Jenn let go of Rupert’s hand, and he backed quickly away. Jenn started murmuring and calming, trying to relax the horse. It took just a few minutes, and Timber Leaf was standing fairly calmly again. Jenn turned to the boy, a grimace of frustration on her face. “Well, Rupert, I guess you knew what you were talking about. So what do we do now?”
Rupert shrugged, happy to be relieved of having to ride. “I guess I’ll walk, you ride. “We’ll just have a spare horse.”
“Great, we’ll never get to Freehold.” Jenn said, “I guess we’ll just have to walk the horses. If you’re going on foot then I guess I can too, for now.” Rupert, just bowed his head looking guilty, but not unhappy.
“Well, let’s go then.” She still had Timber Leaf’s reins, so she loosely tied them to a rope, which she then attached to her horse’s saddle. Jenn then set off down the road leading her horse, followed by Timber Leaf, then Rupert, and the demon hovering behind.
They followed the trail onward and upward, once again following the mountainside. The day wore on slowly, their pace hampered by Rupert’s slow walking pace. Actually Jenn was quite impressed, an hour later Rupert still hadn’t complained, and for all that they were slowed by their going on foot, they were still moving at a considerable pace. For his part Rupert marched steadily onward, quite content with walking and the way things were. Jenn’s own feet were beginning to hurt.
Eventually, however, the pace began to show on them. Jenn gave in and mounted her horse. Rupert was beginning to look a bit tired, despite a few stops, but he still refused to try and mount Timber Leaf. After another two hours he was beginning to slow down. Jenn really didn’t want to stop yet, even though it was only about an hour and a half till sunset. For one thing, they were on a narrow mountain trail with no place to stop for the night. Further she wasn’t sure what to do about camping. She really didn’t feel safe with the demon watching her while she slept. She’d be extremely vulnerable to his attack. However, Rupert really couldn’t go much further. “Rupert,” she called back to him.
“Yes?”
“You want to try riding again?”
“No Jenn. Nothing’s changed. If you want to continue, I can keep walking.” Even though Rupert sounded sure of it, Jenn didn’t believe it, he was slowing down, and looking exhausted. No wonder, he’d been through a big day and then a three hour march. She didn’t know how he was managing it. She knew they’d have to stop as soon as a suitable spot was found, unfortunately that didn’t look like it would be for a while. She just wanted to get to Freehold as fast as possible, and definitely didn’t want to camp with the demon. Not that she’d be able to avoid it. What with at least eight more days journey.
While Jenn’s attention was directed towards looking for a camping spot up ahead, Tom came down near Rupert and whispered in his ear.
“Rupert,” he said softly, trying not to attract too much of Jenn’s attention.
“What sir?”
“Would you like me to carry you?”
“I can manage,” Rupert said, although he seemed relieved at the offer.
“I’m sure you can, it’s just that it wouldn’t be any bother for me, and I think your friend wants to continue for some time. And when we do stop, I’m sure she’ll want you to take turns watching me, so I don’t kill you all. Therefore, I think it would be smart if you got some rest while you can.”
Rupert smiled at Tom’s little joke. At least someone wasn’t frightened of everything he did. “Well, O.K. I guess.” Rupert turned around to face Tom. Tom, hovering a foot off the ground, reached down and carefully picked the boy up.
“Put your arms around my neck, and rest your head on my shoulder. I think that will be most comfortable for you.” The boy did as he was instructed. Even though Rupert was good size for his age, he still was no larger than a toddler compared to Tom’s giant size.
Jenn turned when she noticed them stopping, and gasped as she saw what was happening. “What are you doing!” she screamed. “Goddess above, put that boy down you foul beast!” She stopped her horse and would have turned it around if she could.
“Relax! I’m not going to bite his head off. If I’d wanted to, I could have done it any time, and you wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it,” Tom said to her.
“I don’t care! I don’t trust you. If you so much as harm a hair on that boy...” Jenn threatened.
“You’ll what?” Tom asked tiredly. “The boy is tired, there’s no place to stop, we have to go on. I offered him a ride; he accepted. It’s the best solution. Further, I am sorry but there isn’t anything you can do about it. So live with it. You already have my word that I’ll protect the boy.”
“Jenn,” Rupert said with his back to Jenn, resting his head on Tom’s shoulder, “don’t worry. I trust him.”
Jenn glared at the demon, then at the boy’s back. She turned around angrily on her seat, but said nothing. Tom put his left arm across the back of Rupert’s thighs and his right hand rested on his back, to hold him like any small child.
