The sun dipped lower in the sky as the trio traveled onward. Conversation was light, with minimal teasing and occasional laughter. Finn began to enjoy the banter that passed between Mayra and Riley. As Finn was more mother than sister to Gabriel, she lacked the sort of bond with him that the siblings with her clearly shared. They were occasionally sharp, but always quick to forgive. Laughter came easily with them.
Finn's life had a quiet joy of purpose. Gabriel made her laugh, but it was more often laughter of observation of his antics than participation in the humor and games. Father had become noticeably more somber since Mother's death. He wasn't morose, but laughter took longer to reach his eyes, if it did at all. Finn warmed to the jovial atmosphere of her companions.
After a while Riley stretched. Finn involuntarily cringed away from him as he expanded the space he occupied. Riley recoiled slightly and offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry, your Hero-ness. Didn't mean to invade your side of the bench." His contrite tone and posture stopped her from being irritated by the unwanted nickname.
Mayra chimed in, "I'm getting tired of being bounced around back here. When are we stopping?"
Everyone looked behind them as the sun got lower. "You're right, we should find a good place to bed down before dark." The sky looked clear, but that was no guarantee of perfect weather through the evening. Riley steered the cart off the road in the next clearing and unhitched Peach. "I'll gather firewood to make some hot supper. You two can... do whatever you find necessary, but stay close to the cart." Riley strapped the sword to his side, but also picked up a sturdier, wide bladed knife that would be good for chopping dead wood.
With that, he traipsed into the bushes whistling a little tune so they could keep track of his location while they did, as he said, 'whatever they found necessary'. Mayra let Peach drink from the bucket of water allocated for that purpose, then tied her to a long rope to graze as she saw fit. After that, she helped Finn down and they took care of their needs. Mayra rewrapped Finn's wound with a paste made of some herbs that Amelia had packed. Once that was accomplished, Finn settled down on a convenient rock which made for a rather pleasant chair.
Stretching her tired muscles, she watched as Mayra retrieved cooking implements from the cart and prepared to start dinner. Around the little clearing, she gathered kindling and began to pile it together for when Riley returned with more substantial wood. Finally, she went and retrieved a small pouch which contained pieces of flint and tufts of fabric scraps.
Riley strode out of the trees, still whistling, carrying an armful of wood ranging from medium to large. The knife was tucked into a sheath on his belt opposite of the sword. Setting the wood to the side, he quickly constructed a little fire. Since it hadn't rained in a few weeks, the wood was dry and caught easily. Before long, the trio were eating a hot supper of stew made from vegetables and a little dried meat, along with skillet bread. They decided to save the rest of Amelia's sweet rolls for the next day for lunch. The sun set as they were eating, and Riley stood up to go give Peach a good brushing before it was fully dark.
Mayra was heating some water over the campfire until it boiled, then dropped something ground up into it. Once it was fully dissolved, Mayra pulled the small pot away from the fire for it to cool.
"What's that?" Finn asked warily.
"Medicine, to help the pain. It should help you sleep, too, Mama said."
Finn groaned, "I really would prefer not to."
"Suit yourself. Feel free to waste precious medicine that my mother worked hard to gather and that I slaved over a fire to make for you. I'll just set it here beside you while I go make up our bedrolls in the wagon. Riley can sleep underneath and keep watch." She said the last sentence louder, for Riley to hear. He gave an exasperated sigh and Mayra stuck out her tongue at him. He realized how improper and cramped it would be for all three of them to try and stretch out to sleep inside. At least under the cart he would have a roof over his head, even if there were no walls, or curtains, around him. Mayra tossed his bedroll underneath the cart to emphasize her decision on the matter.
As Mayra prepared the area for sleeping, Finn warily eyed the concoction next to her. It would cool enough to drink before long, and Mayra's guilt trip was weighing heavily on her. She knew how much time Amelia spent in the woods gathering her medicinal herbs, and wasting them seemed wrong. Still, she hadn't asked for this to be made, so wasn't it Mayra who was the wastrel of the situation?
Despite her flawless logic in shifting the blame for any waste to Mayra, Finn was a sucker for a guilt trip. Sighing heavily and, holding her nose against the smell, she reached for the drink.
"Are you insulting my mother's recipe, or my sister's cooking?" Riley strode over, having bedded down Peach as well as the wilderness allowed.
"Neither, thank you very much," responded Finn defensively, "I was falling prey to your sister's shameless manipulation."
"Shameless manipulation you say?" Riley raised his eyebrows, "I'm so pleased my extensive lessons have been taken to heart!"
Finn rolled her eyes, and Mayra gave a laugh from inside the cart where she was arranging blankets and pillows. As she reached again for the medicine to drink it, her hand was stopped midway by Riley's. Startled by the unexpected contact, she looked up into his eyes.
He blinked twice as if he'd forgotten what he was going to say. "Um, perhaps you should wait until you're all tucked in, if you know what I mean. That stuff works fast and I don't want you falling asleep here on the ground. You know you get heavier when you're unconscious." He stated the last part as fact with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"You can't possibly know whether I'm heavier when I'm unconscious!" sputtered Finn, embarrassed.
"Oh, I was speaking generally," Riley hedged with a smile, "Perhaps I should have said 'one gets heavier when unconscious'. I certainly have enough experience moving tired little brothers to their beds when they play too hard and then fall asleep mid-meal."
"It's true," Mayra chimed in, climbing down from the cart. "Our brothers can fall asleep just about anywhere, and eventually got too big and heavy for Mama to move."
"Fine. Mayra, if you'll be so kind as to bring that along, let's head to bed. It's strange that sitting all day long could be so exhausting."
Mayra nodded, "I think it's that, even though you were sitting still, the cart is moving you all the time. It's not like sitting on a chair on solid ground."
Finn struggled to her feet. Well, she struggled to her foot and crutch. Riley looked concerned but let her have her space. He knew how she valued self-sufficiency. Probably even more now since she had so little. He stayed close at hand while she hobbled to the cart in case her good leg or crutch should trip her on a stone in the dark.
The dancing fire began to cast eerie shadows around their little campsite. When she reached the cart, Finn closed her eyes and waited while Riley once again lifted her up and deposited her inside. She half-crawled half-slid up to her bedroll and arranged herself under the blankets. Changing into nightclothes seemed ill-advised in the wilderness.
"Will you be all right outside?" Finn suddenly asked Riley. Perhaps it would be dangerous for him to be exposed that way. Who knew what animals prowled this part of the world?
"I'll be fine," He said with a lopsided smile. "Peach hears much better than I do and will wake me if anything's wrong. I'm a light sleeper. The fire should keep varmints away, and we've almost not seen a single soul on this road all day."
Almost. Finn thought again of the little girl and began to worry, but shook off the feeling of gloom. Riley bid them goodnight and retired to check Peach a final time before bedding down himself. Mayra handed the medicine to her, and she dutifully drank the entire cup.
"Thank you. You're a good friend, even if this does taste absolutely terrible." Finn's face contorted into several different expressions of disgust as she tried to move the taste from her mouth.
"You're welcome," Mayra said as she handed Finn a water skin to wash down the bitter medicine. "I'd be offended by your opinion except it's what absolutely everyone thinks about that stuff. They hate the taste, but not for too long because you'll practically be asleep by the time I finish this sentence."
Finn's suddenly heavy eyelids blinked slowly, lacking full understanding as Mayra continued to speak. Finn yawned in a very unladylike way and laid back on her pillow.
Then, she began to dream.