Riley seemed sincere when she told Mrs. Willis she wasn’t planning to leave, and it would have been unlike her to lie. The problem was that news had preceded her. The huge stable was full of people and everyone was talking. Many were crying. But no matter the station people were people. The liveliness of the stable was drained and the only sound left was the quiet munching of a horse eating hay. A few people shifted uncomfortably. All eyes on her.
For a second she froze like an animal that could see its death in the eyes of the hunter. But be damned it she was still a Bonner and that still commanded deference.
She was actively crying, tears streaming down her face. But as if that just simply weren’t happening, she asked one of the stable hands to please tack her horse for her. Someone pointed out that she was not dressed for night riding. He said she could die from exposure. But like a thin and fragile metal coating over a soft filling she shut it down with a cold finality that threatened to crack under the slightest pressure.
Knowing that everyone was watching she took a cigarette and some matches from a chest, tucking them into her sleeve pocket. And then waited patiently until the stable hand brought her horse, Lady, from one of the back stalls. And then as quickly as possible she rode out of that barn.
She started out riding the trails that ran around Hillcross. The man hadn’t been wrong. It was freezing. There really weren’t that many places that were safe to ride in the middle of a winter night dressed as she was. But going back didn’t seem like an option either. And so, when she got to a fork in the road that she recognized she chose the one away from town. Only she knew what the plan was.
After almost an hour she found herself at the Stonehaven outpost. She sat outside on her horse hidden in the shadows for a minute, but her face and fingers were desperate for the warmth inside. She dismounted and hitched her horse next to all the others out front.
And it was so blissfully warm inside. The firebox was fully fueled and throwing its heat throughout the decently sized building. A man sat behind a desk and there were quite a few other people milling about. For the second time that night the motions of the room melted away as Riley entered. This time she didn’t break a beat.
She swept over and the man at the desk looked at her with curiosity and disbelief. “You’re a messenger?”
The silence wasn’t anything about Victoria. This had everything to do with Riley in a tattered black dress and looking nothing like a messenger. In fact, she looked more like she was just spit out by the forest itself. But this was good news. This was what Riley was born to do.
She straightened her face and raised her chin with a little jut. She looked squarely at the man and said, “Yes.”
Daring him to challenge her confidence. But he couldn’t care less.
“Ok. Where from?”
“Hillcross.”
He made a motion with his hand and one of the men standing in front of desk handed Riley an envelope from a pile. Then everyone went back to whatever they were doing before.
Riley seemed to decide in for a penny because after a quick glance around the room she walked over to the fireplace and took a seat in a ratty old chair like she did it all the time.
She pulled out a cigarette dramatically. Once again daring anyone to challenge her. She was reaching for her matches when instead, she attracted a contender of a different sort. One of the younger messengers walked over in time to offer to light her cigarette which Riley accepted. Scandalous. But it was unclear which rules still counted in this new life she had found herself living.
“I heard you said you were from Hillcross?”
Riley made no effort to hide her assessment of the young man. He was fit, although most anyone who rode a horse all day would be. He wasn’t unattractive with his sandy sun-bleached hair and easy smile. But he also made very little effort to hide that his smile was one of many things about him that were easy.
Riley answered, “Yes I am.” And then tried to hide the regret from her face. But the messenger boy didn’t notice. He plowed right on.
“So, what’s the news? I heard their Magic Keeper died. Is the place in shambles yet?”
Riley didn’t answer right away. Even with her dress in tatters her clothes were high quality. Everyone in this room knew she was absolutely not a messenger. With a chill she became more aware of how exposed she was. Not as a fake messenger, but as Victoria’s daughter. Of course, news of her mother’s death was spreading. And now she was out here alone in the middle of the night.
The messenger leaned back in his chair across from Riley’s. “What’s the matter sweetheart. Playing hard to get?”
Riley didn’t try at all to hide her distaste. “I have warmed up enough.” She stood and held up the letter. “I need to get this back. Thank you for the conversation.”
Back outside with Lady she didn’t pause. Not even considering the letter in her hand, instead throwing another fearful glance back towards the outpost. She shoved the letter into her jacket and mounted her horse. They rode as fast as either of them could handle in the cold.
But there was no hesitation in the path. Lack of desire to go back to Hillcross had been trumped by lack of safety anywhere else.
There were a lot less people in the barn when she arrived. A couple of them heaved large sighs of relief at the sight of Riley alive. For a moment she seemed pleased but slightly confused until she understood.
Before she had even dismounted, she was confronted by Carter and Saint. Riley’s eyes went wide and it looked like she was going to start crying again.
“You came looking for me?”
Saint looked around like he was searching the corners of the barn for the right words but Carter had no such problems.
“No. Riley. We didn’t. We came here on official business only to find out that you are not in fact upstairs in the house asleep as you were told to do. But instead, out galivanting across the night. Weren’t you? For attention?”
Riley repeated back like she was pulling out a knife. “For attention.”
Carter didn’t waver. “Yes, Riley. Attention. Now go back to your own home and go to sleep.”
Riley didn’t seem to register Carter’s order as she intended. She dismounted Lady and passed her off to a stable hand who happily took her horse and then exited the awkward situation.
Riley posed a question to whichever of her siblings would answer. “What business do you have in the stable at this time of the night?”
Carter made a face like she had been offered a lemon to suck on.
Saint had watched all this unfold helplessly. “We are waiting on some important letter.”
Now it was Riley’s turn to search the nooks and crannies of the barn for the proper way to provide her information. In lieu of its arrival Riley reached into her jacket and pulled out the letter she had been given in Stonehaven.
“Probably this one then.”
Riley closed one eye and held out the letter, bracing herself for the coming impact.
Both Carter and Saint started asking her questions at once, loudly. Why did she have that. How did she even know about the letter. How dare she. An accusation that she was already trying to take her job. Obviously that last one came from Carter and she meant it.
“You are devious! First the funeral and now this! You didn’t waste a second, did you?”
Riley looked between her siblings with her mouth in a tight line. Saint said nothing. Neither Carter nor Saint had taken the envelope from Riley. So, with one swift motion she ripped it open and looked at what was inside. Carter let out a gasp and looked positively affronted.
Riley was greeted with a piece of paper commonly used for poetry work. Even from yards away any one of the siblings could have described the paper’s texture from memory. It had been their entire lives, even in their dreams. The specific weight. The numbers along the side, and the bracketed code at the top for adjustments. Riley read the poem and then held it out. Saint read it and then he and Riley exchanged worried glances. Carter seemed unmoved.
“So what?”
Saint looked at Carter assessing her. “Don’t you think we should prepare for this problem?”
Carter held herself closed in tight. “No. I don’t. I think mom died today and we have more important business than whatever happened to this place hours away. And it’s my decision, isn’t it?”
It rang like the first crack in the window to the future. This was life with Victoria gone and Carter in charge. With the poem in hand and a huff Carter left the barn. She didn’t spare them even a backwards glance. After she was gone Riley looked sadly at Saint.
“She can’t do this.”
Saint didn’t hesitate. “She can. You heard her, and she’s right. She’s in charge.”
“I wish it killed you even a little bit to say that.”
She crossed her arms and shook her head, but her proper shaming was lost on him.
“What do you want us to do. Stage a coup? Knock down the entire system because you don’t like your big sister sometimes?”
“We could warn people?”
Saint put his hands on Riley’s shoulders. “And scare everyone for probably nothing? Look, we have to trust Carter.”
Riley made a guttural noise at that. She shook off Saint’s hands and leaned down, busying herself rifling around in a chest. By the time she turned back around Saint was gone.
