After long hard day of traveling by foot, the food still tastes the same thankfully. Every now and then I'll stumble across a farm. One farm I visited had a freaking horse that survived! I don't know who but I guess it's like me. Alone.
I don't know much about horses but I can tell which ones are expensive and which ones are not. And let me tell you, this horse probably costs more than me. It has silky long white hair that waves, and kind of a caramel look for the body color. It looks like it might be a Frisian horse. Thankfully I've gone horse back riding (once) so I know a little about how to saddle them up and ride them.
I saw on a little label that the horses name was, as I guessed, Caramel. I found a bag meant for horses to carry so I won't have to carry my own things, and I put some essential things for Caramel too. Caramel is a "he" and you would expect the horse to be a "she", but, wrong! Anyways, every time mounting him was a pain. The first time I got a step stool thing meant for mounting horses. Then I practiced doing it without it for a few times. Me being short and him being a freaking sky scraper it was hard, but then he decided to show me he can sort of lay down so I can hop on. (He decided to do that when I was just about to give up) But I have to say he's very well trained, he's definitely a bomb horse (a bomb horse is a horse that doesn't care/react to something like making loud noises or trying to spook/surprise them).
I love riding horses, most of the time I have him trotting or cantering, but I give him breaks every now and then. The water is still okay to drink, and Caramel has some personality of his own. I made sure to keep him well groomed and healthy.
Since we passed a lot of houses and farms it was easy to find good for both of us. We ran into another pair of Lupas in Denver, after a few weeks of traveling. Oddly enough I heard them talking and I understood them too. This is what they said;
Lupa one (who looks way older and mature than the second one): "I'm surprised the Queen hasn't come out to stretch her wings."
Lupa two: "Yeah, but she wants us to scout around first to look for a good place to build her castle."
Lupa one: "Yep, I heard some towns folk got word and some already came outside to colonize by themselves."
Lupa two: "I don't blame them. Staying down there for a centuries isn't fun, the pressure down there made all of us smaller and the children are scary small."
Lupa one: "Up here is way better, I feel free again. But I still have to walk hours after hours. With you..."
Lupa 2: "Hmph. Hey, how's Jenna doing?"
Then I got thinking about what they were talking about... what if there's an army of them? Well queens usually have armies. But if there are others that won't look so scary and leathered in armor, what if the "townsfolk" that got "out" are friendly? Then again I have no idea if the ones patrolling around are even mean at all. Those guys might be friendly cuddly things, but the older Lupa back their sounded like my grandpa. Mean, old, and big
I shook my head and kept on my way, wondering about my parents. They were at work farther away from the bomb than I was, so they should be okay, but still, I miss them. But I know the sad truth, they're gone and I'm alone with Caramel.
Another thing I had the time to ponder was why I was the only one who didn't die from the bomb among all the people in the vicinity.
As Caramel and I rode along the abandoned trails, I thought about my options, and what I would do if there were no safe places left. Would the Lupas kill me? Would they accept me into their society? Would I die alone, wasted away from hunger or disease?
As if she could read my mind, Caramel whinnied reassuringly.
"Thanks, Caramel." I patted him neck and rubbed it. The road winds along forever...
At the site if the Lupas she overheard...
Lupa 1: "She's started to learn more about us. Good."
Lupa 2: "Soon, she will come to understand."
Lupa 1: "Yes, The Queen will be coming soon, and then, Maggie shall learn everything once and for all!"