Brewed in Magic by Jenna Wolfhart

Author:Jenna Wolfhart [Wolfhart, Jenna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-01T16:00:00+00:00

The trek up the mountain was hard going. As fit as I was from hauling my wagon across the islands, I had to pause a few times to catch my breath. Eventually, we crested the ridge, marching up the final steps just as the sun was marching down the horizon. I sat hard on one of the abandoned carts, grateful for a seat that wasn’t coated in mud. Rubbing my tired legs, I sighed and then took the last swig of my canteen.

Ragnar remained standing, frowning at the carts.

“Aren’t you tired?” I patted the empty spot beside me. Granted, he’d have to squeeze in close to me to fit. But after all the exercise and fresh air, I was feeling quite bold about it. I was a grown woman who ran her own damn business. I could sit beside a handsome man without combusting.

His frown deepened. “Weren’t there five carts when we passed by here earlier?”

I looked around. There were four now, but I hadn’t counted them before. “I can’t say I paid them much attention on our way down.”

“There were five.” He slowly circled the carts, then pointed at the ground. “Muddy tracks, heading off into the distance. Someone took one of these after we started down the path.”

Pulling my legs up to my chest, I failed to comprehend his agitation. It was just a missing cart. “I’m pretty sure that’s what they’re for, Ragnar. People use them to take things to and from the docks. And then they leave them here when they’re not in use, since it’s impossible to take them up and down the steps.”

“Or they use them to take things from taprooms that aren’t really taprooms,” he murmured.

Ah. My eyes widened. I saw where he was going with this now. “You don’t think Ivar took one, do you?”

“He was suspiciously absent from his house, and his wife was acting very odd. Think about it.” He paced across the churned mud. “If he did steal our kegs, wouldn’t he and his wife be on edge, expecting that someone might show up on their doorstep? And so when someone did—when we did—he went running.”

“Except he couldn’t have carried all the kegs up this path by himself. One or two, maybe, but no more than that,” I countered.

“Unless he had help.”

Sighing, I hopped off the cart, my boots sinking into the mud. More water oozed through the leather, transforming my feet into a soggy mess again. I’d been looking forward to dropping onto a bench beside Nilsa’s hearth and having at least three servings of her stew while wearing a dry, clean pair of woollen socks.

Ragnar noticed my shiver and frowned. “We can head back to Riverwold. I meant what I said earlier, it’s just ale.”

“I know.” I hoisted my pack higher on my shoulder. “But as long as we have a thread we can follow, we should find out where it leads us.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.