Hawkridge

Chapter 6

Never on any of his trips to Longbranch had Colt noticed how similar each of the Grishing buildings were, in particular those in the residential area. One or two houses had paint and seemed to glow with color against a drab wooden background. Most folks lived over or behind their businesses on the South and Western sides of town, and those that didn't were more like to be over in those parts anyhow working during the day, especially with all the excitement Old Man Alder had stirred up. Even so, Colt didn't feel right going into folk's homes without their permission.

"You're going to have to overcome some of these ridiculous hang ups," Aephyr said from behind him on Skidmark's back. "You're not going to steal any of their possessions and they'd never know you'd been there."

"Not the point," Colt said over his shoulder. "You don't go breaking into a man's house. Ain't right."

"You wouldn't break anything either," Aephyr replied. "And what about a woman's house?"

Colt shook his head. "The things you say. I'm half convinced you're just some part of my mind gone crazy."

"You haven't had enough adventure yet to justify insanity," Aephyr replied haughtily. "Don't try to use it as an excuse."

"No, your honor," Colt said, taking on an overly formal tone. "I ain't crazy. It's just this here talkin' sword telling me to break into folks' homes while they're off working. I'm sure that'd go over well."

She gave his shoulder a shove and slid from the drake's back to land gracefully on her feet. "If you won't, then I will."

"No one sees you anyhow," Colt said to her departing form. She hopped through an open window into the nearest house. "Hey wait a minute, why you want me to go in there if you can and not be caught?"

He thought he heard her giggling from inside the house but it could've just been the wind. As he sat waiting, Colt found himself twisting and turning in his saddle, jerking round to face every little noise. He wasn't exactly inconspicuous sitting atop Skidmark in the middle of the road. It was an effort to remind himself that technically he was doing nothing wrong, or at least not illegal. Old Man Alder might have some words to say about him not staying with the drakes like he'd been told, and Sheriff Maer sure as Grish wouldn't be pleased to know what he were up to. Either of them found him over here things were bound to get messy. Anybody else though, they had no reason to be suspicious, or at least that's what he told himself every other pounding heartbeat.

He grit his teeth and made himself sit still. During his excursion in the caves he hadn't been half this twitchy, nor when the runts had attacked him in the field. Not even when he'd fought the cave goblins, though just thinking of that encounter was enough to make him ache with phantom fatigue. What was it about maybe breaking the rules that had him so rotting twitchy?

Aephyr leapt out a side window, waved to him, and clambered into the next house. A gentle kick to Skidmark's side had the drake ambling forward several lazy strides to pull up even with the house. A few moments later they repeated the process, and all the while Colt felt like worms were crawling up and down his back as he waited for someone to step out of a doorway and accuse him of something. What they might accuse him of, he didn't know. Loitering, maybe?

The feeling never really went away as they went through the fourth house. It was like a smell a body had to get used to. Sort of becoming a part of the scenery instead of a constant disturbing sensation that made him want to shiver.

"Colt!" Aephyr cried, leaping from a window near the rear of one of the houses. "Colt hurry!"

She ran away from him, down the space between the houses until she reached the back. There she came to an abrupt halt and spun around, hands on her hips, tapping one foot. "Will you hurry?"