With Thelton’s free hand, he reached into his side pack and pulled out a handful of slip coins. He threw them at the foot of the portly man. “Buy yourself three new horses. I am not looking for a fight. I have bigger things to worry about. The most important thing is; where did my woman go?”

  “That will cost you,” the tavern owner said.

  Thelton grabbed another handful of slip coins and tossed them at the owner. All the men dived to the ground and madly collected the coins. Only the owner stood facing Thelton.

  “She flew away.,” he said.

  “I KNOW THAT!” Thelton screamed. “Who took her, I saw a man with her? Where did they go? Who took her?”

  “Don’t know, never saw the guy before.”

  “Yeah,” said another, “stranger around these parts.”

  “I believe when he came in this morning, he said something about being from Candleshaw. We never get people from Candleshaw in these parts.”

  Rage seized Thelton, and he grabbed a chair and threw it across the tavern. “Where are they going?”

  No one answered.

  Thelton cradled his forehead in his hand. She was gone. Like that, she was gone. They had a fight and he was sure that she would not be coming back. But, who was with her. How could someone come in so fast and take his place? How was he going to get her back?

  “I need your horse again,” Thelton said as he tossed more slip coins around.

  The greedy man smiled. “Take it.”

  Thelton stormed out of the tavern and jumped on the horse and took off in the last direction he had seen Indy flying in.

  As Thelton rode, his mind cleared. He barely saw the figure in Indy’s arms when they had flown by. From the ground he looked like he had short blond hair. Men didn’t have short hair. Thelton felt like he had seen a man with short hair recently. That was no good; he had seen so many people lately. Anyone could be that guy. He thought again to what he knew. The tavern owner said he was from Candleshaw.

  “That crooked man Flance is from Candleshaw, but he is locked up in the dungeon, and he has red hair.”

  Clarity hit Thelton; he almost fell off his horse. Flance’s son was from Candleshaw. Flance’s son had short blond hair. Thelton screamed at the top of his lunges. Flance’s son had his woman. “How is it that those two are always in my way?”

  Thelton thought about his and Indy’s fight.

  “I had been so impatient with her. She had embarrassed me at the tavern and during our fight. But that is not her fault. She was raised by dragons. I should have been gentler. What did I expect, a woman of culture? She would never be refined, and I never want her to be. That’s what I like about her, she is so unique, and she doesn’t care about her looks. She isn’t stuffy, trying to be like all the other ladies. She is strong and she has power. I like that. I should have backed off and let her slowly unlearn her dragon ways.” He hit the horse to make it go faster. She might be gone for good. He may have lost her.

  Chapter 19

  Indy spent the day flying Sterling around. It was so fun because he laughed and carried on with so much pleasure. He was different from Thelton. Thelton always seemed stern and stiff, but Sterling made her laugh. Her lips ached from smiling, something she was not used to. By early evening, Indy began to get tired and hungry. She found a large creek amongst a small patch of trees. She landed on the ground.

  “Oh, must we really be done?” Sterling asked. He had so much fun. He had forgotten about his fear of Indy. He had forgotten about his quest. He had forgotten about everything.

  “Eat,” Indy said.

  Sterling looked to his side. He had left everything but his sword at the tavern. He cursed. He looked at the creek. “Maybe there are fish in there,” he said.

  With his strong muscles, Sterling grabbed Indy’s hand and impulsively jumped into the water. He pulled her in with him. They both went under.

  Indy gasped for air as she surfaced. She was utterly shocked by Sterling’s action. She lost her breath because it was so cold. Turning around she faced Sterling. He was laughing. He took a handful of water and splashed her. He laughed even harder. Indy didn’t know how to react, so she copied him, and she splashed back. A wall of water met him in the face. He backed away. Indy mimicked Sterling’

  In retaliation, Sterling jumped on Indy and towed her under the water. He was pleased with himself. When she surfaced, she charged him and dragged him under. The two laughed and splashed and enjoyed the evening in the stream. When they tired, Sterling decided to do what he had jumped in for. He started to fish.

