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“Oh yeah, right,” he says a little embarrassed.

“But in the mood I am right now, no bandit better hope to cross our path,” he says in all seriousness.

Jiron gives him a nod and they continue to ride on throughout the rest of the afternoon. Whether they are catching them or not is hard to tell as neither of them are experienced trackers. One thing’s for sure though, Kerrin and Gayle have a good head start with lots of fresh horses to change off with to better maintain their speed.

When night finally comes James decides to stop and rest. They’re both still feeling the effects of the drug used on them and are in need of some rest. Building a fire and eating what little food they find on the horses, they make camp and take turns standing watch throughout the night.

The following morning they’re up early and on the road before the sun crests the mountaintops. Riding hard, they continue to follow the road as it meanders through the mountains until finally reaching the summit. It’s not a sharp summit but a gradual one and they’re unable to look very far down the other side.

An hour after cresting the summit they come across what appears to be the camp Kerrin and Gayle used the previous night. A fire pit and mounds of fresh horse manure show that they were there. Off to the left of the road lies a lake which is the source of the river they’ve been following.

“May not be very much further behind them,” Jiron says.

“We have been riding hard,” agrees James. “Let’s take a moment and find out.”

Dismounting, he goes over to a free standing pool of water near the side of the road. Kneeling down, he concentrates on Kerrin and an image appears of him and Gayle riding fast trailing a line of horses behind them. The image shows them to still be in the mountains, the road they’re on winding among the hills and trees.

Expanding the image, it’s hard for him to determine just where or how far away they are. “At least they’re still on the run and haven’t met up with anyone,” announces Jiron.

“That’s fortunate,” adds James as he cancels the spell. Getting to his feet, he mounts and they continue down the mountain. The wind here in the upper elevation bites with cold as it whips at them. They huddle more into their jackets as they race down the road.

James is feeling fortunate there hasn’t been any snow falling yet here in the higher elevations. Though the clouds above have thinned somewhat, they still exhibit the inherent threat of more rain or snow. As cold as the air feels he wouldn’t be surprised to see snow begin to fall. Of course the temperature is worsened by their speed, the wind chill making it feel worse than it probably is.

As they continue speeding down the mountain they come to a rocky area where the trees start to thin. This section of the pass looks to have been obliterated by a mammoth rockslide some time in the recent past. A way through has been cleared to enable traffic to continue across, large boulders dot the area. The slide couldn’t have happened recently as bushes and small trees have begun to grow among the rubble.

James’ horse becomes skittish as they enter the boulder strewn section of the pass. “Easy boy,” he says, patting its neck in an attempt to calm it down.

“What’s wrong?” Jiron asks.

“I don’t know,” he replies. “Something’s got my horse spooked.”

Jiron signals to come to a halt as he scans the area. His horse has begun to exhibit nervousness too.

“Think there’s a problem?” James asks.

“Maybe,” he replies as he continues scanning the boulders. “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.” After searching for another minute he adds, “Would be a good place for an ambush though.”

“I was thinking that too,” says James. Up ahead of them the road winds its way through large piles of boulders which could very easily hide raiders of one kind or another.

“Kerrin and Gayle made it through,” Jiron finally says, “and I don’t see anything.” He glances to James and continues, “Let’s take it slow and keep our eyes open.”

Nodding, James nudges his horse to move at a slow walk. Keeping his eyes open,