Page 75 of To Ride the Wind

Spread from one side of the sky to the other was the ocean, reflecting the sunlight so that it winked and glowed.

“We’re going to have to land,” she shouted, and Gwen nodded.

“I see it.”

Charlotte had always wanted to see the ocean, but she didn’t want to be swept out over it, carried far beyond the reach of land. Gwen obviously felt the same because she directed them downward immediately. But just as she did, a large town appeared, nestled on the coast and protected by a vast sea wall.

Both girls cried out at once, and Gwen pulled them up again. Charlotte could see her trying to wrestle them either left or right, but the wind wouldn’t cooperate. It was determined to sweep them out to sea.

As they left the land behind, unreasoning terror gripped Charlotte at the vastness that was now apparent in three directions. She knew the sea was big—endless, some said. But she hadn’t been able to comprehend the reality.

She wrestled the fear down, however. There was no time to give way to it. Even if it killed them, they couldn’t let the wind lay waste to a whole town. And neither was she ready to give up on the two of them. They had to force the wind to bring them back in.

Gwen tried to direct them left just as the wind lurched in that direction. They swerved so violently in response that both girls were nearly unbalanced. But it gave Charlotte an idea.

If she could find a way to communicate it to Gwen, they would possibly have a chance of getting back to land safely without destroying the town. She leaned in, about to shout in Gwen’s ear, when a spot of brown caught her eye, followed by a white sail. The wind was sweeping them straight for a fishing fleet—one that was out on the open ocean, far from the protection of the sea wall. On their current course, they would reach them in less than a minute and every one of those ships would be sunk.

There was no time for explanations. Charlotte lunged around Gwen and grabbed the reins. As soon as she had control of them, she held herself in readiness, the reins slack in her hands.

Gwen started to protest, but Charlotte ignored her, all her senses on edge. The second she felt the wind lurch in one direction, she threw the reins the same way, using every bit of her strength.

They swerved so violently that the wind carried them in a half circle, sweeping them back toward the land. Gwen cried out in surprise, but Charlotte couldn’t break her concentration to explain.

The wind pulled them sideways again, and she did the same thing, bringing them all the way around in a full circle this time until they faced land again. It happened again in the other direction and then again. And each time they circled, they were closer to the land than they had been the time before.

At last they grew close enough that Charlotte began to consider how to direct them around the town. But before they reached the harbor, the wind cut out as it sometimes did, sending them falling toward the waves. Both girls screamed, but the wind caught them just as their feet broke the choppy surface of the water.

It swept them back up again, only to cut out again. Charlotte’s stomach lurched, but she couldn’t miss the opportunity. She pulled on the reins in anticipation so that when the wind caught them again—more quickly this time—she was already directing it downward.

They weren’t going to make the actual land, but they had a chance at the sea wall. She angled toward it, screaming for Gwen to brace herself.

Charlotte let go of the reins as they skimmed just above the wide wall of stone, throwing herself sideways and landing on the stone with a painful series of bumps. She lay for a minute, listening for the whistle of the wind and hearing nothing.

Sighing in relief, she rolled over to find a young man offering her a helping hand. She took it, glad for the extra assistance since every one of her muscles ached.

“Did you just ride that wind in?” he asked, his eyes wide and his curly hair looking as if it had just been through a hurricane.

Charlotte winced. “Yes, I’m sorry. I hope it didn’t hurt you.”

“I’m fine,” the young man said quickly and offered her a grin. “Just astonished.”

Charlotte smiled back weakly, glad the stranger was taking it so well.

“I have a friend,” she said as she turned to look for Gwen. “We should—” Her eyes caught on Gwen, sitting frozen a few feet behind them, her eyes on the young man behind Charlotte.

Charlotte turned to follow her gaze and found the young man equally frozen, his eyes fixed on the young woman still sitting on the stones.

“Gwen?” he asked in a breathless voice. “Is that you?”

GWEN

Gwen hit the ground hard and rolled. For a second, she thought she might roll all the way off the wall and drop into the terrifying depth of water on both sides of it. But she stopped in time, her hand somehow still clenched around the now-miniature halter.

She pushed herself slowly into a sitting position, feeling bruised all over in body, mind, and emotions. If it wasn’t for Charlotte’s intervention, untold numbers would have just died. She had wanted to escape her mother’s reach, but she hadn’t gone far enough, and now she was bringing calamity to others.

The sound of voices broke through her haze, and she looked toward Charlotte. Someone had approached her and appeared to be offering assistance. Gwen hoped that meant they weren’t going to be driven out of the town for bringing the wind in the first place.

The man straightened, Charlotte beside him, and her friend turned toward her, revealing the face of the man at her side.

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