  “The trick is,” he said to Indy, “Is to…” She jumped on his shoulders and pulled him under. She laughed and laughed. Sterling came up gasping for air; he hadn’t prepared himself for that.

  “Listen you, we need to get serious here, we need to eat, and we need to fish.”

  She cheerfully followed him and then pulled him under again. Sterling grabbed her and the two of them wrestled some more. Sterling was finally able to swim away, something she didn’t know how to do, but the creek was shallow and she could still touch the bottom. While she was making her way to him, he found a fish. It was long and fat. He leaped forward and caught it in his hand. A skill he had perfected with his father.

  “Come on, let’s go eat,” he said. He swam to the shore and got out. Indy awkwardly made her way out of the water and onto the bank. It was quite chilly. Their teeth chattered from the cold crisp air.

  He held the fish up to Indy. She nabbed it out of his hand. It was slippery and slimy. She dropped it on the bank and it flipped back into the water. Sterling laughed. “Hey, that was my dinner.” He dove into the water after the fish. With luck, he was able to grab it before it got away.

  When he came out, Indy tried to seize it again. “Sure, sure you can. Let’s just get away from the water’s edge.”

  Sterling walked a bit away and then turned to Indy. “Here you go, come get it.”

  Indy came over and grabbed the fish again. It was so fun to hold. Indy’s eye’s lightened up.

  “What?” she asked Sterling.

  “What, what?” he asked back.

  Indy pointed to the fish. “What be?” she asked again.

  “Oh, that,” he was startled. Didn’t everyone know what a fish was? “That is a fish.”

  “Vish,” Indy tried.

  “Fish,” Sterling guided. “Ff-ish.”

  “Fish,” Indy said, delighted in her attempt.

  “Don’t you know how to talk?” Sterling asked.

  “Fish,” Indy tried again.

  “What is your story? You are so different than anyone I have met,” he said as he watched her.

  “What do fish?” Indy asked.

  Sterling grabbed the fish and put it in Indy’s face. She was staring into the mouth of the fish. Its mouth opened and closed, opened and closed.

  Sterling lowered his voice to a funny growl, “Give me a kiss, beautiful.”

  Indy had learned the word kiss from Thelton. She reached her lips forward and kissed the fish.

  “Eehhh, I was joking. Don’t kiss the fish; yuck. No kiss fish. Eat fish. Fish food.”

  Indy looked at Sterling. “Eat fish?”

  Sterling laughed. “Yes, eat fish.”

  Indy launched her face forward and bit down on the fish’s head. Juice and blood shot out the fish. Some blood squirted into Sterling’s face.

  “Ohh, ohh, ohh, you really did it, you just took a bite of that fish. Wow, we eat fish, but usually we cook them first.” Sterling looked around at everything. He wasn’t sure how he was going to build a fire. There was nothing to start one with.

  Indy didn’t understand him so she just continued munching on the fish’s head. The eye balls squirted in her mouth. As she ate she kept getting bones stuck in her teeth.

  Sterling’s stomach growled. “Oh well, it looks like you don’t mind raw fish. I best join you before the fish is all gone.” Sterling came close to Indy and took a bite into the raw fish. It wasn’t too bad. He had eaten worse. Indy started to panic as she got a bone stuck in her throat.

  “Oh no, oh no, not good,” Sterling responded to her chocking. He could tell she was distressed.

  Indy reached down her throat and worked at it until she pulled the bone out. Tears spilled out of her eyes.

  “Few, I am glad you got that out. How about handing me the fish, and I will get the bones out.” Sterling held open his hand. He didn’t dare take the fish without her giving it to him. He remembered how wild she was at the tavern when it came to food.

  Indy threw the fish at him. After catching it, Sterling carefully used his sword and slit into the slimy creature. He worked out the bones and some of the innards. He handed it back to Indy.

  She shook her head, “No pain.”

  Sterling smiled at her. She was so simple. “Pain gone, eat.”

  “What?”

  “No pain, eat.” He took the fish and had a bite. “Yum.”

