Higher Tides by Jo Grafford

Author:Jo Grafford [Grafford, Jo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JG PRESS
Published: 2019-11-25T06:00:00+00:00

They continued their boat ride inland the next morning on the river heading west. They traveled for three full days, fishing for their food along the way and stopping every few hours to boil up a small vat of root tea to drink. All in all, it was humble sustenance but filling. On the third day, they reached a river delta that boasted a Native community of longhouses and palisade walls. On closer examination, they discovered it was abandoned.

How odd!

Isabella and her comrades wandered through the skeletal remains of what used to be a city, poking their way through broken clay pots, chipped arrowheads, and rundown fence rails. The wind whistled through the broken reed walls of the longhouses and rattled loose boards on what used to be low-lying bed platforms.

“Why do you think they left?” she asked curiously to no one in particular, not really expecting an answer.

“They fish and farm in the summer.,” Amitola answered in her soft, guttural accent. “They hunt in the winter.”

Maria Isabella arched her eyebrows at the young maiden. “So they will be back?”

Amitola merely raised her shoulders and made a noncommittal huffing sound.

Nobody knew. Maria Isabella surveyed the city once more and found no cause for alarm. There were no decaying bodies, no skeletons mounted on pikes, no evidence of war. Her lips turned downward as she acknowledged what was bothering her the most — what she feared the most. There was absolutely no evidence a legion of imperial Spanish soldiers had ever pillaged their way through here. They had ransacked the southern regions of the continent and the continent below, but they hadn’t extended their reach this far north.

Yet.

“We shall stay here,” she announced grandly. Why not? “For a few days. Maybe a few weeks.” Gracious! They could stay for as long as they wanted. Her father had made it clear his political use for her outweighed his love, so returning to St. Augustine was no longer an option. Which meant she was no longer on a timetable to be anywhere else. “Amitola can rest and await her lying in, while the rest of us hunt and gather food.”

Amitola’s husband, Christopher, shot Maria Isabella a grateful look.

She smiled back. It was as if an enormous burden had been lifted from her shoulders. For the first time in her existence, she was free to do whatever she pleased, go wherever she wanted, and stay as long as she wished. She spread her arms wide, lifted her face to the sun, and twirled in a full circle.

She still had responsibilities, true. Her men still needed her leadership. Her friends were still counting on her to keep them safe, but they no longer had to answer to kings, queens, or generals. Or cruel fiancés. This was a whole new segment of the continent that needed exploring, and an endless number of adventures were waiting to be experienced.

“The sun looks good on you, capitan.”

Maria Isabella opened her eyes. Anthony was standing a few feet away with a curious and bemused expression riding his chiseled cheekbones and high forehead.

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