that your people love you—cherish you—believe in you. And, please: I know that they do not worship you, but I would like to ask that you watch over the Tribe of the Trees, and if there are still people there who are good—who have not been poisoned by Thaddeus and the God of Death—please help them. Strengthen them. Allow them to survive and, someday, to thrive again as a better people—a kinder people.” He touched his fingers to his lips and then pressed them to the foot of the trunk. “Thank you, Great Earth Mother.”

A twig snapped behind them and Cammy whirled around, showing his teeth and growling deep in his chest. Davis was slower to react, turning just as a Shepherd trotted up to greet the little Terrier, who instantly changed from growling to huffing a welcome.

“I am so sorry!” Claudia said, hurrying to catch up with Mariah, who was nose to nose with Cammy as their tails wagged happily. “I did not mean to interrupt you. Mariah kept telling me there was something I had to see, and wouldn’t settle down for the night until I followed her.” Claudia stopped abruptly as she caught sight of the little pine. “Oh! That’s beautiful! It looks just like a woman.”

“Or a goddess,” Davis said softly. “She is beautiful, isn’t she? And you didn’t interrupt. I’ve already made my offering and prayed.” He smiled shyly at the beautiful young woman. “Cammy obviously likes the company, and so do I. I think something like this needs to be shared to be truly appreciated.”

“I’ve seen shapes in the trees before—who hasn’t?” Claudia said as she moved closer to the pine, studying it. “But I’ve never seen anything like this. And you’re right. She’s more goddess than woman.” Gently, Claudia stroked the bark of the tree with her finger, tracing the perfectly formed face that seemed to look so serenely at them. It seemed the figure’s arms were raised, morphing into branches. The trunk curved to show breasts, a slender waist, and generous hips. Even her legs could be seen, and it seemed she was mid-dance, whirling with her arms joyously raised as she gazed out at the world. As Claudia took in the entire vision, she found the small stone cairn. “That’s lovely. Did you make it?”

“I did.”

“And that heart?”

“It’s my offering,” Davis said. “I hope the Goddess likes it.”

Claudia turned to look into Davis’s face. “She does. She must. I would, were I a goddess.”

Davis’s breath caught. He wished it were easier for him to speak his mind to Claudia, but even back in the Tribe her beauty and her confidence had seemed to freeze his mind—at least whenever they spoke about anything except their canines. His eyes found her young Shepherd and he blurted, “Mariah is looking really good.”

Claudia’s lovely face seemed to radiate pleasure as she smiled down at her Shepherd, ruffling Mariah’s fur affectionately. “Little did I know before, but Mariah is an excellent traveler. She actually enjoys the river.”

“You don’t?” Davis motioned at a water-bleached log that had washed up close enough to the tree that they could sit on it and still look at the Goddess image. Claudia sat beside him while Cammy and Mariah played tug with a stick.

“No. I’m a homebody.” She sighed. “I miss my nest.”