The people who had been searching all day were finally able to go back and rest for a while.
But Wenyan couldn't sleep.
She couldn't sleep without finding Shen Jingxiu.
Forty-Six was still there.
Wenyan didn't believe that Shen Jingxiu would leave this old companion behind and go away on his own; she thought he must be nearby.
She wanted to go out and search again.
Wenyan gently stroked Forty-Six's head, pressing her face gently against the large creature.
"Forty-Six, you know where he is, don't you? Take me to him, please? I have so much to say to him, to them. I didn't realize that this visit would span fifty years apart from them. Take me to him, please, Forty-Six, just like you brought me here and then took me away. Can you?"
Forty-Six was a horse.
It couldn't talk.
But it lifted its hooves.
Wenyan opened the gate of the horse pen, letting it lead her.
They walked slowly across the grasslands at three in the morning.
From afar, Wenyan heard the sound of wind chimes.
