Flying For Freedom

Chapter Seventeen (Caught Red-Handed)

The pegasi are easy to follow. We can hear every word they say and every thing they do.

"Do they have no sense of survival? We can hear all their secrets. We know that Stormbreaker is leading them to the Caves. Something dangerous must be lurking inside." I say it incredulously and scornfully.

"And Morningdew too." Bluescold sounds hopeful.

"Yes. This is where we find everything. We can expose his plan for all the world to see."

"To who? We need to be careful. Stormbreaker mustn't see us."

"Then what's the point of following them?"

"If Stormbreaker causes a problem, we can stop him."

"We have to be careful, though. He is very powerful."

"Very, very powerful."

"We'll be ready for him."

"Of course we will."

Behind a boulder, Firefly jumps out. I jump a foot in the air.

"There you are. I've been waiting for fifteen minutes. How do you track us from so far away?" I answer gladly.

"Your group is so loud, we can hear them from miles away, and they don't leave no trace either. They are very easy to follow."

"I'm afraid much of that is because of me."

"Well thank you. We don't know the way to the Caves."

"I suspected you would follow us. I didn't warn the others because I was curious. Now you better explain."

"We don't trust one of the pegasi in your group."

"Really! Who do you not trust?" I look at the other two. They nod, telling me that I should say who.

"We suspected that Stormbreaker could have bad intentions for your group, so we followed him."

"Stormbreaker. Are you serious?"

"Yes. Also, I have a right to be here. It is my mother who is missing."

"Then why didn't you just join the group?" Bluescold rolls her eyes again.

"My father wouldn't let us go, she said sourly. She has to trust her father. We don't need more problems within the group. "He said that he couldn't lose another pegasus that was close to him."

"Maybe you should have listened."

"Probably," Pridestone says.

"Do you really think that Stormbreaker would do anything wrong? He seems so nice."

"Definitely." Bluescold sounds mad, but at least it's not targeted at her father.

"We've had some problems with him in the past. There are reasons for us not to trust him."

"What reasons?"

"It would take too long for us to explain it to you. Think about it though, and you might find a few suspicious moments."

"It doesn't make sense. I believe you though. I don't think he's as bad as you thought, but I'll keep an eye out."

"Just don't trust him. Now go before someone gets suspicious." Firefly leaves, looking like her namesake.

We follow the pegasi another day.

"How far away are the Caves?"

"We seem to be moving in a zigzag pattern. I believe that they are less than a day's walk away, but Stormbreaker needs it to seem like they're actually searching. He probably wants to make sure anyone with knowledge of the Caves doesn't know where they're going."

"Who would have knowledge of the Caves?"

"The elders."

"We need to figure out what's in the Caves."

"We can't unless someone tells us where they are."

"No one will do that willingly, but maybe we can find out tonight, while everyone is sleeping."

"What would we find?"

"We could find everything. Written directions and even a map with all of the information we need."

"What are you waiting for? Let's go."

We go to the group of sleeping pegasi. No matter how hard we look, there is no map.

"Of course there's no map." That stirs a question in my mind.

"How would Stormbreaker have gotten a map, or instructions on where this place is? I thought that even the elders might not know about it."

"You're right, let's look around where he's sleeping. He might have a map or something."

"There's only one problem with that. Stormbreaker isn't here."