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“Oh. Because I couldn’t have fit all this stuff in the packs,” she said brightly. “Besides, you know Maggie hates riding in the saddle bags.”
“You brought your hedgehog?” My fingers went to massage the bridge of my nose.
Now I had two very small creatures to protect in a forest that was surely out to kill them. Then a flash of pink caught my eye as I noticed something else.
“Did you paint her toenails, Lina?”
“We were having a girls’ night and she didn’t want to be left out.” She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“She told you that, did she?” I leveled a look at her.
Lina was saved from answering by the appearance of a very sleepy Vale. He ran a hand through his black hair, only managing to make it look even messier.
“Neira said you had some goods to deliver?”
“Yep, all back here.” She gestured behind her before making her slow dismount from the contraption she had been sitting in.
There was a time when I would have stepped in without a thought to set her on the ground, but things weren’t as easy with us, anymore. Another thing I could blame myself for, I was sure.
“Can I help, Lina?” Vale stepped forward with his palm outstretched, and she gracefully leapt onto it, her swirl of aqua-colored hair streaming behind her.
“Thank you,” She beamed at him, and I felt a stab of… something.
Irritation.That was it,of course.
“Could you grab Maggie, too?” she asked, once she was on the ground.
I didn’t know how she got so much volume for such a tiny person, but neither of us had to strain to hear her.
“Of course.” He dutifully sat her hedgehog down next to her, and I noted, with some dismay, that the animal was saddled with a small pack on each side.
She really isn’t joking.
That settled it. I waited until Vale had disappeared inside with one of the bundles before crouching down into a squat and speaking in a low tone.
“Lina, you can’t be serious about this.”
She paused with her foot halfway to the strap of the saddle, tilting her head up at me.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because what if this place doesn’t even exist? The forest is huge and dangerous, and this whole thing is ridiculous.” I gestured to her hedgehog steed, then to the stretch of woods in the distance, that looked ominous even in the dawning light.
Maggie hissed at me, her quills around the saddle standing upright.
Lina’s skin, on the other hand, turned a muted shade of blue, and I almost felt guilty before I remembered I’d rather her be sad than dead… and my father along with her. Then, it deepened to a navy color I recognized all too well, and I knew this battle was already lost.
It was determination.
“Well,” she looked up at me with something like disappointment in her gaze. “Unless you believe Mama’s fairy tale about my being born from a tulip, then I think it’s safe to say there are other people like me out there in the world. But I suppose you would prefer that instead of finding them, I stay here, in a world that wasn’t built for me, on a farm where I have no one left?”Is that last part accusatory, or is it only my remorse making it seem that way?
I swallowed, looking around at the world through her eyes for a change. The horse’s hoof that was nearly as tall as she was. The wagon that had to be modified just for her to steer it.
Then I thought about the farm without her on it, and I realized maybe my motives for trying to keep her here weren’t as pure as keeping her safe, or even keeping my father safe. But that didn’t mean I was wrong.
“Ifthey exist, that doesn’t change the fact that we don’t even know where we’re going, Lina.”
“Theydoexist. I came from somewhere. And I do know where we’re going.” She wouldn’t quite meet my eyes. “I have a map.” Her skin flickered a bit as she pulled out a small bit of parchment.
