Tiara8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡ715oDxNCTj 維尼
The further we walked, the more unsure I became. Pa had trusted me, and listened to me. The road we had taken was quiet, and the road grew narrow. The trees lining the path seemed to grow closer together, and the snow seemed to become deeper. It was beginning to scare me.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡvL3nbIqOey 維尼
Pa pulled his horse to a stop. He looked around.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡih5pJNbMmR 維尼
“What’s wrong?” I said.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9GQgD7oyTg 維尼
He was quiet for a moment. “I believe you chose the right path.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3mgWWff1nv 維尼
I frowned. “But?”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKFfneEuTL 維尼
“But, the path ends here. There is no sign of any other roads in any direction.” He dismounted his horse and handed me the reigns. “Which way do you think we should go?”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9V9K6lPPD 維尼
“I don’t know.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡadgh2GXbTy 維尼
“What does your gut tell you?”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDOTkSBCGI 維尼
I thought about it. Looking around, the trees looked the same. There was a big possibility of us getting lost in the trees and never finding our way home. But that tugging in my chest was telling me to go straight down the slope in front of us. “Straight,” I said.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfxuyzXDjj 維尼
Pa nodded. “Wait here.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJtv0Gg1qy 維尼
“Pa, wait.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡ21bqrvTeaU 維尼
He looked up at me and smiled. It didn’t reach his eyes though. “I’ll be right back. I just want to see what is up ahead. Maybe somewhere for us to camp.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAOtYMyqqg 維尼
“Okay.” I gripped Silver’s reigns tighter.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡJd2pKpZi0X 維尼
Pa walked straight forward. The snow reached up to just below his knees. He wasn’t far away but I struggled to keep my eyes on him. The sun was beginning to sink and so it would be dark.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvLKkv3fx0 維尼
Silver moved beneath me. She was uncomfortable and nervous.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eKQj5I14m 維尼
I ran my fingers through her mane, trying to give her some comfort. “It’s okay, girl,” I said. I could tell she didn’t believe me. There was no reassurance in my words, and no comfort. We were in the White Mountains, following a road that led who knows where, trusting my instincts. And Pa had disappeared.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡXO2umskot3 維尼
I sat on Silver for a few moments longer, but I couldn’t wait. I nudged Silver’s side and moved in the direction he had gone. Pa’s prints in the snow were clear. But with the light disappearing I struggled to see where they were.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0HMpDa3Zt 維尼
The ground went from flat to a deep slope. Silver backed away from the edge. Instead of forcing her down, I climbed off, and tied her and Pa’s horse to a tree. We would come back and get them. Being on the ground I could see Pa’s prints. Gripping tree roots and other plants, my feet slid down the slope. Not far from the bottom I found Pa. He was kneeling behind a tree.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFRiB4Lt4j 維尼
“Pa!”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSkIHBmidM 維尼
He turned around and put his finger to his lips. I slid to him and he wrapped his arms around me. “I told you to wait for me.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡP23C4frlMp 維尼
“I know. Patients isn’t something I have.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8lIyH3g4n 維尼
“Clearly.” He lent around the tree and frowned.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡqL8y3YiDK1 維尼
I copied him. At the very bottom of the slope was a camp. It was filled with the Queen’s guard. Ten of them sat around a camp fire. There were four horses tied to a makeshift post, and two trucks surrounding them. The men were loud, clearly not worried about being quiet.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7C4jW9uLb4 維尼
“They don’t know we are here. Let’s keep it that way.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡltc5ekzDRB 維尼
“Would it matter? Kara isn’t with us.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡBH3E3zlAIy 維尼
“That doesn’t matter. No normal father and daughter would be in the White Mountain’s willingly. They will think we are criminals or something.” He took my hand. “Let’s get back to the horses and find somewhere to camp. Tomorrow they should be gone and we can be on our way.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRfz8XFTwd 維尼
We moved back up the slope. Pa keeping himself in-between me and the guards below. He kept me in place if I missed stepped or slipped. And we made it back to our horses in one piece. Staying on foot, I followed Pa along the edge of the slope. We slipped between the trees, making sure to watch where we stepped. The snow on the edge could slip off taking either of us with it.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fX29riyQS 維尼
Pa stopped and pointed. “There’s a cave over there.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8HY5QGimS 維尼
“Will the horses fit inside?”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIcreWp16m 維尼
He nodded. “Looks like it.” He moved away from the edge and towards the cave. He handed me the reigns of his horse and stepped inside. He gently placed his feet down. For a moment, he disappeared into the black of the cave. It was silent.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡEne7K8jBpy 維尼
Looking around all the trees were silent. There were no shuffles of animals running through the snow, or birds in the trees. There was nothing, not even a breeze.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡV97su7pOf4 維尼
Pa stuck his head out, and said, “It’s empty. Take the horses inside, I’ll go and get some wood.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡuolTnZXI7m 維尼
“Be careful,” I said.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeaOV6ovyl 維尼
He said, “Always am.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2zvKPbzMM 維尼
The cave was black as I stepped inside. Keeping tight hold of the horse’s reigns I moved further and further in. Once I was sure that they were out of the cold I turned back to the entrance. It was too dark to try to remove any tack, or find anything we would need; so, I waited.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kn2IoUPjr 維尼
Pa wasn’t long. He walked into the cave. The moon’s light that filtered in behind him, allowed me to see enough that I could see that he hadn’t found much wood. He shook the snow from his shoes and placed down the wood. “It’s damp,” he said, “Might struggle to light but it is all we have.” He arranged a few pieces, and put the rest to the side.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQyEUdlEr1 維尼
I stood by patiently. Anticipation of warmth from a fire was high. It felt like I hadn’t felt warmth in a long time. And it seemed like I would have to wait for any sort of warmth.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdubJ5r4j5 維尼
“It’s too wet,” said Pa. He threw down the sticks he was rubbing together. “There isn’t a chance of this lighting anytime soon.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡgxrJJpvNxq 維尼
“What do we do?”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqAiUfC0hG 維尼
Pa stood and moved over to me. “We remove the tack. Find our blankets and bunker down. We will need to sleep side by side for warmth.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4i6nsJ1qnU 維尼
I nodded.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡUA5JBysmIz 維尼
Pa pulled off our saddle bags and placed them side by side. I pulled out our dinner and laid down our blankets to make some sort of bed. It didn’t look comfortable, but it would have to do.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡlINpg43HMi 維尼
I kept on my thick layers and sat down beside Pa. He handed me my dinner, and we fell into silence. I didn’t think anyone would find us in the cave but my eyes kept moving towards the entrance. The thoughts about the dangers of the woods, Kara’s warnings, kept me occupied, and so did my worry for Kara. I didn’t think she was lost, she had grown up on these mountains. If she got caught or something had happened I didn’t know how to save her. She had told me that as my familiar she protected me, and I her. I didn’t know how though.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡukgIi8YCI1 維尼
Pa laid down, and said, “Try to get some sleep. Tomorrow we can try and get past those guards if they are still there.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqLoCGSiTY 維尼
“Which direction do we go? I have no idea.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡmXzGgRnono 維尼
He squeezed my arm. “We will figure it out.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5TQp0hoAn 維尼
“And what about Kara?” I slid down so now I was lying beside him. “She should have found us by now.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡbQ2gAmFUsX 維尼
“She will find us or we will find her.”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡWu2e7At5ZW 維尼
“How do you know that?”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgVoelsa3r 維尼
Pa didn’t answer. He squeezed my arm again. “Just try and get some sleep, okay.”534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKQT8PgEhK
8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡbBaX0BHI3U 維尼
***534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSQh0ODrf70
8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxu7TyNsVc 維尼
“TIARA!”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡxWBaAtHI2h 維尼
I sat up and looked around.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡyBk8ju2ZbZ 維尼
“TIARA!”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVYbRKegn4 維尼
I couldn’t see anyone; I couldn’t see anything.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1lfL69M2l7 維尼
“TIARA!”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡksVK7pdLyi 維尼
There was no sort of light. I couldn’t make out any sort of shape but the voice calling my name sounded like it was in the distance. And it reminded me of Kara’s voice. She sounded worried and scared. If it was her, was she in trouble? Did she need my help?8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tHHrCInr7 維尼
I stood and moved towards the entrance.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡyx2ANPjFyy 維尼
“TIARA!” the voice said. It seemed closer.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7ci0OCi3d 維尼
I stepped out of the cave. The wind was blowing an icy breeze and the moon’s light was struggling to shine through.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡIg98DW2JWg 維尼
“TIARA!”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzKUM3qg9k 維尼
There was no one to see. But the voice sounded like they were right next to me. But nothing. I took a few steps further away from the cave. The snow seemed to have grown deeper.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡDj3wMZbfjF 維尼
“TIARA!” The voiced seemed to echo. It was so loud that I cringed. But I knew for sure that it was Kara. But if she was close by I wouldn’t be able to see her in the black.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGjqJsVDW8 維尼
“Kara?” I said. Hoping she would hear me. “Kara, where are you?”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡVhfyEatC4n 維尼
There was no response. Running out into the dark to try to find her would either get me lost, captured, or killed. But not even one of them would help anyone.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNt4cbAbms 維尼
“Kara?” I tried again. Nothing. Turning around I stepped back towards the cave. But I stopped when I heard the crunching of snow. Someone else was coming my way. “Kara?” I said.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡciTy9CeeRL 維尼
The footsteps grew louder, but I couldn’t see anyone.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡizLQrjcPHh 維尼
“TIARA!” The voice sounded even closer. “TIARA!” I took a step towards the footsteps but stopped. “RUN! TIARA, RUN!” A figured appeared before me.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡhSlKBozacZ 維尼
Except it wasn’t Kara, it was the shape of a man. He walked towards me until he stood in front of me. He dressed from head to toe in a Queen’s guard uniform, and In his hand, I could see the shape of a gun.8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxb07T0aeS 維尼
He lifted it from his side and pointed the barrel at me. “What is a young girl like you doing out here?”8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXW6EpHDeV 維尼
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