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"Thank you," he said and mounted his horse. The saddle was comfortable, and he looked to the side to see Hayden looking at him. He tipped his hat to the other man, whose face tightened, but he still nodded. Austin felt a pickle of rage travel up his back and to his chest, but he shook it off. It didn't matter now.
There were seven other riders on the track, and they all stared at the track with determined faces and tight expressions. The whistle blew, and they kicked off. Austin drew in breath and kicked his horse into motion after the others, his heart light.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Lenanee sat on one of the chairs, sketching Hayden on a horse and the way his back leaned slightly forward. She couldn't stop worrying about him, couldn't let her mind rest. She stopped sketching and started tapping the butt of the pencil against the paper, occasionally looking into the distance.
"Something on your mind?" Ike asked, and she looked at him with wide eyes. The man's ability to creep up on people was uncanny.
"I didn't think you were still around," she said, and he nodded, then sat down beside her, and blew breath through puffed cheeks.
"My son might be determine to put himself in a very tight situation, but that doesn't mean that I won't be around to make sure that he is safe," he said.
"Yeah, I don't know the obsession with this. I don't understand it, but then again, this is something he wants to do, and we are going to be here and support him to the best of our ability," she said.
"I think I understand why he wants to pit himself against Austin. He has always been feeling that they are better than him, stronger than him, more durable and stuff and because he had an easier life and that…he feels like he hasn't earned any of this," he said. There was something of sorrow on his face.
"I didn't want him to have to work the way I did, to suffer and scrape. I wanted him to…" he stopped and shrugged.
"He never had the chance to prove himself, and I think that's what he is doing now. All of that was aggravated by him realizing he was unable to stop Austin, and I guess this is his way of proving to himself that he is just as tough as Austin," Lenanee said.
"He doesn't have to do that," Ike replied.
"Maybe in your opinion. He is already attempting it," she said.
†
The first few hours were intense. The horse ate the miles beneath its feet, the strength surging even through Hayden as he rode across the landscape. He gets the eagerness in him, the wildness that propelled him, and he gritted his teeth, his eyes set in the distance until he came to the first landmark and the white piece of cloth there. He dismounted and watered his horse, then took the cloth and started looking around. He was in the wilderness now, and he had to find more water and the goat that he was supposed to catch as well and take the tag from it.
He looked back to see the cloud of dust in the distance, and he knew who it was, but he couldn't just start galloping away. He didn't want it to seem like he was running. Hayden waited until the man rode up to him in his ridiculous hat, then he leaped offhis horse in an almost to smooth motion then pulled the cloth off his own stick.
"You came here before me. That's great. Have you found the well yet? How about your own goat?" He asked with a smile on his face. Hayden didn't say anything. He simply mounted his horse and started galloping away. He knew that Austin was looking at him, but he didn't look back. He didn't care.
Austin watched the man riding away then he sighed deeply and patted his own horse on the neck. Hayden would ignore the water and keep going, and that was about the most foolish thing he had ever seen. Thirst would come, and his pride would no longer matter. He mounted his own horse and started wandering casually, looking for trails. He would find that giant, and he would rope it. There was no packed food, and he knew he needed to keep his strength up.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Austin woke when the sky was still a light blue, and he stood there looking at Hayden. A part of him still disliked the young man and resented him, but everything he had told him the night before was the truth. He had been worried that it would be difficult to win before he got in here, but now it was clear to him that he would definitely win this, very easily. He crouched then tapped the man's leg and he woke.
"I think that we should go," he said quietly. He hated what he was about to do, but the truth was that he had to do it. He had settled this matter at least, but the next matter might make Hayden hate him for life, but that didn't matter. Nothing mattered at this time.
"So…what now?" Hayden asked as they stood there. Austin shrugged.
"What do you want? I mean, we could return to being rivals or we could do this thing until we get to the end and race like hell for it and while you're at it, remember that we aren't the only ones in this competition. The guy I pointed out to you is already on his way. About a ten-minute head start and I don't think that I'm comfortable with that," he said.
Hayden said nothing as he saddled his horse and mounted. The sun soon rose, baking the earth in its slow heat. They had already galloped for most of the morning and covered a lot of ground. Austin saw the man riding before them, and he looked at Hayden then he winked. He saw the man's eyes glint in the way they used to when he was a boy, and they kicked their horses until a gallop. They both flattened themselves until it seemed like they were lying down in the saddle, eyes narrowed, everything blurring except the horse beneath him and the man before him.
The rider in front of them turned around and saw them. His eyes went wide, and he started going faster, but it was useless. They spread behind him and started gaining on him, one stride at a time. The man's mouth was moving, and he was saying something that was lost to the wind. They passed him easily as they rode and to Austin, it felt like he was flying, thinking of the times when he was a boy, the time he rode with his brothers. He looked at Hayden, and a smirk crossed his face, but it was quickly lost. He liked the man, and that was what he didn't like.
†
"You love your woman?" Austin asked Hayden as they stood by the fire they had made. Hayden was toying with his flag.
"What sort of question is that? I love her very much," he said.
"How does it feel being with her? What does being in love feel like?" Austin asked. Hayden thought about it for a while, thinking of the words he would use.
"It is…it is the most beautiful thing. You know that feeling you get when you ride through an afternoon and stop at a hill and stare out at the evening sun and the valley beneath you? Imagine that feeling was multiplied a hundred times, and it never went away, just stayed with you," he said.
