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The other three took out their swords, and I turned so I didn’t have to watch them handle the biting things. I wasn’t bleeding, so he hadn’t broken the seal of my skin, but it burned.
“How bad will what be?” I wrapped my legs around Freddie and held on for dear life. I didn’t want those things getting the chance to bite me again. Yuck. And ouch.
I pointed down at my leg. “He bit me. Or it bit me. I don’t know what gender that thing was. Am I going to die?”
“No.” He walked us over toward a tree. “There’s no lasting issue, it just kind of hurts. Did it break the skin? Usually, they don’t. They’re pesky little monsters. Why did they want you, though? I’ve never seen them try to carry someone away before.”
Great, something else new, my least favorite thing. “I don’t know. Do they just want women?”
“They never went after Sadie like that.” He sighed. “We’ll have to find out if they do that with other wives. Maybe they like blondes.”
Fabulous. Just my luck. Freddie sighed and held me closer. “I’m not a nice person, but I’ll do better. Don’t hate me, Sloane. I like you a lot. And that’s not me trying to be manipulative, before you put up your guard. I honestly think you’re pretty cool. I would be upset if the red-hatted creatures took you away.”
I hated the thought and shuddered at the possibility. Would they have just dragged me by my arms, biting me the whole time, until we arrived wherever they wanted to take me? I shuddered again, and he stroked my back.
“Next time, stomp on them, hard. Like, right on the head. I’ve squished some of them like that.”
I could handle all manner of wounds and disgusting things, but somehow, the thought of stomping on that thing filled me with disgust so intense, I feared I might puke from it. I buried my face in his shoulder. “Tell me when it’s over.”
“It’s over.” He kissed my cheek. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you. I like you right here. I could kiss your cheek until you forgive me and then tell you it was over.”
I laughed, lifting my head. “My cheek might get tired.”
“Of my kisses? I don’t think so. Not possible.”
A crunchy noise caught my attention in time to see Charlie stomp on a final red-hat thing. “One got away.” He shrugged, smiling at me. “Let’s get back on the horses and go home.”
Home? It wasn’t my home. I wasn’t sure how it could ever feel like mine, especially if I just stayed there for small visits between road trips to stomp red- hatted creatures and worse.
“Ride with me?” Freddie carried me toward his horse as though I’d already said yes. “Oliver can handle your horse.”
I might be slightly pathetic, because I nodded as though he’d really asked. I wouldn’t mind a little bit of a cuddle, of pressing into Freddie’s back. Maybe I was more needy than I realized. My ankle burned. Hopefully it would stop soon. Would it leave a permanent mark?
Did it matter? What did the marks that we carry mean to any of us anyway? Is there anyone who doesn’t have something going on?
He didn’t put me behind him but situated me in front of him, as Truett had done once. He grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around me. “Don’t be scared. You’re going to be okay with all of this eventually, I promise.”
I would hold him to that promise. “I can never predict what throws me into a spin. The mothman didn’t, but those things? Ugh.”
“Well, they grabbed you. The mothman didn’t grab you. Also, you got bit.” He positioned me against him. “Lean back. I’ve got you. I don’t always have to ride in the back. You like speed, and I saw that with Truett, so hold on. We’re going to have some fun.”
He took off, his horse reaching a full gallop quickly, and he was right, I did love how it felt. Wind rushed past us, tangling in my hair, as the muscles of the horse bunched beneath us with powerful force. I craved the speed, and if Freddie wanted to give it to me, I wouldn’t complain. After about a half hour of breakneck speed, I laughed aloud.
It was incredible to feel so light, so alive and without any worries, if only for a moment. It was as though I was absolutely sure nothing could get us when we were going that fast.
My first glimpse of their home was several hours later. Freddie slowed down the horse when we got toward the top of the hill. Below us, I saw a manor like I never imagined could exist. It was beautiful. My childhood home likely would be called more of a large cottage. Although we never lacked for space, my home wasn’t anything like the house in front of us.
“Wow,” I said aloud, and Freddie squeezed my waist.
“I know. When I first saw the house, it stole my breath. I couldn’t believe we got to live there. I thought they might tell me I would have to clean it or something, which I gladly would’ve done, just to be inside. It never ceases to make me amazed when we come home.” He paused, and we both stared at the house. “What’s even weirder is that, in there, they call me sir, and they even act like they mean it.”
At a slow, lumbering pace, the horse brought us toward the manor. Large, brown, with white windows, it seemed even bigger than Judge’s house had been in Hawkseye.
“Where are you from? Near here?” I knew so little about them.
He took a second to answer. “No, several hours south of here. You would have to go through Hawkseye and keep going. I’d never traveled even as far north as Hawkeye when I tried out for this job, then it changed my life.”
“Was it much warmer, where you lived before?” I always heard, the further south someone lived in the kingdom, the warmer their environment.
