Wrangler (The Wrangler Saga Book 1) by Hondo Jinx

Author:Hondo Jinx [Jinx, Hondo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-24T16:00:00+00:00

25

Before first light, Braddock woke Philia and slipped from his bedroll. He had only slept a couple of hours, thanks to the late night, the commotion of the fur folk, and all the thoughts rushing through his mind.

Tilly murmured softly where she had been cuddled up beside Philia but didn’t awaken.

Elizabeth and the other half of Chundra’s people had invaded their cabin, which now smelled of spilled wine, wet fur, and smoke from the dwindling fire.

The infuriated redhead had been angrier still when she registered what she thought the sprites and Braddock had been up to. Though, regardless of Elizabeth’s show of disgust, she hadn’t turned away, and Braddock hadn’t missed the way her flaring blue eyes had studied his nakedness.

With the sprites’ help, he had crudely patched the hole in Elizabeth’s roof with a cured hide and placed a chamber pot and various tin cups and bowls under the largest streams of water. But it was going to require a lot of clean up, and he didn’t know how well he could fix the roof under these conditions.

At least Doal remained above ground. Once the bargle hibernated, things like this would be tougher, especially considering the problem of the fur folk. They ate a lot, made sleeping difficult, and took up a lot of space.

Braddock had offered them sanctuary, though, so he would follow through with that promise, no matter how difficult.

First, he must hunt. Food was their most pressing need.

Moving quietly so as not to wake the others, he left the cabin with his pistols, spears, tomahawk, and Cleaver.

Philia accompanied him to lock the gate and promised to keep an ear out in case he returned in a hurry.

You never knew what you might run into in these woods.

The rain had stopped, and the temperature had plummeted, making the stone enclosure treacherous with ice.

Doal was waiting for them, squatting miserably in the meadow just outside the gate. A sheen of ice clung to the hunkered bargle, glowing pinkly in the rosy moonlight of the frigid predawn.

Doal groaned mournfully in his rockslide language.

“Goodbye for now, dearest Doal,” Philia wept, and zipped forward to kiss the icy cheek of the stony giant. “Sleep well, my beloved friend. We will be happy to see you in the spring.”

Doal’s mouth stretched into a huge grin. He touched the spot she’d kissed and gave a rumbling purr.

Striding out into the meadow, Braddock patted Doal’s massive toe. “Rest well, amigo. You’ve earned it. Thank you for your help.”

Doal turned his grin on Braddock and rumbled again.

“He says you are his friend.”

Braddock smiled and nodded and patted Doal’s foot again. “Yes, we are friends.”

Philia translated, and the giant nodded, looking both content and very sleepy. Then he gave one last wave and sunk into the ground.

Things would be more difficult now. But somehow, Braddock would wrangle this situation. They would manage. Frontier folk always find a way.

He kissed Philia goodbye, and she locked the gate behind him, and he trudged across the meadow, frozen grass crunching beneath his boots, which rapidly soaked through with the cold water puddling the plateau.

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