Dark Snow

Chapter 5: Coincidence

Lucas held a hand to his head, an insatiable ache pulsing through his temples. Every morning on the road seemed to start this way. He'd almost forgotten what a real bed felt like until that last night in Blueriver — warm, secure. Despite the dust that had triggered his allergies, it was something he'd have gladly made a part of his everyday life.

Beside him, Summer stirred, the minutes ticking by slowly as he drifted between sleep and waking. Eventually, the horse nudged him with her head. "Hm?" he mumbled, barely registering it before slipping back into a light daze. But then, a second nudge — this time, a human finger.

It barely registered... until it did. His eyes snapped open, landing on the familiar face of Mia, staring down at him with a deadpan expression, arms crossed, and cheeks flushed red. Above, the first light of dawn painted the sky. Her hair dangled downward like silk. In Blueriver, she'd always seemed like part of the backdrop. Here, with early rays framing her silhouette, she looked somehow... different.

"Mia... what the f—uh..." Lucas's mouth dropped open as she pressed her boot lightly into his stomach.

"Followed you," she said, tilting her head, eyes half-closed.

"Stumbling around in the dark?"

She opened her mouth, hesitated, then gave a quick nod, saying nothing more.

"Dammit... Mia. Didn't you hear your father—I... I have to take you back."

"He said I could go..." she replied with an innocent smile.

Lucas blinked, then sighed, leaning back. "You expect me to believe that?"

How was she so unfazed? As if the cold or danger meant nothing at all.

Mia removed her boot from his stomach, planting it firmly beside him, and ignored his question altogether, dismissing it as either rhetorical or irrelevant. "Hey," she murmured, kneeling to scratch behind Summer's ear. The horse responded with a soft nuzzle against her head. "Has he been working you to death?"

"No," Lucas muttered, watching her warily. "It's a day's trip back on horseback..." he thought aloud, "If we move quickly—"

I got here only a little after him, she thought, barely listening to his reasoning. Must be an idiot.

Mia tuned back in as Lucas finished, "...but he might not even be in Chepstow by then...ugh." He groaned, and for the first time, she saw a different side of him — one less guarded, openly frustrated. Didn't take much, she thought with quiet amusement.

Still crouched, she shuffled a little closer, studying him as he sat up from his makeshift bed. "Guess you'll have to take me," she replied softly.

"And do what? You don't know how to—"

"I'm not a child," she reiterated from before. "I can figure things out."

Her tone struck him, a little sharper than he'd expected, as if she'd long outgrown the life, he assumed she led, "It's not that I don't believe you..." He didn't, "...but saying something is one thing. Doing it is..."

"Lucas," Mia interrupted, her voice steady. "Once you take me to Chepstow, you won't have to worry anymore. I'll be fine on my own." It was the longest sentence he'd ever heard her speak

"What do you want out of all this?"

Her eyes narrowed, yet she quickly wiped the expression, "I want to feel what my mother had. What my uncle had. They left for a reason, and I want that same freedom. Life beyond the village with a life I never see here..."

"That life... it's only worth the freedom if you have someone else. My life's been miserable without my brother, Mia." He paused, backtracking slightly. "And besides... I'm just some fucking stranger—sorry," he added, catching himself for the curse, as if she weren't already an adult.