Front

Once settled atop the front bench of the cart, Finn closed her eyes and smiled up at the sun. It felt like freedom to be up high, with the breeze in her hair and the reddish hue of the sunlight filtering through her eyelids. It was a welcome change from the first part of her journey in the relative gloom and stuffiness of the back part of the cart where Mayra now lurked. Mayra had taken up a post at the very rear, leaning off the back so that she might see something of a view. The position effectively cut her off from conversation with her traveling companions.

Finn felt the bench shift slightly as Riley's weight was added to the other side. If only she could keep her eyes closed for the whole ride and pretend he wasn't there. He must have taken the hint, for without a word he snapped the reins and steered the wagon back onto the road from where they'd pulled off for their break. Turning Northeast with the road put the sun slightly behind them, robbing Finn of her direct line to its rays. This was probably for the best so her skin didn't burn. She probably should wear a bonnet anyway.

She sighed and opened her eyes to find Riley staring at her. She blinked, having expected him to be looking straight forward or into the forest. Peach didn't need his constant attention to follow the road at a steady pace, but it's where Finn would have expected Riley's gaze to naturally fall.

Caught in the act of staring, Riley quickly turned forward and flushed slightly, confusing Finn further. No snide jab? No sarcastic remark? Maybe he was worried about her health after his mother made such a huge deal about her injury. Although she mentally conceded she would be more comfortable with her leg propped up on something, the change of scenery from inside the cart was doing her soul some good. Surely what was good for the soul was also good for the body.

The wound looked somewhat angry; she'd taken a few moments earlier with Mayra in the forest to check it. It would have been inappropriate for Riley to be a part of that, despite the fact that he had likely already seen all there was to see concerning that area when her skirt had torn at the attack. Still. Baring her leg in front of her father (or even her little brother), and an unrelated male were two very different circumstances.

She tensed, thinking ahead to Klain. Were doctors men or women? She'd only ever known Amelia as a healer, but doctor was a proper job, with education and formal training, wasn't it? Did Klain have that kind of training for women, or only men? Along with assisting with birth, caretaking of the ill was a traditionally feminine task where she came from (although anyone would help when really needed), but maybe other places that wasn't so. The thought of Riley seeing her in less than a state of full dress was bad enough, and she'd known him all her life and trusted him a fair amount. A total stranger of a man seeing anything other than what her modest dress revealed to the sunlight was utterly mortifying. Finn began to squirm at the uncomfortable thoughts.

Riley, whose eyes had been fixed on a point straight ahead of the cart ever since he'd been caught staring, glanced sideways as Finn shifted in place. His mouth turned downward into a decided frown. "Is it uncomfortable up here? I can move you to the back to prop up your wound."

Finn froze in place, unaware that her discomfort had been readily apparent to an observer. She couldn't very well tell him that her unease was mental more than physical, and had been provoked by imagining having to display her leg for him or any other man. "Um," She hedged, "No, I'd rather stay up here, thank you."

Riley remained unconvinced. "Are you sure? At least you can hold the water skin next to your leg. It's still cool since I filled it from the last stream, and that might help ease the pain a little." He reached behind him where the skin was stowed and handed it to Finn.

"Maybe you should drink a little, too. Mother always says keeping fluids in a person is half the battle."

Finn nodded and took a quick drink, despite not being thirsty. "I don't quite think I'm in a 'battle' at this point, but let's defer to your mother's wisdom."

"In all things," Riley smirked. He'd only been allowed to disagree with his mother on very rare occasion. She typically knew best.

Finn smiled back, knowing how insistent Amelia could be with her strong opinions on almost any topic. She hadn't brooked any negotiation or dissent whatsoever on the current situation. Although Finn didn't live with Amelia, the neighbor had taken an active role in training her to be a woman, along with Mayra. Having born mostly sons, Amelia appreciated the company of an extra girl now and then. Mayra certainly appreciated having someone around who wasn't either a boy or in charge of her. Baking also went much more quickly on the occasions they gathered to do it together in large batches. It was amazing how much the two families' worth of males could eat.

Finn placed the water skin alongside her leg modestly beneath her outer skirt, and the light chill of its presence did relieve a bit of the sting and soreness from her leg. Was it worse than yesterday? It was hard to tell. It had been (she glanced towards the sun's position) barely a day since the incident. She couldn't expect much change one way or the other at this point.

"We have something you can drink for pain, too," Riley broke into her thoughts as if hearing them, "But Mother said it can make you sleepy. Mayra had planned to make it for you when we stopped for the evening to camp, but we can do it now instead."

"I don't need that at the moment," Finn shook her head, "I'm not in much pain." She wanted to deny being in any pain at all, but that would be dishonest. Riley gave her a calculating look, but didn't press the issue.

They traveled on in silence for a long while, with Riley surreptitiously (or so he thought) stealing glances at Finn to assess her health on an ongoing basis. He didn't tell her so, but his mother had given him and Mayra warning signs to watch for regarding the possible deterioration of Finn's health. Infection of the wound itself as well as disease caught from the bite were both major risks.

Preferring the silent glances to Riley's verbal jabs, Finn ignored and endured this treatment for a few hours of road before the irritation finally overwhelmed her. She sighed as he glanced at her yet again, resisting the urge to snap at her caretaker. With another deep breath, she decided to introduce a new subject of focus to divert the attention off of herself.

"I haven't studied the maps like you have," She began slowly, making up the strategy as she spoke, "Are there any towns between here and Klain? What should we expect on the way?"

Riley settled back against the cart, more relaxed than he'd been since they had restarted their journey. "No towns for at least another day, maybe day and a half. When the peddler comes, he complains that we're 'on the edge of civilization', whatever that means. I suppose the desert and scrubland that begins on the far side of our woods doesn't have a lot of people in it. The peddler only comes as far as our village since we have good crops and fruits the city can't grow, so he can make money off of taking our produce there."

Finn nodded at the last part. When the peddler came he was always after her for the peach and apple preserves she made from the orchard, and the pickled vegetables from her garden. He always brought plenty of empty jars from the city for her to replace what he bought from her, but she still liked to keep most of what she made to feed her family through the winter. Father usually let the peddler buy some of his crops as long as the year had been a good one. It was a prosperous little village with good soil. It was beyond Finn why, according to Riley, just a handful of miles further west, the ground turned so rocky and barren. She supposed without the steady supply of the stream, which grew to the size of a river during rainy season, there just weren't good conditions for growing things.

"Once we get closer to Klain, the villages get bigger and more frequent until they turn into full towns, at least according to the old map. My father got it many years ago, and it's possible things have changed somewhat since it was made," Riley suddenly became nervous about his lack of actual knowledge. Everything he knew about the journey ahead was either rumor from the Peddler, or gleaned from old books and the worn map. He felt the heavy responsibility on his shoulders as leader and protector of their little expedition.

Thankfully, the road was clearly marked through many years of use, so they were unlikely to get lost anytime soon. The road, at least according to the map, should lead directly to Klain, Northeast through the foothills and toward the mountains. Still, Riley planned to confirm in each town they eventually passed that they were headed the correct direction. He'd set off with a confidence which waxed and waned with each passing mile. He'd hate to look a fool who didn't know how to follow a simple road, but would hate it more if his pride got in the way of getting Finn medical care as quickly as he could. These two possibilities played across his expression as he considered the options.

"If Finn gets better quickly, can we take a detour South to the sea on the way home? I want to see an ocean!" Mayra had become interested in the conversation since it had turned to the journey's expectations, abandoning her place at the rear of the cart to move forward within easy speaking of the others.

Riley turned to eye his sister with a wary expression. "I don't think so, May. I don't want to leave Mom with all our brothers that long. If we tarry, they may all get anxious about Finn's health."

Mayra sighed, "But we've never been so far from home before! Can't we make it an adventure?"

Riley settled back facing forward, turning away from the discussion. "It's already an adventure. None of us have seen the city before. By the time we're done there, I expect you'll be all 'adventured' out and ready to sleep in your own home again." Riley's tone turned flat near the end. He was probably talking about his desire for his own bed.

"I doubt it," mumbled Mayra. She wanted to argue with Riley more, but decided to save it until Finn was all better. She was sure Riley's mood would improve then and he'd be more willing to consider a side journey. She also knew how little sleep he'd gotten the night before and how grumpy he could become in that state. Now was not the time to press him on something that didn't need to be decided soon.

Finn shared Mayra's yearning for adventure, to a lesser degree than her young counterpart. She had been mostly content for her daydreams to take her to far off places. Any actual traveling involved degrees of danger and discomfort that she had not anticipated enduring anytime soon. Being unexpectedly thrust into this journey when she wasn't in the best of physical health gave rise to a measure of anxiety that was blissfully absent when she was washing dishes or churning butter. A daydream could disappear in a moment, but there was no escaping what lay ahead, no matter what came.

She furrowed her brow as the cart continued forward. What would be coming, none of them really knew. It was a disconcerting prospect for a girl used to the steady and predictable changing of the seasons, staying close to home with an illusion that everything was under control, or at least within her understanding. Unexpected, even tragic, things happened now and then, but nothing TOO unexpected. Now that she was beyond the realm of her experience, both emotionally and geographically, that illusion had vanished. It left behind trepidation in Finn's heart.