Page 27 of Earthbound

The atmosphere in the room made Lettle’s skin prickle. She looked from Alder to Mortah to Dart. All wore very different expressions, somewhere between frustration and trepidation.

‘There weren’t any pastries today,’ Mia lied, then she saw Dart’s face, which was on the angrier side of the scale. ‘You always know when I’m lying.’

‘What? It’s not that. It’s just Mortah…’ Dart looked helplessly to Alder.

‘Mortah was with Osei when he met me. So she’s able to lead us to where I was found,’ Alder said.

Mia frowned. ‘Why was she with Osei?’ She looked between Mortah and Dart, then back again. ‘Oh.’

Lettle wasn’t following, but neither did she care about the intricacies of anyone’s feelings, especially after Alder had spoken.

‘You know where you were found?’ Lettle said.

‘Yes,’ Alder replied.

‘Is it far?’

‘Half a day, maybe more,’ Mortah said.

‘Well?’ Lettle said, cutting through the silence. ‘Why are we sitting around like legless spiders? Let’s go.’

Mortah raised her eyebrows. ‘Who are you?’ she echoed Lettle’s earlier crudeness.

‘I’m the person who has walked four months across the continent to find you. So if you don’t mind, I’d like to leave now.’ Lettle shouldered her pack and looked around the room. ‘Are you coming or what?’

Mortah looked to Alder, who nodded.

‘Let’s go.’

—

Lettle’s impatience only grew when she realised it was snowing.

‘You said half a day–we’ve been going longer than that.’

‘The snow has hampered us. We’ve got another three hours, at least,’ Mortah said.

Lettle groaned into her fur scarf. At least they’d had the foresight to pack more than the breakfast she and Mia had brought. Each of the Nomads carried a well-worn satchel of waxed leather. Their bags were their livelihoods and each one had been lovingly cared for. They were all of equal size and make, with small personal details. Mia’s had been patched with a bright red thread, whereas Dart’s was woven with small crescent moons, perhaps in homage to his prior home. Mortah’s bag had deep cracks in the leather and knots in the shoulders to keep it higher up on her stooped frame.

Alder on the other hand wore something a little different. Just as lovingly preserved, but from a different place entirely. Made from naghla leaves, a palm-like frond native to Mosima, it was overly adorned with chains and charms in gold and silver. An opulent item that looked entirely out of character on Alder, who rarely wore shoes, let alone jewellery.

Lettle knew it was Golan’s make-up bag, and it made her grin every time she looked at it. Even now, during the blizzard, it brought a smile to her face.

Her gaze was tugged to the left as she thought she saw something move in her peripheral vision, and not for the first time she felt as though someone was watching her. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

She hated snow, how it fell silently, leaving a hush across the landscape. The silence meant she had only her thoughts to listen to.

‘Is it downhill all the way—’ Lettle tripped on a tree root, stubbing her toe.

‘Three gods,’ she swore, clutching her foot.

‘The path is arduous, it only gets worse,’ Mortah said unhelpfully, walking briskly past her.

Alder was by her side in moments. ‘Are you all right?’

‘I’m fine,’ Lettle said through clenched teeth, waiting for the pulsing pain to abate.

‘And to answer your earlier question, yes, it is all downhill. We are headed to Raven’s Valley, east of here,’ Mortah said.