Valiant Valerie (the Ballad of Valerie of Mor Book 1)

Chapter Fifteen

"Valerie, what are you doing?" Jonathan called back.

"She doesn't want to go," Valerie said.

"What do you mean, she doesn't want to go?" He turned Perry around and stopped to look at her.

Valerie's filly was walking as slow as it seemed possible. Which only served to make Valerie's foul mood even fouler.

"As in she doesn't want to move faster than this." Valerie held her arms out.

"Maybe if you weren't so crotchety, she'd be in a better mood," Jonathan said.

"Maybe if you weren't so happy-go-lucky, I'd be in a better mood."

"What in blazes does that mean?"

"Just shut up."

"Are you going to name her?"

"I'll get around to it," she snapped.

"Valerie, we'll find the wizard. Old Man Peterson only said it was the next lot of mountain ranges," Jonathan said. Valerie's horse had finally made it to Perry's side. They nuzzled one another.

Valerie scoffed. "You'd think if she liked him so much, she'd want to walk near him."

Jonathan rolled his eyes and Valerie scowled at him.

"Stop giving her such a hard time, Val," Jonathan said as Perry moved off again. "She seemed fine last week."

Valerie wanted to tell him that last week she had not been wandering around with images of him and Fina remnant from her dreams. The night before, she had dreamt of them hugging and laughing. Dream-Fina had seemed quite happy to ignore Valerie no matter how nice she had been. It had made her grumpy since she woke, not helped by the fact they were still halfway through their trek to the valley at the base of both mountains.

"I don't know what's wrong with you today, Val. But it'd be nice if you sorted yourself out before we get to the next town."

"Why? I could just be a really grumpy trader," she said, under her breath.

"I heard that."

She grumbled some more, not helped by the fact that her horse slowed down again.

"Just find her a name. I'm sure she'll feel better then," Jonathan said.

"Why couldn't Mr Peterson name her?"

"Stop whining and looking for the easy road out."

"If I chose the easy road, I would never have left home in the first place!"

Jonathan nodded. "I suppose so, yes. So naming your horse should not be too much of a challenge, then." He whistled merrily and said no more.

Valerie spent the rest of the day wondering what to call her. She had spent the last week calling her 'you' and 'girl' and 'horse'. She supposed if someone did the same with her for over a week, she would be pretty contrary too.

She patted the horse's neck. "I'll find you a name soon," she said softly.

The horse whinnied in response and her pace seemed to pick up. Soon, Valerie and her horse were trotting along pleasantly beside Jonathan and Perry. And thankfully, they stayed that way until they stopped for the night.

The stopped in a small glade. Trees covered the distance between them and the road, but they were not too far away that they would not hear people passing, nor too close that Jonathan could not position their fire out of sight of any passers-by.

The night before, Jonathan had finally agreed to let her help put their shelter up. Valerie was looking forward to helping again, finally feeling useful again. She started to untie the bag the shelter went in but Jonathan shook his head.