  Indy cautiously took another bite. To her delight, there were no more bones. She took another bite. She liked the flavor of the weird animal. The two of them finished the fish quickly.

  “Wow, you have an appetite like my father. I don’t get much to eat when he is around. I figure it will be the same with you.”

  A gentle breeze picked up. The two were cold. Their clothes remained damp.

  “We have to move around or we will freeze. It probably wasn’t a good idea getting wet this late.”

  Sterling jumped up into the air. “That’s it, I have an idea. Let’s dance. That will keep us warm. I have to admit, I have never danced with a woman before. But, somehow I think that is ok, because I am guessing you have never danced before, either. But if we dance, that will probably warm us up a little.”

  Indy’s yellowish teeth were chattering as she looked at him. Sterling held his arms wide open, “Shall we?”

  Indy looked at him curiously.

  He stepped close to her and put his arms around her back.

  “Fly?” Indy asked. She began to open her wings.

  “No, no, no. No fly. Dance.”

  Indy pulled away, she was confused. “No fly?”

  Sterling flashed her a sweet smile. “Oh, I love to fly. But, no. No fly. Dance.”

  “Dance?” Indy tried.

  Sterling smiled wide and laughed. “That’s right, dance.” Sterling straightened and held his arms open again. He changed his voice to try and sound like a gentleman. “My darling, may I have this dance.” He grabbed Indy and pulled her in.

  With her in his embrace, Sterling began twirling Indy around. He really had no idea what he was doing. The movement was so new to Indy. It was fun to be tossed here and there. More often than he wanted to, Sterling would drop her or step on her feet. The two of them would just laugh and try again. They had so much fun that they barely noticed when the sun disappeared and was replaced by the moon. His idea worked. Their clothes were drying and they were staying warm.

  Under the light of the moon, the two had the most fun that either had ever had. With so much joy between them, they hardly wanted to stop. The urge to sleep began creeping in and muscles ached, Sterling finally brought the night to an end.

  “Wow, I am worn out. It takes a lot of energy to dance.” Sterling found a log and sat down.

  “Like dance,” Indy said.

  Sterling laughed and laughed. “Yeah, I liked it too. Wow, that was fun. Thanks for dancing with me. You know, I have never done that before. I have never done much before. My life was different than most kids was. My father raised me. We rarely lived in a real house; however, we had many different types of dwellings we would live in. We lived outside most of the time. My father is a great hunter. He even slays dragons. He taught me his trade. I love my father.”

  Sterling stopped. His face saddened. He looked off into the night. He missed him.

  “Tell me about your childhood. Where are you from,” he said facing Indy. He attempted to see her features, but couldn’t because of the darkness around them.

  Indy came over and sat next to Sterling. Her green eyes began to get heavy. She rested her head on his warm shoulder. While she did, he played with her black hair.

  “You don’t say much, do you? I sure wish I knew your story. You are so odd, and yet so fun. I love being with you. You are my friend. I have never had a friend before. It feels good to have one. My father kept me by his side always. He has been sick as long as I can remember. We never did much, because he couldn’t handle it.

  “I am not complaining. It was a good life. He is a good father. I just missed out on a lot in life. We would visit the villages often when my father had animal meat to sell. I would sit by his side and watch the village children play. How I wanted to join them. I never dared try. They would have so much fun. A whole different life than I did. Mine was pretty solitary. I had father and that was it.” Sterling suddenly realized he was no longer stuttering. He felt so comfortable around Indy.

  Sterling looked down at Indy. She was snoring loudly. This was the first time he had really talked to anyone. Once he got started he couldn’t stop.

  “You know, it’s not entirely true that I didn’t play with other kids. When father would go to the tavern to get drunk, he would make me stay under his table. There was one tavern in Candleshaw he would go to. There was a little boy there. If father would pass out, then I would sneak over to the little boy. The little boy was always busy doing chores. He had to keep the tavern clean. But he would let me watch him work. I guess you could say he was my friend.”

  The night air was cold. He wrapped his arm around Indy to keep her warm. He closed his eyes and smiled. He had a friend!

  …

  The morning sun shined down on Sterling and Indy. The birds chirped in the air. Both of them awoke to the buzzing of bees. There were smiles on their faces. Sterling stood up. He felt so stiff. He had slept in one pose the whole night and now his body was paying for it. He stretched his arms and legs. Indy did the same.

  “Eat,” Indy said.

  “Woman, is that all you think about?”

  Indy jumped up and ran to the stream and then jumped in. “Fish,” she called out to him. She was full of enthusiasm. Sterling felt like he had just finally dried, there was no way he was going to join her.

  “You’re not going to catch a fish. It takes a lot of skill. I have spent my life working at it. But, hey, I don’t want to damp your spirits, go ahead and try.” Sterling smiled as he watched her. There was something about her that seemed so innocent.

  Indy dived under the water. She was under for a long time. Was she alright? Sterling began to worry. He debated about rescuing her. Just when he was about to go in after her, she emerged. Water sprayed up around her. On the tip of her claw was a giant silver fish. It was almost double the size as the one he caught the previous night.

  Sterling was stunned. She had accomplished what had taken him years to learn. “You aren’t going to let me live that down, are you?”

  Indy brought the fish to Sterling. She held it out to him. “No pain.” She said.

  “Oh, you want me to get the bones out, don’t you?” He took the fish and with his sword worked the bones out. His fingers numbed as he worked with the cold meat. When the bones where out, the two shared the fish.

  After breakfast, Indy stood up and held her arms out. “Dance,” she said.

  Sterling smiled then frowned. “Oh I would love to dance. But we must go, we must fly. I have to get you to the castle. The princess wants you in exchange for my father. You see, my father, the one I told you about last night, they are going to kill him. You are the only thing that can save him. No dance. We must fly.”

  Indy didn’t understand him. “No fly. Dance.”

  Sterling looked at her. She wanted to dance with him. They had had so much fun the night before. He hated to tell her no. After all, she was his only friend.

  “Fine, dance, then fly.”

  “Yes,” Indy said. She seemed to understand the bargain.

  Sterling rushed into her arms. He hoisted her into the air and spun her around. The two laughed and laughed. Sterling had planned to dance for only a few minutes. It didn’t take long for him to forget himself. They danced for hours.

  Toward the end, he thought more and more about his father. Although he enjoyed dancing, he knew they must stop. Finally he pointed to the sky.

  “Will you fly me to the castle now?”

  “Fly?” Indy asked.

  “Yes, fly my oversized fairy.”

  Indy grabbed Sterling and started flying.

  “No, not that way, that will take us back to Arlisaine.” Sterling thought for a moment. Would it take them back to Arlisaine? He realized he had no idea where they were. They had flown so much the day before, and none of it had been a straight course. Where was Arlisaine? More imperative, which way to Andleburg?

  “You’ve been to the castle before, which way is it?”

  Indy just stared at him. She wasn’t sure why he had stopped her from flying.

  “Fly?” she asked.

  “No, not yet. Which way to the castle?”

  Indy just stared at him.

  “Oh no, oh no, oh no.” He said. He had no idea where they were. How was he going to save his father? The fates had been so good to him. They had practically delivered Indy into his hands. How could he fail when he had been so successful? He had been away for awhile; was his father even alive?

  Sterling went over to the log and sat down. He put his face in his hands and began to cry. Indy wasn’t sure what he was doing. She went to his side and sat down. She remembered the times she had cried. Thelton had wiped her tears away. She lifted Sterling’s head and wiped at his tears. She wasn’t very careful and her claws scraped at his cheeks. Sterling wrenched in pain. Indy kept trying until she caught a tear at the tip of her finger. She put her finger in her mouth and sucked the tear off. That caught Sterling off guard and a little snicker snuck threw his sorrow.

  “Look at you, you are wiping my tears, and eating them. No one has ever wiped my tears before. I just can’t help it, I cry. My father has always hated that about me. I have tried to man up and be like him, but I just can’t. I am a crier. And look at you, you are comforting me.”

 

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