Resist

20

Tucker was the one who had caught one of the runaway horses and he had tied it to a tree further down the path. After exploring the contents of the wagon, he went to retrieve it.

"We pull the wagon back to the edge of the city but from there the goods have to be taken by hand; a horse and wagon in the city not occupied by guards would throw up red flags bigger than the queen's ballroom."

I nodded my understanding to Tucker. I knew from the briefing I had received before we left that we wouldn't be returning to the hotel tonight, it was too long a trip to make in one day, and we would be camping out in the woods.

Travel down the path was paced, the horse struggling slightly due to his original companion no longer here to help bear the weight. Jack and Brody took some goods from the wagon and carried them, relieving the horse of some strain. I carried a sack of grain for a few miles, the rough bag thrown over my shoulder and resting in the crook of my shoulder and wing joint.

Sooner than I would have thought, the sun touched the horizon. As the shadows lengthened and the light became auburn, I could tell Jack and Tucker were scoping out a place to camp.

"Our usual spot got ruined by a fallen tree about a month ago," Will told me. I hadn't been aware that they had a "usual spot" but that would explain why they seemed to be searching deeply for a place to camp.

"These woods are dense, it's going to be hard to find clear ground," I noted. Will nodded his agreement.

It took probably half an hour more before we found a clearing. Brody wandered off path despite Tucker's hesitations of getting out of one another's view, and and found the small space. We immediately hefted the packs from our backs and plopped down, tired from the eventful day. The wagon had not been able to come with us through the trees but we had brought the horse along into the woods so anyone trying to steal the supplies would have a lot of trouble. Jack had also been smart enough to bring some spare pieces of metal ("borrowed from Tom's forge" as he put it) to tie to the crates and bags. If anyone tried to walk off with one, the metal pieces would bump one another, making a cacophony of noise and alerting us to their presence.

"Who even thinks to bring scrap metal along," I mumbled to myself in indignation as I unrolled my blanket. It would be an uncomfortable and rather cold night since sleeping on the ground was the opposite of both. At least I'd have a bed again tomorrow.

Someone began setting up their things beside me and I glanced subconsciously to see who it was. My stomach did a nasty flip when Jack caught me looking. My eyes snapped back to my own blanket and smoothed out a wrinkle nervously. For a moment I debated moving my things but that would be childish and I didn't want to stoop to that. Plus, I somehow had the feeling he'd just follow me wherever I chose to sleep. So, rather grumpily, I tossed my pack to the head of the blanket to be a pillow and turned away from him, surveying everyone else as they settled in.

James was working on a fire, expertly setting up kindle beneath a tepee of branches he had been collecting as we walked. "How big do you think?" James asked, turning to Tucker who was digging in his pack next to the black winged boy.

"We're pretty far from London still, I'd say we can do whatever once it's dark. Smoke won't be visible and we're far enough from the path for the flames to be all but a glow."

"What happens if someone does see the fire?" I asked, walking closer to join the conversation.

"Well we know The X schedule, no other wagons will be coming into town until tomorrow afternoon, so anyone passing should be harmless." Tucker sounded more confident than I felt about this situation. But considering the chill that had already crept into my bones with the setting sun, I didn't want to argue a fire.