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Borgaz didn’t wait for an answer before signing off.
“Is he coming to help?” Tommy whispered.
“Yes, son. Don’t worry. We’ll find her.”
They both looked up as Naffon strode in.
“The mare’s gone, along with the blue saddle.”
At least they knew she was on horseback, although that meant she could be anywhere in a wide radius.
“Could she have gone to visit Harkan and Rosie?” Naffon suggested.
Ida had never mentioned Rosie, but it was a possibility, and he allowed himself to hope as he quickly tried to contact Harkan. There was no response.
“That’s odd. They haven’t been going very far since Rosie is so close to her due date.”
“Maybe they went on a picnic too,” Tommy suggested, his voice trembling.
“Maybe they did. We’ll keep trying to contact him. In the meantime, we should set up a search grid.”
Naffon nodded grimly and went to spread a map of their land over the dining room table. Another pang of guilt hit him at the gleaming surface and the faint scent of citrus oil. She’d done so much to make the house comfortable and he’d done too little to acknowledge it.
Which is going to change the moment she returns.
He refused to admit there was any other possibility.
“Perhaps she went into town,” Kalpar suggested as they bent over the map.
Tommy’s face turned dead white.
“The creek,” he whispered, and Temel gave him a reassuring hug.
“It’s safely within its banks.” He looked over at Dora. “Does she have any friends in town? Anyone she might decide to visit?”
She hadn’t mentioned anyone to him, but they hadn’t spent much time talking about Wainwright.
Dora slowly shook her head.
“We haven’t really seen much of anyone for the past year. But maybe she went shopping?”
“Contact the shopkeeper,” he ordered Naffon. “But try not to raise the alarm just yet.”
Tommy whimpered and he hugged him again.
“Artek would send help,” Kalpar suggested. “And Drakkar can cover a lot of territory from the air.”
“See if he’s available.”
Kalpar nodded and followed Naffon back across the hall.
“I should have stayed in the house and talked to Mama.” Dora’s voice was low and sorrowful. “But I couldn’t face it, and I went out instead. If I’d stayed, she might still be here.”
“It is foolish to dwell on what might have happened,” he said firmly. “I might have stayed as well, but I did not.”
Kalpar returned.
“Drakkar is already headed this way, but it’s because Rosie is in labor. Artek left a message for him to come and see us once the baby is born.”
