Page 25 of Heart of Snow
He raised his brows. “I have no experience riding bareback.”
“I’ll be guiding the horse. You just work to keep yourself balanced.”
He still eyed the horse skeptically but used the makeshift mounting block to hoist himself up behind me. Lange’s ears turned back, and he stamped a few steps rearward, to which Friedrich responded by clinging to the rail of my saddle.
“You’ll have a steadier seat if you hold onto me,” I suggested.
“I’ll be fine. Make sure you keep to the forest trails to avoid being seen.”
Maneuvering the horse through the shadows of the trees, I kept him to a slow walk, yet Friedrich still began to slip. And he slipped again only moments later. We could hardly makeprogress with how often I had to halt the horse and allow Friedrich to adjust his seating.
“What pretext did you offer the hunt master for your absence this eve?” I asked the fourth time we stopped.
“Bernhold hardly needed one. It’s Ulrich who’s the real taskmaster,” he answered. “What excuse did you give to... the person you give excuses to when your father is away?”
I leaned forward to smooth an errant hair from Lange’s mane into place. “That I’ve gone to bed early with a headache.”
“You sneaked out? What if the groomsman is questioned about a pair of missing horses?”
I clicked the horse forward. “Well, let’s just pray he isn’t.”
Friedrich let out a quiet chuckle.
“How go your French studies?” I asked.
“Well enough. You haven’t managed any shooting practice since our little... since our last lesson, have you?”
“No, I haven’t,” I answered. “And I’ve enjoyed the respite. Fromyoumore than anything.” I shot a mischievous smile across my shoulder in time to catch Friedrich raising his brows in surprise. But his forehead soon smoothed, and a hint of a smile touched his lips.
“Not much respite, I’d say, with barely three days since we studied French.”
“You count the days since you’ve seen me, do you?” My confidence rose with the success of each playful jest. “At least there I’m not expected to take your orders or put up with your brass.”
“Not that you’ve ever taken my orders anyway. If you did, you’d be a decent shot by now.” The smile in his voice was obvious.
I answered with a playful jab of my elbow into his gut. He bent forward with a huff, chuckling until he lost his balance again and slipped. He was half off the horse and struggling to pull himself back into place when his haphazard movements frightenedLange, and the horse reared upward. I leaned forward to counter the steep incline, but behind me Friedrich was falling. He groped wildly for some kind of stronghold, his hands catching at my waist to keep aright, but instead his weight pulled the both of us down. Time slowed as we tumbled to the ground, he landing on his back, and I on top of him, knocking the air from his lungs with a wheeze.
“I cry you mercy, Friedrich. Are you hurt?” I pushed myself off him and onto my knees as he sat up, his arm cradling his side.
It took a bit for him to finally catch his breath. “I think you broke my rib,” he puffed.
“Truly?” I tried to pry his arm away to see for myself, but he swatted me back.
“Be still. I was not serious.”
I sighed my relief as he slowly got to his feet, stretching himself out with a few grimaces. Seeing him well, I tracked down the horse and gathered the reins to find us another makeshift mounting block.
Belinda called up the trail. “My lady, are you hurt?”
“I’m unharmed.” I lifted myself into the saddle and reached a hand down to help Friedrich, but he borrowed my stirrup, pulling himself back onto the horse with some effort. He was again taking hold of my saddle’s rail when I grasped his shirt, stopping him mid-motion.
“Friedrich, we haven’t the time, and you haven’t the ribs to spare for this foolishness. Hold onto me, or we’ll never make it to the mining village.”
His eyes were wide when I let him go, but he complied, scooting forward on the horse until his chest pressed against my back.
“I’m not sure where to put my hands,” he admitted.
“Set them round my middle.” I clicked the horse forward, pretending not to notice when Friedrich awkwardly settled hisarms around my waist. He was warm—his hands around me, his chest pressed against me, his breath on my ear—but the warmth only made me shudder.
