Winters' 3 Dears- The 12: Book Three

34. All the Pretty Flowers

A startled deer raised its head and pranced off through the meadow. The slightest breeze sent chills through Ladybird's bones as she stood bundled up next to her horse. Their breaths escaped from their mouths in phantasmal plumes before vanishing in the cold air.

"Looks like this is the end of the warm weather," Napoleon said as he packed his newly acquired horse. Ladybird wasn't sure how they would manage feeding four horses on the journey to wherever it was they were going.

"I do miss summer," Ladybird said. "Oh glorious summer! Before moving to Massachusetts I didn't know what cold weather really was."

Napoleon checked his horses' load and tack then looked at Ladybird. He wanted to laugh. She looked like a ptarmigan all bundled up like that. He looked across their camp and found her sister gathering some sort of plant while the wolf poked his nose around her.

"I can't thank you enough for helping us," Ladybird said, getting his attention. "After all you have lost you owe nothing to the world. Except maybe to be a good person."

A good person? The words sank into Napoleon like an arrow. A good person. He had spent most of the year to this point stealing. There was a reason they called him Robin Hood. He thought taking from the rich and giving to the poor made him a good enough person but good enough and good were still different things.

"Ting Ting would agree with you," he finally said. "I wish you could have met her. I wish everyone could have met her."

"It sounds I missed out on something grand," Ladybird said. "I pity the loss." Placing a hand on his shoulder their eyes met. "But you knew her, sir and you knew her well. That's a blessing." She nodded to Lazarus who was fighting to keep Sacha from jumping up on him. "And you have a companion sticking closer than a brother. That too is a blessing."

Napoleon took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He looked up at the gray dismal sky, going on forever. To have had was better than to have never had.

"You were loved by two wonderful people, sincerely. Some people go their whole lives without that. And if they were here, they would love you still." Ladybird had to dab a tear from her eye as she thought about her father and mother.

"Be careful going up the mountain," Napoleon said. "Have your gun at the ready."

Ladybird nodded. "Wysteria."

Wysteria hurried over to her sister and put her flower case in her saddle bag. As the sisters road away Lazarus and Napoleon watched them go.

"Are you really going to let them go off on their own again?" Lazarus asked.

"The Windstalkers will be after them." Napoleon said.

"But that is bad."

"And we will be after the Windstalkers," Napoleon said. "And when we meet them we shall cut them off."

/

One hand on the reins and the other holding their scarves over their mouths Ladybird and Wysteria fought against the mountain. There was no trail, no marks to steer them away from possible danger. It was a blind trek into the unknown.

"Wysteria, tie on the lead rope and pass it to me!" Ladybird shouted over the storm.

Wysteria unraveled the lunge from the side of her saddle and hooked it to her horse's reins. Stretching out her arm he handed the other end to Ladybird.

Ladybird searched for a place to tie it and lifting her leg she hooked the loop around the pommel of her sidesaddle. They must have missed something; there should have been a trail...something.