Once I reached the road, I started making better time. At one point, I paused, noticing a strange pawprint, and followed that along the road for a little while before it veered off. I didn’t recognize it, though it could just be that the animal had as much difficulty as I did traversing the flooding.
By midafternoon, my home finally loomed into view. Smoke swirled from the chimney, drifting up and around as it gradually dissipated into the cool afternoon sky. There was no sign of movement outside, which meant I still had my chores to do for the day. I could hope my mother or sister would have gotten started without me, but doubted they had.
When I reached the fence, I hurried through, and glanced over to the barn for a moment. The door was closed, but the storm must have caused a little damage, since a hole had formed near the base. I shook my head. One more thing that I would have to fix.
Trudging up to the house, I peeled off my boots and started to peel off my pants when the door slammed open.
Alison looked out at me. “Where have you been?” Her hair was pulled back and braided behind her head. A hint of dirt stained her cheeks. She wasn’t wearing her usual apron.
“I got caught out in the storm,” I said. “I managed to make it to Joran’s home, but I couldn’t make it any further. There was too much flooding. The Sentar Valley flooded, sending a significant current downstream that washed out the road. I had to backtrack. I tried getting back, but couldn’t.”
“Mom didn’t know where you went. She thought maybe you’d gone into the city.”
There was an accusation in her words. “I told you I wouldn’t go without you.”
“Then where did you go?”
“One of our pigs was slaughtered. I tried to track down the wolf responsible for it.”
“On your own?”
“I should have told you where I’d gone, but I didn’t think it would lead me that far away.” And, if I was honest, I enjoyed the walk. Or had, until the storm. “It wouldn’t be the first time , Alison.” I peeled off my pants, standing there in my small clothes, water still dripping off me. I needed to rinse off, but I wasn’t sure I could do that inside, anyway. “Can you get me a towel?”
“Fine, I’ll get you a towel, but then we’re going to talk about going into the city.”
“I can’t go today,” I said.
“I wasn’t saying today,” she snapped.
She turned, heading into the house, slamming the door closed. I stood on the porch, waiting. I wasn’t about to go into the house dripping with water , though with her attitude, maybe I should. I was cold and wet and only wanted a towel.
Alison was gone for a few moments before she returned, holding out a ratty towel. I took it, and pressed it against my damp legs trying to squeeze out the extra moisture. I wasn’t going to have the luxury of sitting by a hearth this time to dry off. “Did you catch the wolf?”
“No,” I said.
“You got caught out in the storm, and you didn’t even manage to get the critter you were after.”
I looked up at her, and I shook my head. “I told you I didn’t. There was the storm and—” I almost told her about the dragon, but with the way she watched me, I wasn’t sure if I should. “I got stuck. Nearly washed away.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It wasn’t a good night.” She looked back toward the house. “When the storm came in, Dad kept trying to go out. He said he needed to close the barn.”
“I closed the barn before I left.”
“Mom and I told him that. We could see it from the window. The lightning was bright enough we could see practically everything. It was like daylight at times.”
“I remember,” I said.
“I can’t imagine what it was like to be out in that ,” she said.
“It wasn’t fun,” I said.
“How did you stand it?”
“I didn’t have any choice.” I finished toweling off and then nodded to the door. “Can you grab me new pants?”
“If you promise to bring me with you when you go into the city.”
“Haven’t we already had this discussion?” I shook my head slowly. I was getting frustrated with her. “I promise to bring you with me to the city. Now, do you think you can grab me some pants?”
She stared at me for a moment. Then she spun, storming inside and leaving me standing on the doorstep again. I was thankful that it was late enough that nobody was going to be heading past our home at this point. If they did, they would see me in my small clothes.
When the door opened again, I started, “It’s about…” I looked over. “Dad.”
He blinked for a moment, frowning at me. “Where are your pants, Ashan?”
I looked past him. “I got caught out in the storm last night. Alison went to grab some pants for me.”
“The storm? We had a storm?”
I nodded. “There was. It was a bad one too. Quite a bit of flooding off the King’s Road, and the storm washed out a section of it.”
“Well, storms like that happen. I remember the last one that came through and knocked out the King’s Road. It took us the better part of a week to rebuild it.”
I frowned. “You had to rebuild the King’s Road?”
“You know how it is. Once he decided to take over Berestal, he wanted to make sure he had a way of reaching it by ground, not just by dragon. The dragons helped, though. Can’t have a road built up like that and so quickly without the dragons helping.”
I watched my father, frowning at
