Arrows of Time - Kim Falconer [69]
In a few months, they had turned the place into a functioning temple, bright, productive and engaging, an oasis in the red desert sea. But most important, the energy was optimistic, as if the spell that had preserved the estate was working its magic on the weary occupants, perhaps even himself. He shielded his eyes, following the line of the new road as it led out of the temple grounds over the rise and towards the wrought-iron gates, a half hour’s easy ride to the northeast. Scylla sat in the middle of the courtyard, ignoring the activity around her and staring towards those distant gates. ‘Scylla, what do you see, my beauty?’
I can’t see anything, Rowan. The hill is in the way.
He chuckled. ‘What do you sense?’
Someone’s coming.
‘You mean someone new?’ he asked.
‘They’re at the gates,’ Kreshkali answered. The Three Sisters landed above her and began preening themselves and squawking. ‘I think a welcoming party is in order,’ she said.
‘I’ll get the horses.’ Come on, Scylla. Let’s check this out.
The feline responded by leaving her vigil and heading for the shade of a weeping willow. She bow-stretched and sharpened her claws on the trunk.
‘It’s just a walk, lovely, not a hunt.’
The hunt, my dear Rowan, is everywhere, waiting to be revealed.
He laughed, shaking his head when Kreshkali queried him. ‘Whoever’s coming, she’s not worried.’
‘Nor are they.’ She tilted her head towards the ravens.
‘Then I’d say it’s a friend, not a foe.’
‘All the more reason to greet them!’
They rode to the gates at a leisurely jog, leaving the bustle of Temple Los Loma behind them.
‘Too much for you back there?’ he asked.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Now that you’re in the saddle, Kreshkali, you don’t appear as eager to get to the gates. I hope this wasn’t an excuse to get away. I’ve students to train and horses to work. If it’s claustrophobia you have, I can suggest…’
‘Certainly not.’ She scratched her nose.
‘Really?’
‘All right, sometimes maybe. I can feel a bit hemmed in, but not today. There is someone coming, An’ Lawrence. I’m not making it up.’
‘If you were making it up, Kali, it would happen anyway.’ He mumbled the words to himself and then chuckled.
‘What’s that?’
‘I said, it’s good to be out in this lovely day.’
She squinted at the sun. It was baking down on them, the heat saturating their light cotton clothing and making her face flush and skin prickle. The breeze was hot, dry and dusty. ‘Right.’ Easing her horse to a walk, she pinned him with her eyes.
‘And how are you coping?’
‘I’m fine,’ he said quickly.
‘The Lupins aren’t making you itch?’
‘It seems to be working out.’ His voice sounded rehearsed in his own mind. It was.
‘Hating it that much?’
‘Not hating per se.’ An’ Lawrence was wary of the ‘understanding’ between the Lupins and the resistance group, though he had given his word to participate openly, and that is what he would do. He rubbed the back of his neck. ‘The truth is, I don’t trust them, and I don’t see why we need them here.’
‘It’s not about need, or what we see. It’s about what is authentic. This is their home. They were born here.’
‘You mean created.’
‘Same thing.’
‘I think I liked it better when they were all underground.’
‘Give it time, Rowan. Give yourself time.’
They rode on in silence until the top of the gate was visible, its wrought-iron spikes black against the red earth, bright apple tree leaves waving against them.
‘Is it Rosette and you’re not telling me? I hate surprises,’ An’ Lawrence said.
‘I know you do. It’s not her. She doesn’t even know where this place is. She left before we found it, remember?’ Kreshkali took a swig of water from the canteen and handed it to Rowan. ‘There’s