On The Trail Again

The day dawned bright and clear, which was a blessing. She awoke to the sound of movement around her wagons and when she peeked out, the bosk were being put into the yokes, and they were readying to move. Rook had kasra bring her tea and her morning meal. She reminds him to make sure that Leonette was up and ready, and he was rather gruff with her,and told her that she needed to just relax. Chastized, she went back into her wagon to eat, and to dress. Tempers were grown short for some reason, and she just felt safer there.


Finally she hears one of the outriders crawl up into the wagon seat, the entire thing lurches, and they were on their way. She crawls out to sit beside him, and sighs. It was going to be a long day, but she was glad to be on the move again. The hardest part for her, was that she longed to ride, but right now, a saddle was not an option. She was working something out in her head, to maybe use one of the men's saddles, one that had a wider breech and that would give her more room. Her next hurdle, would be to get it past Rook and Kam. But then, Kam was not here, was he?.


In spite of all that had happened in the past few days, that festive air was back. Laughter floated around her, and the voices of her people teasing and bantering back and forth. At one point, she had the man stop the wagon and she got out and walked. Walking was good for her, and she intended to do more of it. Tug came running up, and skipped along beside her, peppering her with questions. Where was his new friend 'Atar? Why had he left them? Did he not like them any more? When were they going hunting? , 'Atar had promised to take him hunting with the sleens. She tried to make him understand that no one was mad at anyone, and that all the warriors were busy with the move, and that she was sure that the singer would take him hunting when they got to the tall grasses. Now, would that not be more fun, to crawl through the grasses and hunt? All of this seemed to appease him for the time being, to her relief. Sometimes the boy just asked far too many questions.


She watched her son skip along, singing some little song of his own making, and had to laugh. He turned around and begged her to play, so she took her flute out and began to play a jaunty little tune, which was picked up by some of the people, and soon everyone was singing, and their steps seemed lighter.


It was going to be a good day. The sky was clear and blue, the rays of the Central Fire were warm, and they were Tuchuk on the move. It was good to be Tuchuk.