Well Traveled by Margaret Mills & Tedy Ward

Author:Margaret Mills & Tedy Ward [Mills, Margaret & Ward, Tedy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781615816026
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

HE WAS up with the sun the next morning, and while he could tell that it surprised Jed, nothing was said about it. They didn’t talk at all, really, because Jed was keeping to himself and Gideon couldn’t think of anything to say. It was an uncommon experience for him, and he spent more time talking to the farrier who worked with Star and then to Star, once they were on the road, than he did to Jed.

He tried not to dwell on it. He’d meant what he’d said, foolish as it had been. If Jed was bothered by it, there was nothing Gideon could do.

But as the day wore on, and they got farther from Carson City, the tension eased some. About midafternoon, Jed started his chanting, and Gideon realized that it’d been a while since he’d heard it—since the conversation the day before about them going into Carson City, in fact. Maybe it wasn’t his words that were bothering Jed. Maybe it was being around all the people. Jed was moving them at a fast-enough pace to get them as far away from Carson City as he could, that was for sure.

By the time they settled that night, at a mountain stream under a copse of trees, even Jed was dragging. They’d spent much of the day climbing along the jagged slopes of the eastern Sierras, and while the views were truly breathtaking, the climbing did its own job stealing his breath, and it made his calves ache. Jed moved down stream to fish while Gideon settled his horse and started a fire. As dusk fell, Jed cooked the fish, and Gideon watched him, trying every now and then to make small talk. Jed answered, his voice low and his answers direct, but it didn’t go no further than that.

When they got ready for bed, Jed placed his blanket on the far side of fire, the first time he’d put such distance between them. It stung, and Gideon stood there staring for long enough that he knew Jed would fall asleep if he didn’t say something. He opened his mouth, but he wasn’t even sure what was wrong. Eventually, he mustered, “What’d I do to make you mad?”

Jed looked up at him, his face as inscrutable as a wooden cigar store Indian’s. “You did not anger me,” he said quietly. “We should rest. Tomorrow will be another long day—”

“You trying to get this over with?” Gideon asked, sliding his hands into his pockets. “That it?”

Jed stared at him, blinking slowly before he answered. “We are many days past the schedule I promised you. We have many miles to go, much of it not as easy as the land we have crossed so far. We should rest as we can. We should not be wasting ourselves—”

“That what we’ve been doing?” Gideon asked, taking a step closer. “Wasting ourselves? I didn’t think so—thought this was something special, especially these last few days.”

Jed pushed up and finally stood, rubbing his hands against his thighs.

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