Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind [79]
He wondered if Chase would return before nightfall. Should they stop for the night if he didn’t? No. Chase had said not to stop. They would have to keep going, all night if necessary, until he rejoined them. He felt as if the mountains were looming over them, ready to pounce. He didn’t think he had ever been this close to the boundary.
As concerned as he was about Chase, his anger faded. Richard turned and looked back at Kahlan. She gave him a warm smile, and he returned it, feeling better. He tried to imagine what the woods here had looked like before so many trees died. It might have been a beautiful place, green, snug, safe. Maybe his father had come this way when he had crossed the boundary, traveled this very road with the book.
He wondered if all the trees near the other boundary died before it fell. Maybe they could just wait until this one fell, too, and then go across. Maybe they didn’t need to go so far out of their way to the south, to Kings’ Port. But why should he think going south was out of the way? He didn’t know where to go in the Midlands, so why was one place better than another? The box they sought could just as easily be in the south as farther north.
The woods were getting gloomier. Richard hadn’t been able to see the sun for the last couple of hours, but there was no doubt it was setting. He didn’t like the idea of traveling these woods at night, but the idea of sleeping in them seemed worse. He checked to make sure the other two were staying close.
The sound of running water came faintly through the evening stillness, swelling as they rode, and in a short distance they came to a small river with a wooden bridge over it. Just before they crossed, Richard stopped. He didn’t like the look of it; inexplicably, something felt wrong. Being careful couldn’t hurt. He led his horse down the bank and peered underneath. The support beams were anchored to iron rings in granite blocks. The pins were missing.
“Someone tampered with the bridge. It will support the weight of a man, but not a horse. Looks like we’re going to have to get wet.”
Zedd scowled. “I don’t want to get wet.”
“Well, do you have a better idea?” Richard asked.
Zedd drew his finger and thumb down opposite sides of his smooth chin. “Yes,” he announced. “You two go across, I will hold up the bridge.” Richard looked at him as if the wizard had lost his senses. “Go on, it will be all right.”
Zedd sat up tall on his horse, held his arms out straight to his sides, palms up, tilted his head back, breathed deeply, and closed his eyes. Reluctantly, cautiously, the other two crossed the bridge. On the other side they turned their horses and looked back. The wizard’s horse began walking across unprompted while Zedd continued to hold his arms out, his head tilted back and his eyes closed. When he reached their side, he brought his arms down and looked at the other two. Richard and Kahlan stared at him.
“Maybe I was wrong,” Richard said. “Maybe the bridge would hold the weight.”
Zedd smiled. “Maybe you were.” Without looking back, he snapped his fingers. The bridge collapsed into the water with a crash. The beams groaned as they were torn apart from one another in the current and swept downstream. “Then again, maybe you weren’t. I couldn’t leave it like that. Someone might come across and be hurt.”
Richard shook his head. “Someday, my friend, we are going to sit down and have a long talk.” He turned his horse and started off again. Zedd looked at Kahlan and shrugged. She smiled and gave him a wink, then turned and followed after Richard.
They continued down the dismal trail, watching the woods as they went. Richard wondered what else Zedd could do. He let his horse pick its own way in the gathering darkness, wondering how much longer this dead world went on, or if the road would ever take them away from it. The night was bringing life to the place, strange calls and scraping noises. His horse whinnied at things unseen. He patted its neck reassuringly and