Page 112 of High Stakes and Soulmates
“I don’t need to do anything more.”
“You could be a scholar or do something with the books you love.”
“Nah. If you herd sheep, I’m going to be right next to you. That doesn’t mean I won’t find a good tree to read under.”
“So I’ll herd sheep and you’ll cheer me on from under a tree?” I tease.
“Exactly.”
Arturo seems at ease for a while, but when the day stretches into early evening, I can tell he starts to get anxious. I try to distract him with tales of what our life will be like—how we’ll be together and how we’ll never have to fear for our lives again.
“I thought this would move faster,” he frets. “He assured me we’d be to the next port in plenty of time.”
“It’ll be okay,” I say as I head over to tighten Valley’s saddle and bridle her. “The moment we hit land, we’re going to be moving.”
“Okay. You’re right. Sorry. I’m just anxious.”
And so am I, but I know I can’t say anything. I need to be confident. And I need to be ready in case we don’t make it there in time.
“There’s congestion at the dock,” the captain announces. “It’s going to slow us considerably.”
“You’re kidding. There can’t be anything that’ll slow us,” Arturo says anxiously. “Fuck.”
I pull him over to Valley. “Get on.”
“What?”
“No, it’s not a dock, but she wouldn’t have to swim far. We’ll get up that slope there,” I say, motioning to it.
“The mud there’s deep, boy, you’d better be careful,” the captain warns. “Let us steady the boat before she jumps.”
“Okay… it’d be best if we weren’t on her back, then. Come on.”
“You’re going to swim it?” Arturo asks.
“Once you’re in the water, grab her tail,” I say.
“Okay.”
I pull her, and she finds that she doesn’t want to move because when she does, the boat rocks, even though they have poles stuck in the ground below the water to keep it steady when she jumps.
“Come on,” I coax her. I pull her forward and she hesitates before leaping into the water. Quickly, I jump in after her and Arturo after me. I grab her tail and Arturo grabs on to me as she pulls us toward the shore. Partway up, the mud starts to suck her down, but she lunges forward until she heaves herself out. The moment we’re on land, I toss Arturo onto her back and slide into the saddle in front of him.
The moment I settle into the saddle, she’s running. She leaps up onto the bank and bolts when she reaches the road.
Arturo’s hands tighten around my waist.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s getting dark fast. There’s a storm rolling in.”
“You said night, though. We have hours until night.”
“It has something to do with the sunlight… if it gets dark before night… he can come out.”
I urge Valley faster, pushing her harder than I ever have. I’m sure she’s already tired from this morning’s run, but I can’t let up on her. Not yet. Her hooves dig into the dirt while she covers ground as fast as she can. The tremor in Arturo’s handstells me just how worried he is, but she doesn’t hesitate. She’d run herself to death if I asked her to.
“We’ll make it,” I assure him when the first drops of rain strike my face. “We’ll make it. I promise we will.”
