Delphi nodded conspiratorially at Feifei. "Yep. My first kiss at eighteen. It was pretty good too."
Actually, it was more than good… She had felt herself melting into his lips and his arms, and she'd had to wrench herself back out of the heady emotions with some considerable effort.
"And then I bit him on the lip and kicked him in the bollocks!"
Feifei stopped walking and bent over double, laughing so hard that tears formed, and she rolled onto the sand. Delphi couldn't help but join in when her best friend laughed like that.
"You did amazingly well Delph," hiccoughed Feifei. "You didn't panic, and you convinced him you were into it, even though you clearly wouldn't be up for a kiss with a stranger right after you almost got eaten alive by a crocodile. What was that thickhead thinking? Men only think with their little heads when they should be using their big ones."
Delphi didn't correct Feifei on 'convincing him you were into it' and the commander being a stranger stuff; it made for a better story like Feif told it.
Truth be told, her first meeting with the Commander was probably how he had convinced himself she might be into kissing him. She would reflect more on that kiss later... in the privacy of her own swag…
"I'm actually very proud of myself. My honey trap training kicked in, and it all worked exactly like the consorts said it would."
"You nailed it, literally. He'll think twice before he messes with you again Delph."
Delphi remembered the smell and feel of the big man lying on top of her, and the way he killed that crocodile and wrenched her to safety, and she felt a twinge of guilt for hurting him in return.
Then she pulled her shoulders back and reminded herself that these men were here to capture them and return them to the palace, and, just like that, the twinge was snuffed out.
If they could make it to Horsham with the guards still on their tails, the consorts had given her a plan of attack to see if they could recruit them to the Rebellion… But that was a long way off, and she was getting ahead of herself now.
Loveday, Feifei and Delphi scouted the crossing options; Delphi using binoculars to peer across the estuary.
"There are a few different options," she said finally, "but I think we go for the one that takes us three quarters of the way across on the sandbar, before we have to swim the last bit. What do you think Feif?"
Feifei took the binoculars and studied the options. "I agree let's take the sandbar and deal with the channel on the other side. We can always backtrack if it looks too dangerous when we get there."
"That's it, the tide won't get any lower," Loveday called.
"Move out girls," said Delphi. "Try and keep your weapons out of the salt."
They kicked the horses onto the sandbar. Although the water was very fast flowing, it came no higher than the brumbies' knees, so they made quick time across the wide estuary, until they reached the deep channel separating them from the opposite bank.
The girls peered into the channel doubtfully. It was rushing out to sea and looked bottomless and dark. Delphi rode up and down the sandbar hoping there was a better choice further along, but it looked pretty much the same.
"This is as good as it gets," she called, "we'll cross here. I'll cross first Feifei. Once I get there, you head downstream a little and we'll see if we can get a rope across to catch anyone who's dragged by the current."
Feifei nodded resolutely.
The girls watched nervously as Delphi and her horse entered the channel. Delphi had her belongings tied up high around her neck. The large horse Delphi had chosen was not unused to swimming and it fared quite well, pulling strongly across the current without flagging, then scrambling out the other side in a gap between the rocks. She waved at them cheerfully.
"Next!" she shouted.
Feifei and Delphi threw a rope across the channel further down, and each horse and rider crossed, one at a time.
All fared well until, last but one, Ruby tried to cross with her small mare black and the remaining riderless 'spare'. Her little pony immediately struggled with the current. She was twisted about in the wrong direction and soon faced the ocean, where the mare was being pulled out. The riderless stallion whinnied in fear as he was dragged out with them.
"Let the stallion go, Ruby!" shouted Delphi.
The small girl let the stallion's rope loose and he swam across the channel to join the other horses.
Indy was on the bank running alongside her sister on the flailing mare.
"Jump off her and grab the rope Ruby," she called in fear. "It's coming up now. Are you ready?"
Ruby's eyes were wide with fright, but she nodded with determination, fixing her eyes on the rope which Delphi and Feifei had now pulled tight about a foot above the water. Ruby flung her belongings as hard as she could, and they nearly hit the bank, floating in the slower water near the rocks. Winter rushed down and fished them out for her.
"Get ready to jump Ruby," Winter shouted to her from the bank.
"Brace!" yelled Delphi as the girl and the horse collided with the rope.
Ruby grabbed the rope and hung on for dear life. The horse's head hit the rope and then it was swept under and on past them, out towards the dangerous bar.
Ruby now hung under the rope and was monkeying along it rapidly. Delphi had help, with Indy and Loveday having joined her to take-up the weight of the girl and the current.
Feifei was under enormous strain, and her end was dropping lower and lower. In the end it didn't matter, because Ruby continued to move rapidly along the rope, whether she was under the water or above it, like the excellent gymnast that she was.
Indy hauled her out of the water and hugged her tightly.