Dragons of the Watch - Donita K. Paul [7]
Tak bleated a grumpy retort and continued dashing down the rocky terrain.
He wanted to get to shelter as soon as could be. Ellie shifted the carpetbag from one hand to the other. The load got heavier with every step, and the bulk of the valise made it hard to keep her balance. “I’m going to fall down this mountain and never see the coronation.”
Just as she reached a level spot near the base of the mountain, the rain changed from a light sprinkle to a torrent. Tak bolted for a cluster of huge rocks, and Ellie followed. Tak leaped over the smaller boulders. To follow, Ellie had to climb and squeeze and struggle with her carpetbag. The hood of her cloak fell back, and rain poured on her head like she’d stuck it under the water pump at the kitchen sink. She fell off the last rock, which was barricading a cave, hit dry dirt, and rolled away from the entrance.
She peered into the dark recesses of the cave. Creepies crawled over her skin, making the fine hair stand up.
“Where are you?” she whispered.
“Maa.”
One of the shadows shifted. Ellie tensed, ready to run. Tak took a step forward.
“Oh, you scared me, Tak.” She unbuttoned her cloak. “We’ll have to stay here. Not exactly what I’d like, but you don’t care for rain.” Pausing, she waited, thinking she might have heard a squeaky noise from farther back in the cave. “And I don’t like closed-in places.” She listened again, then whispered, “Probably a bat, and bats won’t hurt us.”
She turned and faced the entrance, snapping the water off her cloak. She then laid it over a rock to dry. Sitting on the ground, she took off her new boots and sopping stockings. Tak took a few steps closer and looked over her shoulder as she worked to wring some of the rain out of the hem of her skirt.
“It’s no use. I’m going to have to change.” She reached for her bag and pulled it closer.
Tak nibbled at the ribbon holding a wet hank of her hair.
“Stop!” She batted at him without hitting him. He responded to the signal to leave her alone by plopping his backside down. He looked like a very big, ugly dog. He chewed his cud, and his eyelids drifted half-shut over his horizontal pupils.
Ellie paused in rummaging through her valise to ponder his contentment. “You’re wet and stinky.” The observation did not disturb his unfocused gaze.
Ellie stared at the sheets of rain soaking the boulders across the front of their shelter. The rivulets all flowed away from the cave entrance. They wouldn’t be flooded.
With a big sigh, Ellie pushed her new clothes back into the carpetbag. Changing her wet and mud-splashed dress for another would only get two outfits grubby instead of just one. She laughed a little at herself. At home she had two dresses. She’d have to be more than just a little dirty and uncomfortable to warrant putting the second dress on. She scooted back to the stone wall, arranged the carpetbag for a pillow, and snuggled down for a rest.
Two nights before, she had been so excited about going with her aunt and uncle that she couldn’t sleep. The next day in town had left her worn to a nub. She’d discovered that shopping was hard work. Keeping up with Aunt Tiffenbeth had been exhausting.
And that night, when she’d finally fallen onto the soft feather mattress in a room she had to herself, she couldn’t sleep. No sisters snored. No little bodies on either side of her squirmed and wiggled and dug at her with sharp elbows and toes.
She couldn’t hear the breeze in the stand of quaken trees outside the farm window. The windows stayed shut in town. Aunt Tiffenbeth said burglars might be tempted to come through open windows.
Homesick. And she wasn’t even five miles from home yet.
She concentrated on the beautiful clothes Aunt Tiffenbeth had insisted on buying. She envisioned herself in each outfit. She planned what she would wear in the carriage, what she