The Fire Within

Chapter 7

Night settles over the land once again. After the storms of the past two nights, this night is clear and the light of the moon illuminates the forest around them. The stars in the sky flicker and dance and the waning moon hovers like a beacon to all who dare travel by its light.

They trudge silently through the darkness, neither of them dares speak for fear that the conversation from the morning will come back and neither of them is ready for another such conversation. He told her she was strong and that he admired her for her strength and courage, but he also told her that she was reckless and shouldn’t take risks the way she does. The thing is, part of her agrees. She’s never looked at what she does as reckless until she met him, but something about him makes her feel like she should be more careful.

She continues to think about his words and why they have the effect on her that they have. It’s nothing that she hasn’t heard from Ezekiel before. He’s always practically begging her to stop taking risks and to stop the charade, to return to Bethesda with Mary and wait out the war in safety. But she doesn’t do it, she just snickers at him like he’s being ridiculous. But when Zachariah says the same things, she suddenly feels herself listening to him and wanting nothing more than to do what she can to appease him. No matter how much she wants to assuage his fears, she can’t. She has to see this through, for her personal sanity.

They continue forward and when they emerge from the forest, they both urge their steeds to let loose. The gait they take is quick, and the feel of the horses’ muscles under their riders says that they desperately need to be able to let loose. Both Zachariah and Grace feel their horses’ need and without a word urge the horses into a full gallop. The speed of the massive steeds is unmatched by any other horse that either has ever seen. The two horses fly over the land together, moving as one unit even though they are unattached. It’s like the two horses belong together, taking energy from one another, feed off of the other’s power and drive. Almost as though one is incomplete without the other.

Zachariah has never felt this force with Bronte before. The power the steed produces now is amazing and somewhat intimidating. He looks to the soldier next to him. She’s as one with the horse, moving with him like she is a part of him, an extension of his body and power. She looks free flying across the land on the majestic stallion. It seems as though on her horse, she could go fast enough to escape her past, her fears, and everything that drives her to be careless with her life.

***

Ezekiel sits mounted on his mare atop of the hillside that lies just above the Union encampment, pacing and searching for any sign of the riders that set out four days ago. If they accomplished their task without incident, they should have returned by now. Even with rest and the rough terrain, they should be back by now. Hell, he expected them back yesterday. The other officers don’t seem concerned, but they don’t have ties to these two people. She is his family, and Zachariah is his friend, the only real one he has beyond Mary and Grace.

One of the soldiers rides up the hill toward him looking grim and sorrowful. “Any sign of them, soldier?” Ezekiel asks.

“Nothing sir. If they are coming in from the direction that we anticipate, they should have passed Jenkin’s Mill, and there’s no sign of them there.”

Where could they be? Ezekiel wonders while rubbing his face in worry and frustration. They received word that Isaiah moved in from the east and was moving toward the Rebel regulars. What if he caught up with them along the way, what if he found her? He would kill her on sight for all of her interference in his plans of the past months.