Corvus (Stars and Sails, Book 1)

Forty-nine (Part 1 of 2)

Nova took a step back as Amelia Rose settled onto her back. She wrapped her arms around Aiden. Holden hopped up onto his grey horse. He tapped his heels and steered the horse around the gardens.

Aiden urged Nova forward. "Holden, what kind of bushes are these?" he asked, as he guided Nova through the green plants. With a yank, he pulled her to a stop. The thick bush scraped against Amelia Rose's legs. She grimaced. They weren't completely healed yet. But she felt calmer at a strange smell that was oddly familiar yet so very distant. She studied the little yellow flowers and the white pom-poms that lined the sturdy stems.

At the crunching of branches, Holden pulled the reins and tugged his horse around. "Don't let your horse step on my creosote bush! You ass!" His face turned red. "I had to ride all the way out to Nooseneck Valley just to collect these."

"Oh, you see, I thought these were an invasive species." Aiden patted Nova on the neck and guided her along, not without stomping on a couple more plants in the bed.

"Invasive..." he muttered and continued on his way.

"Mr. Holden," Amelia Rose called. "You seem to have been gardening a bit while I was away."

He took a deep breath. "I do enjoy gardening. That creosote bush smells like rain, doesn't it? I find it to be quite sought after, at least by me," he said. For a moment, she swore there was a brightness to his voice, a little bit of passion that she'd never heard him have for anything else. "But what I enjoy most is not seeing my plants stomped upon."

"Nova is a bit ardent, I ought to have warned you," Aiden said. "And she has a taste for tomatoes—her owner has a bit of—well, an obsession maybe, but he's not one for labels—"

"I'd like to continue the ride in silence," Holden said.

So, they trudged together along the outskirts. Amelia Rose held herself close to Aiden even though they weren't going much faster than a trot. She couldn't help but think about her mother. What Holden had said stuck with her. Apparently, she didn't know much at all. Something must have happened after her parents married. Or at least, that's how Mr. Holden had made it sound.

They neared the coast and Holden pulled his horse to a stop. "God bless it, what is that?" Out in the bay, the Alphard was still sailing. It was listing to the side, but it must have had supports to stop it from sinking.

"I don't see the Coronis," Amelia Rose said.

"Let's hope that's a good thing."

"Is that a pirate ship?" Mr. Holden asked.

"They, uh, they don't bite. Missing a Captain," Aiden replied, but he still pushed Nova back to a trot. She snorted and flicked her dark tail. Aiden didn't seem very convinced. There was tingling to Amelia Rose's fingers, like restlessness. She pressed them into Aiden's stomach, but they still felt a little numb. the Alphard should've sunk. She thought it was all over, and maybe it was, but with it out there in the bay with the Coronis, she couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"Let's just go," She shouted, pushing her heels into Nova's side. The bay horse jolted forward, faster into a gallop. With her arms wrapped tight around Aiden, Amelia Rose turned her head. Mr. Holden wasn't that far behind. His dark horse was fast and well-built.

They traveled along the coast, passing the Devil's Frying Pan, passing the old claim, the cove where Tanner died, and up, up, up until they reached the Lighthouse. Sweat ran down Nova's bare sides, thick and hot. Before she let Aiden and Amelia Rose down, she wandered over to a patch of grasses for a snack.

Mr. Holden dismounted his horse, who was all tacked up, fitted with a saddle and a traditional desert blanket. He hitched his horse near the grasses.