west.”
“I’m sorry to ask you to navigate.”
“Why?” she asked, sounding surprised. “It isn’t difficult.”
He regretted it because he regretted that she had to be a part of what he was doing, but he supposed that ground had been covered too often already. He only sighed and closed his eyes against the wind.
West it was.
It was dawn before Sarah told him they needed to stop. Ruathar, that endlessly energetic beast, followed her unspoken directions as if he’d read her thoughts—which Ruith supposed he could. They landed in a little glade without any undue signs of distress from Sarah. Either she was growing accustomed to flying or she was simply too tired to protest. Ruith understood both.
Ruathar turned himself into a quite ordinary-looking horse and eyed them purposefully.
“He’s hungry,” Sarah said. “There is a farmhouse up ahead.”
“Is there?”
She looked at him. “I can see a spell in the barn.”
He let out his breath slowly. “Very well. I’ll see if I can’t purchase us a bit of peace for the morning—and you the opportunity to do a little spell hunting.”
“Where did you get gold?”
“Out of thin air.” He smiled wearily. “Magic is useful now and again.”
“Don’t expect me to disagree,” she said with feeling. “Especially after our escape last night.” She looked behind her. “Where’s Tarbh?”
“Flapping along languidly behind us,” Ruith said. “I’m sure he’ll catch up. Let’s go find oats for this hungry beast here. I imagine my pony-turned-owl will find his own breakfast.”
She nodded and waited as he gathered both their packs, shouldered them, then trudged off with her toward the farmhold he could see in the distance. Sarah was very quiet, which didn’t surprise him. She had not only their rather unpleasant exit from An-uallach to recover from, but things to think on, things he’d suspected she couldn’t avoid much longer.
He put that thought aside for further consideration as he saw the farmer walking across his fields toward them. He looked quickly at Sarah, but she only smiled bleakly.
“The spell is in his tack room. I imagine our good landholder has no idea it’s there.”
“Let’s find it sooner rather than later,” Ruith murmured, “then have a nap.”
“Happily,” she said with a gusty sigh. “I’m exhausted.”
He nodded, then stopped a handful of paces away from the farmer. He nodded politely and had a nod in return.
“Looking for shelter?” the man asked.
“And stabling for our horse,” Ruith agreed. “Just for the day, if possible.”
“More than possible,” the farmer said with a shrug, “for the right price.”
“Name it,” Ruith said without hesitation.
The man assessed them, then nodded. “I’ll think on it later.” He started to turn and walk away, then hesitated. He looked at them with a frown. “I don’t suppose either of you has magic.”
“A little,” Ruith conceded. “What is your need?”
“There’s something in my barn I don’t like, but I’ll be damned if I can divine what.” He took off his hat and scratched his head. “Some leaking of something. Animals don’t like it and the cow stopped giving milk a month ago. Can’t say as I blames her, actually.”
“I think we could investigate,” Ruith conceded. “Before our horse has his breakfast, of course, as a good-faith token.”
“You fix it, my lad, and I’ll even feed you and your wife.”
“We would be most grateful,” Ruith said. He looked at Sarah. “Wouldn’t we, darling?”
She only rolled her eyes at him, but walked with him after the farmer just the same. “One more to go, Buck,” she murmured. “Your tally is not yet seen to.”
“I should have danced with Morag.”
“At the peril of your soul, I daresay. I’m not sure it would have been worth it.”
“I believe I’ll be the judge of how much peril you’re worth,” he said with a smile.
“You’re daft.”
“Again, besotted,” he said, squeezing her hand. “I’ll tell you of it in glorious detail if you can stay awake long enough to hear it.”
She smiled at him, which eased his heart a bit. He saw to the stabling of Ruathar, then investigated the tack room with Sarah. A spell was indeed there, tucked into the bottom of an old and obviously unused saddlebag. Ruith didn’t bother to see which one it was. He simply rolled it up and stuck it down his boot. He walked with Sarah down the aisle to where the farmer was waiting for them, laying spells upon the animals as he went. He accepted a basket of supper, thanked the farmer kindly for his hospitality by handing him a pair of gold coins, then shut